You might not need to break up with bread after all, new research suggests.
A large-scale scientific review led by researchers at the University of Melbourne found that gluten may not be the real cause of gut symptoms that lead millions of people worldwide to avoid it unnecessarily.
An international team of scientists from Australia, the Netherlands, Italy and the U.K. analyzed years of global data on non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), a condition often described as gluten intolerance without the autoimmune reaction seen in celiac disease.
Researchers found that in controlled trials, only a small percentage of people actually reacted to gluten, with most showing no difference between gluten and a placebo, according to the findings published in The Lancet in late October.
While about 10% of adults worldwide report bloating, fatigue or gut pain after eating foods containing gluten, only 16% to 30% of those cases show true gluten-specific reactions, the paper found.
"Contrary to popular belief, most people with NCGS aren’t reacting to gluten," associate professor Jessica Biesiekierski, the lead author, said in a statement. "Our findings show that symptoms are more often triggered by fermentable carbohydrates, commonly known as FODMAPs, by other wheat components or by people’s expectations and prior experiences with food."
