Is Wheat Gluten Safe In My Diet?

Wheat gluten is used in a varied fashion in many of the foods we eat each and every day although few people are aware of it. It is regularly used as a meat substitute and filler food in processed meats, meals and other foods. It has a visco-elastic texture that is highly desirable and is used to enhance the thickness and texture of many products - even ketchup and ice cream. But is it safe?

First, let's talk a little bit about what wheat gluten is. Wheat gluten is a derivative product that is created by separating the starch from wheat flour and yielding just a mass of sticky gluten paste. Gluten is what makes chewing gum "chewy". It is what helps bread rise and be fluffy. It is also a binding agent that holds thin slice of bread together. It is used in many forms in the US diet which is, for better or worse, largely trending towards more and more use of processed foods. Food is produced by companies and their prime objective is to make money for the stock holders - processed foods are here to stay.

Is wheat gluten safe? To the vast majority (99% or 99.5%) of the US population the answer is yes. There is some small percentage of people that may have some minor intolerances to it, but that percentage is not known. There is, however, a small percentage of people (as noted above) that have a severe reaction to wheat gluten and cannot consume it at all. This disease is called celiac disease (also spelled coeliac) and is a very rare but dangerous auto immune disease that affects the lining of the digestive tract. An auto immune disease is one that attacks itself. Essentially in celiac disease, the lining of the stomach has a problem processing gluten and ends up being damaged which leads to a number of physical side effects - from diarrhea, to constipation, to even more serious impacts such as intestinal cancer.

Gluten has been used in the food industry for many years and to the vast majority of the population it has no adverse impacts at all. Like everything, however, different people react differently and have different tolerance levels. In the end, you have to be the judge of your own body's reactions to different foods. Some people are lactose intolerant as well (a much higher percentage than those that have gluten intolerance). There are many different allergens and toxins that we all react differently to. If you have a question about your own tolerance or intolerance of wheat gluten, the best approach would be to undergo a gluten-free lifestyle and diet for a period of time and observe the impact it has on your health.