Davison at the launch of the Irish Heart Foundation's 'Fats of Life' campaign supported by the HSE (2013).

Davison at the launch of the Irish Heart Foundation's 'Fats of Life' campaign supported by the HSE (2013).

ROSANNA DAVISON HAS come in for a lot of criticism in recent days.

In last weekend’s Sunday Independent, the model was interviewed about her book Eat Yourself Beautiful.

She was quoted as saying that going gluten-free helped her husband Wes Quirke combat back pain and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

The sentence that caused the controversy read: “She is a believer in non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, and 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.”

There has been quite the backlash and Davison has distanced herself from this stance.

The sentence that appears to be at the root of all of this, is not a quote, does not appear in the book and does NOT reflect my views. — Rosanna Davison (@rosanna_davison) August 26, 2015 Source: Rosanna Davison /Twitter

My point was, and remains, that diet may play an important role in alleviating symptoms of serious conditions. This is well documented. — Rosanna Davison (@rosanna_davison) August 26, 2015 Source: Rosanna Davison /Twitter

The former Miss World previously told TheJournal.ie she didn’t intend her advice in the book to be taken as medical advice.

Arthritis Ireland said there is “no evidence to suggest” that rheumatoid arthritis can be managed through a gluten-free diet.

http://t.co/ZXgbFglFO3 People with a diagnosis of #RA should manage their disease with the advice of GP/Consult. & not rely entirely on diet — Arthritis Ireland (@Arthritisie) August 24, 2015 Source: Arthritis Ireland /Twitter

Irish Autism Action also criticised the comments, as did many people on social media.

Davison, who studied Nutritional Therapy for three years, has been doing a series of interviews to clarify her position.

She appeared on TV3′s Midday earlier, during which she called herself an “easy target”.

“It’s been an overwhelming, stressful few days”, Davison said, adding: “A lot of comments were aggressive, very personal and very upsetting.”

What I have brought up through all of this is that it was through my struggle I was diagnosed with acne in my teenage years and given various treatments and it was through being vigilant with my diet that I began reading a lot more literature and studies. I want to point out its a highly debated issue, medical science hasn’t reached a conclusion. It’s about people sharing stories about what works for them.

When asked about the effect the comments have had on her personally she said: “I worried more about my family and Wesley seeing the comments about me than I did about myself. It’s hard for people close to me to read that.”

Viewers were split on the issue

One viewer called Lynda contacted the show to say: “I personally live with a child with autism and to say or try to tell me that it’s down to diet is a complete disgrace. She needs to get all her facts before writing or talking about something she knows nothing about.”

However, other people defended Davison, with Amie saying: “Ah cop on everyone losing it. There are articles and articles supporting this. She did not say that everyone should go on a gluten-free diet or suggest that gluten causes autism, she just said it can play a role. She believes that research so that’s her prerogative.”