Gluten

Since the mid-1990s, few aspects of diet and nutrition have been as scrutinized as the thick protein compound known as gluten. Gluten is most often found in foods derived from grains, notably breads and pastas. However, it is also found in other grass-family foodstuffs and beverages, including beer, salad dressings, candy, processed snack foods, breakfast cereals, crackers, cake mixes and pies, pancakes, french fries, and most gravy and soups. The pervasive reach of gluten has made it a critical diet concern for study among nutrition researchers. For generations, nutritionists advocated a diet rich in gluten as a way for people, especially athletes, to assist the body in creating and storing usable energy. However, new research has begun to suggest just how difficult it is for the digestive system to process gluten, triggering a variety of physical ailments ranging from insomnia to obesity, from flatulence to migraines, from fatigue to depression.

Background

Gluten itself is actually made up of two protein compounds, one called gliadin and the other glutenin, held together with starches. Each compound contributes a different feature to the food. To take bread as an example, gliadin is responsible for causing bread to rise—gliadin actually traps carbon dioxide escaping from the yeast and that in turn causes the dough to inflate. Thus, gliadin gives bread its lightness, its airiness, as well as its characteristic shape. Glutenin, on the other hand, released as the dough is worked either by kneading or by machine mixing, gives breads their typical texture, that sense of thickness and elasticity that bread lovers relish. The more the dough is worked, the thicker it becomes—as in the case of bagels or pizza crust; the less the dough is worked, the softer and more pliant it stays—as in the case of cakes or pastries.

Gluten, as a refined powder, is often added to foods as part of processing to create more stable shapes or to impact the texture. As the food is prepared, the gluten actually hardens and thickens like a paste (indeed the word "gluten" is a derivative of a Latin word for "glue"). That paste, in turn, can be difficult for the digestive system to break down. For some adults—and medical research puts the figure at conflicting numbers, as low as one in every hundred or as high as one in every three—the body’s immune system simply does not know how to react to the presence of gliadin. It perceives the gelatinous compound to be an invasive threat, like a bacteria or a virus. The confused immune system, then, begins to fight the body over the gluten it has consumed for nutrition, an attack that in turn causes significant wear and damage to the intestinal walls. This condition, known as celiac disease, creates a number of symptoms: bloating, painful flatulence, severe stomach distress, stressful bowel movements, anemia, constant headaches (including debilitating migraines), and in the most severe cases, chronic diarrhea and periodic vomiting. Over a long period of time, of course, this internal friction simply wears away the intestinal wall and compromises the integrity of the entire digestive system.

Research, however, has begun to show that the extent of those who suffer from celiac disease may be difficult to determine with any exactness, as many sufferers simply attribute the symptoms to ordinary stomach distress or poor diet. Researchers in the late 1990s began to promote gluten-free diet on general principles, citing the digestive system’s difficulty even under the best circumstances to process the protein that, in fact, the body does not require for nutritional well-being in the first place. Called non-celiac gluten sensitivity, the condition, researchers suggested, could reach more than a fourth of adults, those who regularly wrestle with intestinal distress, irregular bowel movements, and bloating. Research then began to link diets high in pasta and breads to a variety of much broader conditions, which to that point had never been linked to diet: chronic fatigue and lethargy, an inability to sleep, moodiness, and inexplicable waves of depression.

Gluten Today

In the new millennium, the push to promote a gluten-free diet became something of a crusade for some dietitians and nutritionists. Indeed, websites devoted to spreading the message have proliferated; diet books outlining gluten-free lifestyles have competed with each other for spots on best seller lists; talk shows tirelessly investigate the implications of going gluten-free. By the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, major food processors and restaurants and even school systems began developing gluten-free alternatives. By 2013, the National Board of Health estimated that a third of American adults believed they had a problem with gluten—that number nearly doubles when asking only individuals born after the mid-1980s. As of June 2016, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases reported that as many as 1 in 141 Americans had celiac disease.

But adults converting to a gluten-free diet face significant challenges. Initially, given the reach of gluten in foods, these adults can feel deprived as their bodies adjust. It is, researchers have found, a significant mental adjustment. Ingesting gluten for years has actually been described as a kind of benign addiction. But nutritionists advise patience.

The market for gluten-free products (defined by the Food and Drug Administration as any product less than 20 parts per million) boomed. In 2014, it was estimated to be a $6 billion industry, a remarkable phenomenon given that gluten-free products barely existed at the turn of the millennium. Nutritionists further advise creativity in food preparation—diets rich in vegetables and fruits, rice, eggs, corn and cornmeal, quinoa, soy, fresh meat (from animals not fed grains), as well as nuts and seeds can provide a healthy, balanced diet virtually free of processed gluten.

Bibliography

Davis, William. Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health. Rodale, 2014.

"Definition and Facts for Celiac Disease." National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, June 2016, www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/celiac-disease/definition-facts. Accessed 21 Feb. 2018.

Fasano, Allesio. Gluten Freedom: The Nation’s Leading Expert Offers the Essential Guide to a Healthy, Gluten-Free Lifestyle. Wiley, 2014.

The Gluten-Free Bible. International, 2010.

Levinowitz, Alan. The Gluten Lie: And Other Myths about What You Eat. Regan Arts, 2015.

Peterson, Vikki. The Gluten Effect: How "Innocent" Wheat Is Ruining Your Health. True Health, 2011.