Is going gluten-free REALLY going to benefit your health?

According to scientists, going gluten-free might not be all it’s cracked up to be…

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by Fiona Day |
Published on

Celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow have been massive advocates of the gluten-free trend, with more and more people adopting a gluten-free lifestyle every year and raving about the results.

What stemmed as a treatment for Coeliac disease has now become a world-wide diet trend, with most menus now offering gluten-free options.

But is going gluten-free really the way to combat symptoms such as headaches, bloating and irritable bowel syndrome?

According to scientists in Melbourne, perhaps not.

After conducting a study in 2013, they found “no evidence of specific or dose-dependent effects of gluten in patients with NCGS (non coeliac gluten sensitivity)”.

Gwyneth reportedly follows a gluten-free diet 
Gwyneth reportedly follows a gluten-free diet 

Instead, they found that the Fodmap diet helped improve these symptoms.

The FODMAP diet involves eating low levels of certain carbohydrates that are not absorbed by the intestines. These include fructans, galactans, lactose and sugar alcohols often found in foods such as wheat, tofu, certain fruits and dairy products.

The study also claimed that “a gluten-free diet is a cousin of a [low] Fodmap diet. This is not a turf war ... The Fodmap work is really important, but I don’t think it is a single fix.”

Read more about FODMAP here

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