Gluten: the villain of the century

Author: Karima K. (IG: @kadani_health_sciences)

SCG ID: 2507202017

For the last few decades, the number of people trying to eliminate gluten from their diet dramatically increased across the globe. Healthcare and lifestyle magazines and blogs are swamped with articles describing “evidence-based” research demonstrating that gluten is pure evil, and everyone should keep a gluten-free diet (GFD).

Without a doubt, some people suffer from diseases that require a GFD, but is it healthy for everyone to switch into GF products?

In this article, we will try to get to the bottom of the global GF obsession, but first things first: What is gluten?

What is Gluten?

Gluten is an umbrella term for proteins that are found in starch and numerous cereal grains. A word of Latin origin, it literally means “to stick”. Gluten is widely used in the food and non-food industries for its adhesive properties. It is thanks to gluten, that dough obtains its elastic chewy texture.

What diseases require GFD?

For a small proportion of people, consumption of gluten leads to severe inflammation and problems in the gastrointestinal tract. The diseases accompanied by severe inflammatory and allergic reactions to consuming gluten include celiac disease, gluten ataxia and dermatitis herpetiformis etc(1).

Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease that develops in individuals with a genetic predisposition and high consumption of wheat, barley, and other gluten-containing food items.

The symptoms of celiac disease can only be treated with a lifelong GFD. Currently, about 1.8% of the western population is diagnosed with celiac disease(2). It is important to note that the global incidence of celiac disease coincides with the increase in “gluten-rich” diets, which is the most probable explanation for the villainization of gluten by the mass media and by several bestseller books on nutrition.

Things to consider before excluding gluten from your diet

As previously mentioned, GF products are portrayed as healthier options, which supposedly improve the quality of life in people without CD. However, to date, the scientific evidence supporting this claim is almost next to none. Instead, a growing amount of scientific studies have revealed adverse effects of the increasingly fashionable GFD. An extensive study published in 2019 highlighted the most important negative aspects of GFD for people that were not diagnosed with CD and other gluten dependant conditions(3):

Nutritional deficiencies. An extensive study of GFD nutritional profiles has revealed that it could lead to deficiencies in crucial components such as protein, iron, folate, zinc and potassium. Moreover, GFD products are full of fat, sodium and sugars(4). It is also worth mentioning that the overriding majority of GFD products are also not fortified to make them healthier.
Toxic effect of GFD. Typically, people who maintain GFD, consume larger amounts of rice and fish leading to a build-up of heavy metals in their bodies. It was reported that people who did not have celiac disease and still maintained GFD, had higher levels of arsenic in their urine and elevated levels of mercury, cadmium and lead in their blood(5). It has also been speculated that there are harmful effects of artificial additives to GFD products including microbial transglutaminase (mTg).
Mental health and GFD. GFD is by far one of the most difficult diets to maintain. It requires a lot of lifestyle changes, which some people might find too hard to bear. It was reported that a certain proportion of CD patients suffer from a range of mental disorders including but not limited to depression, anxiety, learning disabilities, mood and sleep disorders(6). However, the direct link between GFD and mental health issues is yet to be determined.

Concluding today’s post I would like to stress that if you are indeed thinking of maintaining a GFD you should do so only after consulting your general physician, who could advise you on how to make your diet as healthy and balanced as possible. I guess we live in an era where almost every one of us has felt the need to be on some kind of a diet at one point or another. But I think we should move away from the generalised “fit for all” diets to more personalised diets that would benefit the exact needs of our bodies.

References:

Elli L, Branchi F, Tomba C, et al. Diagnosis of gluten related disorders: Celiac disease, wheat allergy and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. World J Gastroenterol. 2015;21(23):7110-7119. doi:10.3748/wjg.v21.i23.7110
Lerner A, Jeremias P, Matthias T. The world incidence of celiac disease is increasing: a review. Int J Recent Sci Res. 2015;7(7): 5491-5496.
Lerner A, O'Bryan T, Matthias T. Navigating the Gluten-Free Boom: The Dark Side of Gluten Free Diet. Front Pediatr. 2019;7:414. doi: 10.3389/fped.2019.00414
Melini V, Melini F. Gluten-free diet: gaps and needs for a healthier diet. Nutrients. 2019 Jan;11(1):170. doi: 10.3390/nu11010170
Raehsler SL, Choung RS, Marietta EV, Murray JA. Accumulation of Heavy Metals in People on a Gluten-Free Diet. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018;16(2):244-251. doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2017.01.034
Slim M, Rico-Villademoros F, Calandre EP. Psychiatric comorbidity in children and adults with gluten-related disorders: a narrative review. Nutrients. 2018 Jul;10(7):875. doi: 10.3390/nu10070875.