Dr. Lipman on the Evils of Gluten

Dr. Frank Lipman is one of our favorite nutrition gurus. I've done his Be Well Cleanse (opens in new tab) three times now, and it always makes me feel amazing (opens in new tab). He's passionate about getting people healthy and I always appreciate his insight on all things food.

As we all know, gluten and going gluten-free is all the rage right now. Certainly there are lots of skeptics out there who think it's just a fad, but Dr. L believes it's way more serious than that. And I have to say that when I give up gluten, I definitely notice physical changes in how I look and feel. (But that's not to say I don't still enjoy pizza sometimes!)

So why is gluten such a hot topic now? "The main gluten grain that people eat is wheat. That's the most common and wheat today is completely different from the wheat of 50 years ago. It's been hybridized to increase the yields and it has much more gluten protein in it," says Dr. Lipman. It's also much higher in sugars than you would realize, he says. "Eating two slices of whole wheat bread is the same as two tablespoons of sugar." Whoa. That's a real eye opener. The high sugar content is also what makes bread so darn hard to quit. This is just one of the reasons Dr. Lipman calls gluten "the devil." Along with its addictive sugar content, gluten is also highly inflammatory.

What happens if you cut gluten out of your diet? Dr. Lipman says you'll lose weight, think more clearly, find the circles under your eyes diminish and puffiness goes away. Your cholesterol levels can even come down and joint pains will get better.

We say that's worth a try, don't you?

For gluten-free recipes Dr. Lipman says to check out Elana's Pantry (opens in new tab). Let us know how it goes!