DoctorOz: The Truth About Gluten-Free Foods

We are sorting through the information out there about gluten and one of the most confusing is gluten-free food. Take a look. Today, one out of every four Americans is eating gluten-free. And although gluten adversity affects the health of only roughly one percent of the population, more and more Americans are going gluten-free because they think it's beneficial to their health. And food marketers have caught on, big time. Since 2012, sales of gluten-free products have risen 63 percent. Last year alone, more than 4,500 gluten-free products were introduced. Now, some manufacturers of foods that never contained gluten to begin with are labeling their products gluten-free, just to boost revenue. The gluten-free frenzy is expanding into pet food, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, even water. Today, we cut through the confusion and tell you what you really need to know about what is and isn't gluten-free. Dr. Mark Hyman is back to help sort through gluten-free foods so you really know what you are getting. Now, many people are buying gluten-free for different reasons, even if they don't have an allergy or a sensitivity. So what do you think is the number one misconception, misperception about gluten-free foods? Well, I think the biggest problem is that people think that gluten-free is healthy, so that if they buy gluten-free food, then it's healthy. But gluten-free cake and cookies is still cake and cookies. In fact, it may be worse than regular cake and cookies. Why? Because when they take out the gluten in the wheat, they have to replace it with something to make it edible. Right? So they put in more sugar, twice the sugar, more fat, three times the fat, more salt, more calories, less fiber. It's bad. It's gluten-free junk food. And they put in all sorts of other chemicals and crap and other things that you ... Can I say crap on TV? You just did. You said FLC before. That was your code for it. So I mean, it's just such bad stuff. It's not real food. So I always say, guess what's gluten-free? An avocado is gluten-free. An almond is gluten-free. An egg is gluten-free. Right? I always say, if it has a health claim on the label, like low fat or low this or more of this, it's probably bad for you. Right? If it has a health claim, I probably wouldn't eat it. And if it's easier to remember things, just eat real food. If it has an ingredient list or a barcode or a nutrition facts label, be careful. Be careful. So there's something you brought up before the segment that I didn't know about, and that's the reality that there's not a lot of regulation about what gluten-free even means. And a lot of times, there's a little bit of gluten in gluten-free foods. It's very hard to get all the gluten out of gluten-free foods. I mean, if it's an avocado, it's gluten-free, right? But if it's a processed food, it's made in a factory, there may be contamination with other gluten-containing products. And the FDA says the factories have to meet certain standards, but they don't investigate. They don't really tightly regulate. So you're kind of on your own a little bit. So you have to be very careful. And that's why I say, you know, just eat real food. But the little bit of gluten in gluten-free foods is probably okay unless you've got celiac, right? If you've got celiac, then you need the no-fly zone. You can't, you know, have no gluten. Coming over. The next truth is that you probably can pay more money at the checkout counter. Shoshana's in here from our audience. How are you, Shoshana? Hi. Shoshana went shopping for us. She's been shopping gluten-free for three years. Why'd you go gluten-free? So three years ago, I became very ill. I had the brain fog, the bloating. I started to get severe intestinal and back pain, depression, eczema. I had some extreme symptoms. You had that whole list of problems. And did it help you when you went gluten-free? So I went to an allergist, and he recommended I go gluten-free. And I did. It was hard, but I did it. And three years straight without it, all my symptoms have disappeared. And I'm actually... Good for you. I'm actually... I feel... I feel better than I can remember. Even as a kid, I always had a little bit of bloating issues, and I honestly, like, feel great. You probably even had some of it when you were a kid. You didn't know about it. I don't remember. What's crazy is that most people aren't diagnosed. And actually, people who have full-blown celiac may have it for 10 years before they get diagnosed. So it masquerades as a whole bunch of other symptoms that doctors miss often. So it's good to think about it. So you're here to talk about money a little bit, because you've been shopping this way for a while. So you brought a couple examples. Show me the difference between what you would normally pay if you were the average person versus a gluten-free selection. Okay. So I have bread. Of course, just like Angela, you know, bread is a big part of my life. Whether it's sandwiches or toast, you know, breakfast, lunch, dinner, bread is a big part. So my favorite bread, we found that $0.70 per serving compared to $0.25 per serving for non-gluten free. Three times more. Yeah. And how about this beautiful muffin over here? So muffins, you know, like you were saying, like sweets, you know, brownies, cookies. A muffin is $2 per serving compared to $1 per serving for non-gluten free. Yeah. So think about this, guys. They're charging you a lot more. It takes time to process it. They're going to charge you for that. But also, they know there's a demand. Right. So you want it. They're going to charge you for it. All right. So when we come back, because money can help, but can't solve all the problems, we're going to meet a family who was able to go gluten free in a very inexpensive and easy way. Stay here.