Low-Gluten Diet Alters the Human Microbiome

A study of Danish adults reveals moderate changes in the abundance of multiple gut bacteria species, but the results might not be due to reduced gluten per se.

Written byCatherine Offord

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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, ...

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Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
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