What Gluten Does to the Brain?
Gluten can have harmful effects on the brain. Today, gluten has become a household discussion topic. It’s in almost everything and most of the time people don’t even worry or think about it. Gluten is, “a common protein found in wheat, barley and rye products,” (Fritter). It sounds harmless, it’s in most of our food, but gluten has been shown to act like a drug. It has also gotten a bad rap because it has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Luckily, eliminating gluten can help prevent these diseases.
To begin, gluten acts like a drug. This may sound incorrect because gluten is supposed to be a natural substance in our food. However, gluten is actually addictive. Experts have realized that, “both gluten and casein are broken down into gluteomorphin and casomorphin peptides, short chains of proteins that, should they escape through the gut and make their way to the brain, mimic the effects of heroin and morphine,” (Fawcett). Therfore, gluten acts the same as heroin and morphine (two very harmful drugs) on the brain.
Moreover, it takes the same amount of time to get over a gluten addiction as it does for a drug addiction. According to Dr. Kelly Brogan, “Those eating high gluten diets can expect to undergo 1-3 weeks of withdrawal symptoms upon cessation.” When children go off of gluten, they can even develop, “affective disorders such as anxiety and depression.” (Fawcett). These disorders can take months or even years to recover from. Also, the fact that gluten acts like a drug is dangerous since the majority of Americans have gluten every day. Basically, with gluten, the whole nation is under a secretive, mild drug. A fact that is even scarier is that, “the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has enacted a new standard for gluten-free labeling of foods, it doesn’t apply to other products like drugs and cosmetics,” (Fritter). This makes it harder to find foods that are truly gluten-free. Plus, if a person has celiac disease (basically an allergy to gluten) they could have life threatening reactions due to small traces of gluten in their gluten-free foods.
In addition, the largest problem with gluten is that, “eating foods with high glycemic indexes, which happen to be some of the most gluten-rich foods, increases the chances of developing neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and dementia,” (Ugolik). This is not just a theory that someone came up with. Scientific studies have been done to support the connection. For example, “One is a case series of 13 patients conducted by the Mayo Clinic in 2006 that showed a potential association between gluten and dementia,” (Ugolik). This is not a large sample number, but these diseases have limited data because they usually do not occur until later in life. Due to this lack of research, it is hard to prove that gluten increases the chances of getting Alzheimer’s and dementia. In fact, most researchers and doctors believe that, “not enough is known about the way gluten impacts the brain—or even whether restricting gluten may negatively impact people without celiac disease—to support a gluten-free diet as a preventative measure for any disease, let alone dementia,” (Ugolik). However, since there is reasonable doubt, people are urged to be their own doctor. They should take some time to consider whether they want to take their chances and hope that gluten is not related to these neurological diseases, or if they want to start a gluten-free diet.
There is hope through starting a gluten-free diet. By eliminating gluten, certain neurological diseases can sometimes be prevented. Cutting out gluten does not guarantee the prevention of Alzheimer’s and dementia, “but lifestyle choices are hugely impactful in terms of preventing this and even reversing it,” (Ugolik). Also, people who have had sensitivity to gluten or who just want to be healthier have noticed, “dramatic improvements almost immediately,” (Fawcett) after going off of gluten. This shows that removing gluten does have some benefits. It may be hard to do but if it can help current issues and prevent future ones, it is worth it. Dr. Oz, from the television show, even has an episode on gluten and the brain. It gives many more benefits to cutting out gluten and how to do it. This episode is called, “Gluten Your Body’s Worst Enemy” and can be found at www.doctoroz.com. Overall, removing gluten from a diet can be helpful.
To conclude, gluten is something that should be monitored very carefully. It can be harmful to the brain and the rest of the body. Sometimes it even acts like a drug. Gluten can cause an addiction that goes unnoticed until it is removed. It has also been linked to Alzheimer’s and dementia. Both of these are neurological disease that can affect a person for the rest of their lives. Often times, they will not be detected until it is too late. Therefore, it is important to consider a gluten-free diet to prevent these diseases. Even though some of the research is limited, it is better be safe instead of sorry. It has been shown in some cases that removing gluten can increase overall health. So even if a gluten-free diet ends up not affecting the brain, it still would be a healthier lifestyle overall.
Works Cited
Brogan, Kelly. Go Gluten Free, Fix Your Brain. 9 November 2013.
Fawcett, Elaine. The Storm Before The Calm: Why Some People Get Temporarily Worse on A Gluten-Free or Casein-Free Diet. n.d. 3 December 2014.
Fritter, Lisa. "Your Brain on Gluten." n.d. Allergic Living. November 2014.
Ugolik, Kaitlin. "Does Your Brain Really Do Better Off Gluten?" 25 February 2014. The 2x2
Project.
Magazine Posts
Table of Contents