Studies have found sufficient evidence to prove a link between diet and psychosis. The kind of food we eat affects the patterns and functioning of our brain. But there is no conclusive evidence of a particular diet directly affecting a particular psychosis or a specific food directly curing a disorder of the mind. Yet there may be a link between gluten allergy and schizophrenia:

1. Celiac disease and schizophrenia
Celiac disease, for instance, has been found to have strong connections to schizophrenia. Celiac disease is a disorder of the small intestine. It is a chronic condition. The small intestine in people with celiac disease is sensitive to gluten, a substance found in wheat and wheat-based products. Gluten can be found in an astonishingly large number of foods. The fact that the small intestine is sensitive to gluten does not help in proper digestion of any gluten consumed. When gluten is not digested properly, chemicals are secreted in the gut. These travel through the bloodstream all the way to the brain. These chemicals are known to affect thinking and behavior.

2. Complications of celiac disease

Celiac disease leads to complications like anemia, loss of weight, and symptoms of psychosis. But almost all of these can be taken care of and treated simply by opting for a diet that is completely gluten-free. Studies show that celiac disease is mostly genetic in nature. What’s also known is that celiac disease and schizophrenia are often found in the same family.

3. Eliminating gluten

The first person to suggest that schizophrenia could also be caused by celiac disease was Dr. Lauretta Bender, a psychiatrist from the United States. She postulated this in the year 1953. The idea was taken up by another psychiatrist named F.C. Dohan, an American again. He conducted a study among schizophrenic patients locked up in a mental institution in Pennsylvania. He found that 63 percent of the patients from whose diet gluten had been completely removed showed a marked improvement in their schizophrenic symptoms. He figured that the same genetic trait that celiac disease to be inherited also caused schizophrenia to be inherited and that one caused the development of the other, if not directly. Numerous studies were conducted after this, both in the country and in the United Kingdom. All of them proved a distinct connection between celiac disease and schizophrenia.

4. Importance of a gluten-free diet
A gluten-free diet includes fruits, vegetables, eggs, low-fat dairy products, lean meats, fish, natural and unprocessed nuts, seeds, and beans. Also, stay away from processed foods as they contain gluten. Processed foods include bread, beer, cakes, cereals, candy, cookies, sauces, pasta, soups, potato chips, and croutons.

5. Permitted grains

Grains that are allowed include amaranth, teff, arrowroot, tapioca, buckwheat, soy, sorghum, corn, cornmeal, rice, flax, millet, quinoa, flours that do not contain gluten such as rice flour, potato flour, and bean flour. Oats are naturally gluten-free but are often cross contaminated during production. It is best to stay away from wheat, triticale, wheat and rye cross, and rye and barley. Also avoid flours that have vitamins and minerals added to them, flours that are used to make cereals, whole wheat Graham flour, any self-rising flour, and semolina.