Claims gluten to blame for major conditions ‘hold no water’, says expert

Claims that gluten in people’s diet is to blame for conditions such as autism, schizophrenia and arthritis have been rejected by a leading Irish-trained authority on gut diseases.

“The idea that gluten causes everything from schizophrenia to arthritis holds no water,” said Prof Ciarán Kelly, a gastroenterologist at Harvard Medical School.

Prof Kelly, who was in Dublin at the weekend to address a conference of European coeliac societies, was responding to the controversy over remarks attributed to model Rosanna Davison in relation to gluten.

Ms Davison was heavily criticised on social media after being quoted in a newspaper interview as saying gluten was “the bad guy responsible for a huge range of medical conditions from autism spectrum disorders to schizophrenia to arthritis”.

However, she later said her views were “miscommunicated” and that while she believed gluten could aggravate some health issues, she never claimed it caused the conditions mentioned.

Prof Kelly said the data was extremely weak on any link between gluten and conditions such as arthritis or schizophrenia. Although “sporadic” studies had suggested some indirect links, there was no reason for anyone to avoid gluten unless they suffered from specific conditions which it does cause – coeliac disease, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity and a form of dermatitis.

Allergy

Sinn Féin TD Caomhghín Ó Caoláin, who has four children with coeliac disease, told the conference Ms Davison’s remarks showed how much more needed to be done to educate the public about the disease and the serious impact of gluten on those who are allergic. “For my children it has never been a lifestyle choice, it has been a necessity of life itself.”

The growing popularity of gluten-free diets was having mixed consequences for people with coeliac disease, who must strictly avoid gluten in order to avoid serious health effects, Prof Kelly said. The increased awareness of the role of gluten was welcome, and widespread availability of gluten-free products was making them cheaper.

However, people with undiagnosed coeliac disease could delay detection by adopting a gluten-free diet, he warned.