Gluten is a mixture of proteins: glutenin and prolamines, found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. In recent years, avoiding gluten has become a fashion, but also a necessity for many people. Gluten is believed to be the culprit of many non-specific he alth problems that result from hypersensitivity to this food component. Check which diseases are caused by gluten and in which products it occurs.
Gluten: what is this?
Glutenis a mixture of vegetable proteins found in the endosperm of cereals - wheat, rye, barley and oats. It is composed of glutenin and prolamines: gliadin in wheat, secalin in rye, hordein in barley and avenin in oats.
What's in gluten?
Gluten is formed from glutenin and prolamine when kneading flour and water.Glutentakes the form of an elastic complex responsible forpropertiesof products valued in baking, i.e. flexibility and brevity.
Cereals with a high gluten content are eagerly used in the baking industry due to their much greater technological usefulness than cereals with a small amount of gluten. Bread made from flours of these cereals is more elastic, lighter and less compact.
Only a few decades ago gluten could be found only in cereals and their products. Currently, it is added to a wide variety of food products, such as cold cuts, spices, and highly processed foods. This and the fact that cereals are genetically modified to increase their gluten content means that the consumption of this protein is much higher than a few dozen years ago.
Gluten allergy
Gluten is one of the most common food allergens. Even 25 percent. people with allergies may have symptoms of gluten allergy, in fact to gliadin present in wheat.
Gluten allergy: symptoms
In the case of allergies, the body's reaction is immediate, manifested by:
- respiratory problems,
- skin lesions
- other changes in the body, including anaphylactic shock.
Gluten: how does it affect the body?
The problem of potentially dangerous to he alth gluten was triggered about 50 years ago, when work on genetically modified wheat began. Hybridization because it isthis type of modification was used to create a wheat variety with a higher gluten content, and thus - with better grain properties for bakers and growers.
The ancient varieties of wheat, einkorn and emmer, have a smaller genome, fewer chromosomes, and encode fewer gluten proteins. Common wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) contains the largest genome, including the so-called the D genome, which is responsible for the culinary properties of flour and in which area genetic modifications were most often made.
Genome D encodes properties of gluten proteins that are identified with the growing problem of gluten allergy and intolerance. Intolerance is seen as a new epidemic of the 21st century. Additionally, gluten has been linked to several other medical conditions: celiac disease and Duhring's disease.
Gluten is also potentially harmful for people who do not have problems with its tolerance.
Gluten a celiakia
Celiac disease, also known as celiac disease, is a genetically determined hypersensitivity to gluten. Contrary to its name, it can lead to he alth problems throughout the body, not just within the digestive system.
It is an autoimmune disease in which the intestinal villi are impaired (and if left untreated), and thus the absorption of nutrients is seriously disturbed. Until recently, celiac disease was considered a disease that only affects children. Currently, it is diagnosed more and more often in adults who have not yet experienced any symptoms.
Celiac disease occurs in 1% Europeans, more often in women than in men. Interestingly, this disease is practically not found among the inhabitants of Africa, China and Japan due to the low consumption of gluten-containing products.
The classic symptoms of celiac disease are diarrhea or constipation, short stature, weight loss, enlarged abdominal circumference, and anemia. They most often concern children. Adults usually have atypical symptoms, including small gastric problems, abdominal pain, stomatitis, anemia, emotional disorders.
The basic treatment for celiac disease is to follow a strict gluten-free diet.
Gluten and Duhring's disease
Duhring's disease is a form of gluten intolerance that manifests itself mainly by skin eruptions and itching, and to a lesser extent by intestinal disorders. It is called the cutaneous manifestation of celiac disease. This disease shows immune disorders in the skin. Its treatment is based on a gluten-free diet and sulfones, which alleviate skin symptoms.
Gluten sensitivity
Gluten sensitivityis not celiac disease and not an allergy, but another recently described type of abnormal immune response of the body to gluten proteins derived from grains. In 2011, scientists confirmed the existence of a disease entity, which is gluten sensitivity, and estimated that it affects a few percent of the population and has no genetic basis.
The condition occurs mainly in adults and its symptoms include:
- flatulence,
- diarrhea,
- stomach pains,
- feeling of confusion (brain fog),
- mood swings,
- chronic fatigue,
- headaches, joint and muscle aches.
Symptoms appear hours to days after consuming gluten. Therefore, we are dealing with a late response of the body and a response with IgG antibodies, not IgE, as is the case with gluten allergy.
Gluten sensitivity is often misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome or other psychosomatic gut disorders. It can also be associated with mental disorders and autism.
A method of treating hypersensitivity is to follow a gluten-free diet. Unlike celiac disease, where the diet must be followed for life, hypersensitivity may suffice to temporarily exclude gluten from the menu.
According to the definition of gluten hypersensitivity, these are the cases of gluten intolerance in which, based on diagnostic tests, celiac disease (negative antibody result) and wheat allergy (no elevated IgE levels) were excluded, and in which there is practically no atrophy of intestinal villi and yet gluten consumption (best proven during provocation) causes undesirable symptoms in the patient.
Symptoms of gluten sensitivity
| Stomachache | 68 percent cases |
| Eczema | 40 percent |
| Headaches | 35 percent |
| Feeling of constant fatigue | 35 percent |
| Feeling confused | 34 percent |
| Diarrhea | 33 percent |
| Flatulence | 25 percent |
| Constipation | 20 percent |
| Anemia | 20 percent |
| Numbness and soreness in the limbs | 20 percent |
| Weakness, fainting | 20 percent |
| Burning in the esophagus | 15 percent |
| Nausea and vomiting | 15 percent |
| A feeling of splashing in the gut | 10 percent |
| Glossitis | 10 percent |
Gluten: what is it in? [LIST]
In theory, gluten should only be found in gluten grains and products with their addition. In practice, it is added to many products. The more processed the food, the more likely it is to have gluten in it.
People suffering from celiac disease, who must avoid even minimal amounts of gluten for he alth reasons, can be sure that the product is gluten-free only when it is marked with the symbol of the crossed ear.
The presence of gluten in food
| Product group | Gluten-free | May contain gluten | Gluten |
| Cereal products |
| All gluten-free grains and their preparations may contain low levels of gluten if produced in facilities that process gluten grains. Gluten-free cereal products not marked with the crossed ear symbol. |
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| Meat, fish, eggs |
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| Milk and dairy products |
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Author: Time S.A
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Find out more| Fats |
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| Vegetables and vegetable preserves |
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| Fruit and fruit preserves |
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| Sugar, sweets |
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| Cakes and pastries made with illegal flour or with illegal baking powder, barley m alt |
| Drinks |
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| Spices |
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| Soups |
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Which products do not contain gluten?
Source: x-news.pl/Agencja TVN
About the author
Aleksandra Żyłowska-Mharrab, dietician Food technologist, dietitian, educator. A graduate of Biotechnology at the Gdańsk University of Technology and Nutritional Services at the Maritime University. A supporter of simple, he althy cuisine and conscious choices in everyday nutrition. My main interests include building permanent changes in eating habits and individually composing a diet according to the body's needs. Because the same thing is not he althy for everyone! I believe that nutritional education is very important, both for children and adults. I focus my activities on spreading knowledge about nutrition, analyze new research results, and make my own conclusions. I adhere to the principle that a diet is a lifestyle, not strict adherence to meals on a sheet of paper. There is always room for delicious pleasures in he althy and conscious eating.
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