Gluten-free not great for gut health

Friday May 22, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- While the gluten-free fad has sprouted, with products available from beer to pasta to waffles, the trendy diet may have hit a bacterial snag.

A study in the British Journal of Nutrition says that eating a gluten-free diet may have detrimental effects on the stomach’s ability to produce the “good” bacteria we’ve been hearing about. Gluten is the gooey stuff that makes bread elastic and gives it a chewy texture.

But gluten can cause some serious health problems. WebMD estimates that one in every 100 to 200 people in the U.S. suffers from celiac disease, a gluten-sensitivity that affects the small intestine. Gluten intolerance manifests with symptoms ranging from bloating to rashes.

Marketers now estimate that 15 to 25 percent of consumers want gluten-free foods. Oprah Winfrey may have fueled the fire when she went on her gluten-free diet last year.

The study from the Spanish National Research Council, according to Nutraingredients.com., showed that good bacteria decreased and bad bacteria increased in participants on a gluten-free diet.

Spanish researchers examined the gut microflora of ten healthy subjects with an average age of 30 years. They were assigned to eat a gluten-free diet for one month. Analysis of the participants’ samples after the one month period showed an increase in E-coli bacteria and a decrease in the good bacteria, such as Bifidobacterium.

Researchers also noted that markers of immune health were reduced following the consumption of the gluten-free diet.

“Therefore, the gluten-free diet led to reductions in beneficial gut bacteria populations,” said researchers, “and the ability of fecal samples to stimulate the host’s immunity.”

The study by the British Journal of Nutrition was published online ahead of print.

(By Sheilah Downey, and edited by Heather Kelley)