What the heck is Gluten?

j4nash

All of a sudden people I know are going Gluten free? Packages everywhere with gluten free. "I'm allergic to Gluten." Did anyone really know what this stuff was 5 years ago? Where did all this come from?

DanielaScott

Seriously. Just another fad. Like the low carb/Atkins thing. I'm leary of this trend.

leahraskie

Gluten is only a problem if you have celiac disease, which is a GI disease caused by inflammation. It really just limits the different types of carbs that you can eat. If you don't have chronic inflammation or celiac disease, it's not really recommended. But eating something that says gluten free wouldn't hurt you either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten

126siany

It's a type of protein found in grains and nearly everyone an eat it without issues.

UpEarly

I've known all my life about gluten. We have a ton of celiac disease in our family. About half of my immediate family has it. :-(

The upside of the trend is that it's so much easier for my family members to go out to eat and participate in normal social activities without having to make such a big spectacle about their special diet. Ten years ago, gluten free was only in hippie health food stores or made totally from scratch with ingredients from the hippie health food store.

bajoyba

Gluten is simply a protein compound found in wheat and other grains.

It's a problem if you have Celiac Disease, and some people have wheat allergies. Otherwise, it's really nothing to worry about.

littlefoot612

I have a friend who was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 20 some years ago. Until then, I had never heard of gluten. Just glad there are more gluten free products available to her now.

QueenBishOTUniverse

The good news is, I now know my bacon is gluten free. :laugh:

(and yes, I know there can actually be gluten in some of the maple flavorings etc. so it is important for people with celiac disease to know this for certain, but I can still giggle at it.)

HeidiCooksSupper

It's a type of protein found in grains and nearly everyone an eat it without issues.

Mostly ^^^THIS^^^ but here's a well-balanced, science-based article: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/scicurious/separating-wheat-chaff-gluten-sensitivity

desidieter

Jimmy Kimmel did a question thing on the streets where he asked people what gluten is, and half of them didn't have a clue. LOL. You know something's a fad and people are mindlessly following when they don't even know the definition of whatever it is they think they need to avoid.

Sabine_Stroehm

Gluten is only a problem if you have celiac disease, which is a GI disease caused by inflammation. It really just limits the different types of carbs that you can eat. If you don't have chronic inflammation or celiac disease, it's not really recommended. But eating something that says gluten free wouldn't hurt you either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten

You've said this before. You know some folks have issues with gluten without celiac.

That said: I think it's a combination of a lot of things, including some fad.

signed: doesn't each much gluten (maybe one tortilla a day or 2 slices of bread a day), but doesn't eat "gluten free" packaged foods either.

Sabine_Stroehm

I've known all my life about gluten. We have a ton of celiac disease in our family. About half of my immediate family has it. :-(

The upside of the trend is that it's so much easier for my family members to go out to eat and participate in normal social activities without having to make such a big spectacle about their special diet. Ten years ago, gluten free was only in hippie health food stores or made totally from scratch with ingredients from the hippie health food store.

I've known about it my entire adult life. Several friends have Celiac, and one close friend gets serious bowel issues (IBS) from gluten.

ETA: this past year I had a student who developed severe eczema from gluten, and another who'd figured out that gluten exacerbated her fibromyalgia. fwiw.

amwbox

Its a harmless (unless you have very specific medical conditions) protein complex found in grain that people having been thriving on since the dawn of civilization.

No worries. Another food-fad-boogieman.

stephe1987

Some people feel better if they avoid gluten. My aunt gets pain in her joints/back if she eats gluten. But if someone doesn't know what gluten is (unless they're a child with Celiac's disease), chances are they're just following a trend.

Soggynode

For people who get seriously ill when they ingest even a small amount of wheat gluten it is not a fad. I sincerely hope the people on this site who dismiss wheat gluten as a fad or think it is no big deal never have to watch a loved one suffer the effects of a food allergy exposure. It's not fun to watch, there is nothing you can give them to make the pain go away and you can't trade places with them no matter how much you want to.

If you really want to know more about the wheat gluten "fad" go to one of the many Celiac (Coeliac) websites and learn.

ShadeyC

It's a type of protein found in grains and nearly everyone an eat it without issues.

Mostly ^^^THIS^^^ but here's a well-balanced, science-based article: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/scicurious/separating-wheat-chaff-gluten-sensitivity

I love science....this article is what I kind of found out by myself.
I personally like mostly gluten free things as my stomach seems to feel better. But for me I think it's more from a wheat/grain point of view. Wheaty things sort of seem to get stuck in my stomach itself and not make it through my intestines at all. I don't have celiac's but I definitely limit the amount of wheat/grain based things I eat and I am better for it.

Having said that, I also can only have the smallest portion of beans - say in chicken chili - if I go past the invisible barrier I can barely eat for a several days as my stomach cramps so much.
I have to be really careful with mince (you never know what other stuff they've stuck in there, sometimes I'm fine, sometimes I'm not).
Banana's absolutely hate me unless they're cooked. If they're raw, no matter how much I want to eat them (and I love bananas) about 20 mins later I throw up.
I actually DO have a proper allergy to shellfish, I have an epipen for that.
There are various other things I have found over my own personal trial and error (sometimes by accident unfortunately), and to be honest it seems sort of random.
I know it's a weird list and an overshare, but I do think people need to figure out what they can and can't eat logically instead of just jumping on a bandwagon.

I think the gluten thing to a certain extent RIGHT NOW is a fad...for the general population. It does make lots of things a lot easier for those who do have real conditions, and that's a plus.
If it makes people feel better, I don't have any issues with it. It's not going to hurt them NOT eating it. And if they want to waste their money on it when they don't have a problem, go for it :P

SomeNights246

For people who get seriously ill when they ingest even a small amount of wheat gluten it is not a fad. I sincerely hope the people on this site who dismiss wheat gluten as a fad or think it is no big deal never have to watch a loved one suffer the effects of a food allergy exposure. It's not fun to watch, there is nothing you can give them to make the pain go away and you can't trade places with them no matter how much you want to.

If you really want to know more about the wheat gluten "fad" go to one of the many Celiac (Coeliac) websites and learn.

Way to misunderstand the words.

They are simply saying that gluten is not inherently bad unless you have celiac disease or some other health problem that makes you unable to ingest gluten. But most people who are buying into the gluten free trend are doing so because they believe it is healthy to do so, whether you have issues with gluten or not.

desidieter

For people who get seriously ill when they ingest even a small amount of wheat gluten it is not a fad. I sincerely hope the people on this site who dismiss wheat gluten as a fad or think it is no big deal never have to watch a loved one suffer the effects of a food allergy exposure. It's not fun to watch, there is nothing you can give them to make the pain go away and you can't trade places with them no matter how much you want to.

If you really want to know more about the wheat gluten "fad" go to one of the many Celiac (Coeliac) websites and learn.

I don't think that was the intention of this thread or many of the posts here. Of course this is a real issue for real people. But it would be silly to dismiss the fact that the food industry at the moment is using this whole 'gluten free' thing for profit and not so much to raise health awareness. Did gluten allergies exist, say, 15 years ago? Of course they did. But you didn't see every restaurant or food label going on about their items being gluten free.

amusedmonkey

It's the kind of protein that makes dough stretchy and nice, but some people have autoimmune issues with it. Just like milk products, nuts, soy or shellfish. They're not inherently bad, but some people seem to react badly to them.

Gluten-free stuff can actually be good for you, especially if you are planning to write the next big diet book or want to wrap a product you are selling in a healthy ribbon.

paperpudding

For people who get seriously ill when they ingest even a small amount of wheat gluten it is not a fad. I sincerely hope the people on this site who dismiss wheat gluten as a fad or think it is no big deal never have to watch a loved one suffer the effects of a food allergy exposure. It's not fun to watch, there is nothing you can give them to make the pain go away and you can't trade places with them no matter how much you want to.

If you really want to know more about the wheat gluten "fad" go to one of the many Celiac (Coeliac) websites and learn.

I don't think that was the intention of this thread or many of the posts here. Of course this is a real issue for real people. But it would be silly to dismiss the fact that the food industry at the moment is using this whole 'gluten free' thing for profit and not so much to raise health awareness. Did gluten allergies exist, say, 15 years ago? Of course they did. But you didn't see every restaurant or food label going on about their items being gluten free.

I don't know about restaurants "going on about it" not where I live anyway. But I think it is good that more restaurants and food labels are showing which items are gluten free - makes it much easier for those who do have an issue with gluten to make informed choices.
Everyone else can easily just ignore this information.

Bit like labels saying " may contain traces of nuts" - really helpful for those with severe nut allergies, easily ignored if not relevant to you.

Mof3wc

I have celiac disease (medically confirmed), so do 2 of my kids. The 3rd we're waiting on testing for. So we know all about gluten lol. I have a few theories.

1) some of us actually do have celiac. Not as many as you'd think though. I think lots of people self diagnose themselves too.

2) some people have an intolerance, like my mom. She doesn't have celiac, but she has another bowel disease that's greatly worsened by eating gluten. Lots of Crohns/colitis patients also go GF.

3) people jump on the bandwagon for sure. They cut out gluten, which also means they're cutting out cookies/cakes/fast food/donuts etc and they suddenly feel better. So they assume it's a gluten intolerance. Personally I think a lot of it is that they're eating less junk food and eating more whole foods. I dint know how many times I've heard people say things like "I have a gluten allergy, but I can eat it once in awhile and it doesn't bother me"......