Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever? - PaleoHacks.com

Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T12:47:17Z

If you're like me then you feel annoyed when somebody asks you to prove that gluten is harmful to the body. People will say things like, "I feel fine and I've been eating bread and pasta and cereal my whole life."

Anything short of a celiac diagnosis and people will defend gluten, literally to the death. Proponents of wheat-based products think that unless a physician examines their gastrointestinal track and records an acute autoimmune response to the gluten protein molecule, then they're safe to eat gluten until their heart's content...or at least until someone proves gluten causes ill effects in non-celiacs. They quickly dismiss your advice against gluten as silly, misguided or even offensive.

Paleo types tend to adopt a defensive stance in trying to prove that gluten can be harmful for all people regardless of celiac status. We scramble for links and studies that might expose gluten. Often these searches turn up nothing compelling enough to overturn hidden biases cleverly implanted by bread-makers, propagandists and spinsters who are allowed to make unjust claims on food packages that make people believe whole wheat bread reduces cholesterol, cancer or heart disease.

Consider this....

Most endocrinologists recommend whole wheat bread to their diabetic patients!

Well, is anybody out there getting sick of caving and scrambling for evidence that exposes gluten?

Would it be easier to reach people and more effective if we extract the bias and simply find out why they think bread or cereal is nutritious? Then deal head-on with each specific misconception about each purported benefit?

Let's say you own a self-proclaimed health store with jars and crates of gluten on the shelves.

Give me one reason to buy your product.

Answer by cliff for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T12:52:44Z

Imo let people do what they wanna do. Feel free to give people the info you have against gluten but don't force it on them and remember it's their life they can make there own decisions.

For all we know gluten isn't that bad if you don't have gut problems, doesn't mean we have to do it but if others want to that's their choice.

Answer by Simibee for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T12:59:32Z

The only benefit of regularly consuming gluten is that it allows you to continue regularly consuming gluten without apparent ill effect. Talk about a circular argument.

Answer by being for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T13:09:36Z

i tend to shrug and say, "gluten makes me feel like shit, and i feel great when i avoid it." thats usually enough to not only make people stop trying to convince me how impossible it is to live without bread. i mean, from that point on they just look like an asshole if they keep pressing the issue.

but, some people are assholes and they press the issue (like this guy im on a board with and when we met at a chinese restaurant and all i had was water who made every horrible caveman joke as he scarfed down his egg rolls) and that, my friend, is when i play my MS card. when i tell them that avoiding gluten has helped to keep my multiple sclerosis in remission, they tend to shut up with a quickness. its nice to have that one to lay down for them. im a big fan of publicly shaming someone who is overstepping their boundaries. plus, it makes an impression that sticks with them, perhaps plants a seed to look at their own dietary behavior.

as far as health benefits of gluten.......i cant imagine there would be one. its just some little protein molecule, right?

Answer by Intentionally Steph for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T13:24:26Z

I honestly don't have a gluten allergy or even an issue with dairy. My husband does! BUT I believe their are no nutritional benefits to consuming ANY grains. I can tell you since going Paleo my body has never looked better. I was a lot more bloated (especially in my face) and now I look healthy and lean. My husband suffers from psoriasis and used to suffer from IBS. Since going Paleo, IBS is gone and his psoriasis is clearing up! If he went to a dermatologist they would try and argue that it has nothing to do with nutrition, when in fact he is proving it does! Dr.'s want to put you on medication for your issues because it makes THEM lots of money. As long as people are sick, healthcare prevails! If everyone starting turning to nutritional healing, they would really start to panic!

I prefer to get all of my protein from animals. No beans, quinoa, ect. for me. I feed myself the best (remember people in 3rd world countries live on rice and beans!) and as a result I feel the best, I thrive!

Answer by WaveHunter for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T13:26:31Z

Chris Masterjohn on How to Properly Interpret Ex Vivo Studies -- Gluten and Leaky Gut As an Example:

Consequently, neither Dr. Fasano's most recent study showing that non-celiac gluten-sensitive patients do not have leaky gut nor the double-blind controlled trial showing that gluten does not cause leaky gut in non-celiac gluten-sensitive patients rule out the possibility that there is some subset of non-celiac subjects, somewhere on the face of the earth, perhaps autistics, perhaps not, who actually do respond to gluten by developing leaky guts. But to my knowledge there is no solid evidence of this and if anyone knows of some, again, please post it in the comments.

The health benefit of gluten is you can eat foods with gluten. This might not seem like a health benefit to a lot of paleo hackers but chronically denying yourself food can have many negative health effects.

I personally eat sourdough wheat bread and have no problem with gluten(though sourdough does have low to no gluten depending on the fermentation process). My quality of life is a lot better not fearing gluten.

Answer by Andrew for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T13:28:05Z

Gluten could be described as a general irritant to anyone. But most foods contain some irritants or toxins. So I don't see the point of trying to prove that gluten is healthy/unhealthy. You could make the same argument about most vegetables that don't like being eaten. Some people are better equipped to handle it than others because of genes/gut flora/preparation methods. Grains and gluten get this evil reputation in paleo circles the same way FAT does in SAD circles. My stance is, if your prepare it correctly (sprouting, fermenting) and you don't have acute reactions or chronic health issues then you get to enjoy grain based foods.

Answer by invisible ink for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T13:37:19Z

I follow this board and don't really consume much gluten (because I'm VLC/pretty darn paleo) but I don't actively go out of my way to avoid it. I don't believe I have any noticeable negative reactions to it, so I honestly need to be convinced that it's harmful to those of us without celiac disease or other issues that are blatantly affected by gluten consumption. I have tried to follow the anti-gluten arguments but there doesn't seem to be any solid proof that those of us who eat the way I do and occasionally consume gluten are really negatively affected by it.

Oh and while we're at it, what's the story with someone who eats low carb paleo and consumes items like seitan (vital wheat gluten) once in a while? I feel great when I eat this way, I really need to be convinced that I'm somehow destroying my body by ingesting gluten.

Not all of us who are not jumping on the anti-gluten bandwagon are SAD followers/uneducated lowfat dieters/Western medicine zombies, we just need some real convincing evidence.

Answer by Kelly for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T15:00:59Z

Some people believe it doesnt seem to bother them taking in gluten products, others have issues but just choose to blame other things for those issues.

Frankly I've tired of trying to defend myself and my decision, I now just tell people it was the right decision for me and my GI issues and that usually shuts them up.

People who don't want to get rid of their grains or buy into SAD are very defensive and won't change unless they choose to.

Answer by thhq for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T16:04:03Z

What gluten has going for it is that is nearly pure protein. If you're a vegan and not allergic, gluten powder is a non-soy tool to get more protein into the diet.

It's also the reason baguettes are stretchy. An integral part of the SFD.

Answer by Anne for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T16:58:36Z

Celiac disease is estimated at 1% of the population. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity estimates range from 10-30%. One can have immunological reactions to gluten and not have symptoms. Gluten affects all organs and systems not just the gut. Most of my symptoms from gluten were neurological. Funny thing is my dog had problems similar to mine that cleared up with a gluten free diet.

Here is a nutrition data sheet on gluten http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/7738/1 Of course I don't know how available these nutrients are when ingested. Gluten is a large and difficult molecule to break apart. There are enzymes undergoing clinical trials that may help with this but will not take the place of the GF diet. There are papers that describe the pathway of the immunological reaction to gluten, but I don't think I have ever seen anything about the body using it in a positive way.

I have to be 100% GF and I never cheat because I never want to get that ill again.

Answer by gn for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-09T22:25:02Z

"benefits of gluten"? - well, in absence of any other food, it can keep you alive, i reckon: perhaps, you won't feel and function that great, but you can live on grains for long periods of time, or even your whole life

the thing is that overwhelming majority of people are not in the situation when they face an inclement choice of either death from starvation or wheat

for me, wheat has two issues: it induces overeating, and it is digested very slowly, filling the gut with rotting sludge (that most people carry in them all the time - and which, i guess, is not an unsubstantial cause of most gut-related cancers)

Answer by WordVixen for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-07-10T04:27:54Z

I found an article on Livestrong that's promoting seitan, and the best the author could come up with was that gluten is high in protein, and is a source of calcium (a whole 4% RDA per 1/4 cup serving, wow), and iron (9% per 1/4 cup serving).

So, if I were a health store that had jars and crates of gluten on the shelves (as per your question), I would be touting it as an excellent replacement for meat (23 grams of protein per 1/4 cup) and totally ignore that all protein is not equal.

Granted, I didn't look hard, but I suspect that if there were any real health benefits to gluten that Livestrong would certainly be a place to find out about them.

Really though, when people are defending gluten, it's generally because they know that you're cutting out the bulk of available grains- not because you're cutting out gluten itself. If they sold a gluten free wheat, rye, and barley, most people wouldn't care if you cut out gluten. Most understand that there are non-gluten containing grains, but don't seem to actually know anything about them. Those who aren't nutrition geeks seem to think of any non-wheat/rye/barley/oat grain much as they do white rice. Harmless but not nutritious.

Answer by klr for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-08-04T01:45:32Z

Dr. Peter Green, director of The Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, says there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that gluten has ill-effects in people without celiacs disease.

Uneducated people who remove gluten from their diet are more likely to become ill due to iron and vitamin-B deficiencies.

stop drinking the gluten-free kool-aid!

Answer by jess6 for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-08-04T04:05:39Z

When I was pregnant, gluten-containing foods were the only thing that helped my appetite during the first trimester. If I ate bread, I could manage to choke down some other food along with it. If I didn't, I couldn't eat.

Given that I lost 15lbs during the first trimester even with that, it was kind of important.

It wasn't just the carbs - I tried other grains without the same effect.

I can't say for certain that it wasn't a placebo effect, but I've seen others who are otherwise totally onboard with being gluten-free report similar in situations involving severe nausea.

Answer by Nance for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2011-11-13T21:21:59Z

I felt awful on wheat and I feel terrific on primal. But, if I could make slow-rise sourdough at home and find it didn't make me feel crummy I'm sure I'd occasionally have toast with my eggs and not think twice about it. That would be once every week or two, so I'd have to freeze the loaf and use it up over a period of weeks.

Will I ever return to wheat being half my diet? I don't think so. But it would be nice if proper preparation allowed me to have an occasional sandwich. Just sayin'.

Answer by Sandy for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2012-07-31T16:44:26Z

Eating gluten-containing foods makes you want to eat more gluten-containing foods. According to Dr. William Davis, author of the book "Wheat Belly," wheat contains gliadin, which is a protein that becomes converted to a morphine-like compound that can bind to the brain's morphine receptors, which makes you want more. According to celiac.com and some other websites I found, gliadin is one of the two main groups of proteins found in gluten.

So the post from jess6 makes sense. She had trouble getting herself to eat during her pregnancy, but was able to overcome this by eating gluten-containing foods. Apparently the answer to the question, "Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?" is "Yes, it acts as an appetite stimulant."

Answer by John for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2012-08-07T23:28:58Z

Is Gluten the problem or is it a symptom of a larger problem. After looking at some simple conclusive studies I have to wonder.

The increase of process foods in the last 50 years. Increase of sugar and preservatives added to food. The lack of time preparing and eating whole food and eating on the run. The lack of regular exercise Increase of air pollution that can shorten a person’s life span by 4-5 years and lower their IQ. The increase of Meat in the last 50 years - That has also been linked to cancer. The decrease of sun the person should be exposed to on a daily basis (20) min. to absorb D3. The wide spread use of antibiotics and immune suppression. And the last obvious study lack of sleep. Our ancestors 100 years ago got 8-10 hours every night. We tend to ignore this one the most.

Also I was wondering how many of you gluten free people stopped drinking beer. Gluten is also used as a clarifying agent in wine making though it's unclear whether gluten remains at the end of the clarification process.

Answer by Kara for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2012-10-01T14:56:51Z

My main problem with gluten is all of the crap they add to it... Like wonderbread, or any processed food.

If you have no problem with it and you eat it now and again, I have no idea if it's impacting you. I have celiac disease, and have had chronic issues since birth, but just discovered this disease last year.

I think more and more people are jumping on the gluten free bandwagon, and I'm happy about it. It's one step away from processed foods, regardless of your personal tolerance for it. I hope that when I have my own family, I teach my kids to recognize that diet tonic is not for hydration, and sugary snacks are not "food"- it's junk. Whole foods (meats, fruits, veggies) are what nature intended us to eat.

Answer by PlantGirl for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2012-10-01T19:26:07Z

I have the same question. I wonder if there are any other compounds that are in wheat that are good for us, that we are neglecting to add back to our diets? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimethylglycine Is this a healthy compound? Does it offer benefits? Thoughts?

Edit: It says it is in wheat, spinach, and sugar beets. If you don't eat spinach or sugar beets and are used to eating wheat, this ingredient is no longer in your diet. Appears to be a cause for concern according to the article.

Answer by Ziu for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2012-10-05T20:29:42Z

"Any health benefit whatsoever?"

Cereals have allowed human population and civilizations to thrive for a few thousand of years already.

It has just been a few decades since obesity, diabetes, metabolic disorders, have become an epidemic issue. Before that, and still for many communities, that consumption of cereals is seemingly unharmful. It seems that the introduction of processed foods, food marketing, and higher stress levels might well play a more significant role than gluten itself.

Under this broader view, it seems that cereals have done a formidable job for us as an ant-like organized species. Gluten intolerances might be regarded as a drawback for some of us to suffer, as a few individuals, but worth the progress of a whole society so far. It might also be far cheaper and more sustainable than a generalized alternative paleo-diet I guess.

If gluten is certainly found out to blame for a wider spectrum of disorders and sickening a big chunk of the population, then society will adjust, obvious; but the way cereals might be poisoning us is not that easily inferred, and we are just beginning to make out those ways.

Answer by Logan Streondj for Does gluten yield any health benefit whatsoever?

2012-10-29T20:09:00Z

Gluten is a good source of protein, it's "biological pathway" is for building various parts of the body, including muscles, organelles, and other essential components.

Why I'm not palleo, is because of several reasons, including that most meat leads a tortured existence and the hormones make me feel bad, I used to get horrible pains from a mostly meat diet, which stopped only after I quit meat and dairy. Another reason is that most meat is fed GMO corn, and other things I'd never eat. In fact it was found that 95% of fetuses have GMO pesticides, that's about the same percentage as there are meat eaters. Meat, chicken, and all that tend to concentrate these poisonous toxins. Also as a combination of the tortured hormones and poisons, is why meat eaters tend to be very angry emotive people, as so clearly demonstrated by some comments here.

Anyways while much of vegan protein can be derived from beans, lentils, peas and such. Gluten is also a "fun food" in terms that you can make fluffy rising breads, pasta's and such.

Of course yet another reason against meat, and for gluten/grain products is a lower ecological footprint, and thus you owe less to Gaia, and are more likely to work off your karmic debt and be in surplus.