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Bonnie Killip

Gluten 101: All You Need to Know About Going Gluten-Free

Gluten has been getting a lot of attention lately and not much (any?) of it is good.  It almost seems like going gluten-free (GF) is the standard answer to everything and anything that may be wrong with us but is gluten truly responsible for all ailments currently afflicting mankind?

It is likely you can easily think of at least one person in your life who has recently gone GF and the diversity and sales of GF products are booming due to many of us believing GF products are healthier than their gluten-containing equivalents1-3.  It’s time to clear a few things up.

In this post we cover:

  1. What is gluten?
  2. Why has gluten-free become so popular?
  3. Nutritional considerations of a GF diet.
  4. Is gluten really to blame?
  5. When going gluten-free is a necessity (and when it is not).
  6. Dietary tips to try before cutting gluten.
  1. What is Gluten?

Gluten is a type of protein.  Actually, it is two proteins.  Gluten is a general term used to refer to both the proteins gliadin (prolamin) and glutenin (glutelin)6 together.  These proteins are found in wheat, rye, barley, grains derived from these (cross bred), and maybe also oats if they have been processed using the same equipment as other gluten containing grains6,7.

The word gluten comes from the Latin word for “glue”8 a reflection of its structural building properties because gluten in wheat flour forms a three-dimensional network which holds the final product together like glue or scaffolding.  This framework imparting property is what gives the characteristic structure and texture of gluten containing products such as bread and muffins.

2. Why Has Gluten-Free Become so Popular

Now that we have established that gluten is nothing more sinister than a couple of proteins why is it then that its avoidance has become so heavily advocated and widespread to the point where a GF diet is now more popular than any other type of diet? 

Weight loss and health are the main reasons people report for making the switch to a GF diet3,9.  However, in healthy individuals there is limited evidence to support that GF diets assist with weight loss (with some studies showing the opposite) or improve measures of health4-5.  Therefore, while the benefits of a GF diet from a scientific point of view are limited this type of diet has gained momentum due mostly to anecdotal evidence and as with any other type of diet the help of celebrity endorsement10.  The size and profitability of the GF industry is expanding rapidly (some reports have found GF products to be 200-500% more expensive than their gluten-containing equivalents11-14) therefore you always must question the reliability and true motives behind endorsements of this nature.       

3. Nutritional Considerations of a Gluten-Free Diet

There are numerous studies comparing the nutritional adequacy of GF diets and nutritional composition of GF products compared to their gluten-containing counterparts with many indicating that GF diets may be lower in protein and dietary fibre15, 16 and higher in fat, salt and sugar17-21.  Studies of the dietary intake of people following a GF diet have also shown inadequate intakes of minerals and vitamins to be common including iron, folate, calcium, selenium, magnesium, zinc, niacin, thiamine and riboflavin and vitamins A and D18-20, 22-24.

GF products are generally based on five alternative GF ingredients corn, rice, soy, cassava and potato25 and the higher content of sugar, salt and fat in GF products is likely due to the need to enhance the mouthfeel and appeal of GF products (some breads contain more than 2x the amount of fat than their GF counterparts16, 26 because they don’t have the desirable texture of baked goods that would otherwise be imparted by the key ingredient gluten. 

4. Is Gluten Really to Blame?

I am only going to give two examples of the health claims of GF diets here because those in favour of GF have vast and varied reasoning and to explore all these is beyond the scope of this post. 

Gastrointestinal (gut) health.  I think amongst the most common pushes for a GF diet are claims that wheat causes gut problems such as bloating and gas and many people cite improved gut health as motivation to switch to a GF diet.  However, there are indigestible starches (oligofructose and inulin) in wheat that are beneficial to our healthy gut bacteria27-34 and these starches not only keep our intestines healthy they are also thought to help decrease the risk of developing some cancers and heart disease33, 34.  Therefore, by removing wheat from your diet you are also removing a valuable source of these starches and there is evidence that GF diets may lead to reductions in healthy gut bacteria35 and a reduction in healthy gut bacteria has the potential to cause the same distressing gut symptoms that you were trying to avoid in the first instance by cutting gluten.  This is just a taste of how complicated nutritional interactions within our bodies as a whole system become and how damaging following misguided (even if it is well intentioned) advice can be.  Always seek support from someone who is qualified to work in this area.  They’re not going to tell you what to do or impose their beliefs upon you (or at least they shouldn’t because the final decisions are always up to you) but they will be able to make sure your goals are in line with strategies that will get you the outcomes you want in the best way possible.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).  There are some reports that GF diets decrease symptoms of autism in children however from my perspective these claims are difficult to attribute to the change to a GF diet alone as there are a number of confounding factors such as the increased attention from parents and care givers as well as improved overall diet quality.  The results of a switch to a GF diet are difficult to assign solely to the removal of gluten because in general the dietary changes were broader than cutting gluten with an overall trend towards a healthier eating pattern including lower intake of processed foods.  Therefore, the increase in health and nutrition awareness and focus as well as overall improved diet quality is likely in many cases to have been just as beneficial if not even more so than the removal of gluten per se. 

5. When Going Gluten-Free is a Necessity

Having said this there are conditions where a GF diet is a necessity not a fad and that is in the case of people who have either coeliac disease (CD) or a wheat allergy.  CD is the only autoimmune disease where we know the trigger and the trigger is gluten.  Therefore, in this condition adherence to a lifelong GF diet is the only effective treatment.  

In CD there is misidentification by the body of the gluten protein as a danger and the immune system launches an unmerited attack on this protein which causes chronic inflammation, villous atrophy (destruction of the intestinal cells involved in absorption of nutrients) and therefore malabsorption in the small intestine10, 11.  People with CD have a genetic predisposition to developing this disease and you cannot develop it without these gene markers but because not all those with the gene display symptoms of the disease the onset of this disease is also thought to be triggered by changes in the intestinal microbiome (the bacteria living in your gut).  CD is currently estimated to affect 1% of the population38, 39. 

Another case where there is a clear need to strictly avoid wheat containing products is when someone is allergic to wheat because this can cause life-threatening anaphylaxis.  Wheat allergy is estimated to affect around 0.1% of the population of Westernised countries40, 41 and does not require a GF diet just the avoidance of wheat40.  In addition to CD and wheat allergy there is what is known as non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS).  People with NCGS are diagnosed when they experience a reaction to gluten after tests for CD and wheat allergy have come back negative42, 43.  The symptoms of a NCGS are diverse and highly variable from person to person and the amount of gluten each person can tolerate is different.  Therefore, people with NCGS likely do not need to remove all gluten from their diet but limiting their intake would be beneficial for symptom relief.  It is also common for people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) to report sensitivities to eating gluten-containing foods43. 

6. Dietary Tips to Try Before Cutting Gluten

At the end of the day if you are an otherwise healthy individual, without any of the diseases described above there is likely no huge benefit to removing gluten from your diet and as we discussed this may actually have the potential to cause more harm than good including increasing your risk of developing deficiencies in key nutrients.  The impacts of which certainly do have detrimental health repercussions.  Essentially, for the majority of us there are more important, effective and valuable dietary changes we can make than cutting gluten. 

Overconsumption of anything (including gluten) has the potential to be damaging and it’s likely that the benefits of a GF diet are most felt and reported when those on exceptionally high refined food diets (including refined gluten containing wheat flour but not due to) make conscious changes to consume an all-round healthier diet and not purely attributed to the removal of gluten.  Therefore, if you are looking to improve the quality of your diet and correspondingly improve your health a good place to start that is likely more beneficial than jumping immediately to a GF diet as the answer to your problems would be replacing highly refined products with less refined products (for example swapping white bread for wholegrain bread) while simultaneously increasing the variety of foods you eat.  Both these tactics will ensure you are on the right path to supplying your body with the best mix of nutrients it needs to support your healthiest life. 

Summary 

The popularity of the GF diet has boomed in recent years and as with any other diet there are unfortunately those who are willing to capitalize on people’s fears and many people have jumped on the GF bandwagon through ignorance or misguided information.   

After reading this post you now have clarity on just what gluten is, why the GF diet has gained so much popularity, the nutritional considerations of a GF diet, the circumstances under which a GF diet is a necessity, the potential health impacts of eating gluten versus eating GF and dietary changes to try before cutting gluten that are likely to result in higher health impacts than going GF for the general population.

The main points I encourage you to take away from this post are:

1. Gluten is a type of protein found in some grains

Gluten is not the source of all human disease. Some people cannot tolerate the gluten found in some grains, some people cannot tolerate the protein in peanuts, some people cannot tolerate the sugars in onions and so on. None of which makes these foods or food components themselves bad.

2. Eating a GF diet does not of itself equate to eating a healthy diet.

If you are simply swapping a diet high in processed foods (junk food) for a similar diet high in GF processed foods the gluten omission will not be of any health benefit and could even be more damaging due to the higher sugar, fat and salt and lower vitamin, mineral and fibre content of many GF products.

3. The majority of people do not have CD, wheat allergy or a gluten sensitivity.

Therefore, the majority of people will not benefit from cutting gluten from their diet.  There are many dietary changes that have higher health potential amongst the general population than cutting gluten.

If you have additional questions or concerns or feel you may have a sensitivity to gluten, please do not hesitate to contact me or see a dietitian in order to work together to maintain a healthy diet and fuel your success (irrespective of whether you decide to cut gluten or not).  Working with a skilled professional allows you to make dietary changes that best support the outcomes you want because misinformed health attempts, no matter how well-meaning can very easily have the opposite of their intended outcome. 

I want to quickly clarify that I am not saying a GF diet will inevitably be damaging nor am I advocating for or against the GF diet I more want to bring your attention to the fact that any restrictive style of eating comes with a risk and the GF diet is no exception.  The potential for harm clearly exists and this is why there is a need for reliable support and guidance when you are making dietary changes because each person is different and reliable and tailored information will allow you to achieve the best possible outcomes based on your unique situation. 

 Your health is and always will be your biggest asset in life therefore making certain your choices really are in your best interest is paramount.

With my whole heart I hope you found this information useful and inspiring.

Please leave a comment or question below and let me know your thoughts.

Become Great.  Live Great.

Bonnie.

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