There was a time when you only restricted your diet if your wellness was adversely affected by gluten or dairy, but now it seems that everyone is jumping on the gluten-free, dairy-free bandwagon. But if you don’t need to go on a restricted diet, are they really beneficial to your wellbeing?
Diet and nutrition used to be about including a healthy balance of everything in your diet, but the burgeoning market of free-from products implies that healthy food is just as likely to be defined by what’s left out. Free-from, or any food or drink with elements such as dairy or gluten removed, used to be the unappealingly labelled ‘special diet food’ for only those who couldn’t eat certain food groups for health reasons. In fact, 10 or 20 years ago you would only find these products at the back of your local health store, or even on prescription from a pharmacy.
Today, however, free-from food and drink represents a £238m market that grew 15% in the UK last year, according to retail analyst Kantar. Most coffee chains will happily whip you up a soya latte or a gluten-free sandwich, and most supermarkets, and some big bread brands, such as Warburtons, are bringing out their own free-from products. The question is, why?
According to Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, food historian and editor of foodsmatter.com, ‘There has been a huge growth in the number of ‘voluntary restrictors’ – people who want to go gluten-free but don’t have a medical reason.’ This may be, in part, due to a hangover from the days when the Atkins diet was in and ‘bread was bad’, or else the support of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow or Victoria Beckham has caught people’s attention. Berriedale-Johnson says, ‘If your favourite Hollywood star looks thin and gorgeous on a gluten-free diet, then there’s this idea that by going gluten-free you can look that good too.’
However, health concerns are the biggest driver behind the surge in free-from success, perhaps stemming from a growing suspicion about what goes into our food. But dietician Gaynor Bussell warns that that over a long period, a voluntarily gluten-free diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies, such as a lack of fibre or B vitamins. She says, ‘With cutting out dairy you could become deficient in calcium plus some fat soluble vitamins including vitamin D and vitamin B.’ So it seems that not only are these products free from dairy and gluten, but they’re also free from any benefits.
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