Gluten free diet proliferates, but not all benefit

Ten years ago, few knew what was gluten. Today, many people seek to avoid this element found in grains. Increasingly, the world's leading food manufacturers and restaurant chains are reformulating their recipes and labels, creating a billion-dollar industry of gluten-free products.
The trend has caught the attention of Heather Nutsch, a researcher of the United States in the area of oncology that for years has been fighting off the scale. In February, she decided to follow a gluten free diet.
Many healthcare experts, however, say there is no evidence of the benefits of this diet, except for a small portion of the population that can't process protein. According to the labels, many foods contain less gluten-free vitamins, less fiber and more sugar.
"I have no idea," says Donnie Smith, CEO of Tyson Foods Inc., asked if the gluten-free products are healthier for most people. The American company launched in 2013 chicken nuggets, beef sandwiches and even gluten-free bacon.
Today people care about what they eat in a way totally different. The desire to eat better, combined with initiatives of food companies in search of new opportunities for growth, created a circle of influence being much fueled by the internet. The result is a cacophony of contradictory statements and beliefs about how to eat that can either confuse freeing consumers.
A wave of books and documentaries over the last ten years has aroused suspicions about the food industry-ingredients used at the treatment given to animals. Social networks have accelerated the spread of new food trends: Facebook has more than 1,000 groups with "gluten free" (gluten-free) in the name, including a group of meetings called "Singles" gluten-free.
In response, companies have created a battery of novel foods, turning what could be a mania isolated in broad categories of new products. The Nielsen research firm lists more than 75 allegations concerning health and welfare printed by food manufacturers in front of packaging. The older labels such as "low fat" or "low sugar" joined "low-carbohydrate", "100% natural", "organic", "transgenic", "not free" and "dairy free of hormones", among others.
Critics say that some of these labels can be misleading. Labels with the claim "trans fat free" are appearing in products such as milk, for example, who never had the artificial trans fat that clogs the arteries.
The quote "cane sugar" and "agave nectar" today are also popular on the labels, but academic studies show that these ingredients have the same harmful effects of high fructose corn syrup. Sales of products "free of corn syrup" soared 45 percent in the last four years earlier for $ 921 million, according to Nielsen.
For food companies, the new categories create a chance to take advantage of the euphoria of the consumer at a time that sales of ready-to-eat foods and sold in restaurants chains are stagnant. Another benefit: although it is more expensive to manufacture these products ' healthy ', companies charge up to double the price for some of them, keeping and even increasing their profit margins, says retail consultant Willard Bishop.
Gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye. Its elastic structure makes it ideal for baking, but triggers an autoimmune response in a small number of people, affecting their intestines.
The Brazil has no official data on the disease, but a survey of 2005, presented to the Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, identified a celiac, as it is called the bearer of this inherited condition, in each group of 214 people. In the USA, they are between two and three million people, less than 1% of the population.
Some doctors were suggesting the Elimination of gluten in patients to cure mysterious diseases. Celebrities joined the craze, giving the gluten powers to lose weight and increase energy. In a few years, the model was built: today, the gluten-free products can be seen at any supermarket, including first-line brands. Is even gluten-free dog food. In some countries, the labels "gluten-free" are also being placed on foods that never had wheat, barley or rye-like vegetables and yogurt.
Global retail sales of products specially formulated to be gluten-free almost doubled since 2007, to $ 2.1 billion last year, according to Euromonitor International. In Latin America, sales of products labelled as gluten-free totaled US $ 94.8 million last year, 6.3 percent more than in 2012, and should reach $ 127,3 million by 2018, according to research firm Euromonitor.
The Brazil is responsible for the bulk of this volume, where sales reached $ 68.5 million last year, a high of 14.6% before 2012. Euromonitor's prediction is that until 2018 they reach $ 87.2 million.
Despite the growing publicity of such products, the majority of executives at food industry claims that a gluten-free diet must be made by those who have medical needs. Nutsch, cancer researcher, said he followed his gluten-free diet for two weeks and lost a few pounds. But she said she never felt completely satisfied eating the same things everyday and gave up. "I noticed a difference in how my body was feeling," she said. "But I don't know if it's because it was gluten-free or because I was doing fresh food every day."