Gluten Does Not Trigger GI Symptoms or Worsen Mental Health in Symptomatic Adolescents

Celiac.com 06/27/2022 - Consumer gluten-free diet and sales of gluten-free products have increased immensely over the last decade, fueled in part by allergies and sensitivities in some, and by the popular perception that the diet is healthier by many others. The popularity of the gluten-free diet has led a group of researchers to explore the physical and mental effects that gluten might have on young people, especially in those with existing stomach and gut issues.

The research team set out to assess the effects of gluten in adolescents and young adults with existing gastrointestinal symptoms and enrolled nearly 275 eligible adolescents, with at least four different gastrointestinal symptoms, from a population-based cohort of nearly thirteen-hundred.

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In phase one of the study, fifty-four participants lived gluten-free for 2 weeks. Thirty-three participants who improved during phase one then moved to phase two.

Phase two was a blinded randomized cross-over trial, in which participants were blindly randomized either to start with 7 days of gluten, eating two granola bars containing 10g of gluten or to 7 days on placebo, eating two granola bars without gluten, followed by the reverse and separated by a 7-day washout period. 

The team measured any effects of the intervention on gastrointestinal symptoms and participant mental health.

Overall, just under sixty of the 273 participants entered the run-in phase, with 35 eligible for randomization. A total of 33 were randomized, while 32 completed the trial. Average age was just over 20 years old, and nearly all participants were women. 

The team found that, compared with placebo, adding gluten to the diet did not trigger gastrointestinal symptoms or negatively affect mental health in adolescents who participated in this trial. 

Read more in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics 29 March 2022
 

The research team included Caecilie Crawley, Nadia Savino, Cecilie Halby, Stine Dydensborg Sander, Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen, Manimozhiyan Arumugam, Joseph Murray, Robin Christensen, and Steffen Husby. They are variously affiliated with the Hans Christian Andersen Children’s Hospital, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark; the Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; the Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; the  Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark; the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA; the Section for Biostatistics and Evidence-Based Research, the Parker Institute, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; the Research Unit of Rheumatology, Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.