Is Gluten Sensitivity Real?

A few months back I got inundated with questions about a study claiming that gluten sensitivity wasn't real. Researchers could find no credence to non-celiac gluten sensitivity. The part that was perplexing to me: this same group had previously published research that wheat was a primary cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

Their most recent study attempted to refine the earlier experiment by isolating the gluten protein and giving that isolation to patients, creating an artificially high-gluten diet. The study showed no difference in pain between high and low-gluten conditions.

This is exactly the opposite of what I have found in 12-plus years of chiropractic and AK-based practice. I have never tested patients with isolated refined gluten because they rarely eat just the gluten. They eat foods that contain gluten. Like wheat. I thought it was worth writing about why this study has some significant problems.

Three Major Flaws

The research group separated participants based on an IBS diagnosis, which may or may not have anything to do with gluten or wheat sensitivities. Then they had all participants remove wheat, grains, and FODMAPs (fermentable sugars found in most grains) from their diet for seven days. Every participant saw a marked improvement in pain and symptoms.

After those seven days, participants were given either 2 grams of isolated purified gluten with 14 grams of whey, 16 grams of isolated purified gluten, or a control of 16 grams of whey.

Flaw one: All participants felt better the first seven days when grains and FODMAPs were removed. This was completely overlooked when the attention-grabbing headline was written. Any careful reader should immediately think: maybe it's something else in wheat causing the problems, especially when all symptoms improved when wheat was removed.

Flaw two: They used an isolated, purified form of gluten. This is a problem because gluten may not be the sole culprit in gluten sensitivity. One of the main causative factors in IBS and intestinal dysfunction is gliadin, a protein commonly found alongside gluten in wheat.

Gliadin has been shown to cause a cholera-like reaction that loosens the gap junctions in the small intestine. This loosening causes pain, gas, belching, bloating, and can potentially lead to autoimmune problems later in life. This may be the most significant flaw in the research because it's the loosening of the gap junction that likely causes many of the symptoms we associate with IBS and gluten sensitivity. Not the gluten protein itself.

Flaw three: All three study groups received varying amounts of whey protein. Whey is the major protein found in milk and can just as easily cause GI upset and pain as wheat or grains. The researchers overlooked that all symptoms improved when wheat was removed. That should have led them to conclude that it may be the grains broadly, not just the isolated gluten, driving the problems.

What This Actually Tells Us

The jury may still be out on isolated gluten sensitivity as a diagnosis. But I stick to my clinical finding that most people are sensitive to gluten-containing grains. Unfortunately, most people are going to look at this study as an excuse to go back to eating grains. Which will keep leading some of them down the path to sickness and disease.

What this research actually proves is more useful than its headline suggests. It isn't enough to go gluten-free. You have to go grain-free. Those gluten-free breads and treats may be doing you just as much harm as the original gluten-containing versions, because the gliadin problem and the FODMAP problem don't disappear just because you swapped the flour.

Most people have multiple sensitivities to several components of gluten-containing grains. Not just the gluten itself. The grain is the problem. Not just one protein inside it.

For more on what wheat is actually doing to your digestive system, read: Wheat: What Is It Good For?

For the full picture on IBS mechanisms including leaky gut, SIBO, and food sensitivities, read: What Is IBS?

If you're in Frisco, Texas and dealing with digestive symptoms that haven't resolved on a gluten-free diet, Applied Kinesiology muscle testing can identify which specific grain components are driving your reaction and what it's doing to your gut barrier.

Call or text: (972) 989-4683
Email: drjj@drjjgregor.com