What the heck is Gluten?

dbmata · July 2014

Surprisingly, science has known about gluten for a coon's age.

Personally, I just had no clue why my body would ache and pizza would flow through me like grease through a goose.

For a lot of others, increased awareness caused them to question certain things in life, some had "celiacs" disease, some had "me too's" disease. Others had allergies. There's been a lot of marketing too. Marketing is powerful. It can create problems, change cultures, and make people think more of themselves because they have 1000 songs right in their pocket.

AllOutof_Bubblegum · July 2014

This. Basically if you don't know what it is, you don't have to worry about it. A lot of people are confused, and think GF foods are inherently healthier and facilitate weight loss better than gluten-containing foods, but that's crap. If you don't suffer from celiac disease there's no reason to worry your head about gluten. :flowerforyou:

FatFreeFrolicking · July 2014

Eating gluten free isn't a fad. It's a lifelong lifestyle change for MANY people due to Celiac disease, gluten allergies, Crohn's/Colitis, diabetes, etc.

Melodypharmon · July 2014

Yes, people knew what gluten was 5 years ago. I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 12 years ago after having symptoms my whole life. I was diagnosed at the age of 20, and I wish I had been diagnosed much sooner. It would have made my life so much easier. Basically for me, if I eat gluten it causes malnutrition because it crushes the celia hairs in my intestines. I get severe stomach issues and will sleep for days.

That being said, most of what is happening now is a fad. A few specialists have said that everyone should be gluten free because of various reasons. Society has jumped on board, but it will have health issues unless you need to be gf.

Also, wheat now contains a much higher content of gluten in order to be resistant to pesticides. Which could contribute to the rise of issues.

It irritates me when those that don't need to be gf announce that they are going gf. However, it benefits me. When I was diagnosed there was nothing convenient to buy at the store. Now there is a lot I can choose from even though it is twice the price.

Colorfan · July 2014

Its a protein thats in some wheat which is responsible for making bread nice and soft/chewy.

beccadaniixox · July 2014

This!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdJFE1sp4Fw

SuperSexyDork · July 2014

Why would gluten affect diabetes?

nikkihk · July 2014

Yeah, Gluten has nothing to do with Diabetes... =/ In fact going Gluten Free increases the sugar content in some foods and therefore is WORSE for diabetics.

liesevanlingen · July 2014

My son doesn't have celiac disease, but he is intolerant to gluten (along with a whole bunch of other things--soy, dairy, nuts, eggs, fish, oats, rice, barley...the list goes on) Eating these foods will not kill him, but they will induce non-stop vomiting and retching. Like, 25-30 times a day non-stop. We have to watch his diet VERY carefully.
But gluten isn't a bad thing if you don't have these kind of problems, so I'm not quite sure why it's gotten such bad press among the vast majority of the population. Faddism irritates me.

EmilyTwist1 · July 2014

Actually, there is a relationship between Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746085/

SuperSexyDork · July 2014

Okay, that only says that people with type 1 diabetes have an increased risk of Celiac disease (among other autoimmune disease) and eating GF will help that.

It doesn't demonstrate that eating gluten free will have any effect on type 2 diabetics or type 1 diabetics who do not also have Celiac disease.

My question remains. Since it seems to have been misinterpreted, I'll change the phrasing. How does being diabetic alone mean that you need a gluten free diet?

FatFreeFrolicking · July 2014

Actually, yes it does have something to do with diabetes. Many endocrinologists recommend a gluten free diet to their diabetic patients. In fact, it can prolong remission in individuals with T1 diabetes.

When a person goes gluten free due to various medical conditions, they eliminate all processed foods which contain gluten. Most individuals who eat gluten free do not substitute things like bread, pasta, cookies, and brownies with GF bread, pasta, cookies, and brownies. They simply don't eat it. Instead they eat whole foods like lean protein, nuts/seeds, healthy fats, veggies, and fruit.

buttonsandshadow · July 2014

There are plenty of conditions whereby the contraindication of gluten is recommended. I was gluten free for other health reasons (non celiac) about 20 years ago and boy oh boy did I get flak. My vegetarian friends who were heavy seitan eaters (seitan is a "wheat meat" made with gluten and seasonings) could not understand it whatsoever. But getting it out of my diet made my symptoms a lot less, and a lot easier to manage. When I caved to pressure, I allowed grains back in, along with the problems I was experiencing, but hey, at least I fit in again, right? lol

People can have their opinions about this "fad". There are people who go gluten free, believing they can eat family size potato chips and lose weight. My health reasons trump other people's opinions. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, and definitely not letting trends define what I put in my mouth. I'm a grown up responsible for my choices.

The only issue I have with gluten free being a current "fad" is the fact that there are folks whose need for it pre-dated the fad and I often see them getting a "knowing smile" when they ask for gluten free in a restaurant, getting told, "Sure, we keep up with the times," and they don't really get taken seriously. Or the restaurants who still accidentally engage in cross-contamination because it's not really an issue beyond a weight loss diet.

FatFreeFrolicking · July 2014

No one said you NEED to eat gluten free if you have diabetes. I simply said most endocrinologists recommend a gluten free diet to their diabetic patients.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10585617

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17607660

SuperSexyDork · July 2014

Oh really?

I found this link on the America Diabetes Association's website about the subject. http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2011/mar/should-i-start-following-a-gluten-free-diet.html

Highlights:

SuperSexyDork · July 2014

Mice studies? Inconclusive. It really needs to be studied further if this is all you can offer me.

ETA: Mice studies are good indicators that there may be a connection but often conclusions reached in studies with rodents cannot be duplicated in human beings.

I'm wondering where you're getting that most endocrinologists recommend this because I don't see what they could be basing it on. I have several type 1 diabetics in my family that have never been given this advice.

entropy83 · July 2014

Yes^^^^ I get hives. I have a wheat allergy in addition to other food allergies. I don't have Celiac disease I'm just allergic.

FatFreeFrolicking · July 2014

Listen, you don't need to believe me. I've been to 3 separate endocrinologists who have all told me they suggest their diabetic patients follow a gluten free diet. I am not diabetic but I have insulin resistance and Crohn's disease which is why I eat gluten free.

http://www.staffanlindeberg.com/DiabetesStudy.html

missh1967 · July 2014

Hilarious and pathetic at the same time. "It makes you fat." WTF. Dumb.

SanteMulberry · July 2014

There is a scientist at MIT who feels that the problem is not gluten per se as much as it is the combination of gluten sensitivity (and since gluten is not particularly digestible in the human gut, many, many people would be termed "gluten sensitive") and the glyphosate (Roundup) residue present in wheat today. Wheat is NOT "Roundup Ready" (unlike corn and soy) but they use glyphosate on wheat crops prior to harvest to kill the wheat plant. This is done in order to dry the wheat on the stalk and to make the field more ready for the seed drills in "no-till" planting of the next crop. Glyphosate was developed as a powerful chelating agent and it does exactly that in the gut. It prevents the assimilation of important minerals, in particular. It is NOT a safe addition to the food supply, no matter what the chemical industry tells you.

Also, the wheat that we eat today is VERY different from the wheat that our ancient ancestors ate. The wild Einkorn wheat that the hunter-gatherers plucked and ate was fairly low in gluten (and they didn't eat much of it anyway). That changed with the widespread adoption of agriculture which turned to the domestication of the wild Einkorn and Emmer wheat. Emmer wheat had more gluten than Einkorn but still not enough to make a proper yeast bread. It was only the higher amounts of gluten found in modern triticum breeds that encouraged the widespread consumption of yeast bread. Finally, as a result of extensive hybridizing, the amount of gluten increased greatly during the 1950s and 1960s as plant scientists sought to increase the amount of protein to "feed a hungry world" and to make the stalk shorter and sturdier to make it more able to support the large heads of grain that were pursued. The cultivation of these strains of wheat and the development of high nitrogen synthetic fertilizers, greatly expanded the yield per acre. This drove down the cost of wheat and made it cost effective to include wheat flour in a wide variety of processed food as a cheap filler.

Also, modern, "fast-rise" baking techniques left a lot more of the gluten undigested as opposed to the old-fashioned sourdough methods preferred by our ancestors. Therefore, the bread products we eat today are a very different bread than our ancestors ate. My grandmother grew up on a farm and, as the oldest girl in the family, it was her job to make the bread--which she made with sourdough starter--allowing it to rise overnight before baking the next day. Not so in modern bakeries. And that is the story of how our guts are simply not very healthy because of our current habits.

What the heck is Gluten?

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