Whether you are an avid watcher of “The Bachelor” or your remote just happens to land on its TV channel once in a while, most likely you are entertained by the spectacle that results when 25 women vie for the same guy.
True to form, the season premiere last night did not disappoint with a variety of ridiculous strategies for grabbing Bachelor Ben’s attention. There’s the woman who brought her own miniature horse, the one who wore a unicorn on her head, and then the dentist who donned a giant rose as a headband. From silly to psycho, the ladies brought it all. But one woman took a real departure from reality as the “nutritional therapist” who introduced herself by stating that “gluten was Satan” and then violently murdering a beautiful baguette.
As a Bachelor fan, I can excuse some of the other antics. As a Registered Dietitian, I can’t excuse a complete ignorance of science and nutrition knowledge.
If Satan’s “handler” had a grip on actual science, she would know that the effects of gluten are not the same for everyone, and for the majority of the population, there is no need to avoid it. About one in 100 consumers have celiac disease, and for those who do, they must avoid gluten. But for the general public, there is no evidence to show that removing gluten from the diet, in and of itself, leads to weight loss or any health benefit for those without a medical need to avoid gluten.
There is evidence, however, that the anti-gluten pick-up line does not work. Sadly, the woman didn’t receive a rose at the end of the night and was sent home. She didn’t receive a consolation basket of breads, pasta, and cereal, so instead we’ll offer these resources to help her break her bad habit of spewing nonsense:
https://staging.foodinsight.org/blogs/much-ado-about-gluten-infographic