Hi, I'm Monica Reinagel. Thanks for tuning in today.

As I'm sure you've noticed, gluten-free diets have become wildly popular, even among those who do not have Celiac disease.

With all the models and actresses insisting that shedding gluten keeps them thin,

and top tennis pros claiming that avoiding gluten keeps them thin and top tennis pros claiming that

avoiding gluten improves their stamina, well it's no wonder that gluten-free has

become a major diet trend. Despite all this many experts insist that there's just no reason for people without

celiac disease to avoid gluten.

For one thing, avoiding gluten does not automatically lead to weight loss. Many people in fact gain weight when they go gluten-free

for reasons I explored in my episode on gluten-free diets. Cutting out wheat and other gluten-containing

grains can also increase the risk of certain nutrient deficiencies if you're not paying attention.

Suffice it to say that a gluten-free diet is not automatically a healthy diet, and it's not a cure-all.

On the other hand, many people who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome or IBS find that their

symptoms improve on a gluten-free diet,

even when they don't have celiac disease.

This is so common, in fact,

that the medical profession has assigned a name to the phenomenon,

non-ceiliac gluten sensitivity or NCGS.

But an interesting new study finds that gluten may not be the culprit after all.

The study design and the findings are a little complex and it's difficult to sum them up in a

catchy sound bite, but with all the hoopla about gluten these days, I think it's worth

describing this study to you in a bit of detail

so that you can really understand the implications. For this study, researchers recruited

...