Lately I’ve noticed that more and more professional athletes are going gluten free. It was well publicized that tennis players Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon after making the switch and now Andy Murray is following a gluten free diet too. Numerous professional cyclists, including the entire Garmin-Cervelo cycling team, have given up on gluten in their search for a diet which improves their performance. And now the latest issue of Cycling Fitness has a four page article on how you too can go gluten free.
Personally I think at least some of the improvement athletes notice comes from the number of people who are undiagnosed Coeliacs. It is estimated that 1% or more of the European population have Coeliac disease but most don’t know it. Even if the symptoms are mild, for a serious athlete with undiagnosed Coeliac’s, going on a gluten free diet would have dramatic results because for the first time they would be absorbing all the nutrients they are eating. This can’t help but improve their performance, recovery and overall health. However, there is no scientific evidence to show that going on a gluten free diet will improve the health of a non Coeliac.
Several nutritionists have pointed out that one of the side effects of a gluten free diet on health conscious people is that they get a much greater variety of carbohydrates, turning to grains which are higher in proteins and vitamins than your typical white bread and white pasta. Not to mention that all burgers, fried chicken and pizza are off the menu unless you make it yourself from gluten free ingredients.Wheat flour is also often used to thicken cheap sauces and in soya sauce, which pretty much eliminates Indian and Chinese take aways. So naturally this will make you feel better because your diet is much healthier. But you really don’t need to be on a gluten free diet to achieve this, just eat less junk food and try to get more variety in your carbohydrates.
While I am all for people getting tested for Coeliac’s disease, I don’t encourage people to follow a gluten free diet if they don’t need one because it is simply too restrictive. I've learned to live with it and even enjoy it, but trust me, I would give it up in a heartbeat if I could.
The Score:
| Calories: | Protein: | Carbs: | Fat: | Alcohol: | Fibre: |
| 2061.85 | 96.21g | 270.36g | 66.51g | 0 | 31.59g |
| 19% | 52% | 29% | | ||
| Calories burned through exercise: | Rest Day | | |||
What I ate:
| Time | Item | Amount |
| 07:45 | Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate | 1 each |
| Cold water | 200mL | |
| Scrambled eggs | 2 eggs | |
| Genius brown bread toast | 2 slices | |
| with Flora Light | 8g | |
| and St Dalfour 4 Fruits jam | 25g | |
| Sainsbury's pressed apple and cherry juice | 200mL | |
| 09:30 | Black tea | 300mL |
| 10:45 | Sponser Protein Snack bar | 1 bar |
| 12:00 | Raspberry and Echinacea tea | 250mL |
| 13:15 | New Covent Garden Moroccan Tagine soup | 300g |
| Skim milk | 225mL | |
| Muller rice pudding original | 190g | |
| 14:15 | Green Tea | 250mL |
| 17:15 | Plums | 145g |
| Irish Yoghurts Diet Fruits of the Forest | 125g | |
| Orange, mango and cinnamon tea | 250mL | |
| 18:00 | Butterkist butter flavour microwave popcorn | 25g popped |
| 18:30 | Thorntons original Special Toffee | 50g |
| 19:45 | Steak | 86g |
| Boiled and mashed sweet potato | 200g | |
| with butter | 9g | |
| Steamed broccoli | 115g | |
| Bisto Best beef gravy | about 5g | |
| 22:00 | 500mg Glucosamine sulphate | 1 pill |
Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.
