Gluten Free Diets Growing In Popularity

Are you one of the  2.7 million Americans following a gluten-free diet?  About a million of you do but medically don’t have to. I love bread too much to play!

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that from 2009 to 2014, the number of patients with celiac disease remained steady at .77 percent. But during that same period, people who didn't have the disease --but avoided gluten-- more than tripled.

 USA Today reports that dieticians have noted that some people follow the diet because they want to control their weight, others follow as a fad diet. Ironically, that's counter-productive because people often gain weight on gluten-free diets.

This study is the first to use national data to track people with celiac and those following a gluten-free diet without a medical need to do so.  Gluten free diets are most popular with those ages 20 to 39, females and non-Hispanic whites.