So, I tried asking it in askscience and my post got deleted, so I’m assuming this is a dumb question even though I’m just trying to understand a topic full of pseudoscience and it’s not a very uncommon assumption that gluten is just bad for health.
What I know is gluten can induce inflammatory response but for those who already have intolerance or allergy to it, but I’m not sure and nutrition is a very hard thing to get an answer for because there are a lot of misleading information. So, can anyone clarify this for me? I’ll gladly read some scientific articles too.
Thanks!
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The best answer is ‘Yes, but for the vast majority of the population it doesn’t cause harm or symptoms’.
Gluten can’t be fully broken down by normal human enzymes. The partly broken down proteins normally sit in the intestine and cause no harm whatsoever. When there is breakdown of the normal gut barrier and these proteins get into the lining of the gut they do activate the immune system and are removed without causing problems or symptoms.
People with Coeliac disease have a genetic predisposition for their immune system to recognize and respond aggressively to these gluten breakdown products when they pass the gut barrier and the resulting inflammation damages the gut.
Unfortunately terms like ‘pro-inflammatory’ or ‘anti-inflammatory’ can be used in situations like this to be misleading. It is technically correct to say that gluten can cause inflammation but many food proteins can cause an immune response in the same way without causing harm.
Gluten Pro? How much does it cost to upgrade to that version? I just have Gluten Home.
I found this video from the Institute of Human Anatomy on the effects of gluten interesting.
I believe it is considered inflammatory for people with celiac disease.
There are some other food product concerns as well; genetically modified (GMO) foods like, corn and wheat, unhealthy, cheap cooking oils contained in many store bought products including – canola oil (unless expeller pressed/and organic), soybean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil – as they are harvested and extracted by highly caustic commercial acids, which cause inflammation.
As you get older, these inflammatory products cause disturbances to your healthy gut bacteria, the nexus of your immune system, and create or exacerbate problems such as heart disease, arthritis, and other health issues.
The sad part of this, is that most doctors have little or no knowledge of preventive nutrition. Instead, they focus only on treating or medicating illnesses…after the damage is done.
It pays to learn about this, because between harmful insecticides like “Round-up” a known carcinogen, continuing to be deployed by farmers, sometimes just to dry out foods before harvesting, as it makes their job easier. It is virtually impossible to completely remove or wash off, these cancer causing pesticides from fresh vegetables and fruit, and they are even present in non-organic breads and cereals…even oatmeal.
It made a believer out of me; no fast food – none, mostly organic foods, and only cook with healthy oils and products made with healthy oils, such as avocado, EVOO, coconut, etc.
Almost every supermarket carries products both good for you, and possibly very bad for you, you have to know what to avoid.
I’m still learning.
Gluten is not pro-inflammatory. But for people with Celiac, it is. That’s because Celiac is essentially an allergy, one where for whatever reason, the patient’s body has decided that gluten is an invader and must be attacked at all costs. Unfortunately that cost is often the lining of their intestines, leading to many, many complications.
So it’s similar to any other food allergen, in that to the majority of the population, nothing happens if you eat it.
[Here](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7zmrfWEg5iM) is an interesting video!
Wheat crops in North America and elsewhere are commonly sprayed with glyphosate. Gluten has been well tolerated by much of the human population for millennia. Can’t say that for glyphosate. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32045792/
Gluten is a protein, and as such is something your immune system can suddenly add to its shit list.
This results in an immune response in the bowel which results in inflammation and bloating, cramp and in severe cases damage to the intestinal wall.
If your immune system doesn’t take a dislike to it, it’s not inflammatory.
It’s essentially an allergic response.
Gluten is not generally inflammatory. The exception is if you have an genetic mutation that causes an immune disorder called celiac disease that causes your body to attack the lining of your gut when you eat gluten. It’s a lot more profound than being simply being inflammatory. A genetic test can confirm it.
Outside of that, people often complain about “gluten sensitivity”, which was long believed to be a psychiatric issue because tests showed that people that complained of gluten sensitivity were able to consume large quantities of gluten without incident. The problem with those studies was, of course, that they gave people gluten, and people were complaining about when they ate foods that had wheat (or other grains in it). Later studies suggest that some people were experiencing discomfort from bacteria in their gut fermenting certain carbohydrates in their diet (generally from foods that also contain gluten, though gluten itself had no role).
So, it appears some people get digestive issues (particularly gas and bloating) when they consume certain starches and complex sugars. This isn’t an inflammation response as such, but it can make them uncomfortable.
The short answer is that for most people, no, it’s not. If you have Celiac, a wheat allergy, or non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), it’s best to avoid any products that contain wheat as an ingredient or have been processed in a facility where wheat is present (which includes a whole lot of things). If you’re not sensitive to wheat or gluten, eating gluten free is NOT recommended, because it can wind up being less healthy overall (and more expensive).
Celiac people have to be extremely careful all the time. For NGCS people, symptoms can range from mild to extreme. For NGCS people, doctors think that gluten can trigger an innate immune response in the bowels that causes inflammation, diarrhea, bloating, and in extreme cases deterioration of intestinal walls, letting your poop leak out (sepsis). But that’s not yet a solidly supported theory – doctors still don’t know much about it, or even how to reliably diagnose it. Celiac has biological markers, I. e. specific things they can look for when your body reacts to gluten to give them a “yes/no” diagnosis. NGCS doesn’t, so it’s largely based on patient reports, which are not super reliable or scientific. But that doesn’t mean it’s made up, like some people seem to believe. Right now, it looks like NGCS is lumped in with IBS, another ambiguous condition that is likely a bunch of distinct ailments that doctors can’t ID or treat very effectively. It functions as a catch-all for malfunctioning bowels.
IANAD, I’m just regurgitating things I’ve read, like this paper, so I’m sure I don’t have it all correct. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6182669/
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