Why ‘gluten-free’ and ‘vegan’ don’t equal healthy
Why ‘gluten-free’ and ‘vegan’ don’t equal healthy
There’s been such an explosive growth in gluten-free and vegan diets that entire aisles in the grocery store are now dedicated to these products. In 2016, the global gluten-free food market was valued at $4.26 billion, and food manufacturer Neilson noted last year that demand for vegan food products spiked more than 140 percent.
Much of this demand can be attributed to people looking for healthier ways of eating. But here’s the thing: those ‘gluten-free’ and ‘vegan’ food labels don’t mean that the products are healthy.
Understanding clean eating
It’s certainly true that some of the healthiest food you can eat is gluten-free and vegan. But there’s a key caveat here: we’re talking about food, not food products. Clean eating is about eating whole foods in their natural state and avoiding processed ingredients as much as possible. Fruits and vegetables, for example, are naturally free of gluten and animal products – and if you’re cooking meals using these kinds of whole foods, then you’re probably doing fine.
Where it gets tricky is pre-made or packaged foods. It’s not wise to assume that the gluten-free or vegan label means that the contents are naturally healthier – you must read the ingredients. At the end of the day, a cupcake is a cupcake, whether it’s gluten-free and/or vegan or not. In most cases, these products have the same calories, sugar, and carbs as their conventional alternatives.
The problem with specialty food products
Let’s talk about gluten first. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, and it’s responsible for giving baked goods the elasticity that keeps them light and fluffy. When you remove gluten, you must replace it with something else. In many cases, this means using starchy substitutes like white rice flour, corn starch, and potato starch, as well as fibres like carboxymethylcellulose and stabilizing gums such as xanthan or guar. The result is products that are high on the glycemic index, spike blood sugar, and are rapidly digested and absorbed – the very opposite of what healthy foods should be.
In terms of vegan products, there are a couple of key issues. The first and most significant is that many vegan products are highly processed and industrialized. Frozen vegan burgers, sugary cereals, and potato chips are all vegan – but with added sugar, excessive salt, and extensive processing, they most certainly aren’t healthy. The second is the potential for consuming too many carbohydrates. Rice, oats, potatoes, pasta, bread, and beans are all part of a vegan diet, and consuming more carbs than the body can metabolize can disrupt the metabolism and lead to serious health concerns like weight gain and type 2 diabetes.
What healthy is
Of course, this doesn’t mean that all food products labeled ‘gluten-free’ or ‘vegan’ are unhealthy. Gluten-free flours made from quinoa, almonds, and beans offer protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals and are definitely nutritionally superior to the refined white flour (and even refined whole wheat flour) found in traditional commercial baked goods.
There are also plenty of foods that are both vegan and healthy. Excellent choices include fruits and vegetables, raw nuts and natural nut butters, seeds like hemp and flax, fermented plant foods, and plant-based milks and yogurts (like coconut, almond, or cashew). Non-GMO soy products are also good choices, provided they are minimally processed and don’t contain any strange additives.
All of this is to say that healthy eating isn’t about following a certain diet – it’s about consuming clean, whole foods and staying away from processed food products as much as possible. By focusing on terms like ‘gluten-free’ and ‘vegan,’ we’re missing what we actually should be looking for on the packages: the ingredient list and nutrition facts.