A short TV interview with sports nutritionist Natalie Jill explaining the difference between celiac disease and gluten intolerance, defining gluten (the protein in wheat, rye, barley), and offering practical gluten-free dietary guidance. The conversation covers safe gluten-free grains (quinoa, brown rice, certified gluten-free oatmeal), cross-contamination risks, grocery-shopping tips, and cautions that processed 'gluten-free' packaged foods (often made with corn or white rice flour) can be higher in sugar/fat and lower in fiber, sometimes causing weight gain. Several snack and product recommendations (trail mix, gluten-free protein powders, specific brands) are given.
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Gluten free has definitely become popular over the past few years. A specialized diet helpful for those suffering from gluten intolerance, type 2 diabetes and celiac disease. Sports nutritionist Natalie Jill took her experience with celiac disease and wrote Stay Lean, Gluten Free and seven Day Jumpstart, a gluten free nutrition program that gets your body in fat burning mode. Natalie joining us this morning, good to have you here. Many of our viewers know, we've kind of talked about it since I was diagnosed with celiac disease, that I am gluten free. Everything is a gluten free diet. And can I just say that I leaned out completely and I got a ton more energy in my day.
Sure.
And that's something you see when people go gluten free, right?
Sure, absolutely. Well, there's a few reasons, first of all, to go gluten free. The main reason, obviously, like you and myself, if you're a celiac, you've got to go gluten free. Your body just does not recognize gluten and you have all kinds of problems because of that. But then also, just being gluten intolerant like you would be lactose intolerant. Gluten intolerant means you can't handle it well. And then a lot of people want to go gluten free just to be more natural, lean out and lose weight.
Right. You know, and there are some people out there, my doctors were always telling me that, you know, some people just live their whole lives not even recognizing the fact that they're gluten intolerant.
Absolutely.
And they just kind of get used to having a stomach ache all the time after you eat. So if you're at home right now and you're wondering why you're having stomach aches after you eat all the time, you could be allergic to gluten products.
And actually what gluten is. Gluten is the protein found in wheat, rye and barley. So it's not just starches in general, like some people think.
And what I have found is that everything is made of wheat at the grocery store. You look in the back, can't have this. It's made of wheat. Wheat ingredients. So kind of tell us, as we're going through some of these things, what people can eat, what we should be looking out for.
Absolutely. So the main thing is you can still have grains on a gluten free diet, is to look for gluten free grains. And I brought a few examples. Quinoa is one of them. It's a Great grain that is completely gluten free. Brown rice and then oatmeal. Now, with oatmeal, there's a little bit of a risk of cross contamination. So you would want to get a gluten free oatmeal.
Right. And also there's a difference between it may contain wheat because it may be processed at a place where other wheat products are being produced. So there is a chance it may sneak in there. Those who are intolerant though, probably wouldn't recognize exactly those with celiac.
Celiac. You want to make sure everything is labeled as gluten free. So it was not processed in a place that contains wheat or manufactures wheat products as well. Now, here's the thing with gluten free that people don't realize. And I know we were talking earlier and you mentioned gluten free could be more expensive. And that's not necessarily the case. And let me explain why. There are a lot of typical foods that contain gluten, like waffles, pizza, baked goods that now can be made gluten free.
Right.
The problem when you do that, you're not using preservatives. There are more natural ingredients, so they are going to be more expensive foods. So if you're buying processed foods that are gluten free, yes, the grocery bill can go up. However, if you stick to natural, unprocessed foods and you're making them yourselves, it's actually a less expensive way to eat and live.
Interesting. I just discovered a bread. I finally found sandwich bread that's actually soft. Sure. And it's gluten free. It took a little while, but I finally found it. I've got tons in my freezer that I finally take out when you need to use it. But another interesting thing too, just because something's gluten free, doesn't mean it's good for you.
That's right. And actually I have a lot of weight loss clients that gained weight going gluten free because if they went strictly to a processed food gluten free diet, those are typically made with foods like corn and white rice flour that have less fiber. So there's actually they're adding more sugar, more fats to it, and that is going to make you gain weight. So I brought a few of my favorite things just to show you. There's a couple companies that I love as far as foods on the go. My Dale Food bars that I brought, these are a great gluten free company.
I'm gonna steal a few of these before you leave.
All of this on my website, by the way, Natalie Jill Fitness and then J Rob Products, gluten free. Also, there's a company, Betty Lou's Inc. Gluten free. And then a favorite snack for gluten free. You're gonna look at nuts and things like that versus trail mixed trail mixes. And I brought a few of my favorites to show. Trail mixes are typically always gluten free. You can always make those yourself.
And I do, I'm a big guy on trail mix as well. Just because you're getting your proteins in there. And that was kind of the for me too was even finding carbs. And I'm somebody that works out. I think it's fair to say that you work out too. We still need carbs. If you're out there living a really fit lifestyle, you can't cut out all the carbs altogether. And so you do. And also one thing, protein shakes. I had to find a gluten free protein as well.
Yes. And this is my favorite. The J Rob one is completely gluten free. And everything on my website, by the way, is gluten free. So I have a bunch of different companies that I've sought out that I think are quality ingredients that are gluten free that are listed on there. But you know, I was just going.
To say, no, we're going to wrap up here, we're going to go to commercial break. But I always just tell all my friends, just even if you're not, don't have celiacs, even if you're not gluten intolerant, go gluten free anyway. You don't want that stuff in your body and you'll lean out too. All right, we're going to go to break and be right back after this.
