A gluten-free diet could help prevent nerve pain, new research claims.
Researchers found a diet free of a protein found in wheat and some grains can ease the symptoms associated with gluten neuropathy, a nerve condition that causes weakness, numbness and pain, typically in the hands or feet.
Gluten sensitivity is best known for causing abdominal pain, bloating and gas, but for some, the food intolerance can also result in the nerve pain condition.
Experts from the University of Sheffield said their findings suggests a simple change in diet could nearly eliminate the painful symptoms.
Peripheral neuropathy is a nerve condition that can cause pain and numbness in the feet and hands
‘This study is promising because it shows that a gluten-free diet may help lower the risk of pain for people with gluten neuropathy,’ said lead author Dr Panagiotis Zis, of the University of Sheffield.
Researchers said gluten sensitivity has been associated with peripheral neuropathy — a condition in which the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord become damaged.
A 2015 study published in JAMA Neurology found 32 percent of people with peripheral neuropathy had gluten sensitivity.
A common cause of this condition is diabetes, but researchers said when a person has nerve pain that can’t otherwise be explained, and has a sensitivity to gluten, the diagnosis might be gluten neuropathy.
For the study, researchers collected data from 60 people with an average age of 70 who had gluten neuropathy.
They were asked about the intensity of their pain, their other neuropathy symptoms, their mental health and whether they followed a strict gluten-free diet.
Researchers found that people who were following a gluten-free diet were more likely to not have pain than those who did not adhere to a strict-gluten free diet.
About 56 percent of those without pain were on a gluten-free diet, compared to 21 percent of those with pain.
After adjusting for age, sex and mental health status, researchers found that people following the strict diet were 89 percent less likely to have pain with their neuropathy than people not following the diet.
Researchers also found that people with painful gluten neuropathy scored significantly worse on the mental health assessment, which has a range of zero to 100 with 100 being best.
Those with painful gluten neuropathy had an average score of 76, as opposed to the average score of 87 for those with painless gluten neuropathy.
This isn’t the first study to link a gluten-free diet to reduced pain.
A 2010 study published in Neurology found that after 15 neuropathy patients went on a gluten-free diet, 11 of them were able to stabilize their condition.
However, researchers of the current study said that while their research shows an association between a self-reported gluten-free diet and less pain, it does not show that one causes the other.
‘More research is needed to confirm these results and to determine whether the gluten-free diet led to the reduction in pain,’ Dr Zis said.