What science says about Paleo Diet For Celiac Disease

Many nutritionists and medical experts have conflicting opinions on the popular Paleo diet, especially when it comes to treating diseases like Celiac disease.

Supporters of the diet maintain that because the Paleo diet eliminates grains, it is a gluten-free diet suitable for patients who suffer from Celiac disease. Some supporters argue that the Paleo diet is better than the gluten-free diet because it eliminates grains, processed foods, and bad oils.
In addition, many people who suffer from Celiac disease have posted success stories on the internet claiming that they felt their health improve significantly since they started the Paleo diet.

Within the medical community, there are no strong objections to using the Paleo diet for Celiac disease. This is because the Paleo diet is a gluten-free diet, and doctors recommend that Celiac disease patients follow a gluten-free diet to relieve the disease’s symptoms and minimize intestinal damage.
However, there have not been any controlled studies on the Paleo diet and its effectiveness in treating conditions like Celiac disease. Thus, scientists need to conduct more research before they draw any conclusions on the benefits of the diet for Celiac disease.

Opinion in favor of following the Paleo diet to treat Celiac disease:

Supporters of the Paleo diet for treating Celiac disease believe that the diet is beneficial because it eliminates all grains, thus eliminating gluten, from the diet.

Dr. Loren Cordain, the founder of the Paleo diet, believes that the “withdrawal of all gluten-containing cereals causes complete remission” of autoimmune diseases like Celiac disease.

Although a gluten-free diet is available for Celiac patients, supporters of the Paleo diet argue that the latter is more beneficial than the gluten-free diet. This is because, unlike the gluten-free diet, the Paleo diet eliminates grains, processed foods, and vegetable oils which might contain sugars that may trigger an immune response and cause unnecessary inflammation in the gut.

In addition, many people who suffer from Celiac disease have posted success stories on the internet claiming that they felt their health improved significantly since they started the Paleo diet.

Some researchers recommend that Celiac disease patients follow the autoimmune Paleo diet to decrease inflammation levels in the body. Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, a molecular physicist, recommends that anyone who suffers from an autoimmune disease should follow the Autoimmune Paleo diet protocol. This type of diet is a stricter version of the Paleo diet designed to reduce inflammation in the body and help heal the gut.

Opinion against following the Paleo diet to treat Celiac disease:

Within the medical community, there are no strong objections to using the Paleo diet to treat Celiac disease. This is because the Paleo diet is a gluten-free diet, and doctors recommend that Celiac patients follow a gluten-free diet to relieve the disease’s symptoms and minimize damage to the small intestine.

However, there has not been any research conducted on the Paleo diet and its effectiveness in treating conditions like Celiac disease. In the review, “Dietary Effects on Microbiota—New Trends with Gluten-Free or Paleo Diet,” researchers found that there were no “controlled studies” examining the effect of either the gluten-free diet or the Paleo diet on patients with Celiac disease.

Thus, scientists need to conduct more research before they draw any conclusions on the benefits of the Paleo diet for Celiac disease. 

Published August 2020