John Hastings - The 10 Pounds Off Gluten-Free Diet: The Easy Way to Drop Inches in Just 28 Days

Mixed Berry Muffins,

CONTENTS

W HO DOESNT WANT TO SEE THE SCALE 10 POUNDS LIGHTER? This book will show you how to do just that while adhering to a gluten-free eating plan. In the following pages, youll find a comprehensive introduction to the diet (complete with cutting-edge research) as well as 100 recipes from the healthy cooking experts at Cooking Light , four weeks of meal plans, and a do-anywhere fitness plan to help you tone up and slim downsafely, easily, and deliciously.

PART

GLUTEN-FREE

POWER

G LUTEN HAS BEEN A BUZZWORD FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS. You probably know people who have gone gluten free and wondered what it might do for you. As a diet concept, going gluten free has been increasing by leaps and bounds. You can find gluten-free foods at most supermarkets, delis, and restaurants. There is even gluten-free beer, which is quite a trick when you consider the importance of gluten-containing barley to the beer-making process.

Gluten is a combination of proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, and triticale (a wheat/rye hybrid). In bread making, gluten develops as the dough is kneaded, making it springier. For some people, the protein can cause severe difficulties with their digestive tract (more about that later). Others believe that they might have a sensitivity to gluten that could be causing them to gain weight or suffer achy joints and headaches, among other health problems.

Individuals with celiac disease, which is an immune response to gluten, have difficulty absorbing nutrients from certain foods and may end up losing weight, not gaining it. Those with gluten sensitivity, whose symptoms include diarrhea or abdominal pain, may also lose weight prior to restricting gluten from their diet, but others with gluten-related issues may still struggle with their weight. If you suspect you have celiac disease or a wheat allergy, you should speak to a medical professional to get the appropriate testing done before going on a gluten-free diet. (There is no diagnostic test to confirm gluten sensitivity or gluten intolerance.) Its more difficult to diagnose these issues if you give up gluten before being tested. If you test negative, you could eliminate gluten from your diet to see if your symptoms improve, which would imply a gluten sensitivity.

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Helpful definitions

Celiac disease is a genetic disorder in which gluten damages the lining of the small intestine, leading to a number of physical and neurological symptoms that vary from person to person. Gluten must be avoided for life.

Gluten sensitivity (GS) and gluten intolerance (GI) are often used interchangeably. Individuals have trouble digesting gluten and dont feel well after eating it. While these conditions share some of the same symptoms of celiac disease, GI and GS patients have not shown damage to their small intestine.

A wheat allergy causes an allergic reaction to wheat, but people with this allergy may be able to tolerate other grains, such as oats, rye, and barley, since the allergy is not in response to gluten.

The Perfect Way to Lose 10 Pounds

When you set out to shed just a few pounds, the last thing you want to do is adopt a complex eating system. A huge advantage of going gluten free is that you dont have to weigh food, do elaborate planning for meals, or count calories or points. That may seem liberatingor possibly a little frightening, if youre accustomed to diets with rigid calorie- or points-counting rules.

By eliminating gluten, you wont have to count calories because youll naturally avoid many of the foods that lead to weight gain. This diet encourages you to eat whole foods and avoid highly processed foodsincluding the gluten-free optionsthat are often high in calories, refined carbohydrates, fat, and added sugar. Eating the foods youre meant to consume will help you naturally feel full before youre at risk of overeating. Plus, youll stay satisfied for much longer than when you eat the cheap, nutritionally unfulfilling foods so common in our modern diet. Although dieting experts set the pace of safe weight loss at 2 pounds per week, once you start your gluten-free diet, you may be surprised that you lose more than that in the first several weeks.

The Right Diet for Shedding Pounds

Look, you probably know that if you eat fewer calories than you burn through exercise and daily activity, you will lose weight. But one thing researchers have learned in the last decade is that theres nothing simple about how the calories you eat influence appetite. The biggest surprise was that low-fiber carbohydratesthink of white-flour bread and crackers, and low-fat, high-sugar treatscould actually increase hunger. These simple, easily digested carbohydrates break down more rapidly and cause a bigger increase in your blood sugar than carbohydrates that contain more fiber and take longer to digest. The sudden surge of glucose provokes a rise in insulin, the hormone your body relies on to process sugar. All that glucose either gets burned up for energy or shuttled off to places like your thighs and belly to be converted to long-term storagein other words, fat.

The rapid peak and then plunge in blood sugar is a source of weight-gain troubles. As levels fall, your gut signals to your brain that energy supplies are running low, and just like that, youre hungry again or have less energy. The calories you consumed are responsible for making you want to eat more, and suddenly the calories in vs. calories out equation doesnt add up the way we always thought it did.

The solution is to add more lean protein (fish, lean cuts of meat, and nuts), high-fiber carbohydrates (brown rice, amaranth, millet, and certified gluten-free oats), and healthy fats to your diet. All these foods take longer to digest, resulting in a more gradual rise of blood sugar. Youll feel full longer and give yourself a chance to tip the scale in your favor.

Beginning a new plan will fill you with energy so you may be more active. Within a week or two youll find that your face and shape are noticeably different when you gaze in the mirror!

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Embrace the basics.

If you dont have to eat gluten free for medical reasons, you may not want to eat this way for the rest of your life. But as you make the healthy changes required by this diet (fewer processed foods, less sugar, more home cooking), embrace them as permanent changes that will keep you slim.

Lose Belly Fat Faster

Incorporating more lean protein into your gluten-free diet has some other benefits. Carrying extra pounds around the midsection may be the most troubling aspect of being overweight. Research has found that too much fat in your belly is harder on organs, arteries, and the heart than fat you carry elsewhere, such as on your hips or thighs. According to new research, diets high in protein might help you target your spare tire.