Avoiding Gluten Good For More Than Just Celiacs, Study Confirms

25th March 2015

By Sayer Ji

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

If listening to your body has lead you to identify gluten as a health problem and you feel better after removing it, a new study adds to an already extensive body of research  that the rapidly expanding gluten free movement is not a fad as critics claim. 

The gluten free (GF) movement has taken on powerful momentum in the past few years, with GF labeled products estimated to balloon to about 7 billion dollars globally by 2019. And so, with any popular dietary pattern promising beneficial changes in health and well-being, as well as challenging both centuries old beliefs in the value of wheat and their producer’s and manufacturer’s bottom line, the growing popularity and perceive health benefits of the GF diet is destined to cause controversy and backlash, as evidenced by recent mainstream reporting:

• Eat More Gluten: The Diet Must Be A Fad (Time.com)
• Backlash has begun against gluten free dieters (Washingtonpost.com)
• The dangers of going gluten-free (Macleans.ca)

A new study, however, provides sound evidence that one does not need to have classically defined celiac disease (i.e. validated by HLA DQ2/8 gene tests and intestinal biopsy) in order to benefit from going gluten free. In fact, this is why the gluten free movement is so popular: most people who opt out of eating gluten feel better when they abstain, worse when they partake. But medical professionals, wheat industry spokespersons and even some friendly to advocating for natural, evidence-based alternatives like Dr. Greger, think the case against eating wheat is overblown, if not downright fraudulent.

What The New Gluten Study Revealed

The new study published in the journalClinical Gastroenterology and Hepatologytitled, “Small Amounts of Gluten in Subjects with Suspected Nonceliac Gluten Sensitivity: a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Cross-Over Trial,” aimed to add insight into the “debate over the existence of non celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) – intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms in response to ingestion of gluten-containing foods by people without celiac disease or wheat allergy.”

A Italian group of researchers conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial to determine the effects of administration of low doses of gluten to subjects with suspected non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

The study method was described as follows:

“We enrolled 61 adults without celiac disease or wheat allergy who believe ingestion of gluten-containing food to be the cause of their intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms. Participants were randomly assigned to groups given either 4.375 g/day gluten or rice starch (placebo) for 1 week, each via gastro-soluble capsules. After a 1 week of gluten-free diet, participants crossed over to the other group. The primary outcome was the change in overall (intestinal and extra-intestinal) symptoms, determined by established scoring systems, between gluten and placebo intake. A secondary outcome was the change in individual symptom scores between gluten vs placebo.”

The results clearly showed adverse effects after re-introduction of gluten following the 1 week withdrawal period:

“According to the per-protocol analysis of data from the 59 patients who completed the trial, intake of gluten significantly increased overall symptoms compared with placebo (P=.034). Abdominal bloating (P=.040) and pain (P=.047), among the intestinal symptoms, and foggy mind (P=.019), depression (P=.020), and aphthous stomatitis (P=.025), among the extra-intestinal symptoms, were significantly more severe when subjects received gluten than placebo.”

The authors concluded:

“In a cross-over trial of subjects with suspected NCGS, the severity of overall symptoms increased significantly during 1 week of intake of small amounts of gluten, compared with placebo.”

CONTINUE READING:

Further articles by Sayer Ji:

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• Research: Plants Cure Cancer, Not Chemicals
• A Higher Level of Freedom – The Benefit of Cannabis to Health
• Eating Wheat & Cow’s Milk Disrupt DNA Expression & Antioxidant Status
• How WHOLE Turmeric Heals the Damaged Brain
• Fluoridated Water Can Calcify Arteries, Study Finds
• How Monsanto’s ‘RoundUp’ is Cursing the Global Food Supply
• Research Proving Vitamin C’s Therapeutic Value in 200+ Diseases
• Biophotons: The Human Body Emits, Communicates with, and is Made from Light
• 13 Evidence-Based Medicinal Properties of Coconut Oil
• The Ancient Flower That Heals The Human Soul

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