What is gluten?

In an effort to expose how little most people claiming to adhere to a gluten-free diet actually know about gluten, late night talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel, posted this interview of everyday people claiming to be gluten-free. Clearly, among those not familiar with Wheat Belly, there is an astounding lack of understanding. This is unfortunate, because it allows people like Jimmy Kimmel–yeah, all meant in fun–to discredit what is proving to be one of the most powerful movements in nutrition in health to come along in thousands of years. So let me pitch in and help out these poor ignorant pedestrians and answer the question: What is gluten? Gluten is a complex two-part protein found in wheat with virtually identical structures and amino acid sequences of the protein also found in rye and barley. Each gluten molecule comes in two parts: a larger, polymeric glutenin molecule that confers the stretchiness, or viscoelasticity, of wheat dough, and gliadin, a smaller protein. Both glutenin and gliadin share overlapping sequences also, but it’s the gliadin that is the source of most of the health issues associated with wheat, and thereby rye and barley. Note that the gliadin protein of wheat also resembles the zein protein of corn and, to a lesser degree, the avenin protein of oats, which therefore share some of the same effects, including activation of the immune system. (That’s right: While there is no gluten or gliadin in corn and oats, they have related pro...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: What is in wheat that's so bad? Gliadin gluten gluten-free Source Type: blogs