Photo credit: https://www.world-grain.com/articles/12170-ge-wheat-found-in-united-states

With so many people going gluten-free and trying gluten free diets, have you ever stopped and wondered why that is or what gluten is in the first place? If you are like most people that eat a standard american diet (SAD) you probably consume gluten on a frequent basis. Are you aware of how much gluten you consume on a daily basis? Would you be able to identify it if you saw it on the back of a food label?

Gluten – what is it?

Gluten is a term that refers to a group of proteins that are found in the products listed below:

• Wheat
• Barely
• Rye
• Triticale (hybrid between wheat and rye)

Why is it in my foods?

Components of Gluten such as glutenin and gliadin are highly elastic which makes them well suited for baked goods. Wheat gluten is typically added to baked goods to improve the strength, rise and shelf life of the finished product. The combination of gluten and sugar in baked goods typically tend to stick to your body in unflattering places.

How does it affect my health?

• Gluten proteins are highly resistant to protease enzymes that break down proteins in your digestive tract.
• Incomplete digestion of proteins allows for peptides (large units of amino acids– building blocks of proteins) to cross over through the wall of your small intestine into the rest of your body – not a good thing.
• This can trigger immune responses that have been indicated in a number of gluten-related conditions, such as celiac disease.
• There are three main forms of gluten reaction: allergic (wheat allergy), autoimmune (celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis and gluten ataxia) and gluten sensitivity.

Ways to Avoid Gluten

READ the label. Always read the label of any food item you plan on eating prior to purchasing that product. If there are names on the label you can’t pronounce, chances are you do not know what it is either. Why would you put an unknown substance in your body? These are some ingredients that contains gluten and are not so easy to recognize:

• Triticum vulgare (wheat)
• Triticale (cross between wheat and rye)
• Hordeum vulgare (barley)
• Secale cereale (rye)
• Triticum spelta (spelt, a form of wheat)

These are Whole grains that do not contain gluten or similar proteins:

• Amaranth
• Millet
• Brown rice
• Quinoa
• Teff
• Buckwheat

References: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-gluten-badhttps://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7015-10-13