Is Gluten Harmful to Your Body?
Is gluten actually harmful to human beings, or is it just a well-pervaded myth? First, let’s clear up what gluten is. Gluten is naturally found in grains like wheat, barley, rye, and spelt. It helps to bind food together and allows molecules to stretch without breaking, such as pizza dough. Gluten is also found in several other grains and some unexpected places, like soy, MSG, vitamins, medicines, and ever modified food starch. Even oats, although naturally gluten-free, are usually cross contaminated with gluten.
Gluten is usually associated with wheat and because of recent negative attention, many question if wheat and gluten should be part of a healthy diet. Surprisingly, there is little published research supporting this idea. For example, a 2017 study of 100,000 participants, without celiac disease, found no connection between consistent dietary gluten consumption and risk of heart disease. Some studies even suggest that avoiding gluten many increase the risk of heart disease, because of reduced consumption of whole grains. Similarly, other studies found lower rates of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and deaths, in those with the highest intakes of grains (2-3 servings/day), versus those with lower intakes (less than 2 servings). Finally, certain carbohydrates in gluten may also act as prebiotics, stimulating “good” gut bacteria activity, such as bifidobacteria, a key bacteria found in a healthy gut. Thus, most people can and have eaten gluten all their lives, without any health side effects.
Unfortunately, sometimes gluten can be a serious problem. For example, the bodies of certain people identify gluten as a toxin, causing the immune system to attack it, causing mild to severe inflammation. The effects of this range from fatigue and bloating to malnutrition and intestinal damage. This is known as the autoimmune disorder, celiac disease, and about 1 out of every 133 Americans has it, and about 83% continue to be undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Those with this disease struggle with absorbing necessary vitamins and minerals and have higher risks of osteoporosis, anemia, infertility, nerve disease, and even cancer. Fortunately, removing gluten from their diet can reverse these conditions, and usually is the only medical treatment prescribed. However, doing that without the help of a nutritionist, can be very difficult, since so many foods contains trace amounts of gluten. Also, all vitamins and nutrients, provided by gluten, have to be sourced from non-gluten containing foods. Bammy is one food item that is prebiotic and provides many essentials minerals too. Other reasons to get rid of gluten from the diet can be a gluten intolerance, a wheat allergy, or dermatitis herpetiformis (DH). Gluten intolerance is similar to celiac disease, but without elevated antibodies or intestinal damage, while a wheat allergy is caused by an allergy to other proteins found in wheat. Similarly, DH is a rash that forms after eating gluten, however, it can accompany celiac disease or a wheat allergy as well. For these people, the only choice is to start a gluten-free diet. FACT: Bammy, made from the cassava root is hypoallergenic.
A gluten free diet takes out all foods that contain or come in contact with gluten. But, as we mentioned above, the removal of gluten-containing grains takes away fiber and vitamins that need to be replaced. This is resolved by eating whole foods, such as bammy, fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, fish, eggs, poultry, and supplementing the diet with gluten-free whole grains. These grains can include quinoa, brown rice, black rice, red rice, buckwheat, amaranth, millet, corn, sorghum, teff, and oats. A key concern is to avoid the temptation to eat more processed gluten-free foods, which will be low in nutrients, and made from processed rice, tapioca, corn, or potatoes.
Between 2013 and 2015, the gluten-free food market has exploded, growing by 136%, and reporting sales of $12 billion in 2015. Strangely, studies found that many gluten-free product customers do not have celiac disease, and purchase for either “no reason”, a “healthier option”, or for “digestive health”. Unfortunately, there is no data supporting the health benefits of a gluten-free diet, especially if processed products are the main items consumed. In the same way, research on patients with celiac disease, following a gluten-free diet, found increased risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome. It can be concluded that a gluten-free diet, made mostly of processed gluten-free products, only brings low nutritional quality, potentially refined sugars and saturated fats, and a higher glycemic index. In short, eating a gluten-free diet is not a game, it’s a strategy. Eating gluten-free is about making sacrifices and putting in the effort to cook and eat WHOLE foods, like Jah Manna Bammy. That’s the only way that it will work and bring about a healthier, happier individual.
