Diabetes and the gluten free diet

OK, so we all know of people who have to eat a gluten free diet because they have Celiac disease. We also know a lot of people who choose to eat gluten free because it makes them feel good or better.
There is a huge amount of gluten free food now available through the supermarkets and in the food service industry to meet this demand. If a retail or hospitality business is not providing at least one gluten free option now, it will be losing sales. Gluten free is now very much mainstream and part of our everyday life.
However in a study done by the American Heart Foundation, there is evidence that if you choose to eat a gluten free diet when you do not have to, you may be increasing your risk to develop Type 2 Diabetes.
The study was done over 30 years found that of those who eat 12 or less of gluten daily, it was those who ate the most who had the lowest risk of Type 2 Diabetes.
The linkage seems to be that those who eat less gluten, eat less cereal fibre, which helps to reduce the likelihood of Type 2 Diabetes.
Researcher, Geng Zong from Harvard University, said “Gluten-free foods often have less dietary fiber and other micronutrients (such as vitamins and minerals), making them less nutritious, and they also tend to cost more. People without celiac disease may reconsider limiting their gluten intake for chronic disease prevention, especially for diabetes.”
Another study, by the University of Southern California (USC), has found that fasting a few days each month can actually help reduce heart disease and the risk of both Type 1 and 2 Diabetes.
Dr Valter Longo, from USC said; “Our mouse studies using a similar fasting-mimicking diet indicate that these beneficial effects are caused by multisystem regeneration and rejuvenation in the body at the cellular and organ level.”