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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