Science Proves Gluten Sensitivity Isn’t Real, People Are Just Whiners
That
may be a snarky way of saying it, but it’s true in some cases.
Scientific studies have concluded that sensitivity to gluten for people
who do not have Celiac disease may be completely psychological.
It
is especially relevant in a country where 17 million people may
unnecessarily believe that they are gluten-sensitive. (Source: A Mayo
Clinic survey in 2012, cited in a NY Times article.)
It
is especially shocking in a planet that spent $10.5 billion last year
on gluten-free products. (Source: Mintel, a market research
company, cited in the NY Times article.)
It is especially important because a psychological disease can spread as fast as any virus but be more enduring.
It is especially lucrative for all the food companies making tons of money off of people like you.
The same scientist who gave strong proof for gluten sensitivity in 2011 now says that it might only be in your head.
Let’s
start with some facts to guide you through this topic. Gluten is a
protein found in grains. Celiac disease is very real. Gluten triggers
really bad symptoms in people with Celiac disease. These symptoms
include “depression, ADHD-like behavior, abdominal pain, bloating,
diarrhea, constipation, headaches, bone or joint pain, and chronic
fatigue” (Source: Celiac Disease Foundation).
That
is not a pretty list, and it’s hard not to feel sympathy for those who
suffer from these symptoms. Gluten sensitivity is not something you
would think millions of people worldwide would be giving themselves, but
they might very well be.
There
is a term for people who get these gluten-triggered symptoms but who do
not have Celiac. The term is non-Celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) or
gluten sensitivity for short. This disease is largely self-diagnosed,
and studies are starting to show that it may be real in a great number
of cases. Professor and scientist Peter Gibson is no stranger when it
comes to studying gluten. He did a study in 2011 that gave a lot of
credit to the belief in (non-Celiac) gluten sensitivity. Seeing that
NCGS had become a worldwide phenomenon, he revisited the topic in 2013
with a critical look at the original assumptions. These are the measures
he took to validate his results:
- Subjects were given every single meal for the duration of the study.
- Any other potential causes of bad stomach symptoms were removed from the diet. (Think lactose from milk.)
- Just
in case you do not think he was serious, Peter collected nine days
worth of urine and fecal matter. (Now that’s a topic of conversation.)
The
results were pretty shocking. They concluded that gluten in no way
could have caused any of the negative symptoms that the subjects were
suffering from.
NOCEBO
might sound like the name of the latest trendy NYC neighborhood, but
it’s not. It is a term used to denote something perceived as HARMLESS,
but actually has harmful effects to people who take it. Gluten was
proven as a NOCEBO by the researchers of this medical study. People, who
did not take gluten but had thought they were, began to experience a
list of symptoms that no one would not want to wish on his or her
enemies. In the study’s own terms, “We found no evidence of specific or
dose-dependent effects of gluten in patients with NCGS” (Source: No
effects of gluten in patients with self-reported non-Celiac gluten
sensitivity.). Gibson then had to take the research one step further.
He
began to study people who had self-diagnosed their gluten sensitivity.
In other words, these were the people who believed they were
gluten-sensitive and suffered from symptoms. The researchers “failed to
confirm [that] patients with self-perceived NCGS have specific gluten
sensitivity.“ (Source: a study titled Is gluten a cause of gastrointestinal symptoms in people without Celiac disease?) The exaggeration of these results is not necessary.
On
the back of this, Gibson’s team became less interested in studying
gluten itself and more interested in studying people who believed they
were gluten-sensitive. He wanted to better understand adults who
diagnosed themselves with gluten sensitivity. According to their
results, “GFD was self-initiated in 44% of respondents; in other
respondents it was prescribed by alternative health professionals (21%),
dietitians (19%), and general practitioners (16%).” If you have a
friend with “gluten sensitivity,” there is a 44% chance they
self-diagnosed. There is only a 16% chance that a gluten-free diet was
recommended by a medical doctor.
Jessica
Biesiekierski, a member of Gibson’s team, is focused on doing more
experiments to prove whether or not non-Celiac gluten sensitivity truly
exists. Gibson and Biesiekierski’s have said:
“Non-Celiac
gluten sensitivity (NCGS), occurring in patients without Celiac disease
yet whose gastrointestinal symptoms improve on a gluten-free diet
(GFD), is largely a self-reported diagnosis and would appear to be very
common.”
“There
is definitely something going on,” Biesiekierski told RCS, “but true
NCGS may only affect a very small number of people and may affect more
extraintestinal symptoms than first thought. This will only be confirmed
with an understanding of its mechanism.”
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