Gluten: Friend Or Foe

Think gluten is the universal bad guy? 

Let’s slow down, look at the evidence, and figure out what’s really driving symptoms, what protects long-term health, and how to make smart choices without fear. We break down what gluten is, where it shows up, and why oats are a special case. From celiac disease to non-celiac gluten sensitivity, we explain who truly needs to avoid gluten, what testing matters before you eliminate it, and how symptoms often overlap with IBS and FODMAP issues that have nothing to do with gluten at all.

We also zoom out to the big health picture: whole grains are consistently linked to lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and all-cause mortality. When people drop gluten without a diagnosis, they often drop whole grains and slide into gluten-free packaged foods high in refined starches, sugars, and fats. 

That shift can cut fiber, iron, calcium, and magnesium and may nudge cardiometabolic risk in the wrong direction. If gluten avoidance is necessary, we show how to build a strong gluten-free plate with brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, sorghum, teff, amaranth, and certified gluten-free oats, paired with legumes, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

You’ll come away with a clear plan to personalize nutrition: test before you restrict, distinguish gluten from FODMAP triggers, and focus on minimally processed foods over labels. 

If you suspect gluten is an issue, get a proper workup so you can protect your health while solving symptoms. If you thrive with gluten, lean into whole grains for fiber, micronutrients, and gut-friendly benefits. 

Subscribe, share with a friend who’s confused about gluten, and leave a review to tell us what grains work best for you.

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Thanks so much!

Peace, love, plants!
Dr. Jules 

Transcript

Section A

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Yo plant-based buddies, welcome back to Swiss 3 of the podcast. This is gonna be amazing. We'll be talking about all of the different pillars of lifestyle medicine from nutrition to exercise to stress to sleep and everything in between. Yo, plant-based buddies, welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today we're gonna be talking about gluten. Now, over the last decade, gluten-free diets they've exploded in popularity. And if you walk through any grocery store, you'll find entire aisles that are now dedicated to gluten-free products. Even restaurants they now proudly label gluten-free options. Now, that's a win for many people who need to avoid gluten for medical reasons. There's a lot of people that are actually avoiding gluten as a default without a clear diagnosis, and this is where things could get interesting. Now, gluten has become one of the most misunderstood components of our whole food supply. And for some people, avoiding it is absolutely medically necessary, or they get sick. And for a lot of people, it's unfortunately become more of a health belief than a health requirement. So let's start by just explaining what gluten actually is, and then we'll talk about the pros and cons of either including it in your diet or not. So, gluten is a protein, not a carbohydrate, but a protein that is found naturally in certain grains. Now, wheat is the most common form of gluten, but also all of the wheat varieties, such as spelt, durum, eincorn, emmer, ferrule, bulgar, semolina, couscous, and camut. Now, barley and rye, they contain gluten as well, and titricale, which is a hybrid grain grown or created from wheat and rye, contains gluten too. Now, a lot of people lump oats in that category, but oats are actually a special case. They don't naturally contain gluten, but they're often cross-contaminated during the harvesting, the transportation, or the processing when they're handled near gluten-free containing grains. Now, unless oats are specifically labeled gluten-free, they often contain traces of gluten, which might not bother some people, but with those with an actual celiac disease, the gluten's there and they should be avoiding it. Now, because of this, many common foods such as breads, pastas, cereals, and even baked goods, it contain gluten by default. Now, from a medical standpoint, there are two clear situations where avoiding gluten is a non-negotiable. Now, the first is celiac disease. This is an autoimmune condition where gluten actually triggers an immune response that damages the lining of the small intestine. Even small amounts of gluten in these people can cause inflammation, nutrient malabsorption, and even long-term complications. Now, in celiac disease, gluten avoidance is not a preference or belief, it's actually the treatment of that condition. Now, the second condition is what we call non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Now, in this group of people, they experience symptoms after consuming gluten, but their test for celiac disease is actually negative. Now, their symptoms can include bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, they can feel tired and fatigued, they can experience brain fog, even joint pain. This group of people have more complex symptoms because many of them overlap with irritable bowel syndrome. Now, many of these individuals actually have symptoms that may be something else, and they may be reacting to a wheat allergy or fermentable carbohydrates or FOTMAPs or other components of wheat rather than the gluten itself. But when they remove the grains, they feel better, so some people self-diagnose as being gluten sensitive. But if over time, as soon as people consume gluten to develop symptoms, then maybe avoiding it may still be appropriate, but it is something you should absolutely discuss with your healthcare provider or registered dietitian. Now, there's still a small number of people who feel better when they avoid gluten. And one of the proposed mechanisms that could explain this is called molecular mimicry. In conditions like Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is a form of hypothyroidism, antibodies may possibly cross-react with gluten proteins because they're similar in protein structure. And in these situations, maybe a supervised trial of gluten avoidance may be reasonable, especially when symptoms persist despite having tried other interventions. Now, gluten avoidance does absolutely make sense in specific contexts. But for people without celiac disease or without non-celiac gluten sensitivity, avoiding gluten is not inherently healthier. And in fact, the issue is that for some people it may actually backfire. Now, if we look at the scientific literature, large and long-running prospective cohort studies that form the backbone of lifestyle medicine show something very important and that gluten intake itself is not associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Gluten-containing foods could actually possibly reduce cardiovascular disease. Because the foods that tend to contain gluten are whole grains. When people remove gluten, they don't just remove gluten, they often remove whole grains as a food group. And they're consistently associated with lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and overall mortality improvements. So when you remove gluten unnecessarily, that's where you get unintended consequences, and people lose one of the most protective food groups in their diet. Now, in real life, gluten-free diets tend also to rely more heavily on gluten-free, pre-packaged products. And these foods are often more highly processed, lower in fiber, and lower in overall nutritional quality than the foods they were meant to replace. Now, a lot of improvements have been made in making sure that food processing practices don't cross-contaminate with others so that you don't find gluten in foods that are supposed to be gluten-free. And the processed gluten-free foods are of higher quality. They were maybe 20 years ago. But these foods, generally speaking, the gluten-free options that are pre-packaged are frequently higher in refined starches, added sugars, added fats to try to compensate for texture and taste and the palatability that they lose by removing gluten. Now, over time, eating this way may possibly increase the risk of nutrient deficiencies. Your fiber intakes drop, your iron and calcium intakes drop, maybe your even your magnesium maybe even declines, maybe your gut health could suffer, and maybe cardiometabolic risk starts to increase. It really depends on a case-by-case basis, because I know that a lot of people who decide to cut out gluten, they cut out whole grains as a food group, and their nutrition quality goes down. Now, this may not be the case for everyone, and that's why it's important to make sure you talk with a registered dietitian or a healthcare professional with an expertise in nutrition before you start restricting food groups or certain nutrients. Now, some people feel better when they remove gluten because they remove ultra-processed grains or refined grains. Not necessarily because they remove the gluten itself, because they may be avoiding FODMAPs or other causes of their symptoms. Now, but if you notice symptoms after you eat grains, that information matters, but it doesn't automatically mean that gluten was the problem. There are other compounds, including fermentable carbohydrates or processing byproducts that could also trigger symptoms. Now, a lot of things come into play, and the structure of your food matters, and the amount matters, and your context matters. This is where working with a registered dietitian or a physician that has expertise in nutrition becomes very helpful. And together this can be sorted out in a structured way where you have a plan without inducing unnecessary fear or restriction. Now, if you truly have celiac disease or clear gluten sensitivity, avoiding gluten is probably the right choice. And for celiac disease, it absolutely is. Ideally, this should happen after having had a proper evaluation and with guidance to ensure nutritional adequacy. So don't just cut out gluten by yourself. Talk to a professional about it. Because removing gluten blindly without a plan or without a diagnosis just simply makes for most people their diet quality dive. And it can increase their risk of nutrient deficiencies and may actually increase long-term cardiovascular risk, our top killer worldwide. Now, whole grains as a food group remains one of the most beneficial foods group we know of. They provide fiber, essential vitamins and minerals, and a wide range of protective plant compounds. Whole grains support gut health and metabolic health and long-term disease prevention. Now, for most people, the goal isn't to fear gluten. The goal is to eat high-quality, minimally processed foods, and to personalize your nutrition when your symptoms arise rather than just going gluten-free without talking to someone who can help you with that. Simply to educate people that are avoiding gluten without proper diagnosis. Now, gluten-free diets are absolutely essential for people with celiac disease, and they're usually appropriate for some individuals with non-celiac gluten sensitivity or other autoimmune conditions. For the majority of people, gluten avoidance is not inherently healthier or less inflammatory, and may lead to actual reduced whole grain consumption, lower fiber intakes, nutrient deficiencies, and higher cardiometabolic risk. Gluten itself is not linked to inflammation or heart disease outside of certain specific conditions diagnosed by your doctor. Dietary quality and food choices overall matter a lot more than whether or not you're avoiding gluten if you're not diagnosed with one condition where you should be avoiding it. So if you suspect that gluten is causing your symptoms, I would say do not self-diagnose. Seek proper care, proper evaluation before removing it long term. And make sure to pay attention to what improves your symptoms. It may be the removal of ultra-processed refined grains that contain FOTMAPs and high sugars and rather than the gluten itself. And if you're avoiding gluten, just make sure to plan carefully to maintain high fiber intake, adequate iron, calcium, and magnesium intake. Don't fear whole grains without a medical reason. They're strongly associated with long-term health benefits. Make sure to focus on food quality first and minimally processed foods that matter more than single ingredients. And nutrition works best when it's personalized, when it's evidence-based, when it's flexible, and what's when it's individualized to your needs and goals more than trends that you see online. For most people, gluten is not the enemy, it's something else. It needs to be worked out with your doctor. Now, remember that certain grains are still considered gluten-free. So if you feel like you have sensitivity to gluten, but you still want to consume whole grains, just know that you can find the same nutrients in gluten-free grains like rice, corn, sorghum, millet, peff, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranths. And oats, while that's a special case, oats are naturally gluten-free, but they're frequently contaminated with wheat, barley, or rye. So for celiac disease, just make sure that the oats you buy are labeled certified gluten-free. So from a nutritional perspective, these gluten-free grains still provide fiber and complex carbohydrates and plant protein and minerals like magnesium and iron and a wide variety of phytonutrients, and they fit perfectly within a plant-forward diet. If you want to go gluten-free, but if you are going to go gluten-free, just please talk to a doctor, talk to your registered dietitian, get tested. Don't unnecessarily restrict a whole food group because of a hunch. We now can test these things. And we just want to make sure that if you are going to go gluten-free, that the overall quality of your diet improves instead of decreases. Right on. I hope this episode helped you make better choices. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for listening. We'll see you at the next episode. Peace. Hey everyone, go check out my website, plantbasedrjewels.com, to find free downloadable resources. And remember that you can find me on Facebook and Instagram at Dr. Jewels Cormier and on YouTube at Plantbase Dr. Jewels.