The gluten-free diet helps celiacs in so many ways – once the gut repairs itself, so many other emotional, mental, physical issues we’d had when we were undiagnosed goes away. But does it help with our weight?
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology acknowledged the concern among heavy patients diagnosed with celiac that they’ll gain even more weight on the gluten-free diet. So researchers set out to find out what effect the gluten-free diet has on Body Mass Index (BMI) for celiac patients.
Researchers looked at patients’ BMIs when they were diagnosed and again about two-and-a-half years after starting the gluten-free diet. This information was compared to national data. After being on the gluten-free diet, 66% those who were underweight actually gained weight, 54% of people overweight and 47% of obese patients lost weight.
Researchers concluded…
A GFD had a beneficial impact on BMI, underweight patients gained weight and overweight/obese patients lost weight. The improvement in BMI adds to the impetus to diagnose celiac disease. Expert dietary counseling may be a major factor in the beneficial effects we noted.
As we all know the gluten-free diet makes undiagnosed celiacs healthier– now we’re just learning more concretely that it could also likely impact your waistline.
Tags: BMI, Body Mass Index, celiac, diagnosis, research
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