Sourced from: Infinite Health Blog, by Dr. Davis, originally posted on the Wheat Belly Blog: 2011-08-03

Jelly beans are gluten-free

Yeah, you knew that already.

Most jelly beans are made of corn syrup, sucrose, corn starch, food coloring, and flavorings.

Original image lost. Replacement
Wikipedia image by Brandon Dilbeck, CC-SA

So, if jelly beans are gluten-free, you should eat lots of them. Right? You should eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Have some more for snacks. Feed them to the kids, serve them to friends. Pass a plate of jelly beans around the table at holidays.

Whoooaa! You mean just because they’re gluten-free does not necessarily mean that they are healthy?

That’s precisely the point.

Gluten-free does not automatically make a food healthy. This is probably among the most difficult of issues for those of us trying to avoid foods containing wheat. Here’s the problem: Most foods labeled gluten-free by food manufacturers are made by substituting wheat flour with cornstarch, rich starch, tapioca starch, or potato starch. These gluten-free flours have some problems. They:
–Increase blood sugar higher than nearly all foods–higher than even wheat!
–High blood sugar triggers glycation, the process that leads to cataracts, diabetes, arthritis, and aging.
–They cause accumulation of visceral fat, similar to the Wheat Belly effect. Gluten-free belly?

There are indeed gluten-free wheat substitutes and foods that are healthy. However, there are next to no products you can purchase that fit this bill. That’s why the Wheat Belly conversation comes complete with its own recipes! These recipes are wheat- and gluten-free, low-carbohydrate, and share none of the adverse effects of most gluten-free foods.