The topic of the benefits and harms of gluten is a hotly debated topic. Some sources claim that gluten is safe for everyone who does not suffer from specific medical diseases. Another group of nutritional experts claims that gluten is bad for most people.
In this article, we'll take a look at what gluten is and how it can affect your health.
Gluten is a protein found in most grains, including wheat, barley, and rye. And therefore in the flour extracted from these crops. When flour is mixed with water, gluten proteins form a sticky web-like network. This is what makes the dough elastic. Gluten also prevents carbon dioxide bubbles from leaving the dough, thanks to which the porous structure of the baking is preserved and the bread rises well.
During heat treatment, gluten ceases to be stringy but retains some elasticity. Therefore, if you press on the bread, it will return to its shape. Imagine a pizza maker tossing and stretching the dough. Without the gluten, it would simply burst.
The most common sources of gluten in the diet.
Wheat and its germs, barley, rye, bran, spelled, couscous, bulgur, semolina, pearl barley. Oatmeal is gluten-free, but it is grown and processed alongside other grains. Therefore, a small amount of gluten can get into the cereal.
Crackers, bread, bread crumbs, pasta, seitan (popular vegan high protein), wheat soba noodles, biscuits, baked goods.
Malt and soy vinegar, flour-thickened sauces or gravies, certain spice mixes, whiskey, vodka, beer.
In addition, gluten is added to foods to improve their elasticity and shape. Therefore, it can be a part of ketchup, various dressings, sausages, sweets, ice cream, chips, even tablets and vitamins in capsules.
On food packaging, gluten can be hidden under the words "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" or "textured vegetable protein". There is also a whole list of E-supplements containing gluten: E150, c, b, d; E160; E411; E636; E471; E953; E637; E965.
Wheat gluten contains 18 types of amino acids necessary for human life. Gluten also contains calcium, potassium, magnesium, selenium, and phosphorus.
Despite the widespread belief that gluten is more harmful to the body than beneficial, there are proven examples of its positive effects on health.
In March 2017, scientists submitted data to the American Heart Association on nearly 200,000 patients whose dietary history had been followed for over 30 years. The results showed that patients who ate more gluten had the lowest risk of type 2 diabetes. The group that ate more gluten foods compared to the lower gluten group had a 13% lower risk of developing diabetes. The main sources of gluten were muffins, pizzas, pretzels, and bread.
Fish and rice dishes are popular on a gluten-free diet. However, both of these products may contain toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead. In the study, scientists evaluated blood samples from 11,000 people and found that people who followed a gluten-free diet had higher levels of mercury, lead, and cadmium in their blood than those who did not avoid gluten.
The Harvard School of Public Health has collected dietary data from over 100,000 people for 25 years. During the observation period, scientists have identified more than six thousand cases of coronary heart disease. However, participants with higher gluten intakes had significantly lower heart disease rates than participants with lower gluten intakes.
Approximately 1% of people in the world live with celiac disease. This is an autoimmune disease in which the body is unable to metabolize gluten. The immune system recognizes gluten as a foreign protein and begins to fight with it, simultaneously damaging the walls of the small intestine. Damage to the intestines leads to malabsorption of nutrients and, as a result, abdominal pain and wasting. A person with celiac disease can avoid these problems by completely exclude foods containing gluten from the diet. There is no cure for the celiac disease yet.
Between 0.2 and 1% of people suffer from wheat allergies. This diagnosis also causes digestive problems after consuming gluten. It happens that a person does not have celiac disease and is allergic to wheat, but he still reacts negatively to gluten: after eating gluten-containing foods, his head and stomach suddenly start to ache, and weakness appears. This condition is called non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Scientists estimate that between 0.5% and 13% of people live with this ailment.
Apart from the cases described above, gluten is not harmful to health. In contrast, whole grains such as barley and rye provide the body with healthy fiber, vitamins, and micronutrients.
At the same time, the more people give up gluten, the more alternative products appear without it. But by excluding gluten from food, manufacturers try to maintain its taste. This often negatively affects the calorie content and health benefits of food. For example, much more fat and sugar have to be added to bread so that it retains its taste, shape and does not fall apart. If you compare the calorie content of two such baked goods, one that is gluten-free will have more fat, carbohydrates, calories, and less protein.
Therefore, be careful about the ingredients of the products. Just because a product is gluten-free doesn't mean that it is healthy. For a beautiful figure and well-being, you do not need to go to extremes, you just have to eat wisely and exercise regularly.
