Gluten

Gluten is the sticky, elastic protein found in abundance in wheat and in smaller amounts in some other grains. 

Wheat is used throughout the food industry, consequently it is quite hard to avoid without conscious effort. 

You will find it in:

• Bread
• Rolls
• Wraps
• Biscuits
• Pasta
• Cake
• Pastries
• Pasties
• Breakfast cereals
• Sausages (filler)
• Coatings (e.g. scotch eggs, chicken Kiev)
• Many sauces as a thickener.
• Batter
• Pies
• Pizzas
• Gluten is the binding agent that holds these products together, like a glue.

Modern wheat strains have been selectively cultivated to be high in gluten because it makes producing bread, pastries and cakes much easier and the results are fluffier and lighter; pastry is flaky and crispy. 

Wheat is also used as a bulking agent, thickener or filler in things like sausages, soups and sauces.

Gluten can also be found lurking in unexpected places like beer, Marmite and soy sauce. Furthermore, because wheat is often processed in shared facilities, it can contaminate foods with gluten that wouldn’t normally contain it, such as rolled oats and other grains.

Gut and Inflammation

Gluten is actually two proteins together, gliadin and glutenin, but for simplicity we’ll just refer to them as gluten.

No one can properly digest gluten. It is the only protein that we can’t fully digest. It ends up leaking into the bloodstream (by fooling the digestive system) and is then identified as an unwanted bacterium. This creates an immune system response to get rid of the invader. 

All immune system activity creates inflammation. It’s the body’s way to isolate the problem and protect other cells. It’s also a signal to the white blood cells to come to deal with the invader. However, it’s usually a temporary condition while the threat is dealt with. 

Gluten can remain in the body for many days so this temporary condition becomes more persistent. 

This happens in everyone and is not limited to people who have been identified as especially gluten sensitive. 

The first area to receive this gluten invader and hence the most inflammation activity is the outer side of the intestine lining; the side that’s only supposed to get digested foods that can be readily absorbed by the body. 

If the intestinal lining is already in poor condition from other factors (as it often is with modern diets), inflammation here can be very troublesome because the overall effect will reduce the lining’s effectiveness. It becomes enlarged, inflamed and sore. Now, as well as just letting undigested gluten through, it’s letting all sorts of undigested food through. This is known as leaky gut. Depending on the severity, it creates a variety of conditions, such as constipation, diarrhoea, reflux, IBS, crohn’s disease, colitis, diverticulitis and many more.

Sadly, the inflammation doesn’t stop there. Once gluten is in the blood, the consequential inflammation can be found all around the body and can cause severe arthritis, excimer, alzheimer’s, brain fog and a startling list of other conditions.

Depending on your overall health and the condition of your digestive system, you may tolerate this to some degree. In fact  for most people this is their ‘normal’. They’ve been eating wheat their whole life and this inflammation and sluggishness is how they are used to their body being.

However, constant and prolonged exposure to large amounts of gluten will eventually create problems. 

Modern life makes it easy to over-indulge in wheat. Your day could be

• Sausage and toast for breakfast.
• Mid-morning bun, donut or biscuits.
• Pizza, pastie or baguette for lunch
• Afternoon biscuits with coffee
• Chicken pie and mash for dinner with cookie dough ice cream. 

This is obviously an extreme case but most people will have something similar for some meals most days. 

Going Gluten-Free

Eliminating wheat from your diet will have a noticeable effect very quickly. Within a few days, bloating will be reduced, you will lose weight (mostly water) and your face will feel tighter and firmer as it holds less water.

Within two months, you will notice that your joints, especially knees and hips, are loser and move more freely; you don’t creak when you stand up. Moving just feels easier. You feel more alert and are thinking more clearly. 

With reduced inflammation all over your body, it can now focus on repairing and maintaining. Everything starts to work better. 

You will look and feel younger.