London: Gluten-free diet favoured by Victoria Beckham and many other stars including actress Gwyneth Paltrow could be making people fat, a new study has revealed.
The controversial wheat-free weight loss plan is designed to help celebrities slim down.
Now, the latest study found that UK supermarkets are cramming in up to five times the amount of fat to bulk up their gluten-free products.
Waitrose cram almost three grams of extra fat into their Love Life wheat-free loaf. Marks and Spencer’s wheat-free bread contains nearly three times as much fat as the regular version.
And Sainsbury’s FreeFrom pitta bread could pile on the pounds as it racks up almost five times as much fat.
“People assume that by cutting out gluten they are going to lose weight. It’s a myth,” a newspaper quoted food expert Tanya Thomas of the British Dietetic Association, as saying.
Sarah Sleet, chief executive of Coeliac UK, which represents people with wheat allergies, said: “Undoubtedly there has been a rise in diagnosis of coeliac disease, but it can’t explain the explosion in gluten-free products.
“Many people are choosing to go gluten-free because they simply want to reduce their wheat intake,” she stated.
She added that the industry had a problem with higher fat in gluten-free bread and bakery products.
ANI
