Gluten, Brain Health & Silica-Rich Water: What Does the Research Actually Show?
Could two relatively simple changes—removing gluten and drinking silica-rich mineral water—be worth considering for brain health?
There is an interesting body of research connecting gluten-related disorders, inflammation and cognitive function, along with another line of research investigating silicon-rich water, aluminum elimination and Alzheimer’s disease.
The evidence is not strong enough to say that gluten causes dementia or that silica-rich water treats or reverses Alzheimer’s disease.
But there is enough interesting research that these are reasonable topics to discuss with your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider—particularly if you are experiencing brain fog, cognitive changes, autoimmune problems or neurological symptoms.
TL;DR — The Key Takeaways
1. Gluten can affect the brain in some people.
People with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity commonly report cognitive symptoms such as brain fog, difficulty concentrating and forgetfulness. Studies have also measured cognitive impairment in untreated celiac disease and found improvement after treatment with a gluten-free diet.
Read the review: Gluten-induced cognitive impairment (“brain fog”)
2. That does NOT prove gluten causes Alzheimer’s disease.
A large Swedish study of 8,846 people with biopsy-confirmed celiac disease found no overall increase in dementia or Alzheimer’s disease compared with 43,474 controls.
Read the study: Risk of dementia in patients with celiac disease
So the scientifically responsible statement is:
Gluten-related disease can affect cognition, but it has not been established that gluten causes Alzheimer’s disease in the general population.
3. Silicon-rich mineral water is a different—and fascinating—story.
Research led by Christopher Exley and colleagues found that drinking silicon-rich mineral water increased urinary aluminum elimination. In a small 12-week study involving people with Alzheimer’s disease, aluminum body burden decreased and 3 of 15 participants showed clinically relevant cognitive improvement.
The authors described this as preliminary evidence and called for larger, longer studies.
4. Earlier epidemiological research also found an association between silica intake and lower dementia risk.
In the 15-year PAQUID cohort, an increase of 10 mg/day in silica intake from drinking water was associated with a lower risk of dementia. This was an observational association—not proof that silica prevents dementia.
5. These are relatively simple lifestyle experiments for many people.
For many otherwise healthy adults, a carefully implemented trial of eating 100% gluten-free and replacing some normal drinking water with a silica-rich mineral water such as Fiji Water is unlikely to create major problems when done sensibly. However, it is not accurate to say there are absolutely no possible side effects.
A gluten-free diet can become nutritionally unbalanced if it relies heavily on processed gluten-free foods, and excessive water intake can be problematic for some people. Anyone with kidney, heart or other medical conditions—or anyone taking medications that affect fluid or electrolyte balance—should discuss increased fluid intake with their healthcare provider.
The potential advantage is that these approaches are relatively straightforward to investigate while continuing appropriate medical care.
The Gluten–Brain Connection
Dr. Thomas O’Bryan has spent decades focusing on gluten sensitivity, celiac disease, autoimmune disease and neurological manifestations of gluten-related disorders. His professional material specifically discusses the spectrum from gluten sensitivity to neurological disease and dementia.
Dr. Tom O’Bryan — professional background
Cognitive impairment in celiac disease
A study of newly diagnosed celiac patients found that cognitive performance improved after treatment with a gluten-free diet, with improvement occurring alongside healing of the intestinal mucosa.
Read the study: Cognitive impairment in coeliac disease improves on a gluten-free diet
“Brain fog”
A review of the literature found measurable impairments involving memory, attention, executive function and processing speed in untreated celiac disease, with improvement during the first year of a gluten-free diet. The authors emphasized that the precise mechanism remains uncertain.
Read the review: Gluten-induced cognitive impairment (“brain fog”)
Gluten-induced neurocognitive symptoms
A survey of 1,396 people with self-reported celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity found that 89% of the celiac group and 95% of the NCGS group reported neurocognitive symptoms after gluten exposure. Common descriptions included difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness and grogginess.
Read the study: Gluten-induced Neurocognitive Impairment
Gluten, inflammation and neurodegeneration
This review examines proposed mechanisms linking gluten-related disorders, intestinal inflammation, immune activation and neurological disease.
Read the full review: Gluten, Inflammation, and Neurodegeneration
Gluten sensitivity and neurological disease
Another review discusses neurological manifestations ranging from brain fog and cognitive impairment to ataxia and, in some reports, dementia.
Read the review: Cognitive impairment in celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity
But Does Gluten Cause Dementia?
This is where we need to be careful.
A large population-based Swedish study included 8,846 people with biopsy-confirmed celiac disease and 43,474 matched controls.
During a median 8.4 years of follow-up:
- Dementia occurred in 4.3% of people with celiac disease.
- Dementia occurred in 4.4% of controls.
- Overall dementia risk was not significantly increased.
- Alzheimer’s dementia was not significantly increased.
There was a possible association with vascular dementia, but the overall findings do not establish that celiac disease causes Alzheimer’s disease.
Read the study: Risk of dementia in patients with celiac disease
That’s an important distinction:
Cognitive symptoms associated with gluten-related disease are real.
That is different from proving that gluten causes Alzheimer’s disease.
The Silica–Aluminum Connection
Now comes the particularly interesting research from Dr. Christopher Exley and colleagues.
Silicon occurs naturally in water, often in the form of soluble silicic acid.
Exley’s research has investigated whether silicon-rich water can interact with aluminum and increase its elimination from the body.
2006: Silica-rich mineral water and aluminum elimination
People with Alzheimer’s disease drank approximately 1.5 liters of silicic-acid-rich mineral water per day for five days.
Urinary aluminum excretion changed significantly, while urinary iron excretion was not significantly affected.
Read the study: Non-invasive therapy to reduce the body burden of aluminium in Alzheimer’s disease
2013: The 12-week study
This is probably the most interesting human study in the silica-water literature.
Participants with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers drank up to 1 liter per day of silicon-rich mineral water for 12 weeks.
The researchers found:
- increased urinary aluminum elimination
- reduced measured aluminum body burden in Alzheimer’s participants
- no comparable effect on urinary iron or copper
- clinically relevant cognitive improvement in 3 of 15 Alzheimer’s participants
The authors described this as preliminary evidence and called for a larger, longer study.
DOI / Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease
The 15-Year Drinking Water Study
The PAQUID cohort in France followed older adults for up to 15 years and examined aluminum and silica exposure through drinking water.
Among the analyzed population, higher daily aluminum intake was associated with greater cognitive decline and increased dementia risk.
Interestingly, an increase of 10 mg/day of silica intake was associated with a reduced risk of dementia (adjusted RR 0.89).
Again, this was an observational study. It does not prove that drinking more silica causes a reduction in dementia.
What About Fiji Water?
This is where the internet can get ahead of the science.
Fiji Water comes from a naturally occurring aquifer associated with volcanic geology and is relatively rich in dissolved silica.
But the Exley research should not be summarized as:
“Fiji Water reverses Alzheimer’s.”
That’s not what the research showed.
The more accurate statement is:
Silicon-rich mineral water has been shown in small human studies to increase urinary aluminum elimination, and one preliminary 12-week study reported clinically relevant cognitive improvement in 3 of 15 Alzheimer’s patients.
Whether that translates into prevention, slowing or reversal of Alzheimer’s disease remains an open research question.
A Simple, Conservative Way to Explore It
If someone is interested in exploring these ideas, I would approach them as low-risk lifestyle questions to discuss with a healthcare professional—not as treatments for dementia.
Step 1 — Consider testing before eliminating gluten
If celiac disease is a possibility, talk with your doctor before eliminating gluten, because going gluten-free can make celiac testing inaccurate.
NIDDK recommends diagnostic testing while the person is still consuming gluten. Common initial blood tests include tTG-IgA and other celiac antibodies as appropriate.
NIH/NIDDK — Diagnosis of Celiac Disease
Step 2 — If appropriate, try 100% gluten-free eating
If you and your healthcare provider decide that a gluten-free trial makes sense, consider making it a true 100% gluten-free trial rather than simply reducing gluten.
- Eliminate wheat, barley and rye.
- Read ingredient labels carefully.
- Consider cross-contact if celiac disease is present.
- Emphasize naturally gluten-free whole foods.
- Don’t simply replace gluten-containing foods with highly processed gluten-free products.
- Make sure adequate fiber, iron, calcium and other nutrients remain in the diet.
In the United States, FDA-labeled “gluten-free” foods must contain less than 20 ppm gluten.
FDA — Gluten-Free Food Labeling
NIH/NIDDK — Eating, Diet & Nutrition for Celiac Disease
Step 3 — Consider silica-rich mineral water
If you want to explore the silica-water hypothesis, one practical option is to choose a commercially available silica-rich mineral water such as Fiji Water and introduce it gradually rather than dramatically changing your fluid intake overnight.
The 2013 Exley study used up to 1 liter/day for 12 weeks, but that should not be interpreted as a universally recommended dose or treatment protocol.
A conservative approach could simply be:
Start modestly → see how you tolerate it → gradually incorporate it into your normal hydration if appropriate.
For many healthy adults, replacing some ordinary drinking water with a silica-rich mineral water is a relatively simple dietary experiment. The published human research does not establish a standard therapeutic dose, and more research is needed.
Important: Anyone with kidney disease, heart disease, fluid restrictions, electrolyte problems, or medications that affect fluid balance should discuss this with their healthcare provider before substantially increasing fluid intake.
Why Consider a Trial?
One reason these ideas are interesting is that, for many otherwise healthy people, they can be explored without abandoning conventional medical care.
A carefully implemented gluten-free trial can be monitored for changes in things such as:
- brain fog
- concentration
- energy
- digestion
- joint or muscle symptoms
- headaches
- overall sense of well-being
Likewise, incorporating a silica-rich mineral water can be viewed as an experiment rather than a promise of treatment.
The key is to observe, measure and discuss the results with your healthcare provider.
And if there is no meaningful benefit, there is no reason to assume that either intervention is helping.
What I Find Most Interesting
The research doesn’t give us a simple answer.
Instead, it gives us several intriguing pieces:
Gluten-related disease → immune/inflammatory activity → neurological symptoms in some people
and separately:
Silicon-rich water → increased urinary aluminum elimination
and:
Lower aluminum exposure / higher silica exposure → associations with cognitive outcomes in some observational research
Those pieces are interesting enough to investigate—but they aren’t yet a completed causal chain.
That’s exactly why more research is needed.
The Bottom Line
If you’re concerned about brain health, cognitive decline or dementia, it may be worth having a conversation with your healthcare provider about:
- Whether testing for celiac disease or gluten-related disorders is appropriate.
- Whether a carefully implemented 100% gluten-free trial makes sense for you.
- Whether silica-rich mineral water is an appropriate addition to your normal hydration.
- Other established factors that affect brain health, including blood pressure, metabolic health, sleep, exercise, nutrition, medications and cardiovascular risk.
There is no single magic bullet.
But sometimes the most interesting health discoveries begin with asking a simple question:
“What happens if I remove a potential trigger and give the body something that may help it deal with an unwanted exposure?”
The gluten and silica research is worth watching.
And, importantly, it is worth discussing with your own doctor or qualified healthcare professional rather than treating any of these approaches as a proven cure.
Research Library — Click the Studies
Gluten, Cognition & Dementia
- Cognitive Impairment and Celiac Disease
- Gluten-induced cognitive impairment (“brain fog”)
- Cognitive impairment in coeliac disease improves on a gluten-free diet
- Gluten-induced Neurocognitive Impairment
- Cognitive impairment in celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity
- Gluten, Inflammation, and Neurodegeneration
- Risk of dementia in patients with celiac disease
Silica, Aluminum & Alzheimer’s
- Non-invasive therapy to reduce the body burden of aluminium in Alzheimer’s disease
- Silicon-rich mineral water as a non-invasive test of the “aluminum hypothesis” in Alzheimer’s disease
- DOI — Silicon-rich mineral water study
- Aluminum and silica in drinking water and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive decline
- The potential influence of silica present in drinking water on Alzheimer’s disease
- Aluminum Should Now Be Considered a Primary Etiological Factor in Alzheimer’s Disease
More from Dr. Thomas O’Bryan
More from Dr. Christopher Exley
Medical disclaimer: This article is for education and discussion with your healthcare professional. It is not a diagnosis or treatment plan. Neither a gluten-free diet nor silica-rich water should be used as a substitute for appropriate medical evaluation or treatment of cognitive impairment, celiac disease, Alzheimer’s disease or other neurological conditions.
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