Gluten-Free: What Does That Really Mean?

It might contradict everything you have heard before, but I have one question for you: Is it bad to go gluten-free? This is such an important question. It’s also something I think we should be digging into the science to learn more about. Let’s perform a deep dive on why I quit telling people to “go gluten-free”.

What Do We Know?

We have a large number of studies which show that people who have chosen to go gluten-free, without celiac disease, are showing worse health outcomes in the long-term.

This is obviously troubling. Especially as we see more folks embracing the idea of going gluten-free, and without considering the long-term effects on health.

What we have are results showing that non-celiac populations:

• Have higher risk factors for diabetes
• Greater tendencies toward weight gain (Read: 9 Surprising facts about calories)
• More risk of cardiovascular disease

How can this be the case? We have had tonnes of experts tell us that gluten is inherently inflammatory. That it triggers weight gain, and that it causes blood sugar problems. In fact, we’re told that gluten is pretty well evil, all around.

Some of the key ideas underpinning the “gluten-free movement” include what we might call “molecular mimicry.” This is an argument that suggests gluten mimics pathogens and causes the immune system to attack itself.

My Experience With Gluten

For quite some time, I was not entirely convinced that we had to avoid gluten. But I did think that it was something of a harmless distraction.

My thought process was that if someone did go gluten-free, they are likely to cut down on their intake of processed foods.

The thinking goes that someone may be less likely to have as many flour-based products. In which case they might have a better glycemic response (and better blood sugar regulation).

I wasn’t convinced that gluten was harmful. I did think, though, that “going gluten-free” would result in net positive effects in one’s diet.

Once gluten-free diets got a lot of traction, the studies started rolling in. The first studies performed concerned obesity, something we knew about in those who had celiac disease, but where science knew little about those who did not.

From there, we began to see that data about those choosing to go gluten-free and their associated cardiovascular risks (coupled with risks of diabetes).

These studies definitely were not hidden from the public, and experts saw them. But, what they contended was that those studied were simply eating more processed food and less fiber.

Fiber and Processed Diets

Let’s side with the experts for a moment. Consider that those participants who got sick were enjoying gluten-free diets higher in processed foods and low in fiber.

If that was true, the fiber could debatably be more important than the gluten overall (if that is what is really being lost).

Interested in bringing more fiber into your diet? Start here…

What about processed foods? If someone went gluten-free, but ate more processed foods and become unhealthy, then we would be more apt to recognize the detriment of processed foods on the body.

It would instead be wiser to focus on lowering one’s intake of processed foods, instead of getting rid of gluten.

Gluten: The Largest Study

What we have now is a really large study that showed not only another negative outcome of a gluten-free diet, but a really strong breakdown of why these things were so different.

This study in question was published just last year, in 2017, and was led by a team of highly-esteemed doctors¹. What they ultimately showed was that overall gluten intake in adults without celiac disease, correlated with death from heart disease.

Ultimately, what the study showed was that the rate of cardiovascular death was highest in those that had consumed no gluten (those that had electively gone gluten-free).

The really exciting thing here, for research purposes, was that the study went on to break people down based on the quality of their diets!

Not only that, these researchers looked at other things (beyond the diet quality score), including:

• Sugar intake
• Fiber intake
• Plant foods
• Even more

The Results

So, based on what they found what did these researchers conclude? They found that those who went gluten-free and had more cardiovascular death were not eating more processed foods. They were also not eating less fiber. That was not the part that mattered.

What they were doing, however, was consuming less whole grains (Read: Whole grains, who should eat and who should avoid). The most troubling aspect of this is that people died because they went gluten-free, and in the process cut whole grains out of their diets.

The Benefits of Whole Grains

The research is there, and the benefits are all true. You can rely on whole grains for your health (if you are non-celiac). We know that whole grains correlate with findings on lower rates of:

• Body weight
• Diabetes
• Cancer
• Cardiovascular death
• Premature death

The message is clear: Whole grains are crucial to your health and wellness. That is why I want to tell you that you should not feel as though you have to go grain-free for various reasons. In fact, the current messaging about grains being harmful is not aligned with what we know to be true.

What About Thyroid Disease?

This is an important subject to cover for you. Have you heard that gluten raises thyroid antibodies (The things you need to know about thyroid antibodies ), and want to try going gluten-free to help deal with that?

Thyroid antibodies are key in showing if someone has Hashimoto’s disease. Moreover, tracking and thinking about the nature of antibodies, and thinking about what controls them, can give us some great and important insight into the state of our health.

The Common Argument

This takes us back to my previous point about molecular mimicry (and the types of autoimmune disease that can spring from that concept). This is where we have begun to see speculation about raised thyroid antibodies and their connection to gluten.

However, in the medical literature, molecular mimicry is all about infections. There is no data whatsoever suggesting that, in those with celiac disease, gluten can act in a way commensurate with this idea of molecular mimicry.

When it comes to the actual studies performed, people with celiac disease who have raised (or lowered) their gluten intake, it does not improve their thyroid antibodies.

There has also been data showing that, in those who have celiac disease (and are at risk of thyroid disease), going gluten-free or not has no effect on the risk of developing thyroid disease down the road.

Is Celiac Disease Common?

You might be wondering: Just how common is celiac disease, wheat allergies, and non-celiac gluten sensitivity? Somewhere around 1% of the population suffers from celiac disease or a wheat allergy.

There is also this concept of non-celiac gluten sensitivity (which is definitely a real phenomenon). But, the catch here is that it is definitely not as common as some might think. It can also be found in roughly 1% of the current population.

What Can You Do Today?

The bad part of the gluten-free message appears to be the fact that it causes too many people to remove all whole grains from their diet.

I am definitely more of a fan of intact whole grains than I am of flour products. Some great examples to help get you started include:

• Rice (brown, black, and wild)
• Buckwheat (Read: Are you eating buckwheat)
• Oats
• Quinoa
• Amaranth
• Wheat berries

These are all foods which are super important for you and your diet. If you are concerned, though, about dealing with celiac disease – please test. Get yourself screened to see if this is a real problem for you, and then go from there.

Put Your Health Back On Track

Interested in making a change for the better, starting today?

The Thyroid Quiz (Click Here) is a great place to start, as it can give you a good read on your current health, how you are feeling, and what you can do to feel better – while putting your health back in your hands.

Give it a try for yourself today.