Study casts doubt on gluten as cause of gut ailments among non-coeliacs

10 years later I was still having gastrointestinal issues until i worked with a monash university certified nutritionist to identify which FODMAPS i had difficulty digesting. Have been on fodmap diet for 5+ years and for the first time have not had any gastro issues and feel in control of being able to eat without experiencing severe distress.

Gluten itself is not a fodmap however wheat and lots of grains with gluten are often in fodmaps i cant digest. I can imagine theres a sensitivity link to these fodmaps for many people who have no idea. Everyones tolerance is unique which makes it a challenging lifestyle. I wont go back to eating carelessly now.

This article is unfairly painting the issue as black and white when there are so many shades inbetween. They hint at an emotional reaction to the muffins vs a physical one- There are studies that antidepressants help people with gastrointestinal issues. There is a definitely a link to anxiety and the gut.

Everybody is different. Could be so many things. See a good gastro and nutritionist, keep a food journal, see a therapist or psychiatrist, try foods in other countries. Stay active. It may take a while to figure out but there is a way through these issues.

I have IBS, and it's FODMAPs[0] that set me off. Wheat contains these, and so gives me unpleasant bloating and an upset stomach. But most people who don't even know they have IBS will just be assuming that "Wheat gives me an upset stomach, so it must be gluten."

[0] https://www.gloshospitals.nhs.uk/media/documents/FODMAP_diet...

I only determined that after I got past 40, and started to experience bloating from bread consumption. In giving up bread, I then noticed that my ulcers ceased.

So a bit of experimentation established that I can consume small quantities, but if I eat wheat products for more than a couple of days in a row, the ulcers come back. I later determined that barley has a similar effect due to a specific seasonal dish also triggering the ulcers.

It is now generally easy enough to largely avoid both grains, and not worry about incidental consumption due to the fact that lots of products include wheat .

As to which fraction of the grains is the cause, I don't really care - I just avoid the two grains.

Anyone who spends time in online support groups for folks with gluten sensitivities could tell you that there is a good percentage of people who think they can't handle gluten but couldn't tell you what foods have it.

It's pretty regular to be asked if soy and milk contain gluten.

Based on the difficulties in actually obtaining a medical diagnosis (average time spent trying is around a decade, IIRC), it's not surprising to find a lot of self diagnosis in the same community.

But when people who lack basic information make self diagnoses they are likely to be wrong. They're just desperate people who aren't getting the help they need searching for a solution.

It sucks that there are health influencers who will sell them on gluten as the source of their problems. But the health grifters are going to grift.

Since I get terrible dermatitis when I consume wheat I certainly won't be eating it whether or not my sensitivity is specifically to gluten or wheat in specific. One of the side effects of all the grifters directing people who don't have a sensitivity to gluten is a massive increase in availability and quality of wheat/gluten free foods.

While the net benefit to all the people who are being duped switching back to better, cheaper foods far outweighs my comfort, I'll be sad if they all stop buying the crappy fake bread. This will lead grocery stores to stop selling it due to lack of demand. Then producers will go bankrupt or stop selling their products. Which will mean that I can't even get that sad stuff anymore.

I've been watching this part of the market evolve for two decades and we went from a tiny selection of culinary horrors, to a fair variety of reasonably okay-ish things. I'll be pretty bummed if we lose all that progress.

Looking forward to more research here (and at least they said “casts doubt” rather than “disproven”)

It is literally impossible to provide a posteriori evidence that something does not exist. All you can show is lack of evidence that it does. I'm not overly impressed with a research dietitian who doesn't understand this concept.

On the topic of non-coeliacs and eating gluten free, as a non-coeliac who has a coeliac partner, it is usually just easier to make entirely gluten free meals than have to worry about cross contamination, and certainly does get me to try new grains, and other interesting new cooking ingredients.

In other words there's no outline of the diet these participants during the time of testing. It's IMHO either, poor design or an unfortunate oversight not to include these important details in the released study.

The study number being 36 in total is probably enough as an indicator whether to proceed with a wider more defined study though. Their next more involved study should definitely look through the food additive list long and hard looking for slight noise about some people experiencing a little discomfort. It would make for a more definitive study.

With most people who are questioning if or that they do find at times they appear to be gluten intolerant, the type of gluten eventually arises. There are many types of gluten. When going down the rabbit hole of what might be causing their gut issue other considerations of various known trigger foods for other gut conditions. (eg FODMAP) However the idea of another food type being a co-factor of gluten sensitivity is not greatly explored.

Personally, I have struggled with various trigger foods most of my life, and for a long 10 years or more being between tolerant to problematic with regular bread and various cereal consumption, I consigned that I was somewhat sensitive to gluten, though at times I had no issues with it. Long story short, I found my life long mystery gut issue that plagued me was 160b food additive, annatto. (As well as any derivatives of annatto) In a happy discovery, the eating of food with 160b in it, correlated with a prolonged response (a few days) to glutens. Obviously I found out only after cutting out and avoiding 160b as best I could. A real huh moment, and yes, sometimes not all food labels are precise enough, so I've had the opportunity to observe how it tied into my gluten sensitivity response.

[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ueg2.70014 (The study )

never been in a gym, but live ruraly, heat with wood cut from the land, and do metal work as a primary income, pushing 60, flab is gone, six pack is back, wheat was the kicker

* mention of mouth sores from wheat, I long ago discovered that commercial apples gave me canker sores, but not apples from wild trees....1 to 1 tested many times * I can taste mold in bananas that look perfect, so stopped eating any ** I can taste a tobbaco like tase in potatoes, neonictinoids??, or franken genetics??, dont care it's not yummy, so stopped that **food is very enjoyable, so I am dedicated to putting in huge effort towards achiving the best results I can *** everything I eat is made from basic ingredients, no processed anything, no additives, cheese is the most complex foid I buy, no vitamins or suppliments *** It's huge amount of work, hours every day, I know every ethnic, and odd ball indipendent grocery within a 100 mile range. **** Your bodys requirements can not be engineered, it's a never ending adaptation of your needs, both physiological and psycological, to the availibility of the foods in stock at that moment. And maybe in California, thats easy, dont know, but in Atlantic Canada, it's a full time job.

What remained was acid stomach, but with my latest weight loss regime, I've seriously curtailed my ingestion of sugars, and now I don't take any more omeprazole regularly.