Gluten Light – Research on Digestible Gluten, Ancient Grains and Celiac Prevention - Page 35 of 36

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Why choose grains with more digestible and tolerable gluten?

The scientific community has long highlighted the increasing presence of a syndrome attributable to the consumption of products containing gluten, distinct from celiac disease. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity, although affecting a small percentage of the population, is continuously increasing and now concerns a segment that can no longer be considered negligible. It is therefore necessary to reconsider, in these cases, the use of grains with less tenacious, more digestible and better tolerated gluten. Today, research considers not only digestibility but also the immunological tolerability of foods to be increasingly important.

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS)
“Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a disorder characterized by intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms related to the ingestion of gluten in subjects who are neither celiac nor allergic to wheat. The overlap between NCGS and functional gastrointestinal disorders makes stricter diagnostic criteria necessary, just as the absence of biomarkers hinders differentiation between NCGS and other disorders related to gluten ingestion.”
Center for the Prevention and Diagnosis of Celiac Disease – Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit – IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico – University of Milan, 2014.

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Einkorn wheat and digestibility
Numerous scientific studies on ID331 einkorn wheat suggest the use of this grain to increase the prevention of celiac disease.

“Although noticeably less harmful, einkorn is not suitable for patients who have already developed celiac disease,” Gianfrani points out. “However, it may have beneficial effects on the development of the disease in subjects at high risk of celiac disease. Since there is a close correlation between the amount of gluten ingested and the threshold required to trigger an adverse inflammatory reaction, a possible preventive action could be to use grains with lower gluten content.”

“Therefore, a grain such as einkorn, which contains more digestible and therefore less harmful gluten, could represent a valid tool for the prevention of this pathology. According to researchers, subjects with gluten sensitivity would also benefit from a diet based on einkorn.”

“Today we know that foods made from einkorn wheat are well tolerated even by those who suffer from this eating disorder, which has characteristics different from celiac disease. The next step in research will therefore be to conduct experiments directly on intolerant subjects to confirm the lower toxicity of einkorn and bring an ancient grain back to our tables,” the researchers conclude.”
The study (ISA-CNR and IBP-CNR researchers) is published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research and opens new prospects for the prevention of celiac disease.

Modern grains and industry
In the early decades of the twentieth century, the Italian government strongly supported research, and in 1925 launched the “Battle for Grain” project, aimed at making the nation self-sufficient in wheat production without subtracting land from other crops useful to the national economy. Intensive genetic improvement programs conducted after the Second World War led to the replacement of local varieties with new high-yield, short-stem cultivars, resulting in a significant reduction in wheat genetic variability.

In recent decades, the progressive industrial transformation of bread, pasta and derivative production has pushed research toward the creation of varieties with stronger gluten suitable for machine processing. Ancient varieties generally have gluten that is poorly suited to mechanical processing because it is less extensible and less stable during kneading.

What is meant by ancient grains
The term “ancient” is partly improper and is mainly used for communication purposes. The correct distinction should be made between varieties existing in the past and subjected to mass or genealogical selection by humans, and those obtained through hybridization or genetic modification. The former include local or autochthonous varieties.

Note
Immunological tolerance is the body’s ability to recognize a food as harmless, avoiding excessive inflammatory responses thanks to a delicate intestinal immune balance modulated by the microbiota and regulatory T cells (Treg). Loss of tolerance, often caused by unbalanced diets or deficiencies of essential nutrients (e.g. vitamin D, zinc, selenium, fiber), can lead to delayed adverse reactions and non-specific symptoms, indicating a chronic inflammatory state.

“Focus” of the Gluten Light site: the Wheat

• Ancient grains unmodified by hybridizations or other techniques. These are the varieties present in Italy before 1920. They are generally represented by autochthonous populations (landraces).
• Ancient grains obtained by genealogical selection of single lines from the autochthonous populations (landraces) cultivated before 1920. These are the “created” varieties in Italy in the 20-50s. (Most important example: Senatore Cappelli durum wheat).
• Ancient grains cultivated in the past, rediscovered and recultivated from pure seed without any modification. (Example: einkorn wheat ID331).

Depeening Varietal evolution and quality in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum): from old populations to current cultivars.

Gluten Free: no thanks!

Gluten free reserve it (sparingly) only for those who are celiac. (update 28-08-2020)

“It has been calculated that the annual turnover of the gluten-free sector is around 320 million euros, but of these 105 million euros derive from the consumption of non-intolerant subjects to gluten, who have renounced the illusion of being able to lose weight or make some of the benefits to your health. However, if not properly informed (often their initiative is do-it-yourself), those who have made this choice will continue to ingest gluten traces, because this is also found in the most unsuspected foods (cold cuts, cheeses, packaged products) in general, etc.). The appeal launched by AIC is clear: “No research – explains Giuseppe Di Fabio, president of AIC – has so far demonstrated any beneficial effect for non-celiacs in eating gluten-free, indeed, scientific studies have amply shown that in those who do not it is celiac the exclusion of gluten is useless “. On the contrary, a recent British study cited by Marco Silano, Director of the Nutrition Department of the SSI, shows that: “in non-celiacs the exclusion of gluten does not reduce vascular risk, as some claimed”. (From: The AIC appeal – Italian Celiac Association – on the occasion of the “National Week of Celiac Disease” 13-17 May 2017).

A gluten-free diet brings changes to the intestinal flora: the “good bacteria” decrease, the potentially harmful ones increase. Effects of a gluten-free diet on gut microbiota and immune function in healthy adult humans. Yolanda Sanz.

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