The gluten free diet's impact on gut health
by Frann Leach

A study on just 10 people by the Spanish National Research Council reported in FoodNavigator.com in an article by Stephen Daniells published on 19-May-2009 has stated their conclusions as follows:

"Analysis of the participants’ faeces showed that Bifidobacterium, Clostridium lituseburense and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii populations [good] decreased following the gluten-free diet patter, while populations of Enterobacteriaceae and Escherichia coli [bad] increased.

"Markers of immune health, such TNF-alpha, interferon-gamma, interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-8, which would be produced when the host’s immune system is challenged, were also reduced following consumption of the gluten-free diet.

"Therefore, the GFD led to reductions in beneficial gut bacteria populations and the ability of faecal samples to stimulate the host's immunity."

A single study of only 10 people is not conclusive, and the research should be repeated elsewhere before its findings can be taken as correct, but whether or not these findings are duplicated, I feel that the conclusions (in the third paragraph) may be incorrect.

The italics in the second paragraph were added by me, because it occurs to me that a reduction in "markers of immune health... produced when the host's immune system is challenged" might simply indicate a reduction in challenges to the immune system, which would be expected if a food item that causes allergic or auto-immune response (as gluten does in many) was removed from the diet.

In my view this report is flawed, because the conclusions drawn are not necessarily accurate or helpful.

"Markers of immune health, such TNF-alpha, interferon-gamma, interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-8, which would be produced when the host’s immune system is challenged, were also reduced following consumption of the gluten-free diet.

"Therefore, the GFD led to reductions in beneficial gut bacteria populations and the ability of faecal samples to stimulate the host's immunity."

A single study of only 10 people is not conclusive, and the research should be repeated elsewhere before its findings can be taken as correct, but whether or not these findings are duplicated, I feel that the conclusions (in the third paragraph) may be incorrect.

The italics in the second paragraph were added by me, because it occurs to me that a reduction in “markers of immune health... produced when the host's immune system is challenged” might simply indicate a reduction in challenges to the immune system, which would be expected if a food item that causes allergic or auto-immune response (as gluten does in many) was removed from the diet.

In my view this report is flawed, because the conclusions drawn are not necessarily accurate or helpful.