What is gluten? Is gluten bad for you?

Gluten is a protein found in rye, wheat, barley and some of the other main grain and cereal food groups.  Gluten gives these food groups a gluey texture, the gluten present in bread is what makes it chewy.

Gluten can be found in wheat and cereal grains that contain gluten such as durum, spelt, and einkorn, as well as farro, graham, kamut, and semolina.  It can also be found as a thickener in soups, sauces and gravy.  Basically it is snuck into a lot of things that you would never be aware of unless you scoured the back of the packet.

Who should avoid gluten?

Some people can tolerate gluten with no severe or noticeable side effects, whereas others such as those with Celiac's disease must eliminate it completely.  Then, there are those of us in the middle who have a few digestive complaints or fatigue which they cannot seem to solve. 

If you have digestive complaints or health problems which are persistent and hard to treat then removing gluten from the diet with a food tolerance test is a good idea.  An elimination diet helps people to slowly refine their food choices and identify any aggravating foods which could be creating their problem. 

Anyone with a thyroid complaint or imbalance may particularly benefit from a gluten free diet, it is certainly worth eliminating it and seeing if there is an improvement.  For more information on this check out the fabulous coach Magdalena Wszelaki.  I am more than confident to recommend her personally to anyone with a thyroid imbalance http://thyroiddietcoach.com/blog/.

How to Test for Gluten Sensitivity

A challenge test for gluten involves excluding it from the diet and then slowly reintroducing it and monitoring its effects carefully to detect any kind of sensitivity.

For a two week period you should remove all gluten products or foods containing gluten/wheat from the diet completely.  You need to read the labels of all pre-packaged foods and sauces for traces of wheat/gluten.  Some sauces such as soy contain wheat and you will need to be aware of this for the test being a success.

During this two week period you should keep a food diary including any supplements and medications.  This will allow you to keep a record and detect any foods which may have contained wheat and at the same time increase your own awareness of food ingredients and labelling.

At the end of the two weeks introduce wheat very slowly, starting with something very small like a wheat cracker.  Wait for four days making a note of any reactions.  If there is a reaction, gluten should be excluded for 6 months, then tested again.  A slight reaction suggests it can be tolerated in small quantities.  If there is no reaction, a larger amount can be tested.  This type of test can be very beneficial to detect gluten intolerance.

If you think you may have problems digesting gluten, give this test a go.

What can you eat if you have a problem with gluten?

Grains and starch sources generally considered suitable for gluten-free diets include amaranth, arrowroot, millet, montina, lupin, quinoa, taro, teff, chia seed and yam.  Nut flours are often used instead of wheat in gluten-free products make with flour.

So, listen to your body, enjoy your life and take care of your health, you can do them all!

Josie

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