The "no-gluten", the undisputed star

Try an experiment At your next dinner, if you are handed a small oven, say: "No, thank you, I do not eat gluten." Immediately, the faces will light up, and the enthusiastic responses will come out: "Ah, yes? Me too!" ; "You're right, I heard that ..." Another experience. In the same situation, try one: "No, thank you, I do not eat dairy products anymore." Or: "I am allergic to nuts." Total disinterest of your interlocutors.

It is a fact: among all the food intolerances, this one, due to a mixture of proteins contained in certain cereals, is the undeniable star. Hence the wave of gluten-free in restaurants (there is even a menu at Fouquet's), in more and more provided shelves at the supermarket (dedicated range at Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, Leclerc ...), in pastries (Helmut Newcake, Paris), and even in the TGV (cookies). We can now drink gluten-free beers (Glutenberg, Bon Samaritain ...), go to a dating site ( Glut'aime ), or even wash your hair without these abominated proteins (Herbacin) - in case you swallow your shampoo inadvertently.

The list of possibilities is long, and the figures, vertiginous: it is estimated that the French market of "no-glu" has increased by about 30% per year since 2012, to reach nearly 80 million euros in figures. in 2014. And, according to the US site Research and Markets , by 2019, the global market for gluten-free products is expected to reach $ 6.8 billion.

But why such a success? At first sight, the main reason for the craze would be snobbery, relayed by the personalities. In recent years, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman, Soko, Estelle Lefebure and Manuel Valls have given up gluten. To slim down? Deflate? If this is what some people are advocating, Benjamin Dariouch , food expert, culinary coach and creator of the program "No milk & no gluten", refutes without appeal: "A gluten-free diet is not synonymous with slimming! gorging on chips and coca without ingesting gluten, or so-called "gluten-free" industrial products, which are often high in sugar, starch, starch, and very high glycemic index. eat healthy."

The "no-glu" is glam

In any case, for those who are intolerant or even sensitive, the health benefit is often spectacular: the symptoms, from embarrassing to painful (headaches, joint pain, chronic fatigue), finally disappear. The tennis player Novak Djokovic, world number one, was suffering. In his book "Service gagnant", subtitled "A gluten-free diet for perfect physical and mental fitness", he explains how four years ago, when gluten was stopped, he finally became healthier. , and therefore to deploy all his strength to be at the top of his performances.

A bomb that made a lot of noise. "No-glu is glam," says Alexandre Cammas, a journalist and co-founder of the "Le Fooding A Los Angeles" movement, and more broadly in the Anglo-Saxon world, many artists are vegan and no glu, and chefs have France is very sensitive to all Anglo-Saxon "hype foods." And food hygiene is a real subject for bobos and bourgeoisie. "

At a time when "healthy" food has never been so fashionable, no-glu would tend to be the standard bearer of food intolerances. "It has become a synonym for health, says Benjamin Dariouch.We are always very manicheans with food, which are either good or bad, but there are also other criteria to choose from." If this argument weighs heavily, it is also because wheat has never been so suspect. In his book "Gluten, How the modern wheat intoxicates us", the journalist Julien Venesson explains that he is today deeply modified, much richer in gluten than the varieties of formerly, and become toxic by force of over- selections.

Benjamin Dariouch is more pragmatic: "Without even thinking of intolerance, sensitivity or toxicity, it is important to remember that, nutritionally, modern wheat brings absolutely nothing ... And takes up space on our plate, that we could release for better In any case, there is nothing indispensable - the human species has not consumed it during 99% of its time of existence. "

This is confirmed by Professor Christophe Cellier, Head of the Hepato-gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy Department of the Georges Pompidou European Hospital, in Paris:

"Gluten does not have any nutritional value, but depriving it does not cause deficiency, but consuming it does not bring anything either."

If the gluten-free diet is safe, and many adopt it without being really concerned, real reasons also explain its recent success. "In recent years, our knowledge of gluten-related diseases has improved, and screening has greatly improved, but doctors do not think enough about it," says Catherine Remillieux-Rast, Afdiag's President-President ( French Association of Gluten Intolerants).

According to Soraya Aouidad, creator of the site Gluten free in Paris and Gluten Free Week, the number of people affected would also explain this rise in power. "If celiac disease affects 1% to 3% of the population, which is already a lot, hypersensitivity affects much more, most of whom are unaware of the source of their ailments."

According to the Institute for the Protection of Natural Health, 6.6 million French people would be concerned. In the United States, one in ten Americans say they are sensitive, and one in five will remove gluten from their diet.

An expanding business

A challenge. Because wheat is everywhere. We think of the French baguette, but also the pasta, pastries, pizzas, pancakes ... "In our Western societies, it is extremely consumed, about six times a day.This accumulation is also one of the causes of 'hypersensitivity', says Soraya Aouidad. A statement that Alexandra Pigoni, a former culinary consultant specializing in this field, goes further: "More than one in three people are lactose intolerant, compared to one in a hundred gluten, so it seems odd that business is growing around the world. second, which affects a lot less people, and yet, nothing more logical: this is where manufacturers have the most money to make! Derivatives dairy products such as cream and butter can easily be substituted (think with olive oil.) While the wheat derivative is bread, which evokes conviviality, the basic ingredient and of necessity, people are somehow "dependent" on it.

However, when you are diagnosed with gluten intolerance, part of the price of gluten-free guaranteed products can be paid by Social Security. But beware, not all: it is exclusively cookies, cakes, bread, pasta and some prepared dishes. Their common point? These are essentially processed industrial products. "What about the guaranteed rice flour, so useful for celiacs, and the seeds, almonds, quinoa or all the gluten-free basic cereals we use so much?" Asks Alexandra Pigoni: The logo is present on the products, but nothing is refunded, we are right to ask why. "

Little inclined to consume raw ingredients, natural and balanced, happy to be able to repay part of the price of the most expensive food, the private of gluten are indeed tempted to fall back on these products of the large distribution, which opens them big the arms. Would the gluten-free fever be, once again, a marketing story? And Catherine Remillieux-Rast concludes that for celiacs, it is double-edged: on the one hand, it allows them a better recognition and easier to feed on a daily basis; on the other hand, it tends to discredit their illness by making it seem like an umpteenth fashionable diet.