In This Chapter
Looking at several mainstream and specialty diet lifestyles
Seeing how other diets align (or don't) with wheat-free living
Traditionally, the word diet implies food restrictions. People on “diets” change the amount and type of food they eat in order to produce weight or fat loss, create an improvement in health, or observe certain religious or ethical guidelines. But really, the word diet simply describes what a person eats — healthy, unhealthy, or somewhere in between. That second, broader definition is what we mean by “diet.”
In this chapter, we discuss several different dietary principles that people practice, usually for perceived health purposes. Some of these restrictions support the wheat/grain-free lifestyle, whereas others may present a greater challenge in living wheat- or grain-free.
At some point in time, most people jump on the next great dietary idea all in the name of weight loss and, to a lesser degree, good health. But are these dietary bandwagons healthy? The true test of a diet program's effectiveness is whether you can maintain the weight loss and improved health for years to come, not just for a few months.
In the following sections, we explain how eliminating ...