Like me, I'm sure you are seeing gluten free items everywhere these days. You can't watch a food commerical on TV without seeing gluten free items. And if you really look around at the grocery store you will amazed to see how many items are using gluten free as part of their packaging. When did all this begin? And Why? What's the story? You probably have a friend who has gluten sensitivity and can't eat certain things anymore. I recently had to give up pizza because of my gluten problem.
I'm going to give you the short condensed version of today's gluten otherwise your eyes will glaze over if I go into this in great detail. Suffice it to say, we are not eating the same wheat our grandparents ate. It's a whole new strain that is being grown now by big agri company's, and they do it for various reasons.
Gluten is a sticky protein found in grains, mostly in wheat, barley and rye. This stickiness is why it is used in processed foods as a binder and filler. This is often referred to as hidden gluten. It's in lots of food items and it's never identified on the ingredient list so you won't know if it's in there. This is a huge and dangerous problem for people with celiac disease.
Like I said, the wheat we are eating today is not the same wheat our grandparents ate. The grains have been hybridized to achieve drought resistant, bug resistant, and faster growing strains that we have today. These new strains, or new proteins, are causing system inflammation and intolerance of gluten in our digestive tract.
If you have celiac or gluten sensitivity it effects the walls of your intestine and deceases your ability to absorb nutrients and allowing the walls of your intestines to become leaky. This can manifest itself in digestive symptoms including bloating, constipation, diarrhea, weight loss, fat malabsorption, and malnutrition like iron deficiency or anemia, low vitamin D and even osteoporosis This condition is considered an auto immune disease. Basically the gluten is causing your body to attack itself. You can become very ill if this continues for a long time.
Additionally, many people who do not suffer from gluten sensitivity have decided not to eat gluten because they know that it causes inflammation in the body. Since inflammation is a root cause of disease, the thinking is that if you want to do all you can to be healthy, remove gluten from your diet.
How do you know if you have gluten sensitivity? One way to find out is to simply remove all gluten from your diet for several week and then reintroduce it. If you feel better when you stop eating gluten that is a hint. If you reintroduce it and you feel bad that is also a hint. At that point you might want to ask your doctor to test you for gluten sensitivity.
If you don't have celiac and want o be able to eat gluten occasionally you might look for ancient grains. There are some resources on line that specialize in ancient grains. Be sure to check them out and make sure they are in there original state and have never been hybridized. If you can find products like this you might be able to tolerate it well. One product I like to buy is Jovial. This company grows wheat in Italy and it's available at Whole Foods and Mother's Market. You can also order it on line at Jovialfoods.com. This pasta can be eaten by some people who are sensitive to gluten without a problem. They also sell some gluten free products that I really like.
So that's the story. If you have a gluten sensitivity you should consider not eating it to stop the damage it is doing to your gut. If you are not sensitive to it consider eating only high quality grains to maintain your overall health. Your gut and your immune system will thank you.
