Does a Gluten-Free Diet Help Athletic Performance?

All over the world, athletes and people in the gym are adopting a gluten-free diet because of its reputation for benefitting exercise and health. Websites and magzines spread the word, but no one has ever actually put it to the test. Until now. . . .

A brand new study has now put the claim to the test. The study is small and short term, but important. It included thirteen men and women who were competative endurance cyclists. None of them had a history of celiac disease, gluten sensitivity or irritable bowel syndorme. The question was, would the gluten-free diet make healthy athletes feel better–including the boating or gastrointestinal symptoms some athletes get from exercise–and perform better.

In the study, all the athletes stuck to a gluten-free diet for seven days, but some of them got a sports bar that was gluten-free, and some of them got one that had 16g of gluten. They continued to do their regular training, and then, at the end of the week, they did a strenuous forty-five minute ride followed by a cycling time trial.

Would the gluten-free diet help?

Nope. It didn’t help them feel better or perform better. There was no significant difference in athletic performance on a gluten diet or a gluten-free diet. There was also no difference in digestive symptoms or well-being and no difference in post-exercise inflammtory markers.

This study suggests that, at least in the short term, the gluten-free diet offers no benefit to health or athletic performance in healthy athletes.

Med Sci Sports Exerc 2015;47:2563-70

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