There are two groups of foods that repeatedly come up when discussing inflammation, digestive problems, and healthy eating: gluten-containing cereals and dairy products.
The warning is repeated so often that it’s hard not to wonder if we should be eating them less.
But there is something worth knowing before emptying the pantry: science does not consider gluten or dairy to be inflammatory for everyone.
And that is where the story gets interesting.
Gluten, one of the major suspects: should we eat less bread and pasta?
Gluten is a group of proteins found mainly in wheat, barley, and rye. That is why it is present in foods as common as bread, pasta, cookies, pastries, and many doughs.
For people with celiac disease, there is no debate: they must avoid gluten because it triggers an immune response that can damage the intestine.
There are also people with wheat allergy or certain sensitivities who may experience symptoms after consuming products containing wheat or gluten.
But that doesn’t mean everyone has to remove gluten.
In fact, one of the most common mistakes is to lump a whole-grain bread and an ultra-processed cookie into the same basket simply because both contain wheat.
Food quality matters.
Therefore, if a healthy person wants to improve their diet, it may be far more interesting to reduce pastries, cookies, and other ultra-processed products than to declare a general war on bread.
And if bread upsets the stomach on a recurring basis, then yes, it’s worth investigating the reason with a healthcare professional rather than automatically assuming gluten is to blame.
Dairy is under scrutiny, but science takes an unexpected turn
Milk, cheese, and other dairy products are the second major group that tends to appear on lists of supposedly inflammatory foods.
However, here we encounter a surprise.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 randomized trials with 663 participants specifically analyzed the relationship between dairy consumption and various markers of inflammation. The researchers observed that, overall, dairy could improve some markers, though in several subgroups the results were neutral.
That is: there is not a solid scientific basis to claim that dairy is universally inflammatory.
That doesn’t mean everyone tolerates them equally.
Lactose-intolerant individuals may experience gas, bloating, abdominal pain, or diarrhea. And those with an allergy to milk proteins present a different issue that requires medical assessment.
Also, it is not the same thing to have natural yogurt as to have a dairy dessert with large amounts of added sugar.
Therefore the question should not be simply “dairy yes or no?”, but which dairy, how much, and how it suits us.
The real problem could be elsewhere
And here comes the twist that perhaps matters most to someone wanting to improve their eating.
Rather than obsessing over eliminating two specific ingredients, it’s worth looking at ultra-processed foods.
A large review published in The BMJ analyzed 45 meta-analyses involving nearly 9.9 million participants. The researchers found associations between higher exposure to ultra-processed foods and numerous health problems, particularly related to cardiometabolic health, some mental disorders, and mortality.
That said, the authors themselves warn that a substantial portion of the available evidence is of low or very low quality.
And this changes priorities quite a bit.
Perhaps the goal isn’t to wake up tomorrow and throw away all bread and milk.
Perhaps it’s much simpler: eat more minimally processed foods and let ultra-processed ones occupy a much smaller share of our diet.
Fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, fish, eggs, whole grains, and other minimally processed foods can form the foundation of a balanced diet.
Because, in the end, health often doesn’t depend on finding a “forbidden” food, but on what we do with our eating habits over months and years.
And that is probably the least flashy part of nutrition… but also the one that deserves the most attention.
