Although they both involve restricting certain high-carbohydrate foods, gluten-free and low-carb diets have some important differences.
A gluten-free diet involves avoiding gluten – a protein found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye – in all its forms. It’s essential that people with coeliac disease, wheat allergies and gluten intolerances or sensitivitiesfollow a gluten-free diet in order to avoid the serious health problems that consuming gluten can cause them.
But while a gluten-free diet involves avoiding products containing gluten, it does not prohibit any other forms of food. As long as they are free of gluten, followers are free to eat foods high in carbohydrates, such as fruits, vegetables, and non-gluten grains such as rice and quinoa.
A low-carb diet – such as keto, paleo and Atkin’s – on the other hand, is about limiting all types of carbohydrate. Followers of these kind of diets tend to favour protein-rich foods, healthy fats and non-starchy vegetables as energy sources and avoid high-carb foods such as bread, pasta, fruits and certain veggies. Many people turn to low-carb diets to control their weight, rather than to control a disease, allergy or intolerance like those on gluten-free diets.
