Gluten-Free Diet Benefits And Risk For Those Without Celiac Disease

Grocery stores are increasingly lining their shelves with gluten-free bread, chips, pizza crusts, cookies, and other gluten-free products. But are there benefits to cutting out gluten, the type of protein found in grains, such as wheat, rye, and barley? It’s what gives bread its chewy, fluffy texture that acts like glue to hold food together. But it’s also an indestructible molecule that can wreak some serious havoc when consumed by the wrong person.

Benefits of Going Gluten Free

Gluten is the only protein in food that’s indigestible and those who suffer from celiac disease experience adverse side effects from consuming  and — in severe cases —  touching  gluten. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, gluten can slip through the intestinal lining, causing chronic damage, inflammation, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, and vomiting in these sufferers. There’s also some limited evidence suggesting that people without celiac disease can have a sensitivity to gluten, which still causes complications and forces them to live on a strict gluten-free diet.

Excerpted from medicaldaily.com

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