Rosanna Davison has faced a huge backlash on social media this morning after she suggested that gluten – found in cereals and wheat – is responsible for "a huge range of medical conditions" including autism, schizophrenia, and arthritis".
The 31-year-old model made the claims in an interview with the
, to promote her new book ‘Eat Yourself Beautiful’.In the column, the former Miss World described her problems with dairy and said she also "figured out that gluten was causing chronic [skin] breakouts".
“For someone else, a gluten intolerance could manifest itself in their joints or muscles, but for me everything shows in my skin first,” the article reports her as saying.
Ever since her realisation, Rosanna has adhered to a vegan diet, which is free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar.
She went on to say that her husband, Wes Quirke, has seen his rheumatoid arthritis pain diminished since he followed in her footsteps and adopted a gluten free diet.
“[I told him] 'stop with the pizzas and beer at the weekend, you can get gluten-free everything these days!' - and within a couple of weeks these pains had left him. So now he is really receptive to anything that I say to him," she explained.
Arthritis Ireland, however, advised the public that there is no scientific evidence that gluten has an effect on rheumatoid arthritis.
http://t.co/ZXgbFglFO3 There is no evidence to suggest that the serious auto-immune disease of #RA can be managed through a gluten free diet
— Arthritis Ireland (@Arthritisie) August 24, 2015
The
also reported: “[Rosanna] cites research that shows gluten to be the bad guy responsible for a huge range of medical conditions from autism spectrum disorders to schizophrenia to arthritis”.Doctors and health professionals, however, have taken to Twitter to voice their criticism – with many saying the model has blocked them on the social platform.
This is dangerous nonsense from Rosanna Davison with real world implications for people's health and wallets.http://t.co/ONPM6OBX2H
— Philip Boucher-Hayes (@boucherhayes) August 25, 2015
Dear @rosanna_davison Your claim that gluten is to blame for autism is scientifically unfounded. Info on real causes: http://t.co/mr4j2k5m2c
— Kevin Mitchell (@WiringTheBrain) August 25, 2015
I've been blocked by @rosanna_davison for what? Pointing out that gluten-free diets don't cure autism, schizophrenia or arthritis.
— Obstrepero (@BocktheRobber) August 25, 2015
.Well done @Arthritisie on challenging @rosanna_davison's outrageous claim re diet as cure for #arthritis https://t.co/TJmixhiugk 👏👏👏@tazb17
— Niamh O'Connor RD (@CorkNutrition) August 24, 2015
As head of Irish state agency for health research it was a legitimate question for me to ask of @rosanna_davison , no?
— Doctor Love (@Graham_Love) August 25, 2015
Davidson has yet to respond to the backlash.