About half a century ago, the term ‘bread madness’ was created to describe a group of patients with Schizophrenia who recovered with the elimination of gluten from their diet. A literature review published in the Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Journal in 2006 found that a “drastic reduction of symptoms or full remission of schizophrenia symptoms after gluten elimination was noted in a variety of studies, demonstrating that a gluten sensitivity is likely to be a contributing factor in the conditions pathophysiology in a subset of schizophrenic patients.” (Kalaydjian et al, 2006)
A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study published in the Journal of psychiatry and neuroscience in 2019 admitted 16 patients with schizophrenia who had high levels of IgG anti-gliadin antibodies (showing gluten sensitivity) to an inpatient unit for a 5 week trial where all participants received a gluten free diet, but the patients were either 'given a shake containing 10g of gluten flour or 10g of rice flour each day'. Participants psychiatric, cognitive and gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed at the end of the trial. They found that participants with no gluten consumption showed improvement on the clinical global impressions scale and in the negative symptoms of schizophrenia which can include blunted emotional expression, inability to feel enjoyment, reduced social interaction, reduced motivation and catatonia, however the gluten free diet did not appear to have any effect on the positive symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations or delusions.
The gluten free diet did appear to alleviate gastrointestinal symptoms. The study can to the conclusion that “the elimination of gluten in individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder could be beneficial in managing the psychiatric and gastrointestinal symptoms that can appear in those with the condition.” (Kelly et al., 2019)
In a study published in November 2014, 100 participants with schizophrenia were compared to 100 healthy controls, a higher level of gluten sensitivity and IgG anti-gliadin antibodies were found in participants with schizophrenia than in the control group. (Jackson et al, 2014)
Another study by F.C Dohan and J.C Grasberger randomly assigned patients with schizophrenia to a diet free from cereal grains and milk whilst on a ward and it was found that these patients were discharged twice as fast than control patients who were assigned to a high cereal diet.
A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia experienced an immunological reaction when exposed to small amounts of gluten. The hospitalised patients with schizophrenia in this study were shown to have an increased production of ‘a leukocyte migration inhibition factor by peripheral blood lymphocytes’ in response to gluten consumption. (Immunologic reaction of psychotic patients to fractions of gluten. (1979). American Journal of Psychiatry, 136(10), Pp.1306–1309.)
Gluten is not necessarily a factor for everyone, people are likely to have other food sensitivities that can trigger neuroinflammation which leads to the manifestation of schizophrenic symptoms or other neurological or psychiatric symptoms. For me, my biggest triggers for neurological and psychiatric symptoms are dairy and food dye. Gluten is just what has always been studied the most.
If my family members were able to get help from a functional medicine doctor or nutritional therapist rather than be given strong medications that didn’t work for them - they would likely still be alive.
Markers of gluten sensitivity have also been detected in individuals with bipolar disorder, a 2011 study tested IgG and IgA antibodies to gliadin and tTG and IgG antibodies to deamidated gliadin by enzyme immunoassay in 102 people with bipolar disorder and 173 control subjects. They found that people with bipolar disorder had higher levels of IgG antibodies to gliadin, therefore showing gluten sensitivity. There was also evidence of higher levels of antibodies to deamidated gliadin in those with bipolar disorder. (Dickerson, F., Stallings, C., Origoni, A., Vaughan, C., Khushalani, S., Alaedini, A. and Yolken, R. (2011). Markers of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease in bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 13(1), Pp.52–58.)
A double-blind study published in 1981 selected 30 allergy patients who also experienced at least one psychological symptom such as anxiety, depression, confusion or difficulty concentrating. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that sublingual exposure to an allergen could produce cognitive and emotional symptoms. They found that cognitive and emotional symptoms were increased in those who had been exposed to the allergen rather than the placebo. The most common allergens associated with these reactions were wheat, milk, eggs and sugar. (King, D.S. (1981). Can allergic exposure provoke psychological symptoms? A double-blind test. Biological Psychiatry, [online] 16(1), Pp.3–19. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7225473/ [Accessed 28 Nov. 2020].)
A case study from 2019 reported on a 34-year-old female patient whose symptoms of depression improved with the elimination of certain food allergens and exacerbated if the foods were reintroduced back into the diet. (Aucoin, M. and Bhardwaj, S. (2019). Major Depressive Disorder and Food Hypersensitivity: A Case Report. Neuropsychobiology, 78(4), Pp.249–255.)
A 2019 study on adolescents with experiencing their first bout of depression found that the histamine level in these patients was elevated compared to controls and significantly more people with depression were found to have IgG antibodies against specific food antigens - 80% of patients had some form of food intolerance and high levels of histamine. (Tao et al, 2019)
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