Diet and Gastrointestinal Sensitivities (Adult Population)

Busby et al. (2018) believed removing gluten from the diet could be an effective treatment strategy for mood disorders in those with gluten-related disorders but were unsure of the directionality of the relationship between gluten and mood. Her team of researchers performed a systematic review of prospective studies examining the effects of gluten on mood symptoms in patients with or without gluten-related disorders and later carried out meta-analyses on the data. Three randomised controlled trials and 10 longitudinal studies were included in the review, adding up to a total of 1,139 participants. The results revealed that a gluten-free diet significantly improved pooled depressive symptom scores and interestingly, there was no difference in mean scores between people with gluten-related disorders and healthy controls after one year. In addition, a blinded gluten challenge vs. placebo indicated those with non-coeliac gluten sensitive patients were more likely to see their symptoms worsen. This review supports the association between mood disorders and gluten intake in susceptible people and may have provided a new research topic in the use of a gluten-free diet in individuals with mood disorders without gluten-related disorders.