Gluten Free Diet

What is Gluten?

   Gluten is defined as a cohesive, elastic protein that is left behind after starch is washed away from wheat flour dough. Only wheat is considered to have true gluten. Gluten is made up from many different proteins. The offending proteins are the gliadin subgroup of polypeptides which are toxic to people who are gluten intolerant.    Toxic in that a gluten intolerant body is unable to process these proteins resulting in a adverse reaction with the body. These adverse reactions can be reverse by the sufferer following a gluten free diet.

   Gluten is used as a thickener is many foods. There are non-gluten thickeners available. These include: Corn Flour, Potato Flour, Rice Flour and Tapioca Flour. But there are many more.This book uses the non-gluten thickeners whenever thickeners are required. Without going into too much detail, gluten can react with some people causing the destruction of the Villi in the small intestine, resulting in malabsorption of nutrients. Villi are in the small intestine allowing the intestine to absorb maximum nutrient from food. If these Villi are in any way damaged, the body does not, and can not absorb the required nutrients from the food eaten.

    Gluten intolerance can begin at any age, from infancy to later in life. This intolerance in infants is thought to able to be out grown, but the damage cause by gluten on the intestinal villi and important nutrients for growth may have not been available to the body. People with gluten intolerance can lead a normal healthy life by avoiding glutenous products. This sounds very simple, but is more difficult than you would think. Considerable thought needs to go into preparing meals on a daily basis. Many of the products advertised on the TV and in newspapers contain gluten. The term gluten has been stretched over the years to include Corn and Rice. In this case it only refers to the stickiness of using these proteins. Neither corn, rice nor rice gluten cause any harm on people who are gluten intolerant.

   What does gluten cause?
   Coeliac Disease (CD) and Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH) have been attributed to gluten, as has autism. Gluten results in damage to the villi in sufferer's intestines when they eat specific food-grain antigens (toxic amino acid sequences) that are found in wheat, rye, and barley. Oats were originally classified with wheat, but recent studies have shown otherwise. Research is ongoing on oats, but however it is too early to rule Oats as being safe. The symptoms suffered by people with Celiac's Disease include neurological complications. 5% of Coeliac patients get nerve damage that can vary from tingling sensations and numbness in the feet to confusion, memory loss, visual abnormalities, dizziness and loss of balance that are the same symptoms suffered by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. This leads to the notion that sufferers of MS also have a Celiac like intolerance to Gluten products. Children who suffer from Autism also find an improvement when they try a gluten free diet.

    A Gluten Free diet is the prescribed medical treatment for gluten intolerance diseases such as Celiac Disease (CD) and Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH).. An immune system response to eating gluten (storage proteins gliadin and prolamine) results in damage to the small intestine of people with gluten intolerance. The following grains & starches are allowed: Buckwheat Rice Corn Potato Tapioca Bean Sorghum Soy Arrowroot Amaranth Quinoa Millet Tef Nut Flours.

   What should be avoided? The following is a list of things that are considered unsafe to people who are gluten intolerant, but be aware that you many find a gluten free variety in health food shops and major supermarkets. Be sure to read the labels of anything your purchase that is pre-made. Please continue reading labels of products even if you have used it in the past, and manufacturing practices may change, or the recipe may have changed.