Athletes and Gluten Free Diet

Gluten-free diet has been gaining popularity nowadays. Models, actors, and now athletes are also joining the fuzz. But what is indeed a gluten-free diet? Will athletes gain more health and performance benefits with this kind of diet? What are the advantages and downside of this? All those questions will be discussed further in this article.

Athletes are very strict when it comes to their diet and daily routine so it is intriguing to know if this type of diet works for their tough and competitive lifestyle and nature.

What is gluten-free diet?

Gluten-free diet is a type of diet that excludes gluten, which is commonly found in grains like wheat, barley, rye, and others. A gluten-free diet is usually used to fight and treat celiac diseases. However, after having tried such kind of diet, most people find more benefits more than curing celiac diseases. Followers of this diet swear to feel a lot better since removing gluten in their diet. They improve their digestion, speed up weight loss, and even improve their skin.

Is gluten-free diet for athletes?

According to a new study, about 40% of athletes without celiac disease have proclaimed themselves as gluten sensitive, which lead them to following such diet program.

People who are into gluten-free diet discover the health benefits of removing grains or gluten from their everyday meals. They learn to replace grains with more nutritious foods. The diet also reduces digestive problem, which is very common among athletes. And because of this, athletes believed that they are able to perform better in training and in proper games knowing that they no longer need to worry about gastrointestinal problems.

However, gluten-free diet can also be less nutritious. Most gluten-free foods are not fortified with iron and folic acid, which are major components when doing strenuous activities like lifting weights, exercise, cardio, and playing in general. And not only that, to substitute gluten from foods, most manufacturers add additional sugars, sodium and worst, unhealthy fats. So imagine if athletes are eating all these foods with high sugar level and unhealthy fats?

Another downside to gluten-free diet is that most programmes and cookbooks are encouraging low-carbohydrate diet, which can affect the endurance of athletes. Carbohydrates give them energy to perform their routines. It gives them strength and improves their overall stamina.

What athletes should do?

Gluten-free diet is good to cure celiac diseases however removing gluten from every day diet when there is no such condition to treat can cause a big fallback for an athlete. It can weaken their performance more than it can enhance it.

What athletes should do are the following:

1. Eat proper and nutritious meals pre and post-workout.
2. Drink healthy supplements like protein powders, creatine, fish oil, vitamins and minerals. Supps R Us has wide selection of protein powders to choose from as well as other supplements to include in your diet.
3. And of course, train and prepare hard by working out at least 5 times a week, do cardio to condition the heart, run miles to establish strength and stamina, and just practice hard.

It is advisable to consult nutritionist and physician before starting a diet. If you are aiming to become an athlete someday then you should start taking your diet seriously. However, know your case and condition and then see what is suitable for you to achieve your goals.