Gluten sensitivity doesn’t depend so much on gluten itself, but on how the gut and brain interact and the anticipation of symptoms.
There gluten sensitivityor non-celiac gluten sensitivity, does not seem to depend on the much demonized gluten, but on a mix of reactions to other components of bread, pasta, pizza & co. seasoned with a good dose of suggestion. Confirmation of what has already been hypothesized by previous studies comes from a review of the research available on the topic, published in Lancet. According to the analysis, gluten sensitivity is one of those conditions linked to the relationship between the intestine and the brain, and is not a purely intestinal disease.
Gluten sensitivity: symptoms and hypotheses
Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is a set of intestinal and non-intestinal symptoms (such as bloating, abdominal pain and tiredness) associated with the consumption of gluten, a protein complex present in some cereals at the basis of many diets, such as wheat, spelt, barley, rye, oats and kamut.
There is no diagnostic test for this condition, because it is not associated with lesions in the intestinal wall nor with biomarkers (molecules that signal the disease) in the patient’s body. A specific cause has never been identified and it has long been thought that it may depend, at least in part, on a nocebo effect – the opposite of the placebo: I think gluten is bad for me and so I’ll be sick.
Gluten cleared
Reviewing the most important and recent research on the topic, scientists at the University of Melbourne concluded that most people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity do not have symptoms triggered specifically by gluten. Few controlled studies have in fact found a real reaction to this food complex: in most cases, the same symptoms were activated by gluten or a placebo (a food that patients thought contained gluten, but in reality did not have any).
Much more often, fermentable carbohydrates (also indicated by the acronym) trigger the disorders FODMAP, Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols: sugars that the intestine struggles to digest and which can ferment causing problems), other components of the grain or, in most cases, patients’ expectations on how they will feel after a gluten-based meal.
The power of suggestion
“People with irritable bowel syndrome who believe they are sensitive to gluten react similarly to gluten, wheat and placebo,” explains Jessica Biesiekierski, Associate Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Melbourne and first author of the study. Anticipation and interpretation of symptoms therefore have an essential role in this syndrome, which should be considered as one of those disorders linked to the connection between the intestine and the brain, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
The authors hope that what they discovered can contribute to rehabilitating gluten, often arbitrarily removed from diets, and to develop more targeted interventions to help people suffering from gluten sensitivity relieve discomfort after meals.
