While some people go on a gluten-free diet to lose weight, more of us may need to as our wellbeing may depend on it. This is according to a new study from researchers at the Mayo Clinic, which found that of the two million Americans who have celiac disease; around 1.4 million of them don’t know they have it.
When your wellness is affected by celiac disease, this means that you can’t consume the protein gluten, primarily found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust and many other foods containing wheat, barley or rye. People with celiac disease cannot eat foods containing gluten, or else their small intestines will trigger an immune reaction, damaging the inner surface of the small intestine and reducing their inability to absorb certain nutrients. According to lead researcher Joseph Murray, a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist, the new research provides proof that this disease is common in the United States.
The study, published in July’s American Journal of Gastroenterology, found that even though many Americans are on a gluten-free diet – which is used to treat celiac disease – 1.6 million choose this diet plan even though they haven’t been diagnosed with the disorder. In a statement, Murray commented, ‘There are a lot of people on a gluten-free diet, and it’s not clear what the medical need for that is. It is important if someone thinks they might have celiac disease that they be tested first before they go on the diet.’
The results of the study also showed that the disease is far more common in Caucasians and rare among minority groups. Furthermore, physicians are not doing a great job at detecting celiac disease, as only one person is diagnosed for every five or six who have it. The problem with celiac disease is that there are no typical signs or symptoms. The general complaints sufferers have are diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bloating, but the disease can also manifest in less obvious ways, such as irritability or depression, anaemia, osteoporosis and mouth sores. While the study results were specific to the US, the researchers noted that the prevalence of celiac disease in the United States was similar to that found in several European countries.
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