Due to recent advances in medical screening, more people than ever are learning that they are gluten intolerant or have some kind of gluten allergy symptoms. As a result of this, many individuals are realizing that they must make some significant changes to their diet in order to remain as healthy as they desire to be. Additionally, people have a new desire to learn as much as possible about this thing called gluten. People want to know what gluten is, where it comes from, and whether it has any harmful consequences as a part of one’s diet. Allow us to pause for a moment to answer some of these questions
The first question is, quite naturally, what is gluten? Gluten is, simply, a special form of protein often found in many food products. This protein is generally associated with the food group considered carbohydrates and is a key building block in barley, wheat and rye. Of late a perception has arisen that gluten, in and of itself, is somehow harmful for all people who consume it. This is simply not the case. While, it is true that gluten is not suitable for people who are specifically intolerant to the protein, and therefore have difficulty digesting it, gluten is not by its nature a harmful compound.
Let’s take a moment and look at a common misconception about gluten. A commonly held belief is that gluten is synonymous with grain. This is imprecise at best and untrue at worst. Though gluten can be found in many staples of the family of grains, including breads and cereals, it is not synonymous with grain. Gluten is a protein often found within grains. Therefore, the two are not synonymous. You may even be surprised to realize that some grains, such as oats, millet and soybeans, don’t contain any gluten at all. These foods are gluten free.
Let’s take a moment and look at the role that gluten plays within a grain. Gluten has several distinguishing characteristics. An example of this would be the fact that gluten is not water soluble. Gluten will not dissolve in water, however a thorough rinse of a wheat dough, coupled with a hearty knead, can remove gluten from wheat flour. In most cases this can be a difficult undertaking, and individuals with a gluten allergy are probably best served by sticking to a gluten free diet.
Gluten also contains many other traits that define its qualities. For example, is bread it is gluten that gives bread many of its defining features. It is gluten that gives bread its elasticity and chewy texture. Gluten, in fact, when removed from bread exhibits almost puddy-ish features.Gluten, when removed from dough, has a puddy-like make up. Gluten also is known for its toughness. It is the gluten that provides many bread products such as pizza crust or a bagel with their hard, doughy characteristics. Additionally, Gluten holds gases which are released during the process of fermentation that bread is placed under when it is constituted as dough. Due to this, bread rises before baking infusing itself with a light, airy texture.
Those, in brief, are the characteristics of gluten. Remember that while gluten in and of itself is not unsafe, if you have a gluten intolerance it means that you are unable to properly digest this protein. If you suspect that you have a gluten allergy, make an appointment with your health care provider.