I have written extensively about the question of whether to include wheat in our diets. According to a controversial new book, wheat has the potential to cause several diseases.
Those who have stopped eating wheat because of various symptoms already know this and have seen the benefits. Over the past five decades there has been a huge increase in the consumption of wheat in the western diet. In conjunction, there has been an increase in those suffering from coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome and other gut-related conditions.
Author of US bestseller Grain Brain David Perlmutter warns that gluten consumption is a key factor behind many conditions you would not necessarily connect with the consumption of wheat. You certainly wouldn’t think about them when eating your daily sandwich.
Perlmutter, who is a leading American neurologist, has alerted us to the fact that there may be a link between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, arthritis, autism, depression, diabetes, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s, and many intestinal disorders and the consumption of gluten. He even connects memory problems, migraines and Tourette’s syndrome to gluten consumption.
What is gluten exactly? It is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species, including barley and rye. Gluten gives elasticity to dough, helping it rise and keep its shape and often giving the final product a chewy texture.
Gluten is used in cosmetics, hair products and other dermatological preparations. About one in 133 people in developed nations are gluten intolerant. In fact, it is referred to as an intolerance not an allergy.
To see gluten, you could stir a cupful of wheat flour and water together until you end up with a sticky mass. Knead it, rinse it under a tap to get rid of the starch and the gluey mass you are left with is gluten.
This sticky protein is found mostly in wheat. Due to hybridisation, today’s wheat has many times the gluten content it did 50 years ago. This is the reason why we find more resulting symptoms from a high-wheat diet now than we did five decades ago.
There may be a link between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, arthritis, autism, depression, diabetes, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s and gluten consumption
According to Perlmutter, gluten consumption leads to the amplification of a protein called zonulin, which activates inflammation, a cornerstone of brain diseases associated with ageing, including Alzheimer’s, as well as numerous auto-immune disorders and even cancer.
This is not the first time a doctor has raised alarm bells about the consumption of gluten. A few years ago, William Davis published a book called Wheat Belly, where he cited gluten as the cause of various digestive conditions and other health issues.
However, Perlmutter’s book is the first to link the consumption of gluten directly to chronic diseases. He states that some research suggests that gluten sensitivity affects around 30 per cent of the population, many of whom are not aware, as the symptoms do not always manifest as a gastrointestinal problem.
There is no doubt that gluten-free products are much more readily available in supermarkets these days, with many restaurants including gluten-free dishes on their menu. As someone who has avoided wheat for the past 19 years, it is a joy to be able to have a choice when shopping and eating out.
Various nutritionists and gastroenterologists agree that we would benefit from a gluten-free diet. A recent study suggests as many as 25 per cent of the UK population has the genetic marker for coeliac disease. Last year, an article published on the British Medical Journal website, focused on the work carried out by David Sanders, a consultant gastroenterologist at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, UK, and its centre, which is the UK’s largest for gluten-related disease.
This article was well received by many readers and received a large number of hits. In addition, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity was a key issue at the United European Gastroenterology Week conference in Berlin.
Children have been seen to benefit from a wheat-free or gluten-free diet. Improvements in ADHD, dyspraxia and dyslexia have also been apparent. According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, only about 10 to 15 per cent of the one per cent of people in the UK with coeliac disease are actually diagnosed, at a median age of 50.
Around one in four has been previously misdiagnosed as having irritable bowel syndrome. There are possibly many people living with a condition and the accom-panying symptoms, such as feeling tired, stomach pains, bloating, severe gas and maybe even skin conditions, who would benefit from eliminating gluten from their diet (www.coeliac.org.uk).
The belief of many medical and nutritional practitioners is that people aren’t aware of the effect that the elimination of gluten has on their health. They see symptoms, which they didn’t even know were connected to food consumption, disappearing. A good example is a woman who found her painful periods had disappeared, while another who found that her energy improved massively.
Even physically active people who don’t have health problems can see the benefits. Often, it is only when people reduce gluten or take a rest for about three months that they realise how much better they feel.
kathryn@maltanet.net