Gluten, Is it Really Bad For You?

There is a lot of confusion around what Gluten is and why we should avoid it. Gluten is a protein that helps bind together foods such as breads, pastas, snack crackers, chips, beer and other processed foods. Gluten has gotten a bad rap in recent years due to the increase in people being diagnosed with autoimmune diseases, and metabolic health conditions. In today’s article I am going to teach you what gluten is and how it can affect your health.

What Actually is Gluten?

Gluten is a protein naturally found in wheat and some other grains. Gluten can be extracted, concentrated and added to food and other products to add protein, texture and flavor. In America we have such a diverse culture and we have industrialized our agriculture, making food in larger quantity instead of focused on the quality of the food. So when farmers grow their wheat they are using genetically modified organisms (GMO) and other harmful chemicals to speed up the amount they can produce to keep up with the demand. This compromises the gluten making it harder on our digest system and our gut flora. In smaller countries such as Italy, France, & Greece, food is grown locally meaning the demand is much smaller making the food much more fresh and not harmful to our body.

Is Gluten Really Bad for you?

Inherently gluten is not bad for you, gluten is a natural occurring protein found in grain which contains good quality amounts of fiber and nutrients. Gluten is bad for you when it is ultra-processed with preservatives, additives and inflammatory chemicals. This is what causes our gut to have an inflammatory response and causes damage to the small intestine. This really effects people with celiac disease, because the bacteria in their gut is more sensitive to gluten containing foods. But just because you don’t feel the symptoms of gluten doesn’t mean that you are not sensitive to it. It may just mean the inflammatory response is much smaller.

Why Is Gluten Bad for You?

Gluten consumed over a long period of time causes systemic inflammation in the gut, leading to autoimmune conditions such as celiac disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. It can lead to leaky gut which can compromise your metabolism, create migraines, brain fog, and damage our ATP (mitochondrial function). The gradual amounts of inflammation can cause areas of vulnerability to flare up, such as an old injury can grow into arthritis. Or after a night out you feel puffy and some brain fog. The more gluten you eat the more your gut flora is affected.

as many as 83% of people with celiac disease don’t know they have it. This means that foods like bread, bagels, pasta, pretzels, cookies, cakes, and crackers are making them sick — sometimes very sick. Left untreated, celiac disease can lead to further complications such as osteoporosis, other autoimmune disorders and even cancer. (article)

Three million Americans have celiac disease, and an estimated 18 million Americans have non-celiac gluten sensitivity (‘gluten sensitivity’). Unfortunately, most live unaware and remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

How to Avoid Gluten

Avoiding gluten used to be challenging. Now the options we have available are endless such as gluten free menus, and more than enough gluten free products. The way we avoid gluten is by asking the right questions, reading the labels, and finding the right alternatives.

- Asking the right questions:

o When going out to eat you want to ask for their gluten free menu, or what their gluten free options are. Some things to remember when ordering;

§ Ask for no bread on your plate, because just because it’s not in the food doesn’t mean it can’t still affect you

§ Ask for no croutons on your salad

§ When ordering things at a Asian restaurant, ask about their gluten free teriyaki sauce because most soy sauces and teriyaki sauces contain flour.

- Reading the labels:

o Being able to identify gluten in foods is important step for you to know what to avoid. The main ingredients you should look out for are;

§ Wheat

§ Barley

§ Enriched flour

§ Rye

§ Yeast extract

o Other products you should look at the labels of are cereals, any processed boxed foods, soy sauce, or other sauces.

o Also you want to check the manufacture note at the bottom of the ingredient label to see how the product was processed. Sometimes you will see where it says its gluten free but it was produced in a factory where they make products that contain wheat.

- What are the best alternatives?

o With the gluten-free market estimated to be worth 7.5 billion in 2027 that means that it is constantly growing and has plenty of options to choose from. A great place to shop for gluten free foods and other products is Thrive Market, or in your local grocery store look for their gluten free section. You will find products such as;

§ Almond flour

§ Coconut flour

§ Gluten free flours

§ Veggie pasta

§ Gluten free cereals

§ Gluten free oatmeal

§ Quinoa

§ Rice

§ Corn

§ Pea flour

§ Potato flour

There are a lot of ways you can avoid gluten and still have a healthy and enjoyable diet. Just by replacing your normal flour with gluten free flour can make a huge difference in how you feel each day.

Gluten is a natural compound found in wheat, but due to the industrialization of our agriculture and the highly inflammatory chemicals we use to develop products it has become extremely harmful to our health. By asking the right questions, reading the labels, and getting creative with good alternatives we can prevent sickness and autoimmune conditions.