Sorting fact from myth about a gluten-free diet, and why it may be bad for you
For one in 100 people gluten is a poison; a further 6 per cent may suffer discomfort if they eat it; for the rest of us, there is no evidence avoiding gluten does you good, and some evidence it can cause weight gain and harm health
A few years ago, gluten-free products were virtually unheard of, but these days they’re so common on supermarket shelves it’s hard not to think of gluten as some kind of diet enemy like trans fats or added sugar.
For an estimated one per cent of the population who have coeliac disease, gluten is indeed a poison. Just a brief exposure to the protein compound – primarily found in wheat, barley and rye – can cause an immune response from the body that damages the surface of the intestines, disrupting the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food.
For up to six per cent of the population with non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, gluten can induce gastrointestinal or extraintestinal symptoms such as mental fatigue (aka “brain fog”), lack of energy or lethargy, gas, bloating, abdominal pain or cramps, diarrhoea and even constipation.
But for the rest of the population, gluten, which gives elasticity to dough and makes bread chewy, is perfectly palatable. Yet a gluten-free diet has become trendy in recent years, much like wearable technology, athleisure, CrossFit or cold-pressed juices.
While a gluten-free diet is a critical – and only – medical treatment for people with coeliac disease, most who follow the diet do so for other reasons, such as the impression that it’s “healthier” than a regular diet, or for no particular reason at all, according to recent commentary on the fact and fiction of the gluten-free fad in the Journal of Paediatrics.
“The prevalence of coeliac disease is increasing, reflected by escalating awareness of coeliac disease in the scientific community. This increase in disease prevalence and awareness of coeliac disease, however, does not account for the disproportionate increase in growth of the gluten-free food industry,” says the commentary’s author, Dr Norelle Reilly, from New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Centre. “According to market research, consumers without coeliac disease purchase the vast bulk of gluten-free products.”