What the heck is Gluten?

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

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

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Why would gluten affect diabetes?

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.