Gluten : Problem Protein Or Fad Food Fear?

The ‘gluten-free’ label is becoming a familiar sight. Mike Murphy looks at why more people are choosing to cut out this natural protein, even without doctors’ orders.

- Mike Murphy

If you have the autoimmune condition coeliac disease (CD), you need to avoid gluten for life. That, according to current medical knowledge, is nonnegotiable. But with only an estimated one in 100 of us being affected by CD, the rise in popularity of gluten-free (GF) products doesn’t seem to add up.

Gluten-avoidance is considered by many to be something of a fad, but it is now estimated that eight per cent of the UK population avoids gluten1 as part of a ‘healthy’ lifestyle — something which has not gone unnoticed by food manufacturers, who have responded with gusto. In 2015, 12 per cent of new food products launched in the UK carried a GF claim,1 with GF breakfast cereals leading the charge with sales growing by 79 per cent a year since 2010.2

Gluten and coeliac disease

CD is a condition that often, but not exclusively, occurs in genetically susceptible individuals whereby gluten (a protein component found in wheat, barley and rye) triggers an autoimmune reaction that can damage the lining of the small intestine, leading to symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, weight-loss and, eventually, malnutrition. Sufferers may also develop a separate condition called dermatitis herpetiformis, which causes an itchy rash with blisters that burst when scratched. Because CD is an autoimmune condition and not an allergy or intolerance, sufferers will not have anaphylaxis or symptoms usually associated with allergic reaction. Instead, they are likely to have vomiting and diarrhoea, with longer-term damage occurring on the inside. Although following a GF diet will enable the gut to heal, re-introducing gluten will cause the immune system to react again, damaging the gut microvilli, which is responsible for absorbing nutrients.