Is Gluten Really Causing Your Gut Ailment?
Research finds people with self-declared gluten sensitivity experienced symptoms whether or not they ate gluten.
People who report being gluten intolerant but do not have celiac disease may be experiencing gut symptoms unrelated to gluten intake, new research suggests.
A study involving individuals with self-reported gluten sensitivity has found that they experienced gut symptoms such as bloating and abdominal pain regardless of whether or not they consumed gluten.
Assoc Prof Jessica Biesiekierski of the University of Melbourne, one of the study’s senior authors, said the findings were significant in light of popular blame on gluten as a trigger for various symptoms.
Only about 1% of people in western countries have celiac disease, an autoimmune condition in which gluten causes an inflammatory reaction in the small bowel.
“Celiac disease is a well-defined medical condition. It has a clear diagnostic pathway,” Biesiekierski said. For people with coeliac disease, a gluten-free diet is the only effective treatment option. However, about 10% of the population self-report being gluten sensitive. “We’ve got this large number of people who are following a gluten-free diet, possibly unnecessarily,” Biesiekierski said. “Gluten is actually a complex mixture of proteins found in wheat, and related proteins are also present in rye, barley and sometimes oats.
“When you follow a gluten-free diet, you’re excluding an entire group of cereals and grains. Over the long term, this can lead to nutritional inadequacies and is often more costly.”
The study involved 16 participants with non-celiac gluten sensitivity and 20 healthy controls. Researchers gave participants yoghurt containing either 16g of gluten or whey protein. For five days, the participants also consumed two muffins daily, which each contained either 8g gluten, or no gluten.
