gluten free restaurants vermont

What's The Connection Between Your Health And Gluten?

Gluten sensitivity has become a hot topic today. With its connections to acne, osteoporosis, allergies, and other conditions, it's no wonder there's so much interest in gluten. But what exactly is gluten? How can it have effects on your health? And why should you care? Let's explore these questions now.

First off, let's define what gluten is and is not. Gluten is a substance (technically a protein) found in a handful of specific grains. Gluten isn't a bacteria, virus, or some kind of artificial food additive. It is a naturally occuring part of the grains in which it is found, and these grains are called "gluten grains".

Gluten occurs naturally in just these grains: wheat, rye, and barley. If you eat even a small serving of any of those grains, you'll be ingesting gluten. Don't forget that this includes flours made from these grains, as well as anything made from these grains, such as pretzels, bread, and beer.

Gluten causes health problems when susceptible individuals eat it, it damages the lining of the intestine and causes the immune system to become imbalanced. This leads to a whole host of other health conditions, including anemia, autoimmune diseases, nutrient deficiencies, and more.

There's now some growing confusion over whether oats should be considered gluten grains. The short answer is: maybe. While it's true that oats do contain a substance that is similar to gluten, it is different than the gluten found in wheat, barley, and rye. This substance in oats isn't a problem for most people. The real issue has to do with contamination. You see, oats are typically grown next to gluten grains, and are transported and processed on the same machines as gluten grains. This often means that traces of wheat, barley, or rye gluten can be found in oats. Shop for labels stating "gluten-free" on your oats to be sure don't contain gluten.

Gluten can also be found in places you wouldn't expect. Fried foods often contain gluten because the foods are dipped in a batter that contains gluten-containing flour before frying. Another surprise is soy sauce; it actually contains gluten. Look for tamari to put on your favorite Chinese food instead, it is usually gluten-free. Lastly, gluten can be used as a food additive in foods such as candies, to provide texture and consistency.

Gluten grains became an important foundation of our diet around 10,000 years ago, when the first agricultural societies experimented with relying on cereal grains for sustenance. Since then, our dependence on cereal grains, including gluten-containing grains, hasn't fallen out of favor.

It is interesting to note that the geographical areas that have had gluten in their diets for the longest period of time, also tend to have the lowest incidence of gluten allergy (celiac disease). Common scientific thought on this reveals that it likely takes many generations for our bodies to adapt to eating this gluten as a food. The fact that many of our genomes haven't fully adapted to eating gluten is a likely reason for the large percentage of the population that are sensitive to gluten.

If you now or in the past have suffered from frequent stomach or bowel problems, autoimmune diseases, anemia, arthritis, or skin conditions, you should consider that perhaps you too have a sensitivity to gluten.

Get the answer on whether gluten may be causing your health condition, visit your Portland Chiropractor for an evaluation. You should look for a Portland Chiropractor knowledgeable about gluten-related conditions and begin your road to recovery.

We greatly appreciate you taking the time to visit our website
and hope that we were able to assist you in your search for the information that you are looking for.
We do understand that with so many articles written, it is possible
and even likely that you will discover mistakes along the way.
We would appreciate you using the "contact us" page to let us know if you come across any mistakes
in our articles or if you simply have any ideas for articles that you would like to see in the future.
Thanks again for taking the time to visit,
we hope you have enjoyed you stay and hope that you will visit our web site again someday very soon.