Is Gluten Bad For You?
What is gluten?
Gluten is a protein found in in many grains including: wheat, rye, barley, oat. It nourishes plants during germination i.e helps plants reproduce. Gluten is derived from the word in latin meaning "glue.” Gluten has unique properties that give dough its elasticity or that chewy and texture feel.
So, gluten itself is composed of two smaller proteins: Prolamins & Glutelins
Prolamins + Glutelins = Gluten
The Prolamins are the important piece of gluten because they have the highest rate of gluten sensitivities or to put another way: individuals that have a gluten sensitivity are "allergic" to these prolamins. Why does this happen?
The subcomponent prolamins are rich in the amino acids proline and glutamine. These two amino acids are important because they are virtually inaccessible to human proteases, which are enzymes that break down proteins in the human body. Why is this important you may ask? Well let's move on to how gluten is eliminated from the body and continue this exploration.
How is gluten eliminated from the body?
Before we get into that, I want to emphasize this mechanism on gluten elimination that I am about to explain has been seen/tested in individuals with Celiac Disease and hypothesized to potentially occur in individuals with a gluten sensitivity. The bottom line is, according to scientific literature, we do not know the exact mechanism by which gluten sensitivity occurs. However, what I will talk about is a hypothesis explaining and piecing together facts to what we know about individuals with Celiac Disease and relating that to others that have trouble tolerating gluten. In any healthy individual that does not have a gluten sensitivity, gluten is simply removed via the stool as it can not be further digested or broken down.
Once you eat a piece of anything containing gluten, the gluten will attempt to be digested in the small intestine. The lining of the small intestine are little cells called enterocytes. As these tiny fragments of undigested gluten are floating around in the small intestine they send a signal to the enterocytes to release a protein call zonulin which opens the firm wall of enterocytes to allow the gluten to pass through.
So then gluten sneaks its way underneath these cells, and it's here that gluten causes an immune response, which ultimately leads to inflammation. What is inflammation and how is it relevant? Well, details about the mechanism of an inflammatory reaction aren't really relevant for this conversation, but the CONCEPT of inflammation is.
Inflammation is actually a local collection of part of your immune system. So, anytime you hear the word inflammation, think to yourself: your immune system is fighting for you.
Why is inflammation so important? It has been well understood that chronic inflammation (I.E inflammation that is consistent over long periods of time) can lead to many specific diseases including cancer. There are literally dozens of articles about this and I'll link one down in the sources below if you're interested.
So, putting this all together if you're like “Hey Mitch I'm kind of like a penguin in the desert right now feeling a little bit lost..” That’s okay. Let me do a recap of everything I just said.
Gluten is a protein and of is one of the only proteins found in a western diet that can not be fully broken down by your own body's digestive enzymes.
Every time you anything containing gluten and you have some sort of gluten sensitivity, your body undergoes an inflammatory reaction i.e your immune system becomes activated in order to break down the gluten and get it out of your body. This means every time you eat gluten this creates an inflammatory reaction in your gut. Chronic inflammation as we have seen can be linked to a myriad of different disease processes. So, if you stop the gluten in your life, you can reduce the amount of inflammation occurring in your body and therefore theoretically reduce your chances of getting diseases in the future.
Next I want to talk about the difference between Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity as well as how you can tell if you have either of these things.
Celiac Disease + Non-celiac gluten related sensitivity
So, let's start with Celiac Disease. It's an IMMUNE DISEASE. It is NOT a gastrointestinal disease although many symptoms from Celiac disease are manifested via the gastrointestinal tract. Individuals have a genetic predisposition in which certain receptors that bind pieces of the Prolamins alert a much stronger immune response than the pure inflammatory response we talked about earlier. Individuals with this disorder will experience villous atrophy, and increased gut permeability leading to pretty substantial gastrointestinal symptoms, which we'll go over in a minute.
So moving on to gluten sensitivity. The formal word for gluten sensitivity is actually called: Non celiac gluten related sensitivity. According to recent scientific literature, this non celiac gluten related sensitivity has been estimated to affect up to 6% of the population in first world countries. However, many experts way smarter than I am in this field say they believe total estimations could be as high as 30-40% of the total population in first world countries. This is so important because it means 1 in 3 of you reading this article could have a gluten related sensitivity and not even realize it.
How do you know if you have a non celiac gluten related sensitivity or Celiac disease?
Well, they'll both present with similar symptoms overlap quite a bit, but the intensity of those symptoms in individuals with Celiac Disease will disease will be much, much more pronounced than those with a gluten sensitivity. Some of the most commonly reported symptoms include: bloating, diarrhea, constipation, gas, abdominal pain, skin problems like eczema, headaches, brain fog, and fatigue.
For Celiac disease in particularly, there are specific blood tests and/or genetic testing that you could get. However if you are experiencing symptoms that you're worried about, I would recommend seeing a physician and allow him or her to decide what type of testing you may need in the future. Honestly, and the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what you have. What's important is taking the steps you can take to feel BETTER and HEALTHIER overall.
So that all being said, how can a gluten free diet be beneficial to your life?
Well, the obvious answer is if you're experiencing symptoms we just talked about, eliminating gluten will get rid those symptoms and allow you to feel much better and healthier overall. However, remember when we talked about chronic inflammation leading to different diseases? Well, removing gluten, if you have any degree of gluten sensitivity, can also help reduce the levels of inflammation within your body and therefore reduce your chances of getting diseases in the future. Also, having a gluten free diet limits specific food groups you can eat and may facilitate more cooking as well as food preparation, which will ultimately greatly benefit your long term health.
Where can gluten be found?
Gluten can be found in a wide variety of foods including:
Breads
Pastries
Pasta
Flours
Beers
Because it’s also used as a thickening/binding agent it can also be found in
Processed foods (processed meat+seafood)
Meat substitutes
Specific candy
Ice cream
Butter
Sauces
Specific salad dressings.
It can also be found in medications and some nutrition supplements (protein powders).
Now the GOOD thing is because being gluten free has become more popularized especially in the last decade, there are GF alternatives to nearly all the foods I mentioned before.
Now before I give you 5 tips on how to achieve a gluten free diet, I want to preface with this: just because you're eating something that is gluten free does NOT necessarily means it is healthier for you. Again to reiterate, gluten free does NOT equal healthy if the foods themselves are processed and not good for you health! That's a really important point to remember and understand.
So, on to the five tips.
5 tips on achieving a gluten free diet
Stop eating foods containing wheat, barley, and rye for a minimum of 3 weeks and see how you feel. Check the ingredients on the back and look for any of these three things.
Learn how to cook at home. When you cook at home you control everything going into your food. So, no gluten going into your home cooked meals means you know you're safe from getting unwanted symptoms and you can stick to your GF diet.
Eat whole foods. Try not to eat processed foods especially processed meats like sausage, hotdogs, bologna, and deli meat.
Utilize your "gluten free" products that may not be very good for your health for cravings. These are things like GF cookies, pastries, and candies etc.
Find a support group or other family members/friends that can help you along your 3 weeks journey especially if continue to be GF in the long term because even though it's gotten easier in the last decade, it still may be difficult to adjust to.
