Kelly Courson has been gluten-free since 1996. She says that stripping gluten from her diet solved all of her gastro-intestinal problems.

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"In two weeks it was like a miracle cure," explained Courson.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. It’s used in everything from soups and sauces to breads and pastas, cakes and cookies – mostly processed foods.

When Courson was first diagnosed, there weren’t many gluten-free products on the market.

"You had to drive a long ways to get it,” explained Courson. “Like it wasn't at your local grocery store."

Today, gluten-free products are everywhere. Cookies, popcorn, chips, bagels and cupcakes are available at most markets. Even some restaurants, like Lilit Café in Bethesda, Maryland are offering gluten-free menus.

And Hollywood A-listers like Gwenyth Paltrow, Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian are boasting about losing weight with a gluten-free diet. But for everyone following this latest trend, watch out.

"In actuality there's a lot of processed foods, sweets, that are gluten-free that actually have a high amount of fat and sugar," explained Carol Casco, a Clinical Dietician at Washington Hospital Center.

ABC7 did some comparison shopping:

Regular Breyers Chocolate Ice Cream
• 140 calories
• 7 grams of fat
• 17 carbs a serving

Gluten-free Breyers Chocolate Ice Cream
• 180 calories
• 7 grams of fat
• 27 carbs a serving

When it comes to waffles, the gluten-free kind has 30 more calories and nine extra carbs. In cookies, gluten-free means more calories, more fat and more carbs.

The bottom line: doctors say it really only helps to go gluten-free if you have a gluten sensitivity or celiac disease.

The gluten-free craze has also become a marketer’s dream. Some have even started to label their products as gluten-free, even though they never contained gluten in the first place.

To learn more about the gluten-free industry and celiac disease , click here for the ABC7 Guide to Gluten.