For many people who suffer from celiac disease or wheat allergies, eating a sandwich or drinking a beer can be uncomfortable at best and nearly fatal at worst. Products that contain gluten, a thickening additive that is also present in wheat, barley, rye and oats, can pose problems such as abdominal pain and improper nutrient absorption for sufferers. {relatedarticles}But many people who don't have problems with gluten are eliminating it from their diets. Why and how do you eliminate a substance that's ubiquitous in the foods we eat? Many stars like Oprah Winfrey and Jennifer Aniston are going gluten-free as part of the trend of cleansing diets, those that allegedly eliminate toxins from the system. Does it work? Sure - anytime calories are severely restricted, you will lose weight. But it would work regardless, even if those stars kept gluten in their diets.