What is Gluten?

What is Gluten and Where is it Found?

Gluten is a compound of elastic proteins in the family known as prolamins found in certain members of the grass family.  Gluten is in wheat, barley, and rye.  It is composed of glutenin and gliadin (in wheat - including kamut and spelt), secalin (in rye) and hordein (in barley).  The word gluten comese from the Latin word glue and it gives elasticity to dough to help it to rise, keep its shape, and often giving the final product a chewy texture.  Gluten is also used as a source of protein in prepared foods and as an additive to foods otherwise low in protein or in the form of a flavoring, stabilizing or thickening agent.

Bread is typically made from grains such as wheat which contain gluten. Gluten-free bread is made with ground flours from a variety of materials such as rice, sorghum, corn, or legumes like beans, but since these flours lack the sticky gluten it can be difficult for them to retain their shape as they rise and they may be less "fluffy". Additives such as xanthum gum, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, corn starch, and eggs are used to compensate for the lack of gluten.  (see my Flours page for more details about different gluten free flours!)

This is important for vegetarians to note! Gluten is the basis for many imitation meats so be sure to check the label!

Oats are a bit of a question.  Originally, oats were cut out of the gluten free diet because they are all process in facilities that process wheat, so by default, oats had gluten in them.  Recently, there is now a place where oats can be process in a gluten free facility, so some celiacs have incorporated these oats back into their diet.  However, some research indicated that a protein naturally found in oats closely resembling wheat gluten and can cause a reaction in some celiacs.

The max safe level of gluten in a finished product is less than 0.02% . To put that into perspective, wheat flour has about 12% gluten, so even a tiny amount of wheat flour can effect a gluten-free diet so it is important to take care that there is no cross-contamination in food preparation.

Motivation

Greetings!

We are now mid-way through National Celiac Awareness Month so I cannot think of a better time to start my own blog to add another story to the thousands already out there.

I first learned about Celiac Sprue when I was in middle school.  I remember sitting outside on a bench of my junior high busy being irritated with my mother for being late again.  After two hours of waiting, my mother pulls up and I climb into the car in somewhat of a huff.  It didn't last long though cause my mom soon broke the news that she had just been diagnosed with Type I Diabetes.  Her pancrease was no longer making insulin on its own so she would now have to manually regulate her blood sugar by giving herself insulin doses at each meal.  This requires close tracking of blood surage and sugar intake so blood sugar count does not dip too low or raise too high.  The mysterious part of all this though is:  How did a woman in her mid-forties all of a sudden get a disease that is reserved for children and young teens?

For a while, no one could figured out what had caused her diabetes. Until one day, my mom's best friend and pediatric doctor that specializes in nutrition mailed her a journal clipping on Celiac Sprue. Celiac is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food.  In the plain English, this means that my mom was not absorbing the nutrients she needed because her body was fighting against itself.  In fact, it had gotten so bad that her pancreas had been eaten away at so much that it could no longer produce insulin, enter Type I diabetes!  Her diagnosis of Celiac finally explained her intense abdominal pains, bloating, anemia, and weight loss.  That was why she was on the floor in pain so many times!  What a relief it was to finally have an explanation to all her health problems!

mom and sister

The "cure" for Celiac disease is a life long gluten free diet.  That means no wheat, barley, or rye - or really oats either since all oats are processed in facilities that contains wheat too (though this is changing!). Going from being able to eat anything whenever she liked, my mom had to make a huge life shift.  She first had to consider the gluten contents of everything she ate then figure out how much sugar was in her food so she could stick herself with a needle several times per day to give herself insulin shots.  Needless to say, it was an emotional roller coaster! 

That was close to fifteen years ago now, the road has been long and rough.  Two factors that I have found are key in being diligent and keeping to a gluten free diet is:
              1. Learn to cook. Most processed foods contain gluten so your easy frozen meals and even the pre-grated cheese you get from the store are no longer options.  If you are going to enjoy your life with a gluten free diet, it is important to learn to enjoy cooking!  Love going to the store and farmers markets to pick out fresh produce, relish in chopping and seeing the combination of colors that go into the sizzling pot and learn what flavors you prefer most so you can in the end delight in the food you have made! 
              2. Have a great support group. It is challenging to do it on for a person to do it on his/her own!  It is surprising how isolating it is to have separate and different meals that the people you live with.  Get your whole family involved at dinner time!  Have them help plan meals so they feel like they are a part of the new culinary adventure!  Cooking can be great bonging time even before sitting down to dinner.

If there is any sort of silver lining, it is that my family has now learned to eat SO WELL!  Cooking brings us together.  We chat while we chop.  Share our lives as well as our cooking tips with each other.  I have found great love of being in the kitchen and have become very aware of my own food preferences and tolerances.  My days are filled with fresh produce at every meal, very few packaged foods, and the love of just reading and sharing recipes! 

Thus I have started this blog....