* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Eliminating wheat consumption to avoid ingesting gluten is at best unnecessary for most people and at worst means that diets could lack cereal fiber and other valuable health benefits provided by grains, according to a top nutritionist.
Complete removal of wheat from the human diet would further cripple efforts to feed the current global population of 7.3 billion, said Julie Miller Jones during a presentation delivered to scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) near Mexico City on Tuesday.
Despite providing 20 percent of calories consumed globally, wheat and its protein complex, gluten, are often criticized in books and news stories as the cause of many human ailments. However, wheat and grain-based staple foods provide an array of nutritional and health benefits.
The claim that such non-cereal fibers as those found in fruit, vegetables and legumes can replace cereal fibers has been shown to be untrue, said Miller Jones, who is professor emeritus of nutrition at St Catherine University in St Paul, Minnesota.
Eating fibers from a variety of sources plays a role in maintaining healthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels, she said, adding that they also reduce the risk of gut disorders, help maintain healthy gut bacteria and keep unhealthy bacteria at bay.
Abandoning wheat consumption altogether could lead to a reliance on more costly foods which are in short supply or impossible to produce on a global scale to meet the dietary needs of a population expected to increase to more than 9 billion by 2050, said Miller Jones.
“Even if we did decide to abandon wheat as a dietary staple, we don’t have the turnaround time, the availability or the quantity of foods that have been recommended as alternatives in anti-gluten fad diets,” she said.
The popularity of gluten and wheat-free diets has grown largely due to claims published in such books as “Wheat Belly” by William Davis, “Grain Brain” by David Perlmutter and in the news media, which assert that wheat products are the cause of most health problems. Such claims counter current medical and nutritional advice in international dietary guidelines established in conjunction with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Gluten-free” is a burgeoning industry. Sales have risen 63 percent since 2012, with almost 4,600 products introduced last year, according to the January 2015 issue of "Consumer Reports" magazine.
This is an alarming trend for such nutritionists as Miller Jones, who was also at CIMMYT to discuss the outline for a series of research papers on the various aspects of grain carbohydrates, gluten and health.
“‘Gluten-free’ is actually just another low-carb diet with a hook – any diet that suggests abandoning an entire food group is unhealthy,” said Miller Jones who recommends the DASH diet, which is rich in fruits, vegetables, low fat or non-fat dairy products, whole grains, lean meats, fish, poultry, nuts and beans.
In her talk at CIMMYT, Miller Jones provided valuable evidence on the healthy properties of wheat and rejected some false theories, said scientist Carlos Guzman, head of CIMMYT’s wheat quality laboratory.
“As a scientist, I think the good thing is that she’s a nutritionist, and not a wheat breeder who might have a more subjective point of view,” Guzman said.
“She was very prudent with lot of the information she shared – in nutrition sometimes it’s very difficult to know the extent of the good or bad effect of any food because there are so many factors that can interact and affect it.”
As an international expert, Miller Jones illustrated clearly how scientific evidence can be misused to mislead the public for personal financial gain, said Hans Braun, head of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program.
“Julie highlighted the complexity of nutrition – there is no simplistic answer to addressing obesity and other mainstream health problems, but her talk revealed how vital it is that we inform the public of the health benefits from grain consumption,” Braun added.
Javier Pena, a wheat quality consultant, who recently authored a CIMMYT review paper entitled "Anti-wheat fad diets put food security at risk" said that her unique and clear speaking style is of great benefit for those struggling with “pseudo-scientific” claims about wheat and gluten.
“As a highly-recognized nutritionist in the United States and abroad with long experience in nutritional aspects of cereal-based foods, the information she shared is invaluable for scientists of various disciplines, our external partners and our clients – smallholder wheat farmers around the world.”
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Further reading
CIMMYT Review Paper:
Anti-wheat fad diets undermine global food-security efforts
