In recent years, gluten intolerance has received a lot of media and public attention, and gluten-free food products are taking up more and more supermarket shelves. Going gluten-free has become particularly polarizing since Miley Cyrus took to Twitter to say in flowery terms that gluten is inedible. Is the gluten-free diet a new fashion trend or is it an objectively imposed health necessity?
To answer this question, we need to start with the basic facts. The notorious gluten is nothing more than a protein in grain plants, no different from hundreds of others. What then accounts for his media status? It turns out that there are different forms of gluten sensitivity and intolerance. It is important to clarify here that gluten allergy and celiac disease, although immunological conditions are not identical concepts. These are two different medical conditions arising from an abnormal immunological response to the gluten molecule. Specifically, celiac disease is a type of autoimmune disease, while allergy is not.
Most forms of gluten intolerance present with swelling, cramps, joint pain, and diarrhea when consuming gluten. There is no treatment for gluten intolerance, it is enough to simply avoid the protein, and for celiac disease, this is especially important because each subsequent intake of gluten progressively damages the digestive tract and is more severe than the previous one.
Gastroenterologists find that the frequency of gluten intolerance and especially celiac disease is increasing. Many experts believe that celiac disease is 4 times more common today than it was 50 years ago. It is still too early to say exactly what this is due to – an actual increase in the incidence of the disease or just an increase in the prevalence of gluten. The fact is that it is widely used in the food industry, as it gives elasticity to the dough. As more and more manufacturers explicitly label their gluten-free products to meet the needs of people with gluten intolerance, more and more people who can safely eat gluten are giving it up. Why is this, and more importantly, is it right?
Many teenage girls go on a gluten-free diet with the idea of losing weight. It often happens that by giving up gluten-containing foods, they also deprive themselves of important nutrients and minerals such as zinc, fiber, and folic acid. Moreover, the endeavor often turns out to be counterproductive, because many gluten-free foods contain larger amounts of fat and carbohydrates (gluten is a protein), and therefore more calories.
Therefore, we must point out that gluten is not a poison, as many may think. For those who do not suffer from gluten intolerance, it is no different than any other food protein. It is unreasonable and even dangerous to make drastic changes in the diet just to imitate one or another celebrity, even if she is also a fashion icon. Even more dangerous, however, can be undiagnosed celiac disease. If we suspect gluten intolerance or celiac disease, we should not rush to exclude gluten from our diet, but first of all seek medical advice and only then (possibly) stop gluten, only if the doctor advises us to do so.