Should You Go Gluten Free Like Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow?

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It’s not enough to stay away from calories, carbs and sugar—now there’s this whole “gluten” thing that’s seemed to pop up, and until I researched it, I was sure it was just a made up word companies were using to coax you into buying their product.

Turns out gluten is real. Gluten is that stuff in wheat that gives dough its elasticity. Bread, cookies, muffins—they all contain gluten. And approximately 20 million people suffer from gluten insensitivity, namely people with Celiac Disease. Celiac Disease is a digestive disease in which the small intestine can be damaged and certain nutrients don’t get absorbed. Gluten is its archnemesis.

Not that I would miss it, but that left me to wonder if that was the only reason for all the Gluten-free advertising as of late. Is gluten bad for those with a sensitivity, or should we all avoid it?

Gwyneth Paltrow has been vocal about more than her singing career—she’s also spoken out about her gluten-free diet, which she says promotes overall health and weight loss. Nutritionists say gluten can make us feel sick and tired. But if you’re giving it up to lose weight, you’re going to be disappointed. Gluten-free substitute products are usually higher in fat and sugar.

In Shape magazine, Jenny McCarthy said she switched to a gluten and dairy free diet to support her autistic son Evan’s diet. McCarthy says Evan’s diet has helped to improve his symptoms. Her typical menu consists of egg white omelets, fresh fruits, and vegetables. However, there haven’t been any official studies to support the claim that avoiding gluten alleviates autism symptoms.

While some people claim that avoiding gluten makes you feel better overall, gluten does have a lot of essential nutrients—calcium, thiamin, iron, and fiber. If you’re going to cut gluten out, you’ve got to find these nutrients somewhere else.

The New England Journal of Medicine reports a number of diseases that are caused by gluten: IBS, anemia, cancer, anxiety, depression and fatigue. To test if you have gluten sensitivity, eliminate gluten from your diet for two to four weeks. Don’t eat any bread products, and check labels to make sure nothing contains gluten. After your “cleanse”, add gluten back to your diet. If you feel sick or at all “off”, you are sensitive to gluten and should eliminate it from your diet.

Zooey Deschanel stays away from gluten because of this sensitivity, but she still finds a way to satiate her sweet tooth: “There’s a bakery called BabyCakes in New York, and one in L.A. now. They make amazing gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.”

Victoria Beckham also shares a food sensitivity—she’s allergic to dairy, which is also linked to gluten sensitivity, so she stays away from both.

In 2006, Oprah followed a 21-day vegan cleanse which also included giving up gluten. On her blog, Oprah wrote: “Wow, wow, wow! I never imagined meatless meals could be so satisfying. I had been focused on what I had to give up—sugar, gluten, alcohol, meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese.

"What's left?" I thought. Apparently a lot. I can honestly say every meal was a surprise and a delight, beginning with breakfast—strawberry rhubarb wheat-free crepes.”

As the studies on gluten continue, it looks like, if you’re sensitive to it, it can be the root of a lot of health issues. While it’s officially not considered “unhealthy” to those without an allergy, it seems like our bodies are evolving to reject it. Your best bet is to take it out of your diet and see how you feel. It’s not going to give you Victoria Beckham’s body, but it might give you Oprah’s energy.