Effects Gluten Intake on Body Composition, Energy Expenditure and Adipokine Profile in Non-celiac Women With Obesity

It is a double-masked, crossover, randomized, controlled study. For this, volunteers will be kept on gluten-free diet for 8 weeks. At the first moment, a structured Food Frequency Questionnaire will be applied, as well as a 72-hour food register, to evaluate routine of food consumption and daily intake of gluten. The volunteers will be randomized into two groups, half of them will initiate the experiment by taking 2 placebo muffins daily for 4 weeks (Placebo phase) and the remnant volunteers will take 2 corn muffins containing 12g of gluten/each for 4 weeks (Gluten phase). After that, volunteers will be transferred for the other phase for 4 more weeks. During the 8 experimental weeks, all volunteers will be instructed to exclude any food containing gluten from their diet. At the 1st, 4th and 8th experimental weeks after 12 hours of fasting and 30 minutes of resting, volunteers will be submitted to indirect calorimetry, electrical bioimpedance, blood collection and anthropometry (weight and height). The volunteers will also respond a questionnaire about life habits, family history, previous history, physical activity and food frequency. Blood samples will be used to assess blood count, lipid profile, glucose, insulin, leptin, adiponectin, and inflammatory markers (soluble VCAM, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen). Four weeks after the end of the experiment, and return to the alimentary routine, body weight, blood sample, calorimetry and bioimpedance will be reassessed.

Inclusion criteria

• Women between 20 and 50 years without diagnosis of celiac disease
• overweight and obese, respectively, BMI of 24.9- 34.9
• without menopause

Exclusion criteria

• Subjects with positive serology for celiac disease or allergy to wheat