Update on Gluten

What about gluten? For the vast majority of people, wheat protein, just like quinoa protein, or any other grain, has been considered good for us; health-promoting. But only for about 99% of people.

The rare 1% or so have celiac disease, and they have to stick to a gluten-free diet. But what about people who don’t have celiac, but may be otherwise gluten-sensitive? Last year, the possibility was raised that some cases of irritable bowel syndrome, for example, may improve on a gluten-free diet. So, if you do suffer from symptoms like chronic diarrhea and abdominal pain, your doctor may want you to give a gluten-free diet a try.

But, if we don’t have those symptoms, gluten is good for us. In fact, there was a study last year suggesting a gluten-free diet was bad for our good bacteria, so we shouldn’t go gluten-free unless there’s a good medical reason.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

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• Verdu EF, Armstrong D, Murray JA. Between celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome: the "no man's land" of gluten sensitivity. Am J Gastroenterol. 2009 Jun;104(6):1587-94.
• De Palma G, Nadal I, Collado MC, Sanz Y. Effects of a gluten-free diet on gut microbiota and immune function in healthy adult human subjects. Br J Nutr. 2009 Oct;102(8):1154-60. Epub 2009 May 18.

Image thanks to Benediktv via Flickr

• bile acids
• celiac disease
• colon health
• diarrhea
• gluten
• gut flora
• irritable bowel syndrome
• microbiome
• nutrition myths
• pain
• plant protein
• quinoa