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  • Jefferson Adams
    Jefferson Adams

    When You Think Gluten-Free, Don't Think Fad

    Reviewed and edited by a celiac disease expert.

    Journal of Gluten Sensitivity Summer 2017 Issue

    When You Think Gluten-Free, Don't Think Fad - Are non-celiac gluten-free eaters responding to legitimate medical issues? Photo: CC--Mike Licht
    Caption: Are non-celiac gluten-free eaters responding to legitimate medical issues? Photo: CC--Mike Licht

    Celiac.com 07/24/2017 - Are many non-celiac gluten-free eaters actually treating undiagnosed medical conditions? Is the gluten-free movement less a fad than we imagine?

    Currently, about 3 million Americans follow a gluten-free diet, even though they do not have celiac disease. Known colloquially as "PWAGs," people without celiac disease avoiding gluten. These folks are often painted as fad dieters, or hypochondriacs, or both.

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    Call them what you will, their ranks are growing. According to a study in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the number of PWAGs tripled from 2009 to 2014, while the number of celiac cases stayed flat. A new study from the Mayo Clinic supports these conclusions. The study derived from data gathered in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, as well as serological tests.

    There is also a growing body of data that support the existence of non-celiac gluten sensitivities, though the evidence is not conclusive. Moreover, researchers really don't have any idea how many non-celiacs on a gluten-free diet may have legitimate reactions to gluten. The phenomenon has emerged in the past five years in medical literature.

    For a long time, researchers just assumed that only people with celiac disease would eat a gluten-free diet. About a decade ago, when research into celiac disease and gluten-free dieting began in earnest, says Joseph Murray, a celiac researcher at the Mayo Clinic and an author of the new research, researchers "didn't think to ask why people avoid gluten. When we designed this study 10 years ago, no one avoided gluten without a celiac diagnosis."

    The latest research by Murray and his colleagues showed that the total number of celiac cases leveled off in the last few years, while more non-celiacs began to avoid gluten for different reasons. Researchers still aren't sure what's driving the trend, and whether it will continue. Part of the increase is doubtless to growing awareness of gluten sensitivity.

    However, Benjamin Lebwohl, the director of clinical research at Columbia University's Celiac Disease Center, estimates that more than half of the 3.1 million PWAGs noted in this latest study have legitimate gluten sensitivity. "An increasing number of people say that gluten makes them sick, and we don't have a good sense why that is yet," Lebwohl said. "There is a large placebo effect — but this is over and above that."

    Non-celiac patients with gluten sensitivity often complain of symptoms similar to those of celiacs, such as intestinal problems, fatigue, stomachaches and mental fogginess. And while researchers don't know the reason, clinical studies have shown that these symptoms are often relieved by eliminating dietary gluten.

    One theory that is gaining some credence is that these people may be sensitive to other irritants, such as FODMAPS, a class of carbohydrates shown to cause gastrointestinal symptoms found in wheat, milk, onions and cheese.

    Look for more studies into this topic, as researchers seek to nail down answers about celiac disease and gluten-sensitivity, and similar symptoms in non-celiacs.

    Meantime, the number of people who suspect they have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and who seek improvement in their symptoms by eliminating gluten from their diets, continues to grow.

     Source:

    Edited by Jefferson Adams



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  • About Me

    Jefferson Adams

    Jefferson Adams is Celiac.com's senior writer and Digital Content Director. He earned his B.A. and M.F.A. at Arizona State University. His articles, essays, poems, stories and book reviews have appeared in numerous magazines, journals, and websites, including North American Project, Antioch Review, Caliban, Mississippi Review, Slate, and more. He is the author of more than 2,500 articles on celiac disease. His university coursework includes studies in science, scientific methodology, biology, anatomy, physiology, medicine, logic, and advanced research. He previously devised health and medical content for Colgate, Dove, Pfizer, Sharecare, Walgreens, and more. Jefferson has spoken about celiac disease to the media, including an appearance on the KQED radio show Forum, and is the editor of numerous books, including "Cereal Killers" by Scott Adams and Ron Hoggan, Ed.D.

    >VIEW ALL ARTICLES BY JEFFERSON ADAMS

     


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