Health Benefits Of A Gluten-Free Diet

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Through the years, people have been blind to the fact that gluten causes many problems in the human body. Gluten not only triggers bowel and digestive problems such as malabsorption and gut pains, but also causes diseases like cerebellar ataxia and celiac disease. Going on a gluten-free diet can help people improve their daily diet and their health. Therefore, going gluten-free helps eliminates many gut discomforts, changes diets to be more nutrient-filled and wholesome, and is crucial to those with celiac disease because going gluten-free is the only cure of celiac disease. Gluten is the general name for the proteins that are found in grains such as wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is made up of two proteins– gliadin, a prolamin protein, …show more content…
Even though gliadin is the more harmful protein of the two, a sensitivity to gluten may be caused by a reaction to either one of these proteins. Gluten has a sticky texture that holds bread together. Gluten makes dough elastic, gives dough the ability to rise when baked, and also provides a light, yet chewy texture. Because of these desirable traits, the food industry has hybridized the wheat plant to contain up to fifty-percent more gluten than it did fifty years ago. Gluten is not only found in wheat, rye, and barley, but also in many other grains. Some of the most common are couscous, farro, graham, and kamut. Multi-grains, emmer, spelt, and triticale– a cross between wheat and rye, also contain gluten. Gluten is used to thicken sauces and gravies, and is found in many processed foods such as bread products, flour tortillas, breakfast cereals, pastries, and many snack foods. Not only is gluten found in many processed foods, but it is also in personal care products such as makeup, shampoos, and “volumizing” conditioners. Gluten might also be hidden in baby powder, bath salts, body lotion, mouthwash, toothpaste, sunscreen, and even in vitamin and mineral supplements. It is shown in recent studies that …show more content…
Occurring in genetically predisposed individuals, celiac disease is a multisystem disorder that causes the body’s immune system to react to and create antibodies to the proteins in certain grains. The antibodies then attack the intestinal lining or mucosa, causing inflammation and destroying the villi –microscopic protuberances along the inner wall of the small intestine. This attack therefore prevents the absorption of nutrients from food into the bloodstream. Celiac disease has existed for a long time; in fact, evidence has been found that proved that people have suffered from celiac disease as early as the first century AD. Through the years, celiac disease had been investigated, but not much progress had been made. Finally, in 1953, one of the biggest breakthroughs of celiac disease research was made when Dr. Dicke concluded that the ingestion of wheat proteins was the cause of celiac disease based on data from World War 2. During World War 2 there was a great shortage of bread in Europe. When the children with celiac disease could not eat bread, because of the shortage of it, they dramatically improved. But when Allied planes began to once again drop bread, the health of these children quickly deteriorated. Celiac disease is not rare; in fact, there are approximately 3 million U. S. residents with celiac disease. The most popular theory of why people get celiac disease is that it is either genetic, or a
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