Wheat-related disorders: celiac disease, wheat allergy and nonceliac gluten sensitivity
What it found
Only people diagnosed with celiac disease are advised to follow a strict lifelong gluten-free diet, and people diagnosed with IgE-mediated wheat allergy must avoid wheat in any form.
Nonceliac gluten sensitivity is still actively debated by scientists.
What they found
Studies in people
Celiac disease advice
Only patients diagnosed with celiac disease are advised to follow a strict lifelong gluten-free diet.
Wheat allergy advice
Patients diagnosed with IgE-mediated wheat allergy must avoid exposure to wheat in any form.
Nonceliac gluten sensitivity
This third disorder involves distress after eating gluten, and neither celiac disease nor IgE-mediated allergy plays a role in it. It has gained more attention in recent years.
Other findings
Gluten-free diets spreading
Avoiding gluten is becoming a more common eating habit among the general population, the authors say.
Unfounded health beliefs
The authors describe the idea that avoiding gluten improves health, or that gluten could be toxic for humans, as scientifically unfounded.
Mechanisms still debated
Important scientific advances have been made in understanding the pathologic mechanisms behind nonceliac gluten sensitivity, but the authors say the disorder is still a matter of active debate in the scientific community.
What the authors conclude
- They summarize and discuss the most recent advances in the immunopathology, diagnostic biomarkers and susceptibility determinants of gluten-related diseases.
- They also provide an updated overview of new potential therapies currently underway for the treatment of gluten-related disorders.
How it was done
The authors say a scientifically unfounded belief that avoiding gluten improves health, or that gluten could be toxic, is driving medically unjustified gluten-free diets in the general population.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This is a review, so it does not present new studies of its own.
- It cannot show how common these disorders are or how well any treatment works.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of Bonn Medical Center, Germany
The paper
- Title
- Gluten-related disorders: Celiac disease, wheat allergy, and nonceliac gluten sensitivity
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Cabanillas B (2020). Gluten-related disorders: Celiac disease, wheat allergy, and nonceliac gluten sensitivity. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition. doi:10.1080/10408398.2019.1651689PubMed 31402697DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error