Interest in gluten-free diets continues to grow dramatically, and many people are also exploring the benefits of eliminating dairy. This article delves into the potential advantages of a gluten-free, dairy-free diet, examining who might benefit, the science behind it, and potential drawbacks to consider.
Understanding Gluten and Dairy
Gluten is a protein found in many grains, including wheat, barley, and rye, common in foods such as bread, pasta, pizza, and cereal. Dairy products, on the other hand, are derived from milk and include items like cheese, yogurt, and butter.
Who Benefits from a Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Diet?
Celiac Disease
People with celiac disease have an immune reaction triggered by eating gluten. They develop inflammation and damage in their intestinal tracts and other parts of the body when they eat foods containing gluten. For these individuals, a gluten-free diet is necessary to eliminate inflammation and symptoms. Current estimates suggest that up to 1% of the population has this condition. A lifelong GFD is well recognized as the standard of care for patients with gluten-related diseases such as celiac disease and gluten ataxia, in which immune-mediated inflammatory responses to gluten proteins are directed primarily against the small intestinal mucosa and cerebellar Purkinje fibers, respectively.
Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS)
Then there are people described as gluten-sensitive. Their tests for celiac disease are negative (normal), yet whenever they eat food containing gluten, they experience symptoms like bloating, diarrhea, or crampy abdominal pain. It is widely accepted that ingestion of grains such as wheat, rye, and barley by patients in whom celiac disease has been definitively excluded can be associated with typical IBS-like symptoms, including abdominal pain, bloating, and bowel habit disturbances, as well as extraintestinal manifestations such as fatigue. As a result, the entity known as nonceliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) has emerged as a diagnosis for patients who do not have celiac disease or a wheat allergy, who exhibit IBS-like gastrointestinal symptoms after ingesting gluten-containing food, and who have improvement in these symptoms on a GFD. NCGS is an umbrella term that has been associated with a wide range of both gastrointestinal and nongastrointestinal symptoms that respond to gluten restriction and recur with gluten ingestion. These symptoms may include bloating, abdominal discomfort and pain, altered bowel habits, flatulence, rash, fatigue, headaches, mental disturbances, irritability, depression, bone and joint pain, and even attention deficit disorder.
Wheat Allergy
One cause is wheat allergy, a disorder that can be diagnosed by skin testing. Immunoglobulin (Ig) E-mediated wheat allergy is another relatively rare gluten-related disease that requires restriction of wheat from the diet. If you have a wheat allergy, you likely will benefit from gluten-free foods because they're not made with wheat.
Read also: Diet Coke and Celiac Disease
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Emerging evidence shows that gluten avoidance may be beneficial for some patients with gastrointestinal symptoms, such as those commonly encountered with irritable bowel syndrome. Accumulating translational and clinical trial evidence supports a putative role of diet in the generation of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms, as the majority of patients seeking care for symptoms of IBS link their gastrointestinal symptoms to their diet. Specific diets that are low in fats; carbohydrates; gluten; or fermented oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAPs) have all been shown to improve IBS symptoms.
Lactose Intolerance
You may learn that it's lactose (the sugar in milk), not gluten, that's causing you trouble. Similarly, dairy products can cause digestive discomfort due to the sugar found in these products, otherwise known as lactose. By eliminating dairy and/or gluten from your diet, you may experience a reduction in bloating, gas, and other digestive issues.
Potential Benefits of a Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Diet
Improved Digestion
One of the most common reasons people choose a gluten-free or dairy-free diet is to improve their digestion. By eliminating dairy and/or gluten from your diet, you may experience a reduction in bloating, gas, and other digestive issues. Even better, when your digestive system is more efficient, your body is able to more effectively consume calories and burn fat, leading to an increase in your overall wellness.
Increased Energy
A gluten-free and/or dairy-free diet can lead to increased energy levels, helping you to go through your daily schedule at full power. Generally, after consuming gluten or dairy products, you're going to feel sluggish with every movement taking a lot more effort, both mentally and physically, than it should. By eliminating these foods, your body can focus on digesting other nutrients more efficiently, leading to increased energy levels throughout the day and an overall improved sense of well-being.
Improved Nutrient Absorption
One of the major drawbacks of consuming gluten is that it can interfere with the absorption of nutrients in the gut. By eliminating gluten, your body can better absorb crucial vitamins and minerals, leading to improved overall health.
Read also: Gluten-Free to Gluten
Improved Skin Health
Eliminating gluten and dairy can lead to improved skin quality, effectively boosting confidence with an acne-free reflection. Both of these foods worsen inflammation in the body, contributing to skin issues such as acne or eczema. By cutting them both out, you have a chance to improve these areas of your health.
Increased Fat Loss
A gluten-free and/or dairy-free diet can aid in your fat loss goals by reducing your caloric intake. Both can be high in calories and fat, so cutting them out of your diet can help aid in fat loss and other wellness goals. Additionally, many gluten-free and dairy-free foods are naturally low in calories, making it easier to maintain a healthy weight.
Reduced Inflammation
Inflammation is a natural response to injury or infection, but chronic inflammation can contribute to a variety of health problems. Gluten and dairy can be inflammatory for some people, so eliminating these foods from your diet can help reduce overall inflammation in your body. With decreased inflammation comes improved joint health, reduced risk of chronic disease, and improved overall health.
Considerations and Potential Drawbacks
Nutritional Deficiencies
While many people think gluten-free diets are more nutritious and contain more minerals and vitamins than conventional foods, the opposite is often true. Gluten-free foods are commonly less fortified with folic acid, iron, and other nutrients than regular foods containing gluten. And gluten-free foods tend to have less fiber and more sugar and fat. The foods not included in a gluten-free diet provide important vitamins and other nutrients. So, following a gluten-free diet likely will change the nutrients you get from food. Some gluten-free foods also have higher fat and sugar contents than the gluten-rich food being replaced.
Cost
Gluten-free foods tend to be more expensive than conventional foods. The costs of prepared gluten-free foods tend to be higher than the cost of the foods being replaced. The expense of following a gluten-free diet can be large, especially if your diet includes foods that aren't naturally gluten-free.
Read also: Gluten-Free Diet Pepsi Guide
Overselling the Benefits
There is no compelling evidence that a gluten-free diet will improve health or prevent disease if you don't have celiac disease and can eat gluten without trouble. The dangers of gluten have probably been overstated - and oversold. Don't be swayed by an elite athlete or influencer to restrict your diet when there's no medical reason to do so.
Misdiagnosis
Because of the overlap of disorders, the medical literature has not always clearly differentiated between these groups when evaluating the effects of a GFD or other dietary manipulations. In contrast to celiac disease, NCGS patients, by definition, must not have detectable celiac disease-associated antibodies and may be HLA-DQ2/8-negative. They also should not have histologic abnormalities of the small intestine.
The Rise of People Who Avoid Gluten (PWAG)
The avoidance of gluten has extended to the population of healthy individuals who believe that adhering to a GFD may have immediate health benefits or may prevent the development of future diseases. These individuals have been described broadly as people who avoid gluten (PWAG) and comprise the majority of people who are partaking of a GFD. Such people may seek to cut back or eliminate gluten due to symptoms that have not been proven to arise as a result of gluten ingestion, or they may be asymptomatic. People thought to have gluten-specific symptoms or NCGS are also occasionally included under the PWAG umbrella.
Gluten-Free Does Not Always Mean Healthy
Despite the recent publicity and interest surrounding a GFD in popular culture, the medical literature pertaining to the topic has lagged behind. One beneficial characteristic of gluten proteins is their viscoelasticity, which lends itself to the production of palatable doughs and bread products. Gluten-containing grains such as wheat make up a large portion of the modern Western diet.
Innate Immune Response
Researchers have proposed that other components in wheat, in addition to gluten proteins, contribute to the activation of the innate immune response and elicit symptoms in patients with NCGS. Many studies evaluating the effects of dietary gluten use wheat as their source of gluten, which raises the issue of collinearity in studies assessing gluten and its effects. Amylase-trypsin inhibitors are proteins found in wheat and commercial gluten that have been shown to activate the innate immune response.
FODMAPs
In addition, a low-FODMAP diet has been shown to improve gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with functional bowel disorders. Some patients who have improvement with restriction of wheat or gluten may actually be responding to a concomitant restriction of FODMAPs.
How to Follow a Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Diet
Focus on Naturally Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Foods
A gluten-free diet is an eating plan that cuts out foods that have a protein in them called gluten. Gluten helps foods keep their shape. It's found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye. Some people have health conditions such as celiac disease that cause problems when they eat gluten. If your healthcare professional recommends a gluten-free diet to manage your condition, you'll have plenty of foods to choose from. Some foods that are made with gluten are available in gluten-free versions. And many foods are naturally gluten-free.
Read Labels Carefully
When you buy processed foods, you need to read labels to find out if they have gluten in them. Processed foods are foods that have been changed from their natural state. They're often prepared or packaged. Check the ingredients list on a package's label. See if the list includes wheat, barley, rye or a cross of these grains such as triticale. In the United States, foods that are labeled gluten-free must have fewer than 20 parts per million of gluten. Food with a gluten-containing ingredient that has been processed to remove gluten.
Be Aware of Cross-Contamination
Oats are naturally gluten-free. But they may become tainted during production with wheat, barley or rye. This is known as cross-contamination. Oats and oat products labeled gluten-free have not been cross-contaminated.
Consult with a Healthcare Professional
If you have symptoms that might be related to gluten, or any significant and unexplained symptoms, talk to your doctor. There are reliable tests to diagnose celiac disease. These include genetic tests, blood tests that detect certain antibodies, and intestinal biopsies. The results can help you understand which, if any, foods you should avoid. You may learn that you can eat anything you like. You can talk with your healthcare professional or dietitian about what nutrients you may need more of.