Have You Heard the News? Gluten Intolerance May Not Exist

Is gluten intolerance real?

I had no idea how much emotion filled controversy there was around the gluten-free movement until recently.  Our family is on a gluten reduced diet because my husband and my boys all have clear issues when they eat glutinous products like wheat flour bread, crackers, pasta, etc.

My interest was piqued, to say the least, when my brother reported he had read of a new study (conducted by one of the original “discoverers” of gluten sensitivity).  I’m not the only one who’s interest was piqued.  The article has been all over  internet news channels lately…

Gluten Sensitivity May Not Exist

Being Gluten Free Isn’t Dumb, But it Might Be Wrong

Study says non-celiac gluten sensitivity may not be real

To summarize, back in 2011, Australian researcher Peter Gibson, professor of gastroenterology at Monash University and director of the GI Unit at The Alfred Hospital, published a study that found that gluten could cause gastrointestinal distress in individuals without celiac disease–an autoimmune disorder that proven to be triggered by gluten.  This experiment (a large and well executed one) pointed strongly to the theory that non-celiac gluten sensitivity, or intolerance, was a real condition.

Image Credit – Matthew Mendoza

Now, just a few years later, that same researcher has published a new study that has the world buzzing, “Is gluten intolerance real?”   This time Dr. Gibson’s study was even more well designed and included more controls–they even tested the participants poop for intestinal inflammation markers and injury.  Now that is thorough!

Here is the methodology the researchers used:

Participants were randomly assigned to groups given a 2-week diet of reduced FODMAPs, and were then placed on high-gluten (16 g gluten/d), low-gluten (2 g gluten/d and 14 g whey protein/d), or control (16 g whey protein/d) diets for 1 week, followed by a washout period of at least 2 weeks.

Participants were each shuffled through the 3 different diets, and guess what! Participants reported worsening of symptoms to similar degrees on both the placebo and high gluten diets.

Now, I know that when my husband eats wheat and other glutinous product he gets almost instant gas and bloating.  When he gives his appetite free reign and eats whatever his heart desires (think man-appropriate amounts of glutinous bread, crackers, cereal, etc.) his symptoms are extreme enough to fall in the IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) category.  In other words, his symptoms are no placebo effect.

So, then what is going on? Is gluten intolerance real or not?

While researchers say that more research is necessary to know exactly what is going on here, evidence points to foods known as FODMAPs (fermentable, poorly absorbed, short-chain carbohydrates) as the more likely culprit of the gastrointestinal distresses often associated with gluten intolerance or sensitivity.   Researchers say they found no evidence of specific effects of gluten in patients with non-celiac gluten sensitivity placed diets low in FODMAPs.

I think this is a very interesting conclusion.  While I’m not quite ready to say that gluten doesn’t produce ill gastrointestinal affects in non-celiac people, I’m interested in hearing the future research on FODMAPs.

Tomorrow I’ll post a couple infographic listing foods that are high in FODMAPs and foods that are low in FODMAPs.  And, if you’re sharp, you might find that there is a caveat to this whole “gluten is not the culprit” conclusion. 😉

CLICK HERE TO READ MY CONCLUSION ON THIS RESEARCH AND READ MORE ABOUT FODMAPS