Gluten intolerance is also called celiac disease and is an inherited condition that causes an extreme physical reaction when they ingest gluten from grains like wheat, barley, and rye. The condition is not curable, and can become severe, damaging the small intestine and causing poor absorption of vitamins and minerals or malnutrition. Though it usually cannot be cured, gluten intolerance can be addressed by avoiding products, which contain gluten. This is becoming easier to do with many low or gluten-free foods available, which make good substitutes for foods with gluten. It is a good thing that such foods have been marketed, since about one in 100 people may suffer from gluten intolerance.
What is Gluten?
Gluten is not a protein itself but rather a protein composite, composed of the proteins glutenin and gliadin (in wheat), secalin (in rye) and hordein (in barley), which are elastic proteins in the protein family known as prolamins. Gluten is insoluble in water and comes from the endosperm within the seeds of grass-related grains.
Gluten exists in the grass-like grains wheat, barley, rye, kamut and spelt. Gluten provides an elasticity and glue-like capacity to hold its flour products together and provide them with a chewy texture. While western civilization has come to rely on gluten not only as an important nutritional protein but also as a utility for obtaining a desired texture and elasticity in foods, in recent years some substantial and controversial studies suggest our bodies may not tolerate and digest gluten as well as everyone had always assumed. It is worth noting that some people believe this applies to everyone, and not just people suffering from some degree of gluten sensitivity.
One key point to consider is that gluten is in more foods and products than you may realize. If you think removing gluten from your diet involves not eating bread and baked goods, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. Gluten is often used in sauces, flavorings, flavor enhancers and even as a binder or filler in vitamins and supplements. Adapting a gluten-free diet requires more than just removing wheat products from your lifestyle.
According to the Mayo Clinic, untreated gluten intolerance - an umbrella term that embraces both celiac disease and gluten sensitivity - is associated with certain cancers, osteoporosis, infertility, skin rashes, joint pain and a host of other symptoms and diseases. The Clinic says that celiac disease alone, once rare, now affects 1 in 100 people and increases the risk of death fourfold. Gluten sensitivity may affect more than 20% of the population. A new, free e-book can help individuals determine whether gluten intolerance may be causing their health problems.
The e-book was written by Dr. Vikki Petersen, co-founder of HealthNOW Medical Center, Clinical Nutritionist, author, and pioneer in the field of gluten sensitivity, and is available on her website.
According to Dr. Petersen, intolerance to gluten could be the root cause of over 300 health complaints and conditions, and current estimates of the number of people affected may be low.
"Gluten intolerance was, until recently, considered rare," said Dr. Petersen. "Today, with 1 to 4% of the population being affected by celiac disease and upwards of 10 to 20% affected by gluten sensitivity, it has become extremely common."
Watch out….
Foods that have “gluten-free’’ on their label may actually contain significant amounts of gluten - enough to cause gastrointestinal symptoms in those with celiac disease who have an intolerance to the wheat protein. That’s because the US Food and Drug Administration never established a standard for the label, leaving it up to manufacturers to define what they mean by gluten-free.
Now, though, the agency is moving forward with a new standard that manufacturers will be required to meet before they can slap on the gluten-free label. Federal officials are proposing that cookies, bread, and other wheat products making this claim can contain no more that 20 parts per million of gluten, a level below which gluten cannot be detected by standard lab tests.
Some manufacturers of gluten-free products also state on the label that the product contains no more than 20 parts per million of gluten, and that’s a good guide for consumers to use until the FDA issues its final regulations.
The FDA last week invited consumers, celiac experts, and the industry to comment on a rule that it had initially proposed in 2007. (To comment go to www.regulations.gov and enter docket number FDA-2005-N-0404.) After the comment period closes in two months, the FDA later this year will issue a final rule for the industry to follow that will probably go into effect in 2012.
“Before finalizing our gluten-free definition, we want up-to-date input from affected consumers, the food industry, and others to help assure that the label strikes the right balance,’’ Michael Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for foods, said in a statement. “We must take into account the need to protect individuals with celiac disease … while ensuring that food manufacturers can meet the needs of consumers.’’
The FDA usually get it right, but sometimes with all the testing and red tape it needs to go through, sometimes it seems it takes forever. In the mean time, people with celiac disease, they need to be extra careful. It has started to become mainstrean and accepted, so restaurants and caterers are offering gluten free selections on their menu.
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