consciouseating


of harmful intestinal bacteria for those on gluten-free diets. The gluten components that cause problems for the wheat-sensitive may act as prebiotics and feed good bacteria for the rest of us, says Greger. “Wheat bran contains the impor-


GLUTEN-FREE LIVING Most People Benefit from Gluten by Judith Fertig


THE DARK SIDE OF S


ales of gluten-free products reached $973 million in 2014 and are projected to grow to $2.34 billion in 2019, according to Packaged Facts, a market research publisher. Many such products cost more than their gluten-based counterparts.


Gluten Sufferers The latest study, published in the American Medical Association publi- cation JAMA Internal Medicine, found that the number of Americans with celiac disease remained relatively stable from 2009 through 2014 at about 2.7 million. Meanwhile, mar- keters for gluten-free products report about 40 million consumers. Celiac disease is a serious auto- immune disorder in which ingesting gluten causes issues such as intes- tinal damage, anemia and fatigue. Those afflicted improve when gluten is removed from their diets and their intestinal tracts heal, according to the Center for Celiac Research and Treat- ment at Massachusetts General Hospi- tal, in Boston. Those with a non-celiac gluten


sensitivity or wheat allergy also experi- ence a range of symptoms, including


34 Long Island Edition


bloating, brain fog and joint pain, when they ingest gluten. According to the Center, as many as 7 percent of Ameri- cans, or 18 million people, fall into this vague category, due to a far less understood immune response distinct from what’s linked to celiac disease.


Gluten Beneficiaries The many Americans unaffected by gluten may want to avoid gluten-free products, says Dr. Michael Greger, a Washington, D.C., physician special- izing in clinical nutrition. The bestsell- ing author of How Not to Die, Greger founded the educational nonprofit NutritionFacts.org and is a founding fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. “Just because some people have a peanut allergy doesn’t mean every- one should avoid peanuts,” says Greger. “Some evidence suggests that a gluten-free diet may adversely affect gut health in people without celiac disease, gluten sensitivity or wheat allergy.” He cites a small study pub- lished in Gut Microbes which found that a one-month, gluten-free diet may hurt gut flora and immune function, potentially precipitating an overgrowth


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tant wheat-based prebiotic arabino- xylan-oligosaccharide,” explains Case Adams, a Morro Bay, California, natu- ropath and author of The Gluten Cure: Scientifically Proven Natural Solutions to Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivi- ties. “It feeds the probiotics that pro- duce enzymes which help break down gluten and gliadin proteins.” Researchers from Pennsylvania’s


University of Reading conducted mul- tiple studies showing that arabino-xy- lan-oligosaccharide derived from wheat bran increases beneficial bifidobacteria populations in the guts of humans. It is disappointing that a number of highly publicized studies done on celiac patients have been inappropri- ately applied to the general popula- tion, notes Adams. Gluten may also boost immune function. In a study published in the journal Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, researchers found that af- ter less than a week on a diet with added gluten protein, subjects experienced significantly increased natural killer cell activity, which could improve their abil- ity to fight cancer and viral infections. An earlier study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that high-gluten bread improved triglyceride levels better than regular gluten bread. Plus, Greger says, avoiding gluten


means missing out on all the fiber, B vitamins, trace minerals and other nutrients from whole grains like wheat, barley and rye. A whole-grain-rich diet has been repeatedly shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabe- tes, obesity and some forms of cancer in studies from such institutions as the University of Minnesota and Lund University, in Sweden.


“Most gluten-free processed foods are not made with nutrient-rich, health-protecting whole grains,” adds Katherine Tallmadge, a Washington, D.C., registered dietitian, nutrition coach and author of Diet Simple.


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