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Increased Energy Levels To Reduced Inflammation: 5 Benefits Of Going Gluten-free
Gluten-free living seems to be everywhere these days, from celebrity endorsements to dedicated grocery aisles. This dietary trend initially gained traction among individuals with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, others have adopted it for various reasons, including perceived health benefits. Going gluten-free can offer significant improvements to individuals. Here are 5 potential benefits you might experience if you are going gluten-free.
Improved digestive health:Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and their derivatives. For individuals with celiac disease, consuming gluten triggers an immune response that damages the lining of the small intestine, leading to digestive discomfort, nutrient malabsorption, and other health issues. Even for those without celiac disease, gluten sensitivity or intolerance can cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, gas, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain. By eliminating gluten from the diet, individuals experiencing these symptoms often find relief and experience improved digestive health.
Increased energy levels:If you experience fatigue after consuming gluten, it could be a sign of undiagnosed gluten sensitivity. Switching to a gluten-free diet may improve your energy levels by allowing your body to absorb nutrients more efficiently and reducing inflammation.
Clearer skin:For some individuals, eliminating gluten from their diet may lead to clearer skin. Certain skin conditions, such as dermatitis herpetiformis, are associated with gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Additionally, gluten consumption has been linked to inflammation in the body, which can exacerbate skin conditions like acne, eczema, and psoriasis. By removing gluten from their diet, some people experience a reduction in inflammation and an improvement in the appearance of their skin.
Manages weight:Going gluten-free can contribute to weight management for some individuals. Many processed foods that contain gluten, such as bread, pasta, cakes, and cookies, are high in calories, sugar, and unhealthy fats. By cutting out these processed foods and replacing them with naturally gluten-free options like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains such as quinoa and brown rice, individuals may consume fewer calories and make healthier food choices, which can support weight loss or weight maintenance goals.
Reduced inflammation:Chronic inflammation has been linked to various health problems. Studies suggest a gluten-free diet can help reduce inflammation in individuals with gluten sensitivity, potentially improving overall health and reducing the risk of certain chronic diseases.
While there are potential benefits to going gluten-free, it's essential to approach this dietary change mindfully and consult with a healthcare professional, especially if you suspect you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.
Avoiding Wheat Could Lessen Inflammation And Alleviate MS Symptoms
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological condition that affects an estimated 2.8 million people worldwide. According to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), in the United States, up to 350,000 people have the disorder.
Although the exact cause of MS is unknown, scientists believe it is an autoimmune disorder, where cells that should protect a person against disease attack the body's own cells.
In MS, these immune cells break down myelin — the protective outer covering of nerve cells — and nerve cell bodies in the central nervous system (CNS). This slows down the movement of nerve impulses around the body leading to symptoms including:
Inflammation caused by the activity of immune cells can worsen MS symptoms, so taking measures to reduce inflammation may help alleviate them. That is what findings from a new study led by scientists at Johannes Gutenberg Universitat Mainz, Germany, suggest.
The study, published in Gut, found that, in mice, amylase trypsin inhibitors (ΑΤΙ), proteins found in wheat, caused inflammation in the gut, which led to inflammation in the CNS, worsening clinical symptoms of MS.
"The researchers show a diet rich in ATI can also increase CNS inflammation in mice with an MS-like condition. We don't yet know whether the same is true in people living with MS."— Dr. Clare Walton, head of research at the MS Society
Wheat, as well as other grains, contains gluten, which in some people causes a severe autoimmune reaction — celiac disease.
In people with celiac disease — around 1% of the U.S. Population — the immune system reacts when even small amounts of gluten are eaten, causing pain, bloating, and damage to the intestine, which can lead to problems absorbing nutrients from food.
Around 6% of people in the U.S. Report gluten intolerance, which also causes digestive symptoms, but these are rarely as severe as those caused by celiac disease.
However, it is not only the gluten in wheat that may cause issues. In some people, other proteins in wheat can cause inflammatory or allergic reactions, which may be serious, as Prof. Detlef Schuppan, principal investigator on the study and clinician, Medical News Today.
Prof. Schuppan, who is the director of the Institute of Translational Immunology and the Clinical Center for Celiac Disease, Intestinal Diseases and Autoimmunity, and professor of medicine/gastroenterology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, noted:
"This is a long research story that goes back to one of our NIH research projects at HMS in Boston, where we discovered ATIs as activators of macrophages and dendritic cells via toll-like receptor 4 — while gluten proteins (that are responsible for celiac disease) do not have any innate immunity stimulating activity."
"This activity of the ATI proteins in wheat explained the observations that many patients have problems with wheat (so-called 'non-celiac gluten sensitivity'), which is not caused by gluten but by ATI proteins of wheat when it comes to chronic inflammatory diseases," he added.
The researchers carried out the initial investigations in mice. They used experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a commonly used animal experimental model for MS.
Initially, the researchers gave female mice a gluten and ATI-free (GAF) diet for four weeks. They then divided the mice into three different diet groups:
Daily doses of both gluten and ATI were calculated to be equivalent to that consumed by a person on a standard Western diet.
The researchers induced EAE in the mice after four weeks on the GAF diet and two days before they started the experimental diets.
Those mice consuming the most ATI developed significantly more severe EAE and CNS inflammation than those consuming low ATI. Gluten alone did not have a similar inflammatory effect.
The researchers then administered ATI to monocytes — a type of white blood cell — from people with and without MS. Both released a range of pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, suggesting that ATI was triggering the inflammatory responses.
In a separate pilot study, the same researchers fed a 90% wheat-reduced and a wheat-containing diet to 16 people with stable relapsing-remitting MS. They divided the participants into two groups, one started on the wheat-reduced diet, the other on the wheat-containing diet for three months, and they then crossed over for a further three months.
When on the wheat-reduced (and therefore ATI-reduced) diet, participants had fewer inflammatory immune cells in their blood and reported significantly less pain than they did when on the regular diet.
Prof. Schuppan told MNT: "If we obtain the needed funding, we will do a larger study in patients with more severe MS, where we expect an even stronger effect of the adjunctive wheat/ATI free diet."
Dr. Walton, who was not involved in the study, agreed that more research was needed.
"Based on these results, we don't know whether reducing the consumption of wheat or ATI proteins would have an effect on the symptoms of someone living with MS. […] Ideally, we need more research comparing a diet with wheat, a diet with gluten and no ATI and a diet with ATI and no gluten," she cautioned.
Dr. Walton told usthat this study alone did not provide enough evidence that people with MS should avoid wheat.
"We know people with MS are really interested in lifestyle modifications they can make to improve their MS symptoms. But so far, this new result is mostly based on animal work, so we need to see more studies in people with MS to understand how important ATI proteins are in exacerbating symptoms."— Dr. Claire Walton
However, Prof. Schuppan expressed a different opinion: "Based on our data and the positive experiences in my clinical practice, I recommend this [a wheat-free diet] to all my patients with any kind of autoimmune disease, including MS."
What Should (or Shouldn't) I Eat If I Have Celiac Disease?
Celiac disease has just one clear treatment: Say goodbye to gluten. It sounds simple, but can feel overwhelming. Isn't gluten in everything?
It may feel that way at first. Because celiac affects almost 3 million Americans, gluten-free labeling is now the norm. You can find gluten-free foods on menus, grocery store shelves, and right in your own refrigerator.
That doesn't mean it's easy. Going gluten-free means rethinking how you shop, cook, and order in restaurants. With education and effort, you can make confident choices about foods that taste good and are good for you.
Gluten is a protein in wheat, barley, and rye. When those grains and the ingredients made from them (flour) are used to make foods -- like pasta, cereals, and bread -- gluten is the "glue" that holds them together.
Celiac is a genetic autoimmune disease. When you eat a food with gluten, your immune system attacks the protein. This causes damage to the villi, or little fingers that line your small intestine. Without the help of healthy villi, your body can't absorb nutrients into the bloodstream.
This causes digestive issues and malnourishment, especially when iron, calcium, and vitamin D aren't being absorbed. If it's not dealt with, celiac can cause other long-term conditions, such as neurological disorders and osteoporosis. It could also trigger the start of thyroid disease.
Support is essential. Ask your doctor to refer you to a registered dietitian who specializes in celiac. A dietitian can show you how to:
A gluten-free diet isn't as limited as you might think. In addition to prepared foods with gluten-free labels, the following foods are naturally gluten-free and the can be the foundation of healthy celiac diets:
Though you have to avoid wheat, barley, and rye, naturally gluten-free grains do exist. Use these to replace the big three:
Take a deep breath. Though the list below may contain some of your favorite foods, many have gluten-free counterparts:
Wheat, barley, and rye can appear in various forms and varieties, all of which contain gluten as well. Be sure to look out for these on food product labels:
Wheat
Rye
Barley
Triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye)
Malt
Brewer's yeast
Wheat starch
Oats are tricky territory. Despite their nutritional benefits, and the variety they offer celiac diets, oats are often grown near wheat, barley, and rye. This opens the door to cross-contamination.
Check with your doctor or dietitian about oats labeled gluten-free.
If you have celiac disease, you might also wonder if you need to avoid casein, which is a protein in milk, butter, and cheese. If you're allergic to casein, definitely keep it out of your diet. But if you don't have a casein allergy, you might not need to worry about it.
There hasn't been a lot of research on whether casein has the same effects as gluten. The theory got its start decades ago, when some people thought that casein, gluten, and autism might be linked. That theory isn't proven.
One thing to keep in mind is that if milk upsets your stomach, it could be due to lactose, which is the natural sugar in milk. Casein and lactose aren't the same, and your sensitivity may have nothing to do with casein. Anyone can have lactose intolerance, including people who have celiac disease and people who don't.
You can ask your doctor to test and see if you're allergic to casein. If you remove casein from your diet, you'll want to focus on getting enough vitamin D and calcium.
Knowing how to read food labels is the most important part of a successful gluten-free diet. Grocery store aisles are the battleground in the fight against gluten. Take these tips with you:
When gluten-free food comes into contact with a food that has gluten, cross-contact occurs. Make sure these home hot spots are used only for gluten-free foods:
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