More and more people are eliminating wheat from their diet for various reasons. We all probably know someone who, whether through non-regulated medicine or without any type of medical prescription, decides to remove this cereal from their diet with almost immediate results – they say – of improvement in digestive processes.
Eliminating wheat means eliminating gluten, a protein that is also found in rye and barley and that has recently been in the eye of the storm. Stopping consumption means, for many people, better digestion, less bloating and heaviness, reduced gas and a considerable improvement in digestive symptoms, so that even many who are not celiac, allergic or intolerant to gluten decide to follow a diet like if indeed they were.
This almost instantaneous improvement as soon as gluten is removed can be due to various reasons, explains Senior Dietetic Technician Dany Faccio, specialist in celiac disease and creator of singlutenismo.com. "First of all, there may be undiagnosed celiac disease, which is more common than we think, so it is advisable to undergo all the necessary tests. It is also likely that there is a temporary process of intolerance to fructans, a type of sugar present in wheat, which can cause all these symptoms. This last process has nothing to do with gluten, but with the wheat itself, and usually improves after a while when the body manages to absorb these substances again and the digestive process improves again," explains the specialist.
There is a third scenario in which many people notice an improvement in their digestion when they remove wheat. "Sometimes, what simply happens is that by eliminating farinaceous foods, which are very present in our diet, the eating pattern ends up changing and more fruits, vegetables and legumes are introduced, so that it improves, yes, but not because there is removed wheat, but because it is better to eat.
Beyond celiac disease or fructan intolerance – which, Faccio insists, is usually temporary and resolves with the correct approach – it is true that "some people without celiac disease or gluten sensitivity may experience dyspeptic symptoms, such as bloating, gas, heaviness and even altered bowel habits, which may be triggered or worsened after ingesting wheat.
This phenomenon has been called non-celiac wheat sensitivity," says Dr. Diego Sánchez Muñoz, a specialist in the digestive system and founder of the IDI Instituto Digestivo, in Seville. It is important not to confuse it with celiac disease, which is "an autoimmune disease with an immunological basis that requires an adequate diagnosis that is sometimes not given, which means that many people find themselves in a diagnostic limbo that leads them to go blind," continues Faccio.
Sánchez Muñoz notes that non-celiac wheat sensitivity "is an active area of research, but more is still needed to fully understand its underlying mechanisms and prevalence. Additionally, because specific biomarkers for this condition are lacking, diagnosis can be difficult. and is often based on the exclusion of other diseases.
However, "although symptoms may be similar to those of celiac disease, non-celiac wheat sensitivity does not cause damage to the mucosa of the small intestine." Nor should sensitivity to wheat be confused with an allergy, "in which there is an immunological mechanism, mediated by a type of immunoglobulins called IgE, which can present similar symptoms," says the doctor, and remembers that "certain proteins present in wheat other than gluten can also cause symptoms in some people.
Given that the diagnosis is complicated and usually occurs by ruling out, various scientific studies are beginning to question whether, in fact, there is a clinical picture that corresponds to a non-celiac gluten sensitivity of diffuse origin. One of them, led by scientists from Monash University (Australia), concludes that the person responsible for these symptoms is not gluten, but, in fact, fructans.
These are a type of FODMAP, short-chain carbohydrates found in a variety of foods that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine. The research concludes that a diet low in FODMAP, which in addition to fructans are galacto-oligosaccharides, galactans, lactose, fructose and polyols, can significantly improve certain digestive pathologies such as irritable bowel syndrome.
This means that "in recent times, wheat consumption has been demonized based on inconclusive, unrepresentative and generally poorly designed studies. Furthermore, we must not forget that this has its business side," explains Faccio. The expert points out that "removing wheat out of the blue without any type of medical follow-up is contraindicated, since, in many cases, if celiac disease actually exists, it ends up being very difficult to diagnose and requires a progressive reintroduction of gluten." , so the process ends up being very cumbersome.
This does not mean, according to Faccio, that you must eat wheat absolutely to have a healthy diet, so those people who do not like it can look for carbohydrates in other foods. "Wheat is neither the devil nor is it essential for life. Of course, the moment someone suspects that they could have some type of symptoms linked to its consumption, they should put themselves in the hands of a qualified and collegiate professional who will study the case. to rule out pathologies and see. What is certainly not advisable is to do tests on our own," explains the expert.
Another aspect to keep in mind is that what for many people is a reaction to wheat in the form of bloating, gas and digestive discomfort, is still, as Faccio explains, a response of the digestive system to short fermentations. "In general terms, our way of eating has changed and we tend to consume less digestive products in general. Many breads that are made today, with white supermarket bread as a paradigm, are made after short fermentations, and in addition, on many occasions "They are enriched with gluten so that they have a better texture. This is more indigestible, since it is the long fermentations that allow the degradation of that gluten and the fructans present in wheat and, therefore, better absorption in the intestine", explains Faccio.
Sánchez Muñoz recalls, for his part, that if there is a food that is indisputably linked to human evolution, it is precisely wheat, whose DNA has been modified over the years to adapt to different historical periods. This originated 10,000 years ago in the Middle East, and "one of the most important milestones in its genetic evolution was the process of polyploidization, which occurred about 8,000 years ago. This process involves combining two or more complete sets of chromosomes from different varieties of wheat to create new varieties with improved characteristics. For example, today's common wheat is the result of the union of two species, resulting in a more productive and adaptable plant."
Today, "scientists are beginning to use more advanced methods of genetic improvement, such as hybridization and genetic engineering, to develop wheat varieties with specific characteristics, such as herbicide resistance, higher protein content or better baking properties," concludes the doctor.
