New Life: What Is Gluten?Is It Bad Or Good?!!

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Most of you probably can’t eat gluten already. But some of you have been asking: what is gluten anyway?

Gluten is the elastic protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Its elasticity is why French bread holds together, why angel-food cakes rise so high, and why bagels are so wonderfully doughy. Gluten is the glue that holds together baked goods and pasta. In fact, gluten comes from the same Latin root as glue. Think of gluten as the glue of wheat, rye, and barley. However, some people do have difficulty digesting gluten and therefore must avoid it. Still, when answering the question what is gluten it is best to stick to the facts and the facts alone and that is what I intend to do.

Other starches, like rice, corn, and potatoes, also have proteins that make them starchy. In fact, some technical experts will call those proteins gluten as well. But that’s a misnomer. Or maybe just too simple. Technically, the elastic proteins in wheat, rye, and barley are called gliadin and glutenin. Gluten is sometimes used as the umbrella term for all elastic proteins in grains and starchy vegetables. This scares some celiacs into not eating potatoes or rice. If this is you, breathe easy. The “glutens” of rice and corn are not the gluten of wheat, rye, and barley. This is why they react differently when you try to bake with them. In other words, this is why a cake made with only brown rice flour falls flat on its ass. (And really, it just wouldn’t taste that good either.)

Gluten (or, to be accurate, the gluten that damages the small intestines of people with celiac disease, and makes life uncomfortable for people with gluten sensitivity) is also part of the genetic structure of spelt, durum, semonlina, kamut, couscous, and triticale. I’ve never seen triticale in my life, and therefore, it’s pretty easy to avoid. Spelt and kamut are ancient grains, wheat in its natural form, before it was hybridized. But they still contain gluten. This means that people who are allergic to wheat but fine with gluten can eat spelt. (I know. I can hardly keep track of all the allergen categories either.) If you can’t eat gluten, beware: hundreds of products advertise themselves as “Wheat Free!” but that doesn’t necessarily mean gluten free. Barley can be dangerous. Almost all beers are made from barley hops, of course, or use barley in the brewing. Anything malted comes from barley. So does some caramel coloring. Some soy milks or rice milks have barley in them. Root beer has gluten in it, except for this glorious exception. Still, wheat is where you’ll find gluten 90% of the time.

Other places gluten can hide:
–modified food starch
–MSG: Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate is a sodium salt of glutamic acid
– lecithin which is the emulsifier that keeps cocoa and cocoa butter in a candy bar from separating. In margarines, especially those containing high levels of fat (>75%), lecithin is added as an 'anti-spattering' agent for shallow frying.

–textured vegetable protein (think veggie burgers, or any fake meat)
–emulsifiers
–soy sauce (most of it contains wheat; you have to use wheat-free tamari instead)
–prescription and over-the-counter drugs, even some vitamins

And remember, we’re not just talking about those ingredients in pure form. Who eats handfuls of modified food starch? But take a look at the labels of the foods in your kitchen right now, and search for it. It’s in everything.
If you’re trying to avoid gluten, you may reach for some healthy, organic baked tofu. That’s going to be good for you, right? Well, about the tenth ingredient on the side of the package is soy sauce. If you don’t look, and you eat the tofu, you’re sick for two days. You can even get gluten by licking your envelope, because the glue on it might contain wheat.

It grows worse. I have learned, through horrible trial and error, that food companies are legally required to tell you everything that is in food. (Except that no food package ever says: CONTAINS GLUTEN. You have to decipher that yourself.) But food companies are not required to tell you what is on food. Anything packaged that comes in individual pieces–candy, frozen foods, corn tortillas; french fries; the cashews I ate the other night–could be dusted in flour just before being stuffed in the package. Why? Because we like everything to look pretty.

Minority of the world population suffers from celiac disease. Celiac disease is quite serious as it results in abnormal immune responses to gluten. Due to this people with celiac disease must maintain 100% gluten free diets. This makes eating a bit more challenging for this minority or people who have the most severe gluten allergy. Note that you can be gluten intolerant or have a gluten allergy without actually having celiac disease so please, if you can not properly digest gluten, do not jump to the conclusion that you must have this disease. Only a doctor or geneticist can make that determination.

Naturally, gluten intolerance and gluten allergy are not laughing matters but we need to approach all topics with a certain levity I do believe. The main point is that we have gone a long way in answering the question that we started with.I am talking about what is gluten!

Is Gluten Bad For Your Body?

Not neccessarily...Gluten-free diets are being touted as the solution to everything from digestive troubles to excess fat. But before you hop on the bandwagon, read this

Just 10 years ago, barely anyone knew what the word gluten meant, let alone gave any thought to avoiding it. But now gluten-free diet menus are all the rage, and high-profile stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Rachel Weisz, and Victoria Beckham have been linked to the gluten-free lifestyle, which is said to contribute to increased energy, thinner thighs, and reduced belly bloat.

The Health Hype
Thanks to the increase in diagnosed celiac and gluten sensitivity cases, and the corresponding uptick in foods marketed to sufferers, "gluten-free diets have emerged from obscurity, and now the pendulum has swung completely in the other direction," And with this popularity push, people have latched on to avoiding gluten as a cure-all for many conditions aside from celiac, including migraines, fibromyalgia(meaning muscle and connective tissue pain), and chronic fatigue syndrome. While some have found relief, that doesn't mean a gluten free diet will work in all cases.

And then there's the idea that a gluten-free existence is the ticket to speedy weight loss. But there's nothing magical about a gluten-free diet that's going to help you lose weight. What's really at work: Gluten-free dining can seriously limit the number of foods you can eat. But it can backfire too, because gluten-free doesn't mean fat-free or calorie-free.
"Without gluten to bind food together, food manufacturers often use more fat and sugar to make the product more palatable," . Consider pretzels: A serving of regular pretzels has about 110 calories and just one gram of fat. Swap them for gluten-free pretzels and you could get 140 caloriesand six grams of fat!

Should You Go Gluten-Free?
If you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, the answer is easy: Yes, you have to. But if you just want to give the diet a spin, know this: It's a giant pain in the butt. Giving up gluten may sound as basic as cutting out bread or eating less pasta, but this isn't just another version of the low-carb craze. Because gluten makes foods thick and tasty, it is added to everything from salad dressing to soy sauce to seasonings.

Besides the hassle, you can end up with serious nutritional deficiencies. "Gluten-free doesn't necessarily equal healthy, especially when people yank vitamin-enriched and wholegrain foods from their diets and replace them with gluten free brownies,". In fact, research suggests that those who forgo gluten may be more likely to miss out on important nutrients such as iron, B vitamins, and fiber.

This is where careful meal planning comes in, which may explain why some people feel so good when they go G-free: They're eating real food instead of ultraprocessed packaged fare. "If you skip the gluten-free goodies and focus on fruits, vegetables, lean protein, dairy, and gluten free grains like amaranth and quinoa, this can be a very healthy way of eating"