I’m sure you’ve heard of gluten and gluten-free diets (maybe you are on one) but do you know what it really is? It seems celiac disease and a gluten intolerance is something a lot of people don’t really understand, so I wanted to share some interesting facts with you:
10. Starting a gluten free diet will cause everyone you know to want to debate whether “that whole thing with gluten is even real”- gluten intolerance (it gives you yucky side effects for days) and gluten allergy (aka Celiac disease- even a touch of gluten exposure can make you seriously ill) are both very real.
9. Gluten is naturally occurring (it’s a protein found it wheat) but it’s added into lots of things because of it’s texture, basically overloading the average diet with lots and lots of gluten (especially in packaged foods), so even if you don’t have Celiac disease, the excess gluten in your diet can affect you.
8. It’s not a weight loss diet. I happened to lose weight when I became GF over the summer, but that is only because I eat less carbs and foods containing gluten (even those yummy baked goods I make my family- delicious but fattening) and didn’t replace them with an equal amount of gluten free carbs- instead, I ate more fruit and veggies in addition to gluten free foods. If you do that too, then you’ll probably lose weight too.
7. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which eating gluten causes damage to the intestinal lining, so that nutrients in food can’t be properly absorbed. It leads to severe malnutrition (and lots of other serious effects as well).
6. Gluten free foods are YUMMY- have you ever tried Udi’s Snickerdoodles? Beyond anything. Seriously. Capable of bribing kids to be good.
5. The word gluten is latin for glue- because that is kind of it’s function in food (keeps doughy stuff sticking together and chewy).
4. Most foods are gluten free, but many foods that were always gluten free (like potato chips) still slap a “gluten free” label on the package these days for good measure- probably to let those newly diagnosed that it’s a safe food while they are shopping.
3. You know how your soy burgers and frozen pizza doughs are all chewy (even kind of rubbery)? That’s gluten! But there are other things that can keep your breads chewy, so you don’t need this “glue”.
2. Side effects of gluten (for those who are just sensitive to gluten) include exhaustion, digestive disorders, irritability, aching joints, decline in absorption of nutrients and other bodily functions, and lots more- and gluten affects at least 15% of the population to some degree.
1. You can find a fabulously fun group over at Udi’s Gluten Free community, ready and able to field all your questions about facts and myths regarding gluten, a gluten-free diet, and celiac disease. I’m one of the leaders (and these are some of the yummy gluten free foods I’ve made- hardly limiting):
