Headaches, arthritis, skin conditions, asthma, sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, and some autoimmune conditions can all be caused by gluten, some doctors say.
Gluten is found in most grains including wheat, barley, and malt. But don’t let this short list fool you.
It has found its way into the majority of diets. It can even be in things like ibuprofen.
So what is a protein like this doing to our bodies?
Got a case of NCGS
One condition is called non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), and is characterized by that single protein called gluten.
These grains trigger inflammation in the body, which can lead to an almost endless variety of symptoms, Dr. Richard Nahas says.
Nahas is an integrative doctor in Ottawa who regularly suggests to patients suffering from chronic pain to take on a strict gluten-free diet for a trial period of three months.
“The diagnosis of NCGS is made when someone has health problems that are significantly improved on a gluten-free diet, and that recur when they ingest gluten,” Nahas says. “We do this after their celiac test is negative.”
Celiac who?
Celiac disease is a digestive and autoimmune disorder that results in damage to the lining of the small intestine when gluten is eaten.
Damage to the intestine makes it hard for the body to absorb fat, calcium, and iron.
Typically, when a patient tells their family doctor gluten might be making them sick, their doctor refers them to a gastroenterologist who does tests to examine their small intestine.
“Patients want to know if they have celiac disease, but most of them actually have NCGS, which most gastroenterologists don’t understand, or know to look for,” Nahas says.
Though knowledge of NCGS has increased rapidly in the last five years, many patients continue to think that all gluten-related health problems are caused by celiac disease, Nahas says.
“It is fair to say that there is still a lot of confusion and that has led to controversy in the medical world,” Nahas says.
Is it all in your head or your gut?
In 2011, Peter Gibson, a professor of gastroenterology at the University of Monash, led a study that found NCGS to be a genuine condition.
After the results of his study received heavy praise and criticism, Gibson decided to do a more comprehensive version, completely controlling the diets of 37 people for a minimum of five weeks.
“In contrast to our first study, we could find absolutely no specific response to gluten,” Gibson says on an American Gastroenterology Association podcast.
Gibson says the existence of NCGS remains unproven, and gluten-related health problems could be entirely psychological.
While Nahas disagrees with Gibson’s findings, he agrees there is no test that can accurately show a patient has NCGS.
Instead, Nahas says the best thing to do is to administer the gluten-free diet, and to see if the patient feels better, even if they could feel better due to a different cause altogether.
“What I tell people is that this thing is real, we still don’t know everything about it, but if you have any health problems, it is worth considering trying to cut gluten out,” he says.
