In recent years, there has been a huge popularization of the gluten-free diet . Due to the proliferation of reports on its beneficial effects on health, it has also started to be used by people who have no problems with gluten tolerance .
Many people choose it mainly because of the slimming effect. What's more, a gluten-free diet gives a feeling of lightness and reduces various stomach ailments.
However, new research suggests that eating gluten-free foods on a regular basis exposes us to high levels of two toxic metals.
Due to the fact that a gluten-free diet is often based on rice products, people who follow it risk an additional portion of arsenic.
Scientists have found that such a diet can provide up to twice as much of this compound, which is a known cause of cancer.
Consuming gluten-free products can have health risks, according to experts (Shutterstock)
Experts also point out that the amount of mercury, another toxic chemical found in gluten-free products, is nearly 70 percent greater than in a normal diet.
Scientists warn that people who do not have to follow such a diet, and therefore do not experience stomach problems after eating gluten-containing foods, should not eat them.
Gluten-free versions of grain products , including bread and spaghetti, often contain rice flour as a wheat substitute . However, rice can contain up to ten times more arsenic than other foods due to the way it is grown.
Typically, the brown variety has a higher level of arsenic because it is found in the outer shell or bran, which is removed in the white rice production process .
Industrial contaminants and pesticides present in the food production process in the past can remain in contaminated rice fields for decades, meaning that rice on store shelves often contains higher levels.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago analyzed the urine test results of 73 people aged 6 to 80 years.
All participants followed a gluten-free diet for five years. However, researchers showed that those who followed the diet most closely had higher levels of arsenic in their urine .
According to the study, published in the journal Epidemiology, the levels of toxic arsenic in the urine of gluten-free diets were almost twice as high. It also turned out that their mercury concentration was higher by almost 70 percent.
Study author Dr. Maria Argos said a gluten-free diet can have some unintended consequences. However, she added that more research is needed to accurately determine the health effects of consuming a gluten-free diet .
