Nutrition experts continue to debate the effects of gluten on weight. Some argue that giving up gluten-containing foods made from wheat, barley and rye can help you shed pounds. Others maintain that if you don’t have celiac and aren’t gluten sensitive, forgoing gluten is senseless. But I know that when I gave up gluten I lost five pounds in three days effortlessly. And the weight has stayed off.

Brain Cell Emergency

I gave up gluten to save my brain. For me, gluten causes a severe auto-immune effect that wipes out my memory, affects my personality and generally makes me miserable. But when I went gluten-free and had my memory restored I noticed other beneficial effects I hadn’t considered. Mysterious rashes that had persisted for years mostly vanished. Cold sores that had appeared about once a month went on hiatus. My blood pressure dropped. And my weight eventually went down by about seven pounds and stayed down.

Now when I cut gluten out of my diet, I wasn’t worried about my weight. I’ve never been overweight and I have always been addicted to exercise. But I had been bothered by bloating, a problem I now realized stemmed from my digestive reaction to gluten. Having gone off gluten, I also find that my weight generally stays more stable. In the past it has fluctuated up and down by five to seven pounds, possibly as a result of bloating and holding fluid. Without gluten in my diet, my weight seems to hold steady, rarely going up or down by more than a pound or two.

Escaping Excess Pounds

According to William Davis, M.D., in his book Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health, aside from problematic gluten, wheat contains a substance known as amylopectin A which boosts blood sugar more than other carbohydrates. He notes: “People are usually shocked when I tell them that whole wheat bread increases blood sugar to a higher level than sucrose.” He also says that “… gram for gram, wheat increases blood sugar to a greater degree than, say, kidney beans or potato chips.”

For those reasons, Davis considers amylopectin A to be a “supercarbohydrate.”  He adds that, “Aside from some extra fiber, eating two slices of whole wheat bread is really little different, and often worse, than drinking a can of sugar-sweetened soda or eating a sugary candy bar.”

Davis warns that the fact that wheat boosts blood sugar and stimulates insulin release from the pancreas increases the body’s tendency to create more body fat: “… eating a three-egg omelet that triggers no increase in glucose does not add to body fat… (but bread) triggers insulin and growth in fat, particularly abdominal or deep visceral fat.” Over a long period of time, these physiological effects lead to not only a bigger belly but also an increased risk of insulin-resistance and diabetes according to Davis.

Gluten-Free Benefits

While researchers haven’t done large studies on the weight-loss effects of a gluten-free diet, there has been research showing reassuring benefits. When scientists at the Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester, New York, looked at more than 300 people who had been on gluten-free diets for about three years, they found that those who had been underweight gained weight while those who were overweight lost pounds. They concluded that “A GFD (gluten-free diet) had a beneficial impact on BMI (body mass index), underweight patients gained weight and overweight/obese patients lost weight. The improvement in BMI adds to the impetus to diagnose celiac disease.”

Another study at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York found that children with celiac who went on a gluten-free diet also normalized their weight. In this research three out of four of the overweight kids who went on the diet lost significant amounts of weight.

Beware Packaged Foods

When preparing my meals, I generally stay away from gluten-free, packaged foods that mimic gluten-containing items like cookies, bread and pasta. I find that when I eat those kinds of refined carbohydrates, my blood sugar seems to fluctuate too much, making me feel uncomfortable. Consequently, I try to stick to less processed dishes like fish, meat, vegetables, fruit and nuts. I also stay away from soft drinks and mostly drink water (with occasional glasses of diluted fruit juice).

I know that many people would find switching to my kind of diet to be a daunting task. As Edward Abramson, Ph.D., author of Emotional Eating, told Men’s Health recently, “You have to commit to a true lifestyle change (to be gluten-free) and that can be tough.” But as far as I’m concerned, I’ve found a diet that tastes great, lets me eat as much as I want, makes me feel energetic and keeps my weight where I want it. I don’t know what better result you can expect from your food.