Coeliacs get a slice of the action
Nutritionists from Roehampton on the brink of developing bread that is set to revolutionise lives of coeliacs.
A research team led by Dr. Adele Costabile, working closely with Italian University of Foggia, are testing a gluten containing bread suitable for the gluten intolerant.
The trials on volunteers with coeliac disease have been going on for over a year now both at the University of Roehampton and in Italy. During series of two-week-long tests the participants are given bread containing small amounts of so-called “treated” gluten to confirm that it is not going to provoke the same adverse reaction in them as the regular bread does.
“We’ve done several rounds so far and nobody’s reported any symptoms, so it’s all looking really promising”, said Mary Henderson, Research Assistant at the project.
The gluten friendly bread was developed in Italy. Gluten, a protein mostly found in wheat, rye and barley, used in the flour to bake the bread was modified to ensure it would be safe for coeliacs.
“Gluten has chemical structure, and certain bits on that when non-celiac people eat they can break it down and it won’t harm them. When people who have celiac disease eat it, they can’t fully break it down. There are four bits on the protein that cause all the problem”, explained Henderson.
“This has been treated, so these four parts of gluten no longer trigger this toxic effect in people with coeliac disease. This is super exciting to be able to do, because the other ways of achieving it mean you have to take all the gluten out . This means you might take all the fibre out, and if you still want to have a nice bread you might have to put lots of saturated fat in it.”
Before the researchers come up with the final version of the flour containing the right amount of the modified gluten and their bread lands on the supermarket shelves, they still have a long way to go. They need to gradually increase the amount of gluten in the bread and prolong the length of trials.
Once the final product is ready, Costabile’s team believe it will be cheaper to produce and therefore more affordable than the current gluten free breads.
Coeliac disease
Coeliac disease is a digestive condition that leads to damage of the small intestine and a poor absorption of nutrients. Even though according to NHS only one in 100 people suffers from gluten intolerance, going gluten free has become a major fad. In 2015 alone, 60 percent of adults bought a non-gluten product.
Dr. Sue Reeves, a nutritionist from the University of Roehampton advices against eliminating gluten from the diet by those not affected by coeliac diseases.
“[It] can result in a reduced consumption of whole grains which are a good source of fibre and B vitamins,” said Dr. Reeves.
