More Americans Are Feeing Gluten-free Despite Not Having Celiac Disease

Percentage of the population avoiding gluten but not having disorder more than tripled between 2009 and 2014, maybe due to diet trends and marketing

An increasing number of Americans are feeing gluten-free despite not having celiac cancer, the main medical reason for adopting such a diet.

Between 2009 -1 0, when 0.52% of the population feed gluten-free despite not having celiac disease, and 2013 -1 4, when 1.69% did so, the proportion more than tripled, according to a new analyse published under Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine.

A gluten-free diet is the only treatment for celiac illnes, though its use by those without a celiac diagnosis has often been debated.

Between 2009 -1 0 and 2013 -1 4 the proportion of the 22,278 Americans surveyed in the study with celiac illnes remained approximately constant at 0.7% in 2009-10, 0.77% in 2011 -1 2 and 0.58% in 2013 -1 4.

The increase in those without celiac cancer who kept a gluten-free diet was especially pronounced for women( rising from 0.59% to 2.15%) and 20 – to 39 -year-olds( rising from 0.37% to 2.42% ).

The researchers from the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School examined data regarding the Center for Disease Controls National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey( NHANES ), which combined interviews and physical examinations. All topics underwent serologic testing for celiac cancer, which investigates antibodies in the blood, to determine whether they did or did not have celiac disease, and were asked about prior diagnosis and their adherence to a gluten-free diet. The analyse was limited by the small number of people identified by the NHANES as having celiac cancer or adhering to a gluten-free diet.

Other research has utilized this data before to analyze the prevalence of non-celiac gluten-free diets, though Dr Hyun-seok Kim, this studys result researcher, said none has utilized this range of data to investigate time tendencies. A 2013 examine, for example, looked at the NHANES data in 2009 -1 0, and used the percentage of those who did not have celiac illnes yet maintained a gluten-free diet as a surrogate marker for non-celiac gluten sensitivity, a condition which exhibits similar symptoms to celiac illnes. The Rutgers analyse did not analyze non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder which is said to affect approximately 1 % of the population though most are unaware that they have it. For those with the condition, feeing gluten, a protein may be in wheat, barley and rye, can injury the lining of the small intestine and cause a complex host of symptoms, from abdominal ache and bloating to ulcers and anemia, which are able to construct diagnosis difficult. The illnes is now five times more common than it was 50 years ago, Dr Joseph A Murray, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic, told the New York Times two years ago.

The new report suggested that lessened gluten intake could be causing a plateau of celiac cancer. It did not examine the reasons behind the gluten-free eating, but Kim said he believes the uptick may stem from wider availability and reduced prices of gluten-free products, the diet becoming trendy for health-conscious people and self-diagnosed gluten-sensitivity by those hoping to alleviate gastrointestinal symptoms. Young females especially, they are a group that is affected by commercials and social media, he said. He intends to do a follow-up analyze to look at the characteristics of those with a gluten-free diet.

In an article published with the study titled Perhaps Its Not the Gluten, Dr Daphne Miller of the University of California, San Francisco, who was not to participate in Kims study, said it was important that this selection[ to go gluten-free] not be dismissed as an unfounded trend except for those with celiac illnes. Researchers should use this study as an opportunity to try to understand how factors associated with a gluten-free diet has an impact on a variety of symptoms, including gastrointestinal function, cognition, and overall wellbeing, she said.

Miller wrote that removing foods that contain gluten from the diet also removes fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols better known as FODMAPs from the diet, something that may alleviate gastrointestinal symptoms similar to those suffers from celiacs.

Miller noted a 2013 Australian survey that procured a low FODMAPs diet effectively reduced such symptoms, and there were no negative effects when gluten was reintroduced.

Kelly Courson, a gluten-free lifestyle expert and consultant who has celiac illnes, said doctors were often reluctant to diagnose non-celiac patients who knew that gluten made them sick with another condition such as non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

She said she did not preach that no one should eat gluten, but some might be surprised by the results if they try to cut it out. Who am I to say they[ shouldnt] stick to a gluten-free diet because they just feel better or lighter or less bloated? Courson said. It might be nothing life threatening, but if their overall quality of life improves or merely the side benefits of only feeling bloated after feeing pasta.

But blogger and author Erica Dermer, who has celiac disease with severe symptoms, said that when those anxious about gluten approached her for advice, she advised them against self-diagnosis of celiac cancer, as adopting a gluten-free diet could possibly conceal other medical problems. Before you get my recipe for chocolate cupcakes, youre going to tell me if you got tested for celiac or not, she said.

Some seem to believe eating gluten-free is a weight loss tool, though Dermer pointed out gluten-free foods may be more highly caloric and less healthy than a normal diet.

Courson said the idea that gluten-free food is inherently healthy frustrated her. When someone in that trend category is feeing gluten-free cookies and sugary junk foods thinking that its healthy thats a trash of fund and its going to bounce back on them with weight gain, Courson said. Then theyre going to tell people, I tried gluten-free and it didnt work for me.

If you dont have celiac illnes, then these diets are not going to help you, Dr Peter HR Green, the director of the celiac disease centre at the Columbia Universitys medical school told the New Yorker in 2014.

Kim, who has an interest in gastroenterology, said the inspiration for his research emerged from assuring a growing selection of gluten-free products available in grocery stores and chain eateries. A 2015 Gallup poll found that about one in five Americans include gluten-free foods in their diet, while one third of adults surveyed by Consumer Reports in 2014 said they were trying to cut gluten. Actor Gwyneth Paltrow, who does not have celiac illnes, has been known to support the diet as well as numerous athletes and celebrities.

More Americans are feeing gluten-free despite not having celiac disease

More Americans Are Feeing Gluten-free Despite Not Having Celiac Disease

More Americans Are Feeing Gluten-free Despite Not Having Celiac Disease

More Americans Are Feeing Gluten-free Despite Not Having Celiac Disease

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