What is Gluten - and should you avoid it?
Gluten is a protein in wheat and other grains. As with any protein, it is a building block - it acts as glue and gives food structure. Therefore, it is no surprise that the food industry found many ways to use gluten. You can find gluten in anything from bread, pasta, and cereals to cookies, crackers and even chips and beer (see a more comprehensive list below).
Who Should Avoid Gluten?
After eating gluten, and upon evacuating the stomach, an enzyme, called protease kicks in. It is in charge of breaking gluten down into amino acids which are absorbed in the small intestine. As such, a healthy person is unlikely to notice symptoms from gluten.
However, some people have coeliac disease, an auto-immune condition where gluten triggers the immune system which damages the lining of the small intestine. With time, this damage prevents nutrient absorption and causes wide-spread health issues. People with coeliac disease have to follow a live-long gluten-free diet.
Additionally, some people have non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. They also suffer from diarrhoea, gas, bloating, constipation, gut pain, brain-fog, eczema or headaches after ingesting gluten. However, there is no damage to the small intestine.
Although the process of how gluten can cause problems isn’t well understood, leaky gut is involved for about 50% of individuals. Leaky gut is a structural issue, whereas the cells which line the small intestine have slightly bigger gaps between them than they should. This allows larger molecules, including gluten, bacteria and pathogens to enter the bloodstream. This causes an inflammatory response in the digestive system and potentially throughout the body.
Wheat allergy in which the body believes that gluten is a disease-causing agent and gluten ataxia, another auto-immune disorder, are two more cases in which a person should avoid gluten-containing grains.
Coeliac disease is rare and affects only 1% of the population. Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity is also relatively rare and affects up to 13% of the population. Wheat allergy and gluten ataxia are also very rare.
So, to answer above question: No, not everyone should avoid gluten.
However, if you regularly experience any of these symptoms after eating pasta or bread, it might be a good idea to do an elimination challenge:
Bloating
Diarrhoea
Constipation
Gas
Abdominal pain
Eczema
Acne
Psoriasis
Fatigue
Brain fog
Headaches
Anxiety
Depression
Joint and muscle pain
How to do an elimination challenge
An elimination challenge is the gold standard for food sensitivity testing.
You simply remove gluten-containing foods from your diet for 21-30 days, ideally until symptoms subside.
Here is a list of common foods that may contain gluten:
Grains, including wheat, barley, rye, triticale, oats (if not certified gluten-free), durum, einkorn, spelt, emmer and kamut. As well as…
Beer, ale, porter, stout (usually contain barley)
Bread
Bulgur wheat
Cakes and pies
Candies
Cereals
Communion wafers
Cookies and crackers
Couscous
Croutons
French fries
Gravies
Imitation meat or seafood
Malt, malt flavouring and other malt products
Pastas
Hot dogs and processed lunchmeats
Store-bought salad dressings
Sauces, including soy sauce (wheat)
Seasoned rice mixes
Seasoned snack foods, such as potato and tortilla chips
Self-basting poultry
Semolina
Some soups, bouillon or soup mixes
Vegetables in sauce
After this period of time, re-introduce gluten-containing foods by eating ½ slice of toast or a few spoons of pasta. If you experience symptoms within 2-3 hours of eating you may have a gluten sensitivity.
However, this does not mean that you can’t ever eat gluten again. Work with a nutritional therapist to heal your gut with nutrition, lifestyle and supplements in order to improve your tolerance to gluten and other foods.
Have you seen my recent Instagram video where I demonstrate the difference between “regular” and gluten-free flower?
Re-play it here.
