Gluten is a common protein in the diets of western consumers. It’s the quiet hero of Western diets, hiding in wheat, barley, rye, and their grainy sidekicks.
It’s the stretchy stuff that makes bread puff up and keeps it from collapsing into a sad pancake once it cools. Thanks to gluten, bread gets that irresistible chewiness that keeps us coming back for more.
Gluten seems to be in just about everything, from bread, pasta and beer to cosmetics and nutritional supplements.
There’s a hullabaloo around avoiding gluten, but is it really the villain it’s made out to be?
In addition to wheat, gluten also comes from rye and barley. Occasionally it’s in oats, but only because the oats may have been processed with other foods that contain gluten.
Poor oats, innocent bystanders in the gluten finger-pointing game.
Our bodies are equipped with digestive enzymes to handle the feast we throw at them. Enter protease, the protein processor. It tries its best with gluten but generally falls short.
Any remaining undigested gluten will find its way into our small intestine. Most folks are ok with this uninvited guest, but for some unlucky souls, the presence of gluten triggers all sorts of digestive chaos.
The arrival of gluten triggers off an autoimmune response known as celiac disease. It’s like the small intestine’s worst nightmare including bloating, diarrhoea, headaches, discomfort from fermentation (not only from gluten) and more.
Before you load up your blunderbuss and go gluten hunting, let’s look at grains.
For starters they are no longer the superfood they once were. They’re grown in soil that’s as barren as the desert and they’re periodically showered with chemicals. Then there’s the whole aging-like-fine-wine thing flour does before it even hits the shelves.
And don’t get me started on the shady ingredients in commercial baked goods with their refined sugars, questionable fats and their processing in toxic vegetable oils.
Gluten isn’t inherently evil. In reality, it’s a naturally occurring ‘good guy’, adding protein, texture and flavour to our food. It’s the glue holding our processed snacks together, quite literally.
Turns out, it is not gluten that’s misbehaving; poorly digested carbs are the real culprit.
Mankind has been eating grains, particularly bread since ancient times. Our daily bread even gets a mention in the Lord’s Prayer.
The gluten found in grains is one of the most important proteins that you can consume. Due to the fibre it contains, It lowers the possibility of you having diabetes.
Wheat gluten has an immense impact on human nutrition as it largely determines the processing properties of wheat flour, and in particular the ability to make leavened breads, other baked products, pasta and noodles.
Just make sure the wheat you use is 100% organic and has not been subjected to chemical treatments.
So, amidst the chaos of modern life, with a galaxy of health professionals and a smorgasbord of supplements at our fingertips, are we really any healthier?
Spoiler alert: not really.
It’s like we’re living in a real-life game of Whack-a-Mole with health issues popping up left and right.
Coincidence? I don’t buy it.
In the words of Dr. Selvi Rajagopal M.D. specialist in internal medicine and obesity from Johns Hopkins, “Humans have consumed gluten for as long as people have been making bread. For centuries, foods with gluten have been providing people with protein, soluble fibre and nutrients. Gluten itself, especially the gluten found in whole grains is not bad for the healthy people.”
For a while, it may seem like going gluten-free is helping, but this effect typically wears off eventually. It’s also possible that these symptoms are actually the result of another ailment.
If you are having unexplained gastrointestinal or other types of symptoms, visit your health practitioner before chalking them up to gluten.
Graeme Dinnen
ResourcesForLife.net
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