Five Tips To Avoid Nutrient Deficiencies On A Gluten-Free Diet

by Poliquin™ Editorial Staff

3/20/2013 8:42:14 AM

Avoiding gluten is all the rage and research shows it’s a smart choice for everyone, even if you don’t have celiac disease. For example, a new study found that mice who were fed a high-fat, gluten-free diet gained no weight and had better insulin health than a group of mice that ate the same high-fat diet containing gluten. The gluten-eating mice gained weight, had poorer insulin sensitivity, and more inflammation.

Researchers suggest the data are applicable to humans because the anti-inflammatory effect of avoiding gluten will be similar to what was seen in the mice. The one drawback to gluten-free diets is that they can lead to nutritional deficiencies that can cause serious health problems. The following are a few tips to avoid deficiencies:

1)  Take a methylated folic acid supplement because research shows that at least 50 percent of the celiac population has a genetic variant where they can’t activate dietary folic acid in its active form. Folic acid is essential for women of reproductive age in order to avoid birth defects, but low folic acid can increase the risk of anxiety, depression, heart disease, and cancer in all populations.

With 800mcg of Folic acid, Nature’s Prenatal provides a balanced combination of vitamins and minerals.  It also contains Ginger root to help soothe the stomach. It’s free of artificial colours, flavours, preservatives, sweeteners, sugar, yeast, gluten, lactose, milk, soya and wheat.
2)    Take a high-quality B-vitamin complex. People who get a high-intake of the branched-chain amino acids that are found in high concentration in meat are commonly deficient in the B vitamins.

3)    Consider taking magnesium, zinc, selenium, and possibly calcium if you are gluten-free because depending on your dietary make-up, these are common deficiencies and they are critical for health.

Nature's Sunshine Skeletal Strength contains magnesium, zinc and calcium, plus vitamin D (see below). Both Vitamin E and Selenium are often lacking in the modern diet due to food processing and high-tech farming methods. Additionally, mineral content of soil varies in different parts of the country, making it difficult to be sure you’re getting the necessary dietary intake of vitamins and minerals, so often need to be supplemented.

4)    Take vitamin D. Though not particular to the gluten-free diet, everyone must take vitamin D during the winter and spring in order to avoid a deficiency unless you live in a warm, sunny environment year-round and can get at least 20 minutes of full-body sun exposure daily without wearing sunglasses and sunscreen.

 5)    Get adequate fiber—at least 25 grams but as much as 50 grams a day for optimal health and body composition. Depending on how much produce you eat, you likely need a supplemental fiber since protein and fat contain no fiber and it is hard to get enough when you are not eating wheat and other grains.
TNT is a great tasting drink mix that helps to ensure you are getting the fibre, vitamins and minerals, you need daily.  Each serving of this orange cream flavoured drink mix provides 12g fibre, 12 vitamins, 11 minerals and antioxidants. It can be used daily as a meal replacement or as a supplement to any diet. The fibre in TNT is obtained from 18 different fruit, vegetable and grain sources.  One drink of TNT contains more fibre and nutrients than a kilo of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Reference

Soares, F, et al. Gluten-Free Diet Reduces Adiposity, Inflammation, and Insulin Resistance Associated with the Induction of PPAR-Alpha and PPAR-Gamma Expression. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 2012. Published Ahead of Print.