There was a study recently that suggested that a gluten sensitivity outside of Celiac disease does not exist. I was not actually surprised by the study, gluten-free has become a trend diet that is being adopted by people who are largely unaffected by the presence of gluten itself, but I actually think that is a good thing, so maybe it might even be for the best if the new study is roundly ignored.
The issue starts with Celiac disease itself, which definitely does exist and affects many people. As few as five years ago, getting actual food if you had it was incredibly difficult, gluten-free didn't actually move in most stores so there was no real incentive to stock the product. If you had Celiac at the time, you would have had to make special orders or find the few stores that actually stocked the gluten-free products.
Then it hit as a trendy diet, and more people tried going without gluten because of the supposed health benefits. Do they exist? Well, if you had undiagnosed Celiac disease, you would have noticed very large benefit to your overall health and well being. If you didn't, while there might have been a placebo effect it really wouldn't change your life at all, but it would not harm it at all and it would at least introduce new ingredients into your cooking.
But people without Celiac trying out a gluten-free diet has a second, unintended but very important effect, it creates a market for gluten-free products. That means an increasing number of stores can justify carrying them, even stores from smaller markets which might have had difficulty moving them a few years ago. It means that it's actually possible to make a profit from doing a gluten-free line, and it means that more companies want to get in on the action and capitalize on the popularity of going gluten-free. This sounds plenty mercenary, mostly because it is, but sometimes something mercenary can have positive effects, and this is a case where that is true.
If the gluten-free market continues to expand, that means more options and alternatives for people who actually have Celiac disease, so they are now able to eat at restaurants, buy groceries, and live their life with the same level of convenience as anyone else enjoys. For the people who the diet does not actually help, they are not losing anything at all, and it's usually the case that paying closer attention to what you're eating can lead to a healthier diet anyway. The overall benefit is that people with dietary restrictions are simply less restricted, because the market allows options to open.
Many people can get annoyed when a diet trend pops up, especially as others try to convert you to the same meal plan that they find so great in their own life. Personally, I know that this does not affect me, so whether I eat something gluten-free or not I'm not going to feel any different. However, I do know people who have Celiac disease, and they actually are severely affected if they have any gluten and do need there to be a market for gluten-free products so they can eat like everyone else. If this being a trend diet means they can more easily find food, that's great, it makes it easier to live overall. So even if it's not actually helping everyone who tries it, I'm glad that the gluten-free diet has become popular.
