Gluten-free diet: for whom, how and why?

The goal: To stop bloating, abdominal pain and bowel dysfunction.

Does it work? Within days of starting a gluten-free diet, you will notice the disappearance of the observed disorders if you are suffering from either gluten intolerance (also known as celiac disease) or gluten sensitivity disorder, or gluten allergy. The difference between gluten intolerance (1% of the population) and gluten sensitivity (up to 10 to 20 times more frequent), is the type of antibody that the body makes. In intolerance, there is more atrophy in the mucous membrane of the small intestine resulting in poor absorption of nutrients in the gut – especially iron, calcium and vitamin B9. As for gluten allergy, it is rare and is detected by conventional tests.

For whom?  Anyone who had a real diagnosis, and not those who want to ‘cleanse’ their intestines a little and detoxify their bodies.

In practice: If you are gluten intolerant, you should follow the diet all your life or risk seeing your troubles come back. A consultation with the dietitian is essential to carefully follow up with your diet as well as a registration with the your local  association of gluten intolerance (if there is one). Forbidden foods are all varieties of cereals containing wheat or wheat varieties such as spelt, kamut, rye and barley. 

Permitted foods are naturally gluten-free products: corn, rice, millet, dry vegetables, buckwheat and dietary products identified by the words “gluten free” or the symbol of a crossed grain.

Expert opinion: Professor Bruno Bonaz, a specialist in celiac disease:

‘Intolerance to gluten from an early age is more traditional and more visible, but in adults, the signs may appear or be diagnosed later on. Intolerance is sometimes manifested in a simple chronic diarrhea, iron deficiency, chronic abdominal pain which can be mistaken for irritable bowel syndrome, menstrual irregularities, miscarriages, constant fatigue, skin and joint problems, diabetes, thyroid abnormality… They start on a gluten-free diet either because they were diagnosed by a physician (who performs a gastroscopy and tests their intestines for specific antibodies) or spontaneously because they have read that it could help; and signs disappear. If the diet is followed well, the lining of the small intestine is perfectly regenerated after a year – on average – and the antibodies disappear. It is estimated that a proven diagnosis of celiac disease can often go unnoticed.’

More from our special  DIETS series:

The ‘low-sugar’ diet 

The lactose-free diet 

The ‘low salt’ diet

Stephen Rica