Article Excerpt:
Recent studies have strongly suggested that many, and possibly most, people who react badly to gluten may have a more challenging problem: sensitivity to a long list of foods containing certain carbohydrates.
In 2011, Dr. Peter Gibson, a gastroenterologist at Monash University in Victoria, Australia, and his colleagues studied 34 people with irritable bowel syndrome who did not have celiac disease but reacted badly to wheat, a gluten-rich grain. The researchers concluded that non-celiac gluten sensitivity “may exist.”
Many of their subjects still had symptoms on a gluten-free diet, however, which prompted a second study of 37 patients with irritable bowel syndrome and non-celiac gluten sensitivity who were randomly assigned to a two-week diet low in certain carbohydrates, collectively called Fodmaps.
All patients on the special diet improved, but got significantly worse when fed gluten or whey protein. Only 8 percent of the participants reacted specifically to gluten, prompting the researchers to conclude that Fodmaps, not gluten, accounted for most of the distress.
Fodmaps is an acronym for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, sugars that draw water into the intestinal tract. They may be poorly digested or absorbed, and become fodder for colonic bacteria that produce gas and can cause abdominal distress. They are:
■ Fructose: A sugar prominent in apples, pears, watermelon, mangoes, grapes, blueberries, tomatoes and tomato concentrate, and all dried fruits; vegetables like sugar-snap peas, sweet peppers and pickles; honey; agave; and jams, dressings and drinks made with high-fructose corn syrup.
■ Lactose: The sugar in milk from cows, goats and sheep, present in ice cream, soft cheeses, sour cream and custard.
■ Fructans: Soluble fiber found in bananas, garlic, onions, leeks, artichokes, asparagus, beets, wheat and rye.
■ Galactans: Complex sugars prominent in dried peas and beans, soybeans, soy milk, broccoli, cabbage and brussels sprouts.
■ Polyols: The sugar alcohols (sweeteners) isomalt, mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol, present in stone fruits like avocado, cherries, peaches, plums and apricots.