Gluten in food

The component with the sonorous name of gluten is found in many common foods. There is a lot of it in fluffy buns, pasta, oatmeal and other baked goods. The typical daily diet of an adult contains 10-40 grams of gluten. How it affects our health, and whether to prefer gluten-free products, we will consider in our article.

What is gluten

Gluten or gluten is found in the seeds of cereal plants: barley, rye, wheat. Storage protein or gluten makes up approximately 15% of the dry weight in bread, pasta, and bread products.

In a wet wetted form, the substance is gray in color, has the consistency of a sticky mass with increased elasticity. The dry substance has no taste and is practically transparent.

Gluten is essential for baked goods. When combined with water, it makes the dough firm, soft and elastic. In the production of yeast products, flour with a high gluten content is used. For yeast-free products, the percentage of gluten is chosen to be low. Wheat grains with a high gluten content are suitable for the production of semolina. Wheat protein has an average gluten content of 30%.

The viscous consistency of raw gluten makes it popular in a variety of sauces. They are thick and uniform. Gluten is included in all purchased sauces: tomato, mayonnaise, cheese.

Gluten harm

Despite the large amount of gluten consumed with familiar foods, it is important not to overload the stomach with it. With an excess of foods with a high level of gluten, the following ailments may occur:

• violation of the stool;
• general weakness of the body;
• aching abdominal pain;
• anemia.

To determine if you have an excess of gluten, you need to choose a gluten-free diet... It will take at least 2 weeks to completely normalize the intestinal microflora. The menu should contain products that do not contain gluten or that have a minimum percentage of gluten by weight. Such food is called medicinal, it is useful for absolutely any person. If, as a result of the transition to a gluten-free diet, the state of health improves, then in the future it is imperative to control your diet.

In addition to the health benefits of a gluten-free diet, you can lose a few pounds of excess weight. However, many gluten-free foods add too much sugar to improve the palate. As a result, the calorie content of such products becomes high.

If the latent gluten intolerance can be expressed in a weak form and cause a negative reaction of the body only with an excess of this component, then an allergy to gluten completely excludes the assimilation of this product.

Gluten intolerance or allergy is called celiac disease. It is rare, with one case per 100-150 people. The main cause of the disease is called hereditary factors. Celiac disease is passed from parent to child, similar to lactose intolerance. In the presence of allergies, even minimal consumption of foods with gluten can cause serious consequences:

• Disruption of the normal functioning of the digestive system. Possible severe bloating, diarrhea, vomiting, sharp spasmodic pains. The stool becomes frothy and has a strong unpleasant odor.
• Secondary manifestations of celiac disease are hair loss, deterioration of the immune system, and hair loss.

It is very difficult to make a correct diagnosis. Allergy symptoms are similar to other medical conditions. Many patients have been unaware of their gluten intolerance for years.

The increase in the percentage of people with celiac disease is caused, among other things, by a deterioration in the condition of the soil, which affects the quality of wheat. Together with harmful substances, gluten is less digested in the body.

The benefits of gluten

Despite the negative effect on the body of some people, you should not exclude foods with gluten from the diet. Wheat grains contain a large amount of fiber, which is necessary for normal digestion. To get the most out of your health benefits, choose whole grain foods by limiting your wheat yeast baked goods.

It is impossible to bake delicious bread without gluten; it is often added to sauces, tomato paste, ice cream to give a thicker consistency. Supporters of sports nutrition get gluten in special protein shakes.

Gluten-free foods

The main source of this substance is grain crops. Its maximum is found in rye, barley, wheat, oat grains. All products made from flour, crushed grains contain a certain percentage of gluten. These include groceries, pasta, cereals, breakfast cereals, and snacks.

100 g of wheat flour contains about 5 g of gluten, rye - 2.5 g, oat - 2.2 g, pearl barley - 2.8 g, millet - 1.7 g. The gluten content in spelled is minimal - no more than 1 g.

For information on the gluten content of foods, look at the ingredients on the label. Gluten can be denoted by the following phrases: "modified food starch", "textured vegetable protein", "hydrolyzed vegetable protein".

Gluten Free Products

If you decide to follow a gluten-free diet or suffer from celiac disease, then it is necessary to eliminate gluten-containing foods from the diet. Your menu should include the following gluten-free foods:

• Plant food: greens, fruits, vegetables, root vegetables.
• Meat and fish products, poultry and offal, eggs.
• Dairy and fermented milk products from natural raw materials without thickeners.
• Gluten-free cereals: rice, corn, buckwheat, soy, millet.
• Flax seeds, legumes.
• Pseudo-cereal crops: amaranth, sorghum, quinoa.

Using the above list, it is possible to create a complete menu in which a sufficient amount of fiber will come from vegetables and gluten-free cereals.

Unscrupulous manufacturers often produce various cereals on the same equipment, as a result of which gluten particles, sufficient to exacerbate celiac disease, can get into gluten-free cereals, cereals.

Moderate consumption of gluten does not have a negative effect on the body of healthy people. The only exceptions are celiac patients. So don't skip all gluten-containing foods, just keep the balance right.