Gluten

Gluten – Essential for Bread, possible Allergen

A friend mentioned to me that her granddaughter had recently been diagnosed with celiac disease, and that she was allergic to gluten. My friend asked me about gluten, and how she could spot it in foods and what to avoid. I have no wish to step into the territory of my medical colleagues, but there is quite a bit of science and chemistry associated with gluten which we can explore.

First, let’s look at the basic grains that have formed the staple food of most of humankind for thousands of years. These are wheat, rye, oats, barley, sorghum, maize (corn) and rice. Quinoa is a new (to North Americans) grain that is gluten-free. Only the first two of these yield a flour that gives bread the taste and texture we have come to want and expect. All of these seed grains consist of three parts: the embryo, which is the seed of the new plant, the endosperm, which is the store of nutrient for the developing plant, and the protective coating of the seed which ends up as the bran. In most seed grains the endosperm makes up about 80% of the bulk of the seed. This is what we make into flour, and flour consists of protein and starch. About 85% of the proteins in wheat, barley, and rye flour are responsible for dough formation, and are collectively known as gluten.

Flours from different types of wheat have different protein levels and dough-making characteristics. North American spring wheat, Canadian style, is described as “hard” by the millers as the endosperm is brittle and grinds easily. This makes an excellent bread flour. “Soft” wheat, usually made from winter wheat and more common in Europe, makes a better cake and pastry flour, where a more crumbly texture is desired. All-purpose flour isn’t, as any good baker can tell you. Interestingly, the bread-making properties of flour are improved by storage, and year-old flour will make better bread. However, most flour we buy today has been chemically aged.

So to gluten… as we noted above, glutens (there are two types) are found in the protein component of wheat, barley and rye. Because many of our foods contain flour made from these grains, people with a gluten allergy have to be very careful about their diet.

Some of the main sources of gluten in our diet are bread, pasta and cereals, biscuits, cakes pastries, some sauces and soups (which use flour as a thickening agent), vegetable oil which may be made from or contain wheat germ oil, many snack and fast foods, and beer and whisky (Rye and Scotch). American whisky is made from corn and should be acceptable. Not helpful for an eight year old, I realise.
Foods which do not contain gluten are fruit, vegetables, salads, potatoes, rice and maize (corn), nuts, red meat, chicken, fish, eggs and dairy products, and wine and cider. Potato flour or rice flour can be substituted for wheat flour, but you may not get quite the texture you have come to expect from wheat flour. Using cornstarch instead of flour to thicken sauces and gravy is an example of an easy change.
Two local nutritionists have written several recipe books with many delicious-looking recipes for gluten-free cooking. For more information, check out their website at www.bestbreadrecipes.com.

Recent research at Agriculture Canada has proven that oats are safe for celiacs. The problem is contamination from milling equipment, so look for oats milled in a gluten-free process, which are available in some health food stores.

Now we get to the effect part… the inside of the small intestine, the section right after the stomach, is lined with millions of tiny fingers called villi. These villi absorb the nutrients in the food you eat, the iron, the vitamins and minerals, the proteins etc. If you have celiac disease, your body, on exposure to gluten, produces antibodies that damage and ultimately destroy these villi. As you can imagine, this process inhibits your body’s ability to absorb nutrients. Because the symptoms are rather non-specific, you can function for quite a while, often years, without realising what is wrong. You may simply feel tired, have bowel problems, be anaemic, and have a bloated stomach. A simple test might be to remove gluten from your diet and if your condition improves over a few weeks or more, you may have an allergy. On the good side, the damage to your intestines often is reversible when gluten is removed from the diet. Without going into a long medical description, suffice it to say that if there is a gluten allergy in your family your likelihood of having the allergy is increased considerably, and if you think you may be allergic you should consult your doctor for guidance in your specific case.

It is estimated that about 1 in 300 North American and Europeans suffer from celiac disease at some level.

More and more packaging information indicates the presence of gluten, although declaring gluten on the label is not mandatory. The Beer Store now carries a gluten-free beer, and some beers are made from rice. Restaurant meals can be a bit of a problem, and it is advised to develop a relationship with your chef so that you can specify a non-gluten containing alternative. Most will try to accommodate you. Being careful and avoiding certain foods can allow someone with celiac disease to lead a normal healthy life.