What gluten is?
Gluten is a mixture of two proteins present in wheat and cereal grains that, for some people, may cause digestive problems when the large intestine fails to break down the gluten into amino acids. Lotus Meals explains that when these non-broken-down pieces of gluten enter the small intestine, they are too large for nutrient receptors to absorb them — which then can cause a variety of negative health effects.
Gluten is a protein made up of glutenin and gliadin molecules, which in the presence of water form an elastic bond. Gluten can be found in grains other than wheat, including rye, barley, oats and spelt.
Understanding gluten intolerance
Now that we understand what gluten is we can look at gluten intolerance. The word “gluten” comes from the Latin word for glue, and its adhesive properties hold bread and cake together. But those same “binding” properties also interfere with the breakdown and absorption of nutrients, including the nutrients from other foods in the same meal. The result can be likened to a glued-together constipating lump in your gut, which can impede proper digestion.
The undigested gluten then triggers your immune system to attack the lining of your small intestine, which can cause symptoms like diarrhoea or constipation, nausea and abdominal pain.
Over time, your small intestine becomes increasingly damaged and inflamed. This, in turn, can lead to malabsorption of nutrients and nutrient deficiencies, anaemia, osteoporosis, and other health problems.
The condition can also cause a wide array of other symptoms that are not gastrointestinal in nature, including neurological or psychological problems, and problems related to the skin, liver, joints, nervous system and more.
Celiac disease is also connected to autoimmunity. If you’re diagnosed with celiac’s after the age of 20, your chances of developing an autoimmune condition skyrocket from an average of 3.5% to 34%. Undiagnosed celiac disease is also associated with a nearly four-fold increased risk of premature death.
Wheat Has Changed Dramatically
Wheat is one of the most widely grown crops in the Western world. But the wheat of today is vastly different from the wheat our ancestors grew and ate. This is likely part of the explanation as to why celiac disease and gluten intolerance have risen four-fold since the 1950s.
Some believe the sharp increase is merely a sign of improved diagnosis, but research suggests the rise in prevalence is real, and that dramatic changes in the diet play a distinct role.
The proportion of gluten protein, which is what gluten is, in wheat has increased enormously as a result of hybridization. Until the 19th century, wheat was also usually mixed with other grains, beans and nuts; pure wheat flour has been milled into refined white flour only during the last 200 years.
The resulting high-gluten, refined grain diet most of you have eaten since infancy was simply not part of the diet of previous generations.
How Gluten Triggers Leaky Gut
According to some experts including Dr. Alessio Fasano, director of the Center for Celiac Research in Massachusetts, mankind did not evolve to eat gluten and therefore cannot digest it properly.
Research suggests the human gut views gluten as a foreign invader against which it must mount an immune response, and Fasano believes this is true for everyone.
However, that doesn’t mean everyone must avoid gluten. Most people, he says, can handle gluten without clinical consequences. Others are not so lucky. People with autoimmune disorders are particularly at risk for complications due to what gluten is and its characteristics.
Sixteen years ago, Fasano and his team found that gluten can stimulate a molecule in your gut called zonulin — a protein that triggers the opening of junctures between the cells in your gut lining.
In essence, it makes your gut more permeable, allowing food particles to escape into your bloodstream, causing inflammation, immune reactions and raising your risk of various autoimmune disorders. This is known as leaky gut syndrome, and you don’t have to have celiac disease to suffer the consequences of leaky gut.
Glyphosate-Treated Wheat Promotes Celiac Disease, Immune Reactions and More
While the question of whether gluten should be avoided by everyone is a controversial one, it’s quite clear that today’s wheat is far riskier than the wheat of bygone days due to what gluten is, and that it causes problems for many.
Gluten can also hide in processed foods under a variety of names, including but not limited to malts, starches, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), texturized vegetable protein (TVP) and natural flavouring.
A major caveat linked to gluten is its tendency to impede proper nutrient breakdown and absorption from foods due to what gluten is, regardless if they have gluten or not. This may prevent proper digestion because excess gluten leads to the formation of a glued-together constipating lump in the gut. Excessive gluten consumption and further small intestine damage and inflammation may predispose a person to nutrient malabsorption, nutrient deficiencies, anaemia, osteoporosis, other neurological or psychological diseases, and complications linked to the skin, liver, joints, nervous system and more.
Sources of gluten
Now that we better understand what gluten is and gluten intolerance we can look at what products have gluten. Gluten products include white and whole-wheat flour, graham flour, wheat germ, wheat bran, pasta, couscous, flour tortillas, cereal, crackers, beer, processed broth and bouillon cubes and many other foods including fried products and processed lunch meats.
Symptoms of gluten intolerance
Besides bloating, belly pain, diarrhoea, tiredness and a general feeling of unwellness, warning signs of gluten intolerance include:
- Joint or muscle pain
- Headache
- Confusion
- Anxiety
- Numbness
- Nausea
Because there is no specific laboratory test for gluten sensitivity, your physician will have to rule out other possible causes. In some cases, patients may need to be checked for wheat allergy or celiac disease. Should test results be negative, a gluten-free diet may be advised.
Gluten-free diet
Now that we know what gluten is and how it can affect your health we can look at an alternative. A gluten-free diet is an important course of action for combating gluten-related disorders, and picking gluten-free foods is the first step in doing so. Because there are foods that are incorrectly labelled “gluten-free,” it may be quite tricky at first to select the correct items.
Some of the best foods for a gluten-free diet include beans sprouts, seeds (chia, pumpkin or sunflower), nuts pecans, macadamias or walnuts), organic and pasture-raised eggs, organic and grass-fed meats that aren’t breaded, fish (wild-caught Alaskan salmon, sardines, anchovies and herring that aren’t breaded, batter-coated or marinated), organically grown, GMO-free fruits and vegetables and healthy fat sources such as grass-fed butter, coconut oil, olives and avocados.
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