A Population Survey of Dietary Attitudes towards Gluten.

Iain D Croall,Imran Aziz,David J O’Brien,Marios Hadjivassiliou,Mohammed Y Hossain,Nigel Hoggard,Rebecca Rigby,David S Sanders,Harvey A George,Lauren J S Marks,Nick Trott,Anupam Rej,Jessica I Richardson

doi:10.3390/nu11061276

Abstract

It is unclear how the prevalence of people who believe the gluten-free diet (GFD) to be generally healthy (“Lifestylers”) is impacting the overall rates of self-reported gluten sensitivity (GS). We repeated a population survey from 2012 in order to examine how attitudes towards GS have changed over time. Our survey (N = 1004) was administered in Sheffield (UK) in 2015, replicating the 2012 experiment. The questionnaire included a food frequency survey and assessed self-reported GS as well as associated variables (prevalence, current diet, pre-existing conditions, etc.). The overall rates of key variables and chi-squared analysis in comparison to the previous survey were as follows: self-reported GS was 32.8% (previously 12.9%, p < 0.001), pre-existing coeliac disease (CD) was 1.2% (previously 0.8%, p = 0.370), following a GFD was 3.7% (previously 3.7%, p = 0.997). Self-reported GS was positively associated with some pre-existing conditions, including anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, headaches, and other food allergies/intolerances (including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); chi-squared analyses, all p < 0.001). Over a 3-year period, the fraction of people who self-reported GS increased by over 250%. Despite this, arguably more meaningful indications of underlying physiological GS remained comparable. This research suggests that the public perception of gluten is causing a marked increase in the number of people who erroneously believe they are sensitive to it.

Highlights

Studies repeatedly indicate that the prevalence of coeliac disease (CD) is approximately0.5%–1% in the United Kingdom (UK) and American populations [1,2,3], the elimination and restriction of gluten from diets has increased dramatically in recent years
Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) [5] describes a physiological sensitivity to gluten in the absence of CD or wheat allergy (WA), and this population undoubtedly contributes to the popularity of the gluten-free diet (GFD) outside of CD patients
irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was reported as a pre-existing condition without any of these diseases in 4.4% of respondents (N = 44) and was reported with an overall rate of 5.2%

Summary

Introduction

Studies repeatedly indicate that the prevalence of coeliac disease (CD) is approximately0.5%–1% in the United Kingdom (UK) and American populations [1,2,3], the elimination and restriction of gluten from diets has increased dramatically in recent years. Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) [5] describes a physiological sensitivity to gluten in the absence of CD or wheat allergy (WA), and this population undoubtedly contributes to the popularity of the gluten-free diet (GFD) outside of CD patients. Nutrients 2019, 11, 1276 an image that it is healthy for all people [10] This is not supported by the scientific literature, which continues to assert that gluten is safe to eat for individuals without any forms of gluten sensitivity (GS) [11]. Encouraged by this perception of healthy eating, many people eat gluten-free food as a lifestyle choice. These are known as “Lifestylers”, “clean eaters”, “free from”, or sometimes “people who avoid gluten”

Methods

Results

Conclusion