Introduction
Glutenase is an enzyme which breaks down gluten. But is it safe for people with Coeliac
Disease?
For most people who have coeliac disease, the idea of eating a normal diet is amazing, so lets explore the science and see if taking this enzyme will help.
What Does The Science Say?
Up until recently, glutenase had only been proven to break down gluten in both in vitro and in vivo i.e. not inside a human digestive system (1, 2).
A recent study has shown that glutenase does work within the human digestive system. In this study, people with coeliac disease were given either a placebo pill or glutenase. They were then instructed to eat 2g of gluten /day for 6 weeks (3).
After 6 weeks, the individuals who took the placebo pill showed levels of small bowel damage, in
keeping with what you would expect a reaction of 6 weeks of gluten in a coeliac person to cause. The people who had been given glutenase alongside their diet showed no signs of damage.
How this enzyme works is by breaking down the gluten protein before it reaches your small bowel where it starts off that immune reaction only coeliac’s have.
Why Is Glutenase Not Safe for Coeliac Disease?
There are several issues with this enzyme that means we can not recommend it for use just yet.
Most forms of glutenase have not been proven to break down gluten in a human body. This is important as the conditions in the lab are different to the digestive tract.
The glutenase used in the above trial (AV003), is not available to purchase yet.
There are also still some unanswered questions;
- Does it 00% break down gluten?
- How much is needed per g of gluten?
- What are the long-term implications – 6 weeks (which was the length of the above trial) is not enough time to make a decision on this.
What About The Other Claims?
When you google glutenase, there are a whole wealth of claims: it will reduce inflammation / it will help with leaky gut syndrome etc. All these claims are total rubbish, so please ignore them.
Bottom Line
Whilst glutenase is not yet ready to be recommended, it is still an exciting area of research, so watch this space.
In the meantime, if you are coeliac, then please still to your 100% gluten free diet
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