Gluten Free – Might Not Matter

[Greg Mihalik]

"The [37 self-identified gluten-sensitive patients] cycled through high-gluten, low-gluten, and no-gluten (placebo) diets, without knowing which diet plan they were on at any given time. In the end, all of the treatment diets – even the placebo diet – caused pain, bloating, nausea, and gas to a similar degree. It didn’t matter if the diet contained gluten. "In contrast to our first study… we could find absolutely no specific response to gluten,' Gibson wrote in the paper. A third, larger study published this month has confirmed the findings." Details Here

[Richard May]

It's important to note that Gluten Sensitivity and Celiacs are different. Sensitivity is controversial and may be mostly placebo but there appears to be some research supporting that maybe 1-2% of the population might have it—if it actually exists. Celiacs is well established and even linked to specific genetic mutations, again in about 1% of the population. Even if when the two groups are combined it doesn't justify the number of people intentionally avoiding gluten. The Gluten Free industry is very much bloated. (pun intended)

[Jim Colten]

The Gluten Free industry is very much bloated I very much agree with the objective facts noted by Richard. But if folks want gluten free food they have every right to that preference. In fact, there IS a genuine benefit from the gluten free craze. Several years ago I overheard someone say to a Ciliacs patient: "It must be hard to make good tasting gluten free baked goods" his response: "No, it isn't hard … it is impossible". But that is no longer true thanks to thousands of foodies experimenting with gluten free recipes.

[Roger Caffin]

Jim wrote: The Gluten Free industry is very much bloated Perhaps it would be useful (and accurate) to expand that? The entire fad diet industry is very much bloated Cheers

[Jim Colten]

I was merely quoting Richard. But I would agree that market response to all fads is bloated … it is where the $$$ are to be found.

[Richard May]

Food fads are bloated indeed! They remind me of tele-evangelists taking money on promises and dreams. (OK, I'm kinda harsh about the kind of stuff.) "Several years ago I overheard someone say to a Ciliacs patient: "It must be hard to make good tasting gluten free baked goods" his response: "No, it isn't hard … it is impossible". But that is no longer true thanks to thousands of foodies experimenting with gluten free recipes." +1 True that! If I inherited celiacs then my options are very wide… and I'd expand my quinoa and rice menus options very quickly. Though when I flirted with a GF diet a while back I discovered that GF pasta can be dehydrated very well. So not much lost if I'm willing to do it myself.

[Ralph Burgess]

The stated conclusion of the new Italian study is bizarre. The data show that of 35 participants, all of whom claimed to have Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, only 34% correctly distinguished gluten-containing flour from a gluten-free control. 49% got it wrong, and 17% found no effect. The Italian authors conclude that the 34% REALLY HAVE gluten sensitivity. But of course, if the effect is not attributable to gluten (nocebo, or perhaps something else), then with two choices available you would expect around half of them to choose correctly by chance. I have no idea what the authors were thinking, or how on earth this claim got past the reviewers. Their claim is equivalent to suggesting that if 100 people claim that they have the psychic ability to predict a single coin-toss, and half of them get it right, that half of them are actually psychic. The most likely conclusion from these data is NOT that around one-third of people who claim to have Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity really have symptoms attributable to gluten. The most likely conclusion is that Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity does not exist. A better analysis of the data here ETA: another blog report here Some of the links in that news sciencealert.com report seem to be messed up. These are the two research papers: 2013 Australian study by Gibson 2015 Italian study confirms 2013 study

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

37 people in a study? Yeesh. Way too low. Anyhow, my youngest son has severe allergies (yes boys, they are PROVEN allergies by a real bonafide physician, not a holistic practitioner). One of his allergies is to wheat. Not gluten per say, just wheat. That is something most don't realize: you can be allergic to wheat without being a celiac. He eats wheat, he reacts: eczema, stomach bloating, stinky gas, rampant pooping. He also reacts to dairy this way. His body cannot handle these foods. It's easy to say these things don't exist if you haven't experienced it.

[Ralph Burgess]

Sarah, I'm puzzled as to why you say "It's easy to say these things don't exist if you haven't experienced it." Nobody is suggesting that the SYMPTOMS attributed to "NCGS" don't exist. Nobody is suggesting that people aren't suffering. It's the specific attribution to gluten that's challenged by these studies. ETA: On rereading what I wrote in my prior comment, I realize that it was ambiguous. When I said the disease "NCGS" probably doesn't exist, I didn't mean that people are lying about their symptoms! Just that the cause is not gluten.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

You'd be surprised how many people think allergies are all made up. Hell, I fight with relatives over this with my son – who will not understand why I get mad when they walk into my house with frikking nuts in their hands. So yeah, I get it. Many don't.

[Bill Giles]

I think that it's important to note that the original post said "37 self-identified gluten-sensitive patients", meaning 37 people who claimed to be gluten sensitive experienced the same symptoms regardless of their actual diet. I believe that I am sensitive to MSG, but I can't prove it conclusively. I have the same types of symptoms, gas, bloating, etc. as many of the gluten sensitive people claim, but I know that I am not sensitive to gluten. I eat bread all the time and I bake bread with added gluten and experience no discomfort. I have had all sorts of allergy tests and my allergist has pretty much ignored food allergies. All that I know for sure is that when I stick to fresh foods with no added MSG, I don't have problems. When I eat restaurant food and don't know how it has been prepared, I may have problems. I don't believe that my problems are allergies as such. I haven't experienced any worsening of the symptoms and it is just uncomfortable. I got my big clue when a friend made pork steaks with Accent and I had a noticeable reaction. I eat fresh pork regularly with no reaction. I have also eaten foods with natural glutamates and have noticed no problems. I think that many of us have food sensitivities that we often attribute to the wrong cause, because it is so difficult to isolate the things that might have caused the reaction. If I claim to have a gluten sensitivity and you feed me a gluten free diet and I still have reactions, should I stick to my claim of gluten sensitivity or look elsewhere. I believe that we have a whole world of food sensitivities that we have little to no information on. My problems did not appear until I was in my late thirties, but have persisted ever since. Allergies and Celiac disease are a whole different situation. My step sister has Celiac disease and it's not imaginary. I believe that the medical community uses imagination to write off things that we don't have a physiological explanation for. It's not that many years since we were told that all stomach ulcers were caused by acidity, no acid, no ulcer. No bacteria could exist in the stomach lining. And then we discovered H. Pylori.

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