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Gluten: Friend or Foe?
Health | January 21, 2016
Gluten talk is everywhere! Gluten has been quite the buzz word in nutrition over these past few years. Some people regard it as poison, where others dismiss being gluten-free as just another diet fad.
I recently read a fascinating article in the New York Times about a new way to test gluten sensitivity in athletes. This study was so interesting because it was the first ever study where the participants were unable to tell if they were ingesting gluten or not. Before we go into the specifics, let’s talk gluten for a minute.
What the heck is gluten, anyway? The website for the Celiac Disease Foundation tells us that, “Gluten is a general name for the proteins found in wheat, rye, barley and triticale. Gluten helps foods maintain their shape, acting as a glue that holds food together.” Bread, cereals, baked goods, and wraps are all common foods that usually contain gluten.
Many people believe that eating gluten causes inflammation of bodily tissues and intestinal distress. They call it gluten sensitivity. Some people also have what’s called Celiac Disease. And there’s a big difference between gluten sensitivity and Celiac Disease. The CDF also tells us that, “Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that can occur in genetically predisposed people where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine.” When the small intestine gets damaged, it makes it hard for the body to absorb nutrients. This can cause chronic diarrhea, vomiting, delayed growth in children, dental defects, bone loss, joint problems, etc. If you think you might have Celiac Disease, it’s important to talk to your doctor so that you can be tested for it. Autoimmune disorders are very serious.
It’s because of gluten’s possibly serious effects on our bodies that researchers were eager to test how ingestion of the proteins affected performance and inflammation levels in athletes. It’s very common in the fitness world for athletes to adopt a gluten-free diet, believing that it makes them feel better and perform at higher levels.
For the duration of the study, which was published in December of 2015 in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers asked 13 cyclists (each of which tested negative for Celiac Disease) to eat a gluten-free diets. For two weeks, all of the cyclists trained similarly and in addition to their gluten-free diets, ate protein bars given to them by the researchers.
For one of the weeks, the protein bars given to the cyclists were gluten-free. For the other week, the bars contained a pretty hefty dose of gluten in each bar. The cyclists were unable to tell the difference in taste between the gluten bars and the non-gluten bars.
Amazingly, whether they were eating gluten or not, there was no difference in the athletes performances, or in the way they felt, or in digestion, or in their inflammation levels. This led the researches to believe that the intake of gluten in non-celiac athletes doesn’t really matter one way or the other.
I think this study raises a lot of questions. I’d personally like to see more research on the subject. What about you?
And I’d love to hear your thoughts on this hot-button topic. What do you think about gluten? Have you had any experience with Celiac Disease or gluten sensitivity? Do you think this study proves anything?
Private Member |
I study molecular biology and I can say that there is no proof so far that gluten-free diet would improve health in any way if you don’t have celiac disease. It is true that this particular study mentioned in the article involve too small number of participants to conclude anything but it still suggests that this big fuss about going gluten-free is just a product of marketing. Many people who tried the diet and found it beneficial do not realize that what really helped them was actually eliminating bread, pasta etc. and focusing more on what they eat. Some of its effect may be even count as a placebo effect. What is even more alarming is that many people who claim themselves to be “gluten-free” do not know what is gluten!
Private Member |
I didn’t want to join the gluten free trend because I thought it was all marketing. But I have endometriosis and since there is no cure and since I’ve already had one surgical procedure (which works for a bit, then the pain returns after some time), I tried a gluten free diet on a friends’ doctor’s recommendation. After 2 mos I saw a dramatic difference in my endometriosis symptoms. I changed nothing else. I did not lose weight or see any other dramatic changes, though I did notice that my belly was flatter. I’m not 100% gluten free, but I do avoid it because I was able to prove it’s effectiveness in my own personal experiment. It’s a great idea for people struggling with health issues to try going GF because I think the stress gluten may introduce to a body already fighting something else may make a surprising, but huge difference.
Private Member |
I feel that limiting my gluten intake has reduced bloating and cravings. I have read William Davis’ book about how gluten impacts our bodies, which might have had an effect on how I feel about gluten.. However I don’t feel that my body needs gluten and limiting it has definitely helped me in getting a steady blood sugar, even though my diet never has been packed of wheat for example 🙂 so for me personally, it has helped in not looking like 7 months pregnant after I eat 😀 and in not having food related mood swings
Private Member |
I think the key is eating whole food forms of gluten, not processed. Barley, wheat berries, spelt, etc. I think people become sensitive after repetitively eating too much forms of processed gluten. Those energy bars should mostly be avoided!
Private Member |
toronto, canada
While I wouldn’t suggest for everyone because I think you generally know if you have serious digestive sensitivities… I did an elimination diet with the help of my nutritionist friend. It was based on quick and simple digestion – lots of raw veggies and nuts/seeds, with slow introductions to cooked low-starch veggies, then legumes, then animal protein, then non-gluten grains and so on. For two weeks I had no dairy, gluten, soy, eggs, peanuts, or shellfish. Then I added in heavy doses of one of the “possible irritants” one day at a time with several days off between “test days”. If no reaction, the food was allowed to stay in the diet until the end – about 1 month total. While it wasn’t easy, the experiment side of the diet was fun for me and I found it motivational and interesting.
The conclusion: gluten is fine for me, dairy is not (always guessed as much since my whole family hates the taste of milk and finds it difficult to digest – but turns out yogurt is also an irritant for me even with very little lactose), and interestingly soy had a bad reaction – so no more soy milk either.
Again, not suggesting it conclusively proves if gluten or other things are good for you, but I found it fun and I am more comfortable eating my whole grains with gluten given all the buzz.
Private Member |
I am on gluten free diet. I am not hard core, just stay away from gluten as much as possible. My understanding of gluten is it stays in our intestine for a long period of time therefore it causes lower part of our stomach to get bigger. I noticed that lower part of my stomach was flatter after I reduced gluten intake.
Private Member |
uk
Zuzka,
why are you on gluten free diet?
x
Private Member |
méxico city, méxico
I’m an Orthopaedic Surgeon (Gastro is not my speciality, indeed) but with my Gastro and Internal Medicine colleagues I’ve seen Gluten is a complicated issue because they identify just to groups. Celiacs and normal people.
There is no doubt about Celiacs eliminating Gluten from their lives, but what about non Celiacs?
I’m not Celiac and when I tried, I noticed no difference between eating Gluten or not, but my wife is not Celiac and she experienced all the difference in the world when she eliminated Gluten from her diet.
No more gastrointestinal problems, and even some goose-skin she had just disappeared.
As Fernanda, from Curitiba stated: Many persons are Gluten Sensitive and they don’t know it. If you try a Gluten Free diet and feel that kind of difference, maybe you are Gluten Sensitive.
Private Member |
As the article stated the bars contained 16 grams of gluten, I think it’d be helpful to know how many grams of gluten the athletes were eating previous to the experiment. A quick Google search says the average slice of whole wheat bread contains 4.8 grams of gluten. If the athletes we used to eating three or so slices of bread per day, it’s hard to tell if they would notice a difference when they stopped eating the bread and started eating the bar with gluten…. Especially with such a short time frame, as its may not allow small changes to snowball into something noticeable.
Private Member |
Laila had a great metaphor with smoking and like she said, two weeks is not enough. It’s a poorly done study and only benefits those who try to market the gluten free diet as a fad.
Some people can’t eat gluten, some can. Gluten does cause inflammation and it’s not a matter or belief. For some the carbs in wheat cause problems and for some the gluten. The lack of high quality testing is a problem.
If you’re not feeling like a million bucks, you should look into gluten sensitivity as a possibilty of being a problem for you. If you’re feeling like a million bucks and are eating gluten containing foods, it seems you done have a problem and that’s great.
If you’re interested in this, searh e.g. Dr Tom O’Bryan or Dr. Alessio Fasano, e.g. their interviews in Youtube is easy way approach this.
This is a quote from Dr. Tom O’Bryan: “Gluten free diet is not bad for you, a bad gluten free diet is bad for you.” I agree, man-made processed junk isn’t good for you even if it’s gluten free.
I really hope that people would try to respect the choices of other’s even though they’re not similar to their own. This means not trying to make them as a laughing stock among other things.