Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow reportedly has her 8-year-old daughter, Apple and 6-year-old son, Moses on a low-carb and gluten-free diet. Unless you're living under a rock, you know that it's important to make sure your children are well nourished during their growing years … but I guess this doesn't apply to the "self-help guru" and creator of food and lifestyle blog, GOOP.
Paltrow writes in her latest cookbook It's All Good: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great, about the diet her family is on which stays away from carbohydrates, gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, sugar, coffee, alcohol, shellfish, wheat, meat and processed foods. She also urges other parents to do the same, but this is not sitting well with medical professionals. Um, is it just me or is this just ABSURD? All the mamás Latinas I know would CRINGE at the thought of not feeding our kids well!
Paltrow has been known to voice her love for macrobiotic diets and the like–even writing cookbooks designated for moms and their kids. However, I have a BIG problem with the fact that her children are being forced on this low-carb and gluten-free diet at such a young age.
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The mother of two writes about why carbs and gluten are "bad" in her latest book:
"Every single nutritionist, doctor and health-conscious person I have ever come across…seems to concur that [gluten] is tough on the system and many of us are at best intolerant of it and at worst allergic to it."
The U.K Daily Mail says that Paltrow's husband, Chris Martin, and the kids are intolerant to gluten, dairy, and chicken eggs which caused her to change their diet by eliminating just that. But nutritionists aren't buying Gwynnie's excuse and say she is being foolish and could potentially cause harm to her children.
Health nutritionist Yvonne Wake tells the site: "Kids need carbohydrates because it gives them glycogen which keeps your brain going." She adds that the brain need carbs in order to function otherwise this can negatively affect their schoolwork as their bodies will react the same way it would without breakfast.
Even Paltrow admits that the carbs-free lifestyle is hard and often leads to starvation in her home. "Sometimes when my family is not eating pasta, bread or processed grains like white rice, we're left with that specific hunger that comes with avoiding carbs." Gee, you think?!
Another nutritionist, Dr. Carina Norris tells the site that these "allergies" Paltrow claims her family has are likely false. Dr. Norris says, "Far too many people self-diagnose themselves with allergies, or cut out wheat to lose weight, or because they think it's bad for them." __She also mentions that the family is setting themselves up for nutritional deficiencies without consulting a doctor!
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I consider myself a health-conscious person–and even I disagree with Paltrow putting her kids on this diet. One thing is to encourage them to eat healthy, but depriving them of other nutritious foods is nuts! It's been proven that carbs as long as they're complex–found in plant foods and whole grains–are GOOD for you. I understand if a person avoids gluten if they've been medically diagnosed as intolerant of it, but otherwise this sounds like a phony scam driven by another silly Hollywood fad diet.
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