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Should You Go Gluten Free?

Miley Cyrus went gluten free. Should you?
Miley Cyrus went gluten free. Should you?

Miley Cyrus came out swinging on Twitter yesterday against critics who said she has become too skinny. "For everyone calling me anorexic, I have a gluten and lactose allergy," Miley tweeted. "It's not about weight, it's about health."

Obviously, people who have a gluten allergy like Miley want to avoid the protein commonly found in wheat, but we've heard of people avoiding gluten to lose weight, too. Miley also tweeted that gluten is "crap," and she isn't the first person we've heard say that gluten is bad. Curious to know whether the rest of us should be avoiding it, too, we asked Cosmo Radio women's health expert Jennifer Wider, MD, for her take.

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But first, a little background: Recent studies have found that gluten allergies are on the rise in the U.S.-it now affects one in every 133 Americans. If someone who has a gluten allergy eats the stuff, she can have symptoms that include bloating, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. Luckily, there are a lot more gluten-free products on the market now, making it easier to avoid it.

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That said, Dr. Wider doesn't recommend cutting gluten out of your diet as a way to lose weight because you could accidentally avoid nutrients that your body needs. People on gluten-free diets can get the fiber, vitamins, and minerals that your body needs from grains like quinoa, rice, and millet, but they have to cut out anything made from wheat, rye, barley, and certain oats. So no bread, pasta, or, gulp, beer.

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Plus, people who have the allergy are usually under a doctor's supervision so they can safely avoid gluten-it's not a good idea to cut it out without talking to your doctor first.

So for those people who are criticizing Miley's weight loss, stop hating. It's not easy to live gluten-free.

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