Doctors warn about health effects of gluten-free diet

Very few people actually suffer from gluten intolerance
Some people believe that they suffer from a so-called gluten intolerance. However, only a small proportion of these individuals actually show symptoms of such gluten intolerance and abstaining from gluten from diet can lead to health risks, experts point out.

The University of Newcastle scientists point out that many people who believe they are suffering from gluten intolerance are in fact not affected by gluten intolerance. This has shown a recent study, the results of which the physicians also published press release.

Many people who think they have gluten intolerance change their diet. Doctors explain that this change of diet is usually pointless and also unhealthy, because often the sufferers do not suffer from gluten intolerance at all. (Image: photocrew / fotolia.com)

A gluten-free diet damages your health
In their investigation, the researchers found that only a small proportion of Australians who claim to be susceptible to gluten intolerance actually exhibit such symptoms. A gluten-free diet is associated with poorer health, say the experts. People should not change their diet without the formal diagnosis of gluten intolerance.

Only about one in 100 people really suffers from celiac disease
Many people think they are suffering from the negative effects of a gluten intolerance. In reality, few people experience adverse symptoms from eating gluten or wheat. So far, very little is known about the incidence of this disorder, explain the authors. It is believed that only one in 100 people in Australia really suffers from celiac disease. In this disease, the immune system reacts abnormally to the consumption of gluten.

Most people do not experience any side effects from consuming gluten
Another seven percent of Australians report adverse gastrointestinal and extraintestinal symptoms, such as bloating and cramping after eating wheat products containing gluten. Only 16 percent of people with gluten sensitivity developed symptoms when tested in a placebo study. Most of the subjects consumed gluten, without being aware of it or without suffering any side effects, the experts explain.

Disadvantages of a gluten-free diet
A gluten-free diet is often expensive and not easy to implement. Several studies have already shown that a gluten-free diet does not provide adequate levels of trace minerals and vitamins such as calcium and vitamin D. A gluten-free diet can negatively impact cardiovascular risk factors such as total cholesterol, weight gain, obesity, glucose intolerance, and blood pressure, the authors explain. An independent study also found an association between a gluten-free diet and an increased risk of heart disease in 110,000 men and women.

Many sufferers suffer from non-celiac non-wheat allergy wheat sensitivity
There are probably many people who experience unfavorable physiological symptoms from ingesting wheat and therefore unnecessarily undergo a gluten-free diet, the experts speculate. Gluten is usually not responsible for this condition. A correct term for the complaints could, for example, be "non-celiac disease non-wheat allergy wheat sensitivity" (NCG / WS). The promotion of a gluten-free diet among people without celiac disease should not be further supported, the researchers add. Future tests should be able to determine this so-called non-celiac non-wheat allergy wheat sensitivity (NCG / WS) and thus could be reliably distinguished between celiac disease and NCG / WS, the researchers add , (As)