Today we have come to talk about gluten. That public enemy that appeared a few years ago and about which we will have heard multiple theories.
You will have read opinions for and against, from the hand of great defenders or detractors of the diet with gluten. We do not want to give you another theory, but to inform you about what gluten is, how our body digests it and from there that each one makes a responsible decision about its consumption .
Let’s start at the beginning: What is gluten?
Gluten is a set of proteins present in many cereals such as wheat, barley or rye. By extension it is found in all wheat derivatives (couscous, bulgur, spelled, etc).
Gluten is made up of gliadin , which contains most of the products that are toxic for celiacs, and glutenin , which is extremely elastic (which is why wheat flour is widely used in bakery and confectionery).
How does gluten behave in our body?
Although most healthy people are able to safely tolerate and eliminate gluten, no one is able to fully digest it . Normally our digestive enzymes break down proteins into smaller pieces called peptides that allow us to absorb nutrients from protein one by one. But this does not happen with gluten, as it contains a large amount of indigestible peptides that can activate our immune system. The body can identify gluten as a potential enemy and produce an inflammatory response.
This does not mean that gluten itself generates a pathology , but simply that we have one more inflammatory factor to be managed by our body, that is, it is one more stress for our defenses .
For this reason, we can associate the consumption of gluten with abdominal inflammation, increased appetite, increased metabolic effects that lead to obesity , etc.
Forms of reaction to gluten
We can classify them into two:
Gluten sensitivity .
Allergy or celiac disease .
Sensitivity does not generate an autoimmune reaction in the body (which does happen with celiac disease). Celiac disease can cause a leaky small intestine (causing toxic substances to pass into the bloodstream). Gluten sensitivity can cause abdominal swelling, fatigue, diarrhea, tiredness, etc.
So gluten yes or gluten no?
In the majority of healthy adults, the consumption of gluten does not represent any problem, although it is advisable to be informed of all these points in order to consume it responsibly. Given that nutritionally the elements found in these cereals can easily be found in other gluten-free ones (buckwheat, millet, corn, rice, quinoa or amaranth), a gluten-free diet could be considered that does not subject our digestive system to the stress of gluten . These grains can be supplemented with the consumption of fruits and vegetables, as well as unprocessed proteins of high biological value (meat, fish, legumes, eggs or milk) and from a nutritional point of view we would be following an adequate and balanced diet.
And in any case, even if we decide to follow a diet that contains gluten, we should limit its consumption. According to Dr. David Perlmutter, author of the bestselling Bread Brain , a maximum intake of 10% gluten-containing foods in the daily diet is recommended .
