Effect of Gluten-free Diets on Anthropometric and Dietary Data of Healthy Eutrophic Women

The objective is to evaluate in eutrophic women the impact of intake of moderate amounts of wheat gluten on body weight basal metabolic rate and possible relation to macronutrient intake. For this, 30 volunteers will kept on a restricted diet in gluten-free foods of 6 weeks. At the first moment, a structured Food Frequency Questionnaire will be applied, as well as a 24-hour food register, to evaluate the average food and gluten daily intake. The volunteers will be randomized into two groups, half of them will initiate the experiment by taking 2 placebo muffins daily for 3 weeks (Placebo phase) and the remnant volunteers will take 2 gluten muffins for 3 weeks (Gluten phase). After one day of wash out, the volunteers will be transferred for the other phase to complete 3 more experimental weeks. During these 6 experimental weeks, all volunteers will be instructed to exclude any food containing gluten from their diet. The test food (gluten and placebo muffins) will be produced in the Laboratory of Dietetic Technique of the School of Nursing of the Federal University of Minas Gerais and delivered weekly to each volunteer. Placebo test foods is a corn-based muffin of about 45g. In the Gluten muffins, 10g of corn is replaced by 10g of gluten (corresponding to 7.5g of gluten protein). Each volunteer will be instructed to take 2 (placebo or gluten) muffin/day. To evaluate diet adherence and signs and symptoms of intolerances, volunteers will fill a questionnaire weekly, informing about the consumption of the test food, eventual intake of food containing gluten, and the presence of gastrointestinal signs and symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting etc.