Study Discovers Real Cause of Gluten Sensitivity

If you're one of the millions cutting gluten out of your diet on the theory that it causes bloating, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal unpleasantness—even though you don't have the relatively rare celiac disease—you might be interested in a new study indicating that the gluten isn't the problem. Researchers at the University of Guttenberg studied the immune responses to various types of wheat, and discovered that so-called "gluten sensitivity" was actually linked to a specific protein that naturally repels insects and is found in greater amounts in "high-output" wheat, the Local reports.

Industrial farms have increasingly been growing Adenosine Triphosphate Amylase-rich crops to bump up their output, a trend that could explain the growth in gluten sensitivity. But the study's lead author cautioned that his study wasn't definitive. "The whole thing is very new," he says. "We need more data from clinical trials to deduce the consequences for patients." (More celiac disease stories.)