Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Only an estimated one percent of the population has Celiac disease — an autoimmune disorder where ingestion of gluten can lead to small intestine damage — yet 21 percent of Americans actively try to include gluten-free foods in their diets anyway. Considering the pricey mark-up of these foods, and the lack of additional health benefits, this shouldn’t make any sense.
But it does.
And the experts at HealthGrove found out why.
Using data from Mintel market research, Gallup and the ESHA nutrition database, HealthGrove, the health data visualization and analysis site from Graphiq, examined the rise of the gluten-free market, people’s reasoning for eating gluten-free and the demographic trends of this diet in America.
In short, the data suggests a picture of a modern-day capitalist romance — the marriage of general consumer naivete with the food industry’s desire to make money from it.
According to Dr. Daniel A. Leffler, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard, “people who are sensitive to gluten may feel better, but a larger portion will derive no significant benefit from the practice. They’ll simply waste their money, because these products are expensive.”
People think gluten-free means healthier (it doesn’t always), and food marketers think those people will pay more for foods with a gluten-free label (they often do). This, in turn, has contributed to the massive growth of the gluten-free market.
Using sales data from June 2011 to June 2013, Mintel examined the rise of this billion dollar industry. Included in their analysis is anything with a gluten-free label, regardless of whether it’s already naturally gluten-free or not.
If you know what gluten is, you should immediately recognize the illogical growth of some of those categories.
Gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye (think bread and oatmeal, here) is obviously not present in meat and dairy. Yet dairy and dairy alternative products saw a 58 percent growth in sales of items labeled gluten-free, and meat and meat alternatives saw a 32 percent increase.
For non-Celiac consumers, though, this diet can cost more than just money — it can also be taxing on your health.
For those with the disease, ingesting gluten causes an inflammatory reaction that can severely damage the lining of the small intestine.
But for those without the disease? Gluten does … well, nothing.
However, the grains in which it is present are generally considered very healthy and provide many nutrients and fiber to promote digestion. According to dietician Katherine Tallmadge in an article for Scientific American, a gluten-free diet for most people will mean “eating a lot of foods that are stripped of nutrients.”
So next time you’re looking for a healthy alternative, consider reaching for the gluten, rather than avoiding it.
In a 2013 Mintel Survey, 65 percent of respondents cited “because it’s healthier” as their motivation for going gluten-free, 27 percent do it for “weight loss” and it’s possible that most of these people don’t even know what gluten is.
That’s not to say that some non-Celiac people who go gluten-free don’t actually feel better. But, as dietician Tallmadge points out, this is probably because they cut out desserts and junk foods in cutting out gluten, which would make most people feel better, and then “mistakenly attribute that to their gluten-free decision.”
When all of this is taken into consideration, it makes sense that gluten-free labels are getting put on everything from bread to condiments — if people don’t know what it is but associate it with “healthy” and pay a pretty penny for it, why not?
Until people learn that gluten-free doesn’t mean “healthier” and that, subsequently, the increased price isn’t worth it, food companies will ride this diet fad as far as the profit margins will take them.
According the The Daily Meal’s 2013 rankings, New England is home to many of the nation’s best college dining experiences. See which schools made the list…
19. Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
National Rank: 59
Home to over 14,400 students, Boston College Boston confers more than 4,000 degrees annually in more than 50 fields of study through eight schools and colleges. Routinely included as one of the best universities in the nation, U.S. News & World Report ranked BC 31st among national universities, and Forbes ranked it 26th in its 2012 America’s Best Colleges listing.
18. Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
National Rank: 56
Founded in 1769, Dartmouth is a member of the Ivy League and consistently ranks among the world’s greatest academic institutions. Home to approximately 4,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students, Dartmouth was named by the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton as one of the world’s “most enduring institutions” in 2004.
17. Roger Williams University
Bristol, RI
National Rank: 53
Located in Brostol, Rhode Island, Roger Williams University is a leading independent, coeducational university with programs in the liberal arts and the professions, where students become community- and globally-minded citizens through project-based, experiential learning. RWU offers more than 40 majors, a plethora of co-curricular activities, and study abroad options.
16. Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH
National Rank: 47
Founded in 1889 by the world’s oldest religious order, the Benedictines—a Catholic order that has endured and thrived for more than 1,500 years—Saint Anselm is located on a hilltop overlooking Manchester, N.H. Named one of the country’s “Colleges with a Conscience” by The Princeton Review, Saint Anselm requires several philosophy and theology courses and the completion of a humanities program entitled “Portraits of Human Greatness.
15. University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT
National Rank: 46
Home to, over 22,000 students, the University of Connecticut is the state’s flagship institution of higher learning. Founded in 1881, the UCONN includes 13 Schools and Colleges at its main campus in Storrs, separate Schools of Law and Social Work in Hartford, five regional campuses throughout the state and Schools of Medicine and Dentistry at the UConn Health Center in Farmington.
14. Brown University
Providence, RI
National Rank: 44
Founded in 1764, Brown University is the seventh-oldest college in the United States. Brown is an independent, coeducational Ivy League institution comprising undergraduate and graduate programs, plus the Alpert Medical School, School of Public Health, School of Engineering, Executive Master of Healthcare Leadership and the IE Brown Executive MBA. In 2010, Brown was named by the 2010 Princeton Review as the #1 College in America for Happiest Students.
13. Colby College
Waterville, ME
National Rank: 40
Founded in 1813, Colby is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the nation, and in 1871 it became the first previously all-male college in New England to admit women. Home to just over 1,800 students, undergraduates can choose from 55 majors and 31 minors, or design their own independent major.
12. College of the Atlantic
Bar Harbor, ME
National Rank: 39
Founded in 1969, College of the Atlantic is a small, liberal arts college on Mount Desert Island, off the coast of Maine. At COA each student designs his or her own course of study in human ecology. Whether observing whales from the college’s research vessel, pursuing an independent photo-journalism project in the Yucatan, studying international treaties, converting a campus building to solar power, or volunteering on one of COA’s organic farms, students at COA learn from experience both inside and outside the classroom.
11. Connecticut College
New London, CT
National Rank: 38
Founded in 1911, Connecticut College is a diverse school with 1,900 students hailing from 45 states and 72 countries. Forbes ranked the school 102nd in its 2013 overall list, and 78th among private colleges. U.S. News and World Report ranked Connecticut College 41st among the top liberal arts colleges in 2012. The school offers more than a thousand courses in 29 academic departments and 7 interdisciplinary programs.
10. Boston University
Boston, MA
National Rank: 36
Founded in 1839, Boston University is home to more than 33,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 140 countries, and 10,000 faculty and staff. It features 16 schools and colleges, and 250 fields of study across two campuses. U.S. News & World Report ranks BU 41st among national universities for 2014.
9. Bates College
Lewiston, ME
National Rank: 32
Home to over 1,700 students, Bates College is a private liberal arts college, which was founded by abolitionists in 1855. It is the oldest oldest continuously operating coeducational institution in New England. The school was ranked 22nd in the nation in the 2014 US News & World Report Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. Home to roughly 2,000 students, Bates offers 32 departmental and interdisciplinary program majors and 25 secondary concentrations.
8. Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT
National Rank: 29
Known for the excellence of its academic and co-curricular programs, Wesleyan University is home to about 2,900 undergraduates—and some 200 graduate students—from all around the world. Founded in 1831, the school 40 undergraduate academic departments and 11 graduate departmental programs in the sciences, mathematics, computer science, music , and psychology.
7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
National Rank: 25
Founded in 1861, MIT is home to more than 11,000 students and nearly 1,800 faculty members. It offers 49 major programs and 46 minor programs. One of the most prestigious universities in the country, MIT has been affiliated with 78 Nobel Laureates, 53 National Medal of Science winners, 43 MacArthur Fellows, 27 National Medal of Technology and Innovation winners.
6. Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT
National Rank: 22
Founded in 1800, Middlebury College is home to 2,500 undergraduates from all 50 states and over 70 countries. It offers 44 majors in the arts, literature, humanities, foreign languages, social sciences, and natural sciences. Middlebury became one of the first all-male liberal arts colleges to become coeducational when it opened its doors to women in 1883.
5. Harvard Universtiy
Cambridge, MA
National Rank: 21
Established in 1636, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. The University, is home to over 20,000 degree candidates, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Harvard has more than 360,000 alumni around the world. Eight U.S. presidents have graduated from Harvard and 150 Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the school.
4. Yale University
New Haven, CT
National Rank: 10
Home to more than 11,000 students, Yale University comprises three major academic components: Yale College (the undergraduate program), the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the professional schools. In addition, Yale encompasses a wide array of centers and programs, libraries, museums, and administrative support offices. U.S. News & World Report ranked Yale 3rd among national universities in 2014.
3. Tufts University
Medford, MA
National Rank: 9
Home to nearly 11,000 students, Tufts is a private research university founded in 1852. Tufts is organized into ten schools—including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and the French Alps. In 2013, Forbes ranked Tufts 17th among Research Universities.
2. University of Massachusetts – Amherst
Amherst, MA
National Rank: 7
The Commonwealth’s flagship campus, UMass Amherst is a nationally-ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. Home to 28,236 total undergraduate and graduate students, the school offers 108 bachelor’s degree programs, six associate’s, 76 master’s and 52 doctoral programs in nine schools and colleges.
1. Bowdoin College
Brunswick, ME
National Rank: 1
Founded in 1794, Bowdoin is home to 1,775 students and 190 full-time faculty members, 99% of which possess a Ph.D. or the highest degree in their field. It was listed as the fourth-best liberal arts college in the U.S. in the 2014 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
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