Gluten - Let’s Break It Down

Gluten is quite the hot topic lately. With an influx of opinions on how to manage gluten in your health, we wanted to provide the facts of what it is, what causes reactions for some people, and who may be more sensitive then others.

Gluten - here are the facts:

What is it? A substance often found in wheat, that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough.

Where is it found? Rye, barley, oats, kamut, spelt, most grains.

How did it come to be? In the 1960’s, plant breeders started producing hybrid wheat varieties with the goals of improving volume and the plant’s resistance to disease. This evolution of wheat has caused the production of more gliadin in the wheat. Gliadin is a class of proteins in wheat. It makes up about 70% of the protein in gluten, and it’s gliadin that causes the immune response for those who experience inflammatory symptoms after eating foods that contain gluten. As you can see, the hybridization was an alteration to the original structure of wheat. This alteration is what many have sensitivity to now.

Beyond Gliadin what else affects the body’s response to wheat? Glyphosate. This is an herbicide sprayed on ALL wheat right before harvest. Unfortunately, glyphosate also ends up in our food.

So what now? If you think you have a gluten sensitivity, I would encourage you to eliminate it from your diet. It may be delicious, but it does more harm than good. If you are unsure if you have a gluten sensitivity or not, try taking out gluten for 14 days and see how you feel.

If you have an autoimmune condition, eliminating gluten from your diet is important.

If you are looking for support with your diet, Thrive offers a unique approach of combining Bioenergetics with Functional Nutrition. Click the Services Tab to learn more.