If you remove gluten-containing grains from your diet and feel better, it’s easy to think that nobody should eat gluten-containing grains.
Actually, this general setup is a truism:
If you remove __________ from your diet and feel better, it’s easy to think that nobody should eat __________.
Yes, grains do contain compounds that can be harmful. Grains also contain compounds that can be beneficial. The net benefit or detriment of a given food or food component for a given person depends on a host of individualized factors, only some of which are likely to have been studied.
This is part of the reason why clever randomized trials are so valuable. We need to be able to isolate effects on specific populations, and then run larger trials to confirm the results.
In this crossover trial, participants with IBS ate a gluten-free diet for a few weeks, but sprinkled either gluten or rice flour over all their meals. Clever! To see what the researchers found, click below:
Does a gluten-free diet reduce IBS symptoms?
Sincerely,
Kamal Patel
Co-founder, Examine