Gluten Sensitivity May Not Exist

[Virginia]

Has anybody read this article yet?

http://www.businessinsider.com/glute...ication-2014-5

It seems to be a "nocebo" effect — the self-diagnosed gluten sensitive patients expected to feel worse on the study diets, so they did. They were also likely more attentive to their intestinal distress, since they had to monitor it for the study.

Thoughts? I know a number of us here may not have Celiac disease but avoid gluten because we notice we feel way better when we're off of it.

[Pragmatist]

It's one study. And I'd be interested in how they switched between the diets. If they didn't give significant time in between, someone could be reacting to gluten that they had consumed previously.

[MrsHutch]

I call baloney. Going gluten free has literally and absolutely changed my life. And I have VERY real effects from cheating.

And you know what, I went gluten free for my fertility issues. I was never expecting it to affect my energy and arthritis like it did, so that couldn't possibly be placebo. I didn't even notice it had helped those until I cheated the first time, and then suddenly I was again feeling like I used to feel all the time.

[domesticzookeeper]

Those kind of reports were/are just a deliberately inflammatory misinterpretation of the actual study

Preliminary research suggests that, in other cases, by-products of gluten digestion may be the problem. Breaking down gliadin and glutenin produces even shorter chains of amino acids—the building blocks of proteins—some of which may behave like morphine and other soporific opiates. Perhaps these molecules explain some of the lethargy exhibited by people who do not have celiac disease but are nonetheless sensitive to wheat, suggests Aristo Vojdani, chief executive officer of Immunosciences Lab in Los Angeles. In a small study by Vojdani and his colleagues, the blood of people classified as gluten-sensitive had higher levels of antibodies that recognize these gluten by-products than blood taken from healthy volunteers.

A final group of potential culprits belongs to a diverse family of carbohydrates such as fructans that are notorious for being difficult to digest. A failure to absorb these compounds into the blood may draw excess water into the digestive tract and agitate its resident bacteria. Because these resilient carbohydrates occur in all kinds of food—not just grains—a gluten-free or wheat-free diet will not necessarily solve anything if these molecules truly are to blame.

"Gluten Sensitivity" May Be a Misnomer for Distinct Illnesses to Various Wheat Proteins

The story of this study should have been one of compassion, of complexity and nuance, about how hard it is to negotiate our own health in this world when we’re receiving so many mixed messages and the health care system is pretty woeful when it comes to anything related to food. It could have been an opportunity for news sources to teach, to reach people and communicate that they might not be taking care of themselves as well as they could.

Instead, there were headlines like this: “Unless You Have Celiac Disease, Gluten Sensitivity Is Probably In Your Head.” And that was from PBS Nova, folks.

Gluten-Free Girl: "Not Again" *WARNING* for language at the link

[ReadingMommy]

So how would they explain the severe and immediate heartburn and gastrointestinal distress I used to get from consuming gluten? The skin rashes I used to have before I switched to GF topical products? (I was just telling DH this morning about how since I finally found and switched to a good gluten-free foundation recently, I have not had any of the red rashy bumps I used to get on my face! Just like I no longer have rashes on my arms since I found GF soap and shampoo.)

Not to my mention that my pms cramping diminished significantly when I went GF, and brain fog I didn't even realize I had lifted. I also noticed a pattern of raging behaviors in DS when he lots of gluten, and verified that this occurred several times. He is now GF and doing about 90% better on that front.

It makes me kind of when people deny this experience and try to say it's all in my head. They could be keeping a lot of people from trying something that will make them feel much better!

[milkmommy]

I didn't read the link/article etc... but
When even anything says words like never or always ect I tend to call baloney as well. I do though think their is possibly a higher percentage of people in recent history who have heard all they "hype" (for lack of a better word) on going gluten free and have then decided that doing so them self has magically cured them often of things they never really had in the first place.
I'll put my MIL right in that category who happily gives going "gluten" free credit for all kinds of things except... 1) She never truly suffered from more than complaining too much and 2) she never gone gluten free more than a few days a time but swears that she is suddenly cured of XYZ then suddenly plagued again when she goes off the diet.
I don't think that gluten free or rather gluten free alternatives as always the best or healthier way (not referring to those who truly are gluten restricted) as in consuming a lot of say alternative pastas or gluten free cereals etc than are often very low in any nutritional value. etc... I do think we all benifit from eliminating or at least greatly reducing hidden gluten like MSG. I alos think focusing on more "real foods" and lower carbs reducing eliminating processed foods empty or low value carbs et for many is always a better choice...
To suggest though that is can't or doesn't exist though I don't by either.

[Hannah Elise]

Yeah, those migraines I always thought were hormonal, that went away when I went gluten-free? Totally placeholders. That explains why after two years of solidly gluten-free eating, when ds2 weaned and I cheated, and didn't experience the GI issues that I used to, and I thought, "Hey, I won't make it a regular part of my diet, but maybe I've had enough gut healing to have it on occasion," that soon after I came down with a migraine that was beyond any "mechanical" (ie, something misaligned in neck or shoulder, pinching a nerve or muscle) migraine I'd had, and even worse than the 3x/week migraines I remembered having during ds1's pregnancy before I'd ever been diagnosed as gluten intolerant... yeah, that was all in my head. Being unable to sta d upright without puking (even on an empty stomach) because of how bad that migraine was... yeah, those weren't hormones, baby. That was gluten.

[sweetpeasmommy]

I'm sure c imagines himself into not pooping for a week and having immediate stomach pains. Even though the last time I accidentally glutened him he was 5 and didn't know what gluten was.

[graciousmomma]

I just finished reading the book "Grain Brain", which talked tons about how carbs in general are bad for brain health, but it went extensively into studies about gluten issues. The doctor who wrote the book is a neurologist who has seen many a patient who had been looking and looking for answers with no success. When he put them on gluten free diets, their issues resolved themselves. He also talked about how people who are not celiac can be gluten sensitive, and has seen repeated success after success in treating patients by advocating for a gluten free diet. It was a really good read, and he had the studies and clinical experience to back up his expertise.

[HomeWithMyBabies]

I like not having that really specific gut pain anymore, that pain reminds me of when I got admitted to the hospital and threatened with surgical removal of part of my bowels.

What can I say, I am just too special I guess. It's just so highly offensive that I don't eat gluten even though it won't immediately kill me, people have to comment on how annoying it is that I avoid something that causes me discomfort.

[marbles]

Originally Posted by Pragmatist

It's one study. And I'd be interested in how they switched between the diets. If they didn't give significant time in between, someone could be reacting to gluten that they had consumed previously.

They cycled through a regular diet, gf diet, and high gluten diet with two weeks on each. That is not enough time to tell anything. The study also took people with gastro issues and said the gastro issues remained on all three diets. So they weren't made up problems, these people identified themselves as people with gut issues and said gf helped them. Then they ate gluten for two weeks, didn't eat gluten for two weeks, and ate gluten again for two weeks and had gut problems the whole time. The article completely misrepresents the study, and the study proves nothing.

[HadassahSukkot]

also:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content...7015-10-13.pdf
http://www.massgeneral.org/children/...ivity-faq.aspx
http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/gl...oming-Soon.htm
http://gigofecw.org/Links/links.html#GSLinks

[Virginia]

Thanks for all the info and great links!

It seems like maybe people who are on gluten free diets aren't actually sensitive to gluten but are sensitive to FODMAPS:

On top of that, these other potential dietary triggers — specifically the FODMAPS – could be causing what people have wrongly interpreted as gluten sensitivity. FODMAPS are frequently found in the same foods as gluten. That still doesn't explain why people in the study negatively reacted to diets that were free of all dietary triggers.

Thoughts about that?

[ArmsOfLove]

That still doesn't explain why people in the study negatively reacted to diets that were free of all dietary triggers.

my guess is that should read "known" dietary triggers. I got even better when I gave up corn. LOTS of people are sensitive or allergic to more than one thing.

[ReadingMommy]

Originally Posted by Virginia

Thanks for all the info and great links!

It seems like maybe people who are on gluten free diets aren't actually sensitive to gluten but are sensitive to FODMAPS:

Thoughts about that?

For me personally, I don't react to any of the other FODMAPS anywhere close to the same as I do gluten. I am open to my intolerance being to other parts of wheat though, not just the gluten. There are other proteins present in the wheat that could very well also be problematic. But it's definitely the *wheat* more than anything else that's an issue for me.

ETA: I do have other sensitivities, though, just not to the same level.