Effects of Ancient Grains-based Diet in a Closed Community
Effects of Ancient Grains-based Diet in a Closed Community
Recently it has been reported that a consistent percentage of the general population consider
 themselves to be suffering from problems caused by wheat and/or gluten ingestion, even though
 they do not have celiac disease or wheat allergy. This clinical condition has been named
 Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity' (NCGS). In a previous paper the investigators suggested the
 term 'Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity' (NCWS), since it is not known what component of wheat
 causes the symptoms in NCGS patients, and the investigators also showed that these patients
 had a high frequency of coexistent multiple food hypersensitivity. It is also believed that
 this condition is worldwide increasing, due to the evolution of wheat breeding (i.e.
 consumption of wheats with high gluten content), and that "ancient" wheat flour varieties are
 better tolerated by NCWS patients than the "modern" ones. This effect could be related to a
 lower immunogenic stimulation of the ancient wheat than the modern ones. The aim of the study
 is to evaluate the effect of a diet based on ancient grains in a "closed" community (i.e.
 nuns from enclosed religious order) as regard to 1) main haematochemical parameters and
 vitamins, 2) intestinal microbiota (bacterial flora), and 3) cytokines production from
 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), before and after the diet period (30 days) with
 ancient grains.
Recently it has been reported that a consistent percentage of the general population consider
 themselves to be suffering from problems caused by wheat and/or gluten ingestion, even though
 they do not have celiac disease or wheat allergy. This clinical condition has been named
 Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity' (NCGS). In a previous paper the investigators suggested the
 term 'Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity' (NCWS), since it is not known what component of wheat
 causes the symptoms in NCGS patients, and the investigators also showed that these patients
 had a high frequency of coexistent multiple food hypersensitivity. Therefore, NCWS
 pathogenesis has been attributed to very different mechanisms: innate or adaptive immunity,
 non IgE-mediated food allergy, amylase/trypsine inhibitors pro-inflammatory effects,
 incomplete digestion and/or absorption of fermentable oligosaccharides and disaccharides,
 monosaccharides and polyols, and, finally, psychological effect. The clinical picture of NCWS
 is characterized by combined gastrointestinal (bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea and/or
 constipation, nausea, epigastric pain, gastroesophageal reflux, aphthous stomatitis) and
 extra-intestinal and/or systemic manifestations (headache, depression, anxiety, 'foggy mind,'
 tiredness, dermatitis or skin rash, fibromyalgia-like joint/muscle pain, leg or arm numbness,
 and anemia). It is also believed that this condition is worldwide increasing, due to the
 evolution of wheat breeding (i.e. consumption of wheats with high gluten content), and that
 "ancient" wheat flour varieties are better tolerated by NCWS patients than the "modern" ones.
 More in details, it has been demonstrated that in patients with NCWS foods containing modern
 (i.e. "Manitoba") wheat flour varieties may trigger immunological mechanisms of inflammation
 (i.e. CXCL10 secretion) and may alter intestinal permeability; on the contrary, these effects
 was not observed with wheat flour from ancient (i.e. "Kamut" or "Senatore Cappelli")
 varieties. Therefore, the aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of a diet based on
 ancient grains (i.e. a mixture of "Tumminia", "Perciasacchi", "Senatore-Cappelli" and
 "Margherito" grains) in a "closed" community (i.e. nuns from enclosed religious order) as
 regard to: 1) main haematochemical parameters and vitamins (serum creatinine, serum
 glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, hemoglobin, serum
 iron, serum ferritin, blood glucose, serum sodium, total cholesterol, glycated hemoglobin,
 vitamin B12, and vitamin D), 2) intestinal microbiota (bacterial flora), and 3) cytokines
 production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), before and after the diet period
 (30 days) with ancient grains.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Nuns from the "Congregazione delle Suore Collegine della Santa Famiglia", Palermo,
 Italy.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  N/A