“Free” diets are in fashion. In supermarkets tens of products labeled gluten-free or lactose-free can be easily found; there are more and more cafes, ice-cream shops, bakeries, restaurants offering special menus, where those two components have been banished.
According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, celiac disease affects 1 in 100 people worldwide; in the case of lactose intolerance, it is estimated that 65 percent of the human population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy, with considerable variance across the globe. Nevertheless, despite those percentages, more and more people decide to quit eating both of them as they consider they are not healthy or going to cause them health problems.
But, following a diet free from lactose or gluten when you are not intolerant may not be a good healthy choice, reveals Elena Verdú, researcher and Associate Professor at the Division of Gastroenterology, at the Department of Medicine at McMaster University. And by changing your diet, you may alter your gut microbiota, what is known to cause –real- health problems. Verdú assisted to the Gut Microbiota for Health World Summit held in Paris, in March 2017, where we could interview her.