A gastroenterologist well known for a 2011 study that “served as as one of the strongest pieces of evidence to date that [gluten intolerance] is a genuine condition” has backed down from that position:
A study [Peter] Gibson published last summer suggests that, when it comes to gut distress, gluten is getting a bad rap. The study focussed on thirty-seven people who identified themselves as having both NCGS [non-celiac gluten sensitivity] and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), an ailment characterized by a range of gut issues, including diarrhea or constipation, bloating, and stomach pain. The subjects all said that they felt better when they avoided gluten. To test whether the protein was really to blame, Gibson put them on one of three diets: gluten-free, low-gluten, and high-gluten. Each diet consisted of the same foods; the only difference was the amount of gluten. … It turned out that gluten seemed to have no measurable harmful effects.
What gives? As Robert T. Gonzalez puts it, “it is the pursuit of more definitive scientific evidence that makes Gibson’s research so noteworthy”:
That Gibson’s team found no specific response to gluten is not surprising in and of itself. (News flash: Scientific research often appears to contradict itself. For more on this reality as it pertains to health research, see this timely NatGeo piece by Virginia Hughes on the ongoing effort to determine whether resveretrol – a compound found in red wine – is or is not good for you.) Rather, it was Gibson’s willingness to call his own research into question – his readiness to double back and reevaluate his previous research on more rigorous terms – that we found not only striking, but encouraging for the future of research in this area.
Which suggests that headlines like “Researchers Who Provided Key Evidence For Gluten Sensitivity Have Now Thoroughly Shown That It Doesn’t Exist” and “Being Gluten-Free is Dumb” may be oversimplifying matters a bit. As gastroenterologist William Chey says:
It’s really hard to design and execute studies that really separate out constituent effects of food. … We’ve still got a long ways to go.
So I’ll keep avoiding the wheat. Update from a reader I can definitely relate to:
As one of those reviled gluten-sensitive folks, those terrible headlines you mention are truly annoying, but I’m definitely all for more research on this topic! After years of extremely annoying and embarrassing rashes and hives, and then a negative test for celiacs, my doctor (who has celiacs) recommended I try a gluten-free diet for a month anyway, just to see. I went (mostly) gluten free in June 2013 and haven’t had a major rash since. The occasional beer or sandwich with real bread doesn’t seem to bother me, but when I go overboard (as I definitely did on a recent trip to Napa) I get the faint beginnings of hives and eczema-like rashes, which then go away after I’m good for a few days.
Is it all in my head? Is it something else in gluten-containing foods doing this to me? I’d love to find out, but in the meantime this works!
Another reader:
I thought I would write because anyone who read the reader comments might have got the wrong idea about celiac disease. Your reader referred to a negative test for celiac disease – presumably he/she meant the anti-transglutaminase antibody test. While that is a typical test done for celiac disease, it is not conclusive on its own. This link is from Dr. Fasano naming the 4-out-5-rule criteria. The gold standard test for celiac disease is the small bowel enteroscopy. I would also note that many patients with celiac disease think they are fine with a bit of gluten here and there based on symptoms, but that is actually very dangerous; it could lead to EATL – Enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma.
I have celiac disease as well as three generations of my family including my grandfather who died of cancer because of untreated celiac disease. Anyone who thinks they may have celiac disease should NOT go on a gluten-free diet before seeing their doctor. Please see any of the national celiac associations for more advice.
The Dish 