When you’re dealing with GI issues after eating bread and pasta, it’s easy to point the finger at gluten. This protein complex has morphed into a nutritional scapegoat, with plenty of people putting themselves on gluten-free diets to try to turn things around. But new research published in The Lancet, suggests that gluten is being unfairly targeted by the 10% of people who think they have a gluten intolerance.
Known in the medical community as “non-celiac gluten sensitivity,” gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity is different from having Celiac disease, a chronic autoimmune disease that damages the small intestine when patients eat gluten. For people with Celiac disease, a gluten-free diet is crucial and can even be life-saving. People who think they have a gluten intolerance don’t experience that small intestine damage, but they’ll usually deal with uncomfortable symptoms like bloating and diarrhea. On the flip side, those symptoms will go away when they cut out gluten. In theory, it makes sense to point the finger at gluten.
If you feel like you get a reaction when you eat foods with gluten, it’s fair to have questions and concerns. Here’s what research suggests could actually be behind those symptoms.
There could be a few things fueling those symptoms.
For study, researchers analyzed randomized controlled trials that had people who reported having a gluten sensitivity or intolerance eat foods containing gluten or a placebo. The researchers discovered that only a small percentage of people who claimed to have a gluten sensitivity actually reacted to gluten—16% to 30%, depending on the trial. “It’s a major shift in how we understand so-called ‘gluten sensitivity,’” Jessica Biesiekierski, PhD, lead study author and head of Human Nutrition at The University of Melbourne, tells SELF.
So, what’s behind the symptoms people experience? There could be a few things, based on the findings.
The researchers discovered that the gastrointestinal symptoms are largely caused by fermentable carbohydrates (another wheat component), which are also known as fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAPs). “Fermentable carbohydrates are broken down by bacteria in the gut,” Scott Keatley, RD, co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy who was not involved in the study, tells SELF. “When those bacteria digest them, they produce gas. At the same time, these carbs pull water into the intestines. If someone has a sensitive gut or altered gut–brain signaling, the normal amounts of gas and stretching can feel like pain, bloating, cramping, or urgency.”
