Gluten Lactose Free Cake

What's The Connection Between Your Health And Gluten?

Gluten sensitivity has become a hot topic these days. With its relationship to osteoporosis, acne, allergies, and other conditions, it's no wonder there's such a buzz around gluten. But what precisely is gluten? How can it effect your health? And why should you care? These are some of the questions we'll tackle now.

To start, let's define what gluten is and is not. Gluten is a substance (it's actually a protein) that is found in certain grains. Gluten isn't a virus or bacteria, nor is it artificial. 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 only three grains: barley, wheat, and rye. Whenever you eat any amount of any of those grains, you'll be ingesting gluten. This includes flours made from these grains, as well as any other foods made from these grains, such as pretzels, bread, and beer.

Gluten causes health problems when susceptible individuals eat it, it causes damage to the intestinal lining 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 contain gluten. The short answer is: maybe. Oats do contain a substance similar to gluten, but it is different than the gluten in wheat, barley, and rye. This substance in oats doesn't cause the same health problems for most people. The real issue has to do with contamination. You see, oats are typically grown next to gluten grains, and are loaded onto the same trucks and processed in 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" when purchasing oats to be sure they truly are gluten free.

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.

Grains containing gluten became an important foundation of our diet around 10,000 years ago, as the first agricultural societies began farming with cereal grains. Since then, our dependence on cereal grains, including gluten-containing grains, has become a global phenomenon.

One interesting factoid is that the geographical areas that have had the longest exposure to gluten in their diets, 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 likely responsible for the large percentage of the population that are sensitive to gluten.

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

To find out if 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.
Chef Rowie Dillion cooks gluten free cakes #2 - Appliances Online

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.