Latest news with #gluten
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Why does everyone hate gluten so much?
Gluten has been vilified in certain corners of the health and wellness world. Is it actually warranted? "Gluten is a protein that gives structure and chewiness to baked goods like bread," says Washington, D.C.-based dietitian Caroline Thomason, R.D. It's found naturally in grains including wheat, rye and barley. She adds: "That incredible texture in your favorite bakery sourdough? You can thank gluten for that. Gluten-free products often lack that structure... Which is why your gluten-free baked goods just aren't as chewy and fluffy." Demand for gluten-free products is on the rise: The global market size was estimated to be worth about $7.75 billion at the end of last year, and is expected to spike to $13.67 billion by 2030, according to a market research report from Grand View Research. But despite growing interest, demand is much higher than most current grocery store supply, per a 2024 study in the journal Applied Food Research. Why is demand for gluten-free foods increasing? Nutrition experts say it has to do in part with growing sentiments that gluten is bad for you. Here's what they want you to know about how gluten fits into your diet. Want to eat more whole grains? You have a lot of options. Here's what to know. Why are so many doctors against a gluten-free diet? Gluten has been deemed the enemy by some online health influencers, who often cite vague reasons such as "bloating" or "gut health" as reasons why everyone should avoid gluten products. But what does actual medical information tell us? "Gluten has gotten such a bad rap because it sounds believable, right? Gluten has become a scapegoat," Thomason says. "The idea that bread is bad feels right to some people, especially when it's tied to diet culture. Cutting gluten has been glamorized as a quick fix for weight loss, bloating or inflammation. But the truth is, unless you have a medical reason to avoid it, removing gluten won't magically solve those issues." While gluten itself isn't necessarily a "nutrient powerhouse," Thomason notes that many foods that contain gluten, including whole wheat bread and barley, are actually "great sources of fiber, B vitamins and prebiotics that can support your gut health." Need to avoid gluten? Here's what foods have gluten and more on hidden sources of gluten Why is gluten bad? "Bad" is a complicated label when it comes to health and nutrition; what's beneficial for some can be detrimental to others. In the case of gluten, nutrition experts say it's really only "bad" if you have a gluten allergy. Celiac disease is a "chronic digestive and immune disorder that damages the small intestine," according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It's triggered by eating foods that contain gluten, and can prevent the body from properly absorbing nutrients and cause long-lasting digestive problems. If a medical professional diagnoses you with celiac disease, you need to "avoid gluten completely," Thomason says. Wheat allergies and medically diagnosed non-celiac gluten sensitivity are less common, but she stresses the importance of consulting a "qualified dietitian or physician" to diagnose these issues, rather than trying to self-diagnose. "If your stomach hurts, it doesn't mean you have a gluten issue," she adds. "There are many possible causes of digestive symptoms, and self-diagnosing can lead to unnecessary food restrictions and food fear." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is gluten? Nutrition experts explain why people hate it
Telegraph
24-07-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Why this scientist believes bread is making us sad
Could the bread in your sandwich, the pasta in your salad or the oats in your breakfast be making you depressed? That is the theory that scientists are avidly exploring with studies showing a link between gluten and an array of mental health conditions, from ADHD to schizophrenia. Deanna L Kelly is a professor of psychiatry for Mental Illness Research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who has spent the past 17 years leading clinical trials in schizophrenia and severe mental illness, as well as being active in psychopharmacology research. 'I would have been sceptical if you'd told me I'd end up studying this connection,' says Kelly. 'My line of thinking was therapy and medications; I didn't know food and diet could actually be good medicine.' Her scientific journey began by analysing data from soldiers during the Second World War. It showed that during wheat shortages hospitalisations went down. Kelly and her colleagues then looked at the work in the 1970s of Curtis Dohan, a psychiatrist, who was publishing cases of people with schizophrenia recovering on a wheat-free diet. Dohan also visited remote islands in Papua New Guinea, where wheat was not part of the diet and found schizophrenia to be virtually absent, compared to its occurrence in wheat eating populations elsewhere. Kelly then had the opportunity to run a large clinical trial looking at the antibodies produced by the body in a reaction to gluten. What she found was very high rates of antibodies to gluten in the bodies of people with schizophrenia. Her findings have now led her to believe there is a strong connection between brain function and people who have gluten sensitivity. And she is not alone. Evidence shows that consuming foods containing gluten may be linked to a host of psychiatric symptoms, via an immune response, in up to one in 17 people. Get Your Brain Off Grain, the book she has co-authored, draws together the most up to date research on the subject. 'There's really been this disconnect between gastroenterology and psychiatry. We don't know everything. But it's another step closer connecting the dots about these illnesses.' What is gluten sensitivity Gluten is a group of proteins found in wheat, barley and rye. These are key grains found in breads, pastas, pastries and many other of our favourite foods. Some people are sensitive to gluten. This means their immune system 'fights' against gluten as a foreign invader in the body. Coeliac disease is the most well-known type of gluten-related autoimmune disease. It causes damage to the digestive tract leading to a range of gastro-intestinal symptoms such as diarrhoea, bloating and stomach pain, as well as fatigue, weight loss and skin rashes. Coeliac disease runs in families and is diagnosed via a blood test or intestinal biopsy. It is related to another type of gluten sensitivity, often called non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), which is about 10 times more prevalent than coeliac disease. However tests for coeliac disease are often negative in those with NCGS. 'It's challenging for someone to be diagnosed with non coeliac gluten sensitivity,' says Kelly. Gluten and inflammation Gluten was only introduced into our diets about 6,000 years ago. 'The idea of breaking it down is really challenging for our bodies and it never breaks down completely,' says Kelly. When a person with gluten sensitivity eats something with gluten in it – even 'healthy' brown pasta or bread – their body produces antibodies to fight against the gluten. While two types of protein join to make gluten, gliadin and glutenin, it is the former that induces an immune response. This can cause inflammation and contribute to damage in the gut, which leads to the development of 'leaky gut'. The weakened gut wall allows the antibodies to gliadin to leak from the intestine into the general bloodstream. 'When it gets across the stomach lining, the body sees it as a foreign substance for some people,' says Kelly. Inflammation and the brain Consequently inflammation may occur in other parts of the body, including a person's brain. When the antibodies' fight gets to the brain, symptoms that develop may include not only foggy thinking, and lack of energy, but also poor emotional control, anxiety, mood changes, hallucinations and/ or seizures, that are often resistant to treatment with medications. 'There's a specific peptide sequence called 33-mer [found in wheat] that is highly associated with an immune response,' says Deanna. 'If you look at the structure of that, it's very similar to one of the structures of the GRINA receptor, a receptor in the brain. So our bodies potentially can't tell the difference.' It is one of Kelly's theories that in some people their immune system might be attacking some of the tissue in the brain because it looks like gluten. 'We have a paper showing that these antibodies to the receptors to the brain are higher in people who have the antigliadin antibodies.' What causes depression and anxiety The area of the brain called the amygdala functions to help calm fear and anxiety. People with anxiety disorders have been shown to have an exaggerated amygdala response when exposed to events that evoke anxiety. Serotonin, a chemical messenger in the nervous system and part of the brain's communication system, is believed to be a key neurotransmitter involved in anxiety disorders. Interestingly, the gut provides approximately 95 per cent of the body's total serotonin and production is influenced by the particular balance of gut microbes in the individual person. Of course, not everyone with psychiatric and neurological issues is gluten sensitive. However, what is interesting, says Kelly, is that: 'All these disorders that we write about, the literature now is leaning towards them all having inflammation as a cause. 'The immune system is likely not working right in some people. And that leads to inflammatory markers and inflammation. My suggestion is that to some people, gluten is one of the culprits in this immune inflammatory reaction.' The most common symptoms Kelly sees among her psychiatric patients are brain fog, anxiety or depressive symptoms. 'They sometimes have headaches and migraines. Joint pain is common too.' Coeliac disease and NCGS diagnoses are more common in individuals with ADHD symptoms than in the general population. The link between coeliac disease and depression is well-established. One large study of over 2,000 people with coeliac disease showed a 39 per cent lifetime prevalence of depressive symptoms. 'One theory is that depression stems from the difficulty of living with a chronic illness,' says Kelly. 'But there are studies showing a more direct physiological link between coeliac disease and depression.' There is even clearer clinical data that those with schizophrenia can be helped by following a gluten-free diet. One patient of Kelly's suffering from schizophrenia always saw her illness worsen after having gluten. 'She was doing well in the community but when she had gluten she would be hospitalised. 'When she got into the hospital they would give her gluten because they wouldn't believe the family that that mattered. Each time the family would have to fight about it at every hospital.' Other proteins are also linked to inflammation of the brain. 'Casein from milk is another protein that is highly immunogenic.' The role of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) Outside of the gluten realm there's a movement towards understanding the impact of ultra-processed foods on our health. 'There's evidence to show that depression and anxiety and most mental health conditions are higher in people who eat high levels of UPFs, especially in the western diet.' And wheat is part of that. Wheat is now the most widely cultivated crop in the world, and it supplies 20 per cent of all food calories and protein consumed by the global population. 'The data is showing us that there are more people sensitive to gluten than before, we think that's due to a higher gluten content in UPFs.' One of the reasons why gluten may now cause a more severe immune response is that there has been a six-fold increase in the gliadin content of wheat over time. This may be down to the use of high-nitrogen fertilisers and how wheat is processed. The antibodies show the way One young woman who came to Kelly suffering from anxiety and brain fog had previously been tested for gluten sensitivity by her gastroenterologist. 'She was told she didn't have coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity. So I brought her in to take part in my study, and sure enough her antibody response was the biggest I'd ever seen. 'I actually found antibodies to suggest coeliac disease, which are called TTG. I gave her the paperwork and said, 'please go back to your doctor'. When she went back, they did a biopsy and they found she had coeliac disease. It had been missed.' She is one of almost a thousand people in the general population that Kelly has tested for gluten antibodies. 'When people have these antibodies, once I say, 'You're positive for this, it might be worth trying a gluten free diet ', most people report their joint pain went away, or their brain fog, or their anxiety and depression improved.' She has published 24 peer reviewed studies around these antibodies and the relationship of gluten to neurological and psychiatric illnesses. 'Thirty per cent of my patients with schizophrenia have antibodies to gliadin. That means their body is having an immune response to wheat.' Should you change your diet? Her work has changed her diet. Kelly now eats a low carb, almost gluten free. 'I'm not a fad diet person,' she says. 'If you'd told me I would be studying this I would have laughed. But science took me there.' From looking at animal studies, the data would suggest that gluten could be bad for everyone. 'We haven't gone so far as to say that,' says Kelly, cautiously. 'But when you start to dig into it, and you've seen what a brain looks like of an animal of gluten, it really makes me think twice about how much should be in my diet.' Still, not everybody should be on a gluten-free diet. About 10 per cent of the population have NCGS. And Kelly sees lots of people who have no immune response at all. 'Their bodies handle it fine. But then there are lots of people who have the antibodies and coeliac in their families and that's where removal could really help people.' While it's not going to be a cure all for everybody, typically Kelly sees changes in her patients in as little as three weeks. Brain imaging data has also shown how the blood flow in their brain improves on a gluten-free diet. 'We do recommend talking to your dietitian or doctor beforehand. That's because many foods that contain gluten are fortified with minerals and vitamins that our body needs, but struggles to get from our diet. Things like folic acid. You need folate for your brain.' She also notes that for those who have a psychiatric disorder, such as depression or schizophrenia, eating a gluten-free diet can be a challenge. 'Once you are sick, it's easier to just continue to eat gluten because it's cheap and you don't have to spend time cooking. When you're not feeling well you don't want to spend time cooking fresh vegetables. It becomes a cycle.' Food as medicine Over 2,000 years ago Hippocrates said, 'let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food'. 'All this time later we are now starting to pay attention to the impact of the food we put in our body,' says Kelly. The parents of one young man with a seizure disorder noticed that every time he had a big spaghetti meal his seizures were worse. 'And no one thought that that was related,' says Kelly, who was consulted by a neurologist on the case. 'While he didn't test positive for coeliac disease, he did have antibodies to gliadin. And so we suggested a gluten free diet and he has been seizure free since.' However, it is challenging for people to understand that a gluten-free diet helps their brain. She is used to resistance to new ideas, that is the lot of the scientist. However she says: 'We now have the technology. We can look at brain imaging and antibodies and show that it actually connects. We know for a fact that the brain is impacted by what we put into our gut and now we have to unravel all the mysteries there.'
Gizmodo
22-07-2025
- Health
- Gizmodo
Gluten Could Be Wrongly Blamed for Americans' Stomach Troubles
For many of us, gluten is a dietary villain, capable of causing all sorts of gastrointestinal troubles. Research out this week looks to complicate that narrative, however, finding that people are sometimes wrongly blaming gluten for triggering their symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Scientists at McMaster University in Canada conducted the study, a small, randomized trial of IBS patients. People became sicker just as often after eating food containing gluten or wheat as they did after eating food without the ingredient, they found. Gluten is likely safer to eat for those with IBS than commonly thought, the researchers say. 'These findings suggest that expectations played a major role in symptom generation and that only some of these patients could benefit from gluten or wheat restriction,' they wrote in their paper, published Monday in The Lancet Gastroenetrology and Hepatology. IBS is a complex, chronic, and relatively common condition, estimated to affect between 5 and 10% of the population worldwide (including up to 45 million people in the U.S.). Its symptoms include stomach pain, bloating, and diarrhea or constipation. Unlike the closely named inflammatory bowel disorder, IBS isn't marked by physical changes or visible damage along the digestive tract, but it can still be a debilitating burden for many, with around 20% of sufferers experiencing severe bouts. The exact causes of IBS remain unclear, though scientists have speculated it can arise from a miscommunication between the nerves found in the gut and the brain. People with IBS tend to report having specific triggers that can cause a flare-up of illness, gluten included, and often manage their condition by avoiding these triggers. The researchers behind the new study aimed to better understand gluten's potential role in IBS, so they recruited over two dozen people with IBS for their randomized, double-blinded trial, all of whom had reported improving after switching to a gluten-free diet. At first, the volunteers were randomly assigned to one of three groups. All the groups were first told to eat cereal bars for a week. One group ate bars made with flour containing gluten, the second ate bars made with wheat flour, and the third ate bars made with gluten- and wheat-free flour. Afterward, the volunteers took a break for two weeks. Then they switched to eating the bars they hadn't eaten yet for another round of testing, a process repeated twice. By the study's end, all the volunteers had eaten all three kinds of bars, though on different schedules and without knowing which bars they had eaten on a given week. A total of 28 people completed the trial. A significant percentage of people reported having worsening IBS symptoms after eating gluten or wheat bars, the study showed, but about just as often as they did after eating non-gluten/wheat bars (roughly a third experienced worsening IBS during each of the three conditions). 93% of participants also reported having adverse events after each scenario of bar-eating. Interestingly enough, tests of the participants' stool found that only a third strictly followed their diets as instructed, with likely many fearing they would get sick. The findings are based on a very small sample size, so it's not yet certain that they apply to the general population of people with IBS tied to gluten. There are also, of course, digestive conditions clearly caused by an intolerance to gluten, particularly celiac disease. And the researchers aren't saying gluten can't sometimes be a genuine trigger for people's IBS. But they argue that in many cases, people's negative perception of gluten is causing a nocebo effect, the dark cousin of the placebo effect. In other words, someone's belief that gluten is bad for them can potentially spark or worsen the IBS symptoms seen after eating it, rather than gluten itself. The researchers say better communication and follow-up care from doctors are needed for IBS patients, given the findings. 'What we need to improve in our clinical management of these patients is to work with them further, not just tell them that gluten is not the trigger and move on. Many of them may benefit from psychological support and guidance to help destigmatize gluten and wheat and reintroduce them safely in their diet,' said senior author Premysl Bercik, a professor at McMaster's Department of Medicine, in a statement from the university. That may be easier said than done, though. The researchers note that most patients, upon learning the team's findings, staunchly refused to entertain the idea of gluten not being a trigger for their IBS symptoms. So it looks like gluten may need a promotional campaign to win back its reputation.
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Think you're gluten intolerant? You might be imagining it, study suggests
Not all patients with irritable bowel syndrome may be sensitive to gluten, despite numerous studies identifying it as a potential trigger. According to new research, patients with IBS who have been led to believe that gluten—the protein in wheat products like bread and pasta—triggers their symptoms may have been misled. According to Canadian researchers, too many IBS patients are restricting themselves to different diets to avoid perceived food triggers—despite not having clearly identified which foods actually worsen their symptoms. In the study, researchers analysed 28 participants with IBS from McMaster University Digestive Disease clinic, who believed they had a gluten intolerance and as such followed a strict gluten-free diet. Participants were given cereal bars to eat everyday for a week—made from either purified gluten, whole wheat or gluten-free flour—without knowing which was which. After completing a week eating one type of cereal bar participants had a two-week break before starting on the next bar, until all three had been trialled. Researchers found that there was no significant difference in the worsening of symptoms between the three groups, including the gluten-free placebo. They noted that even after eating the gluten-free control cereal bar, nearly 30 per cent of patients experienced a 50-point worsening of symptoms according to the IBS symptom severity scale. Professor Premysl Bercik, senior author of the study, concluded: 'Some patients truly have a sensitivity to this food protein, but for many others, it's the belief itself that's driving their symptoms and subsequent choices to avoid gluten-containing foods'. Despite this, even when participants were informed of the results, most continued to believe that gluten and wheat trigger their symptoms and continued to eat a gluten-free diet. This in turn could perpetuate symptoms of IBS, leading to malnutrition and lower quality of life, Prof Berick warned. This is because gluten-free foods typically contain more fat, salt and sugar and less gut-friendly fibre and protein than their equivalents. Writing in the journal Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, researchers advised that psychological counselling should be incorporated into treatment plans for patients suffering with IBS. 'What we need to improve our clinical management of these patients is to work with them further, not just tell them that gluten is not the trigger and move on. 'Many of them may benefit from psychological support and guidance to help destigmatise gluten and wheat and reintroduce them safely in their diet,' Prof Bercik added. The researchers added that social media could be behind the trend, with many influencers sharing how eating gluten worsened their symptoms. Around one in 100 people in the UK suffer coeliac disease, whereby the immune system overreacts to gluten. What is coeliac disease? Coeliac disease is a genetic autoimmune disorder in which gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. Gluten provokes inflammation in the small intestine which affects the body's ability to absorb nutrients from food. The condition is estimated to affect one in 100 people worldwide. One percent - or three million Americans - are living with coeliac disease. There are more than 200 symptoms of coeliac disease but the more common ones are: Abdominal bloating and pain Chronic diarrhea Vomiting Constipation Pale, foul-smelling, or fatty stool Weight loss Fatigue The only treatment for the disease is a strict gluten-free diet. Only foods and beverages with a gluten content less than 20 parts per million are allowed. Source: Celiac Disease Foundation But for others, Prof Berick said avoiding gluten could be a coping mechanism. 'Continuing the gluten-free diet might have provided patients with an actionable method to try to control their symptoms, despite the risk of unnecessary diet restrictions.' Professor Sigrid Elsenbruch, an expert in neurological and behavioral sciences who was not involved in the study, added: 'Changing health-related behaviours is notoriously challenging. 'Persistent dietary choices might reflect the complexity of IBS symptom management rather than an unwillingness to adjust beliefs.' The researchers of the current study concluded that their findings support the role of psychological factors in symptom responses and dietary behaviours in IBS. But common limitations of diet studies were observed with lab tests indicating that only around a third of participants followed the gluten-free diet as instructed, and some may have skipped bars altogether to avoid symptoms. IBS is a common debilitating condition that affects the digestive symptom, causing agonising stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation—with few effective treatments available. Over time, damage accumulates in the gut, often leading to serious nutrient deficiencies and nerve damage. The long-term condition is thought to affect around 1 in 5 adults in the UK, but experts say this figure could be much higher. Around one in 100 people in the UK suffer coeliac disease, whereby the immune system overreacts to gluten. It's thought that a further 13 per cent of people suffer what's known as non-specific gluten sensitivity (NCGS). This is when eating the protein triggers unpleasant symptoms like bloating and irregular bowel habits. Scientists aren't yet sure the reason why some people are affected by this, and some believe it could be due to a nocebo effect — when expecting to suffer symptoms brings them on.
The Sun
15-07-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Aldi urgently recalls £3.29 freezer essential over dangerous disease that affects 1 in 100 of Brits
ALDI has urgently recalled one of its summer freezer staples after the product's label failed to declare a major allergen. The recall has been issued for its Specially Selected 4 Cheddar Cheese Scotch Beef Quarter Pounder Burgers. Aldi issues urgent recall for mislabelled product Retailing for £3.29, the burgers failed to disclose gluten as an allergen on the product's label. This poses a risk to those who are gluten intolerant or suffer from coeliac disease. Aldi has urged customers to not consume the product if they have an allergy or intolerance to gluten. Supermarket apologises to shoppers The German retailer told customers: "As a precautionary measure, our supplier is recalling Specially Selected 4 Cheddar Cheese Scotch Beef Quarter Pounder Burgers because the product is labelled incorrectly and contained an undeclared allergen (gluten). "Anyone who bought this product should return it to their nearest store for a full refund." The statement also apologised for any convenience this may have caused. The company emphasised that this is a precautionary measure to ensure customer safety. Aldi announced the recall on July 14, affecting products with the barcode, 4088600410098, and a use-by date of the end of May 2026. The burgers have since been removed from sale at the Bathgate store while the company works to recall all products. Customers requiring further assistance can contact Aldi on 0800 042 0800 or complete a webform through the official recall notice page. What is coeliac disease and what are the main symptoms? COELIAC disease is an autoimmune condition that affects one in 100 people in the UK. When someone who has it eats gluten, their immune system attacks their own tissues, which damages their gut. The symptoms vary from person to person and can range from very mild to severe. But the most common signs include: severe or occasional diarrhoea, excessive wind and/or constipation persistent or unexplained nausea and vomiting recurrent stomach pain, cramping or bloating any combination of iron, vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency anaemia tiredness sudden or unexpected weight loss mouth ulcers skin rash (dermatitis herpetiformis) tooth enamel problems liver abnormalities unexplained subfertility repeated miscarriages neurological (nerve) problems such as ataxia (loss of coordination, poor balance) and peripheral neuropathy (numbness and tingling in the hands and feet) There is no cure. The only way to manage coeliac disease is with a strict gluten free diet. This means eating no wheat, rye, barley and oats. Potential long-term complications include osteoporosis, iron deficiency anaemia, vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia, bowel cancer and fertility issues. Urgent recalls for incorrectly labelled products Last month, a major retailer issued an urgent recall of a popular sauce over fears it could pose a life-threatening risk to customers. Aldi's backyard essential is flying off shelves for only $29.99 and instantly gets your home ready for summer The Laoganma Brand Black Bean Chilli Sauce was pulled from shelves after it failed to declare that it contained peanuts on the packaging. The Fortune Foods product was stocked in popular retailers such as Sainsbury's and widely available in Asian supermarkets. The firm apologised for the labelling error, adding that it "deeply regretted" the situation. Earlier this year, M&S also had to recall a popular baby product. The retailer urged parents and carers to return the Polarn O. Pyret Branded Poppy Print Rompers due to safety concerns. 2
