A new survey from market research firm, The NPD Group finds that
America is cutting gluten out of its diet in a big way. Just under
one-third of 1,000 respondents agreed with the statement: “I’m trying to
cut back/avoid Gluten in my diet.”
That’s the highest level since the company added gluten consumption
to the surveys it does about Americans’ eating habits in 2009. TIME labeled the gluten-free movement #2 on its top 10 list of food trends for 2012.
Gluten is a protein found in the grains wheat, barley, and rye. Most of
us unknowingly love it, because gluten gives our favorite foods that
special touch: It makes pizza dough stretchy, gives bread its spongy
texture, and is used to thicken sauces and soups. More about gluten is posted towards the end of the article, but first, I would like to begin with whys its bad. I found a great article that gives a readable summary of recent research findings having to do with belly fat. In women, an increase in belly fat leads to a higher risk of heart disease and other illness.
"If bread is the 'staple of life', why is it so bad for you?"
So...Why Gluten is Bad
Wheat is not the same today. It has been agriculturally hybrid,
genetically lab engineered over decades to resist fungus, grow more
quickly, and be more pliable for industrial bread baking. As a
consequence, 50-60 years ago wheat containing only five percent gluten has become 50 percent gluten today.
Agricultural
resources used the hybrid process for wheat to accommodate the baking
industry's mechanical requirements of pliable proteins, leading to the
10-fold increase of wheat's gluten.
The processed food industry's
concern for production efficiency and perception of consumer demands
has focused on the bottom line with the usual disregard to negative
health consequences.
Slightly different high speed methods of
baking evolved over time. By artificially bleaching flour and adding
"improvers" with often toxic additives and mixing the dough violently,
loaves of bread could be baked, cooled, and packaged within a few, short
hours. Cheap, unhealthy foods for many with massive profits for a few.
Some Research
The case against gluten seems to have been closed with recent research
from a Brazilian research team that published a report in the January
2013 Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. It seems to have put an exclamation point on the wheat belly controversy.
Lacking
scientific data confirming the mechanics of how gluten may or may not
affect obesity, the study was set up to examine the differences in
specific genetic and biochemical markers between rats fed gluten and
rats that were kept gluten free.
The "wheat belly" syndrome and how it leads to other health issues was
the purpose of their research. The research team chose biological
markers that could indicate the onset of obesity and metabolic syndrome,
precursors to diabetes and cardiac issues.
Both groups of rats
were fed high fat diets. But one group was gluten free and the other
group's diet was 4.5 percent gluten. Even without tracing their
predetermined markers, it was obvious the gluten free mice exhibited weight loss without any trace of lipid (fat) excretion.
An analysis of the study
Sayer Ji of GreenmedInfo.com
proposed this analysis: "... the weight gain associated with wheat
consumption has little to do with caloric content per se; rather, the
gluten proteins ... disrupt endocrine and exocrine processes within the
body, as well as directly modulating nuclear gene expression ... to
alter mamalian metabolism in the direction of weight gain."
This study, according to Sayer Ji, proves that the major factor of obesity is gluten,
not calories. Considering that both groups of mice were fed high fat
diets and the gluten free mice lost weight without excreting lipids also
implies that fat free diets for losing weight are bogus.
Sayer
Ji recommends that those who are overweight, pre-diabetic, experiencing
metabolic syndrome, or suffering from irritable bowel syndrome try
avoiding gluten grains, especially wheat, to determine from experience
if gluten is the underlying cause.
http://www.naturalnews.com/038699_gluten_weight_gain_wheat_belly.html
Proponents of a gluten-free diet report increased energy and endurance levels, clearer overall concentration and a lack of general digestion problems.
For further reading:
What is Gluten
Gluten (from Latin gluten, "glue") is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species, including barley and rye. Gluten gives elasticity to dough, helping it rise and keep its shape and often gives the final product a chewy texture. Gluten may also be found in some cosmetics, hair products, and other dermatological preparations.
The seeds of most flowering plants have endosperms with stored protein to nourish embryonic plants during germination. True gluten, with gliadin and glutenin, is limited to certain members of the grass family. The stored proteins of maize and rice are sometimes called glutens, but their proteins differ from true gluten.
- Gluten forms when glutenin molecules cross-link to form a sub-microscopic network attached to gliadin, which contributes viscosity (thickness) and extensibility to the mix.
- If this dough is leavened with yeast, fermentation produces carbon dioxide bubbles, which, trapped by the gluten network, cause the dough to rise.
- Baking coagulates
the gluten, which, along with starch, stabilizes the shape of the final
product.
- Gluten content has been implicated as a factor in the staling of bread, possibly because it binds water through hydration.
- More refining (of the gluten) leads to chewier products such as pizza and bagels, while less refining yields tender baked goods such as pastry products.
- Generally, bread flours are high in gluten (hard wheat); pastry flours have a lower gluten content. Kneading
promotes the formation of gluten strands and cross-links, creating
baked product that is chewier in proportion to the length of kneading.
An increased moisture content in the dough enhances gluten development, and very wet doughs left to rise for a long time require no kneading (see no-knead bread). Shortening
inhibits formation of cross-links and is used, along with diminished
water and less kneading, when a tender and flaky product, such as a pie
crust, is desired.
- The strength and elasticity of gluten in flour is measured in the baking industry using a farinograph. This gives the baker a measurement of quality for different varieties of flours in developing recipes for various baked goods.
Added gluten
Gluten, when dried and milled to a powder and added to ordinary flour
dough, improves a dough's ability to rise and increases the bread's
structural stability and chewiness. Gluten-added dough must be worked vigorously to induce it to rise to its full capacity; an automatic bread machine or food processor may be required for kneading. The added gluten provides supplemental protein to products with low or nonexistent protein levels.
Added to other foods
- Gluten, especially wheat gluten, is often the basis for imitation meats resembling chicken, duck (mock duck), fish, pork and beef. When cooked in broth, gluten absorbs some of the surrounding liquid (including the taste) and becomes firm to the bite.
Gluten is often present in beer and soy sauce, and can be used as a stabilizing agent in more unexpected food products, such as ice cream and ketchup.
