Gluten- Fad or Fact

There is ongoing hype over the idea of a “gluten-free” diet. Jimmy Kimmel produced a comedic video showing the lack of knowledge for the protein gluten, but the overwhelmingly persistent LA population is still hooked on being gluten-free. Dr. Oz aired a segment on the gluten-free lifestyle, and grocery stores are filling their aisles with “GF” labeling at remarkably increasing rates. Yet the vast majority of Americans that are utterly obsessed with this new food-fad still lack the basic knowledge behind the infamous protein Gluten.

Gluten is a cereal protein most abundantly found in wheat, advantageous for its rare baking properties consisting of an idealized dough, creating structure and elasticity, when combined with water, while simultaneously having the capabilities to retain gas when fermenting, allowing “bread-like products” to rise. On a molecular level, gluten is a tertiary protein containing several hundred-protein components, but most distinguishable, are its disulfide bridges contributing to its complex structure. Gluten is found in one of four subcategories of cereal proteins called prolamines, deducing the high concentrations of the amino acid proline in the protein. Prolamines are storage proteins containing low amounts of the essential amino acids lysine, methinoine, and tryptophan, creating a low biological need, thus gluten is not a nutritionally dense food source. When humans digest the proline-enriched gluten, the protein is unable to fully breakdown in the gastrointestinal track, leaving fragments in the stomach and small intestines causing some individuals discomfort, diarrhea, bloating, or constipation and in cases of Celica’s disease degradation of the cilia. Though it is becoming a new fad to have a “gluten allergy” or have Celiac Disease, it is a misnomer, as most classic diagnoses are done in adolescent children. Instead, Americans are commonly misdiagnosed for gastrointestinal problems that can be induced and aggravated by the presence of gluten such as irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, lactose malabsorption, or gluten sensitivity, a non-specific symptomatic improvement when the consumption of gluten is decreased. Gluten sensitivity is a debated topic of subject as in biopsies comparatively to other gluten related ailments, individuals with gluten sensitivity posses almost all normal antibodies except they commonly contain a DQ2 gene. Though millions of Americans claim to have gluten sensitivity, there is not one conclusive answer whether the decrease in processed foods as a whole is improving their gastrointestinal track or the lack of gluten decreases onset bodily flair-ups.

The New York Time’s article A Big Bet on Gluten-Free by Stephanie Strom accurately discusses the growing industry of gluten-free products, despite only a small minority of the population having Celiac Disease. According to research nearly 30 percent of Americans have the desire to have a limited gluten intake, but only 6 percent is said to have gluten sensitivity and .6 percent to be Celiac. Strom touches base on the role of gluten in baking products and the difficultly to make adequate substitutes, as gluten gives “shape and elasticity” to the dough as a binding protein, providing her audience with basic information on why gluten is vital in the production of cereal based baking goods. Strom then discusses how anyone eating a gluten-free diet is at an advantage as they are more likely to eat less processed foods and are eating less “empty” or nutritionally weak calories. Overall this article supplies fundamental information on the functionality of the protein and shows why there is legitimacy for this gluten-free trend, despite the lack of knowledge in the general population.

Bénédicte Van Steertegem, Bram Pareyt, Kristof Brijs, Jan A. Delcour, The role of gluten proteins in production and quality of a yeast leavened sugar and fat rich wheat based food model system, Food Research International, Volume 62, August 2014, Pages 991-997.
Peter Koehler, Herbert Wieser and Katharina Konitzer, Chapter 2 - Gluten—The Precipitating Factor, InCeliac Disease and Gluten, edited by Peter KoehlerHerbert WieserKatharina Konitzer, Academic Press, Boston, 2014, Pages 97-148.
Michelle Pietzak, Chapter 11 - Immunologic Reactions to Wheat: Celiac Disease, Wheat Allergy and Gluten Sensitivity, In Wheat and Rice in Disease Prevention and Health, edited by Ronald Ross WatsonVictor R. PreedySherma Zibadi, Academic Press, San Diego, 2014, Pages 133-141.
Strom, Stehanie. "A Big Bet on Gluten Free." The New York Times (2014): n. pag. Web. 21 Sept. 2014.

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Fad or Fact | Gluten-Free

Gluten- Fad or Fact