ABOVE: WIKIMEDIA, NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
Going on a low-gluten diet moderately alters the composition of bacterial species in the human gut, according to the results of a randomized controlled trial published today (November 13) in Nature Communications. The results suggest that some of the positive effects associated with a low-gluten diet, such as reduced bloating after meals, may be the result of diet-induced changes in the intestinal microbiome.
To study the effect of a low-gluten diet, researchers in Denmark recruited 60 middle-aged, healthy adults. Participants followed a specialized diet for eight weeks—either low gluten (2 g per day) or high gluten (12 g per day). Then, after a six week break, they switched.
An analysis of the participants’ microbiome composition revealed that, of hundreds of bacterial species identified across the cohort, 14 consistently experienced changes in relative abundance in response to a low-gluten diet. For example, four species of Bifidobacterium, ...