Gluten is considered to be among the most common ingredients found in the western diet, but only a little number of people know a thing or two about it. A myriad of health conditions are also associated with the consumption of foods that have this as ingredient, and that is what gives that no one is off the hook when it comes to this topic.
So, what is it? Gluten refers to a protein, it is a fusion of the proteins glutenin and gliadin. It may be found in grassy grains such as wheat, rye, and barley.
We make use of gluten for several reasons, one on them being for binding purposes. It serves as a binder to aid in keeping certain ingredients blend together. More to these, it can also be used to give heavier substance to some food products like sauces. That being said, if you think or know for a fact that you are sensitive to gluten, you must check soy or barbecue sauces to see if they do have gluten.
Additionally, it is mainly used since it gives high protein value. It is usually added to foods that would otherwise be low-protein. So you will most probably find it in meat-substitute foods, like vegetarian sandwiches.
However, the most common use of gluten is in baking. Gluten provides chewy elasticity that we all want in bread, cakes, cookies, among other pastries. These day, we have come to love adding gluten to our usual diet as it is easy to manufacture and process. The grains where it comes from are typically stout and hard. This makes them easy to harvest.
While some think that gluten is a healthy part of a diet, there are those who are so concerned about gluten. Yup, they do contain nutritional benefits like fiber, protein and certain vitamins, but many of us experience grave symptoms every after eating gluten.
Gluten is the specific substance that stirs up the autoimmune celiac disease. The intensity of gluten sensitivity vary in each individual, some are even deadly. This just teaches us to be more cautious in what we and the people around us eat.
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