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Gluten is a protein that helps foods maintain their shape that is found in wheat (wheat berries, durum, emmer, semolina, spelt, farina, farro, graham, kamut khorasan wheat, and einkorn), rye, barley, triticale (a cross between wheat and rye), in some oats, and in many prepared foods.
What Foods Contain Gluten?
Gluten is commonly found in foods such as:
- Breads
- Baked goods
- Soups
- Pasta
- Cereals
- Sauces
- Salad dressings
- Roux
- Malt (malted barley flour, malted milk and milkshakes, malt extract, malt syrup, malt flavoring, malt vinegar)
- Food coloring
- Beer
- Brewer’s Yeast
Who Should Avoid Eating Gluten?
Some people should not eat gluten, such as people who have:
- Celiac disease
- A condition that affects the body's ability to break down certain foods
- Consumption of gluten can make people with celiac disease very sick
- Non-celiac gluten sensitivity, also referred to as gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE) or gluten intolerance
- Similar symptoms to celiac disease, but without the accompanying elevated levels of antibodies and intestinal damage
- GSE is diagnosed based on symptoms and a negative test for celiac disease
- Wheat allergy
- An allergy to protein found in wheat
- Most often seen in children
- Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH)
- A skin rash that results from eating gluten
- People with celiac disease may also have dermatitis herpetiformis, but people with dermatitis herpetiformis don’t always have celiac
Should I Stop Eating Gluten?
Unless you have a specific medical condition such as those listed above there is no reason a healthy diet cannot include products that contain gluten. Many foods that contain gluten are often quite healthy, such as whole grains.
- Numerous studies have linked consumption of whole grains with lower rates of heart disease and stroke, development of type 2 diabetes, and deaths from all causes.
- Gluten may also act like a prebiotic and stimulate the activity of bifidobacteria in the colon, a type of “good” bacteria found in a healthy gut. Decreased activity or amounts of bifidobacteria are associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colorectal cancer, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
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Reviewed on 1/20/2022
References
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/gluten-free-diet-the-basics?search=gluten&source=search_result&selectedTitle=1~150&usage_type=default&display_rank=1
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/gluten/
https://celiac.org/gluten-free-living/what-is-gluten/
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/gluten/
https://celiac.org/gluten-free-living/what-is-gluten/