Data Does Not Support Gluten-Free Diet for Treating Hashimoto’s Disease

Celiac.com 08/01/2022 - There have been only a few studies to address the use of a gluten-free diet in patients with Hashimoto's disease. To date, no study has confirmed positive changes resulting from a gluten-free diet in patients with Hashimoto's disease. 

At the same time, rates of other comorbid autoimmune diseases in patients with Hashimoto's disease are on the rise. This may have important implications for the interpretation of test results, and the need for a gluten-free diet in some patients. 

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A team of researchers recently set out to analyze the current medical literature for data supporting a gluten-free diet for the standard management of Hashimoto patients. The research team included Małgorzata Szczuko, Anhelli Syrenicz, Katarzyna Szymkowiak, Aleksandra Przybylska, Urszula Szczuko, Jakub Pobłocki, and Danuta Kulpa.

They are variously affiliated with the Department of Human Nutrition and Metabolomics, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland; the Department of Endocrinology, Metabolic Diseases and Internal Diseases, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland; the Department of Internal Medicine and Diabetology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poznań, Poland; and the Department of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Environmental Management and Agriculture, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Poland.

For their study, the team reviewed the PubMed database for links between a gluten-free diet, Hashimoto’s disease, and autoimmune diseases. Their analysis of the available literature found no support for using a gluten-free diet to treat patients with Hashimoto's disease. 

The team instead recommended an anti-inflammatory diet that restores deficient levels of vitamin D, iodine, and selenium, which are found in plant products rich in polyphenols, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids.

This is an interesting finding that seems to resolve the question of whether a gluten-free diet is beneficial for patients with Hashimoto's disease. The team found that the literature shows no benefit to using a gluten-free diet to treat Hashimoto's disease, but recommends an anti-inflammatory diet to restore levels of certain vitamins and minerals.

Stay tuned for more on this and related stories.

Read more in Nutrients 2022, 14(9), 1727