Gluten Caused It All

As far as I am concerned, gluten is the devil. I believe gluten made my Grandmother Mimi lose her mind. I believe it nearly ruined my body. What it is doing to you and your family? Nothing good.

Gluten is the main storage protein found in wheat. Gluten is that which remains after the starch granules are washed from wheat flour. Barley and rye also cause problems as they have a similar protein. Some of us have a gene that is passed down through the generations that make us intolerant to gluten. Others just get too much of it and their systems are overloaded. It does horrible things to a body and worse things to a mind.

Some of us have "gluten intolerance" or "gluten sensitivity" which basically means we have a lot of trouble with gluten and it is the root cause of many health issues. The disease associated with gluten intolerance is called Celiac's Disease. It is an abnormal reaction in the gut to a normal food substance. The health problems may start in the gut thanks to poor nutrient absorption issues, but that trouble is soon enough spread throughout the body.

Celiac's Disease and gluten sensitivity were always thought to be rare, but that has not been true for generations. It has been estimated that 140 million Americans have an issue with gluten.

If you are from a northern European lineage, that's bad news for you as it relates to gluten. The outer edges of Europe added gluten to their diets the most recently and thus we have a harder time digesting it. In addition, gluten is put into so many food products that you basically have to become a food sleuth to avoid eating any of it.

True Celiacs can become gravely ill with as little as 1/4 a teaspoon of gluten.