Hi everyone! It’s me again, Lily! I hope you all are well, but in honor of Gluten-Free diet awareness month, I’m going to talk about the question “What is Gluten?” and why do so many foods have gluten.
Gluten is the common name for the proteins that are found in wheat (this includes durum, wheat berries, semolina, emmer, spelt, farro, farina, and etc.), barley, rye, and a cross between rye and wheat – Triticale, and many more. Gluten aids food in maintaining their shape and acting as a paste that holds food together. People tend to use gluten because of it acting as a paste, giving the things that have gluten a very flexible quality.
While many people tend to eat things with gluten in them, that doesn’t mean gluten doesn’t come with health effects. Some people react differently to gluten because their body sees it as a toxin, making the person’s immune system overreact and attack it.
As we usually give out lots of tips and tricks for cooking, here are some substitutes you can use instead of gluten! If you want to bake and you need gluten, but can’t have gluten, use xanthan gum, guar gum and ground seeds like flax and chia. if you need to use flour, use coconut flour! There are also many tips and tricks out there that you can use in case you or someone you care about cannot have gluten.
Always be sure to ask if a person has any allergies, as gluten allergies can range from mild to severe. Thank you for reading and take care! 🙂
Resources:
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/gluten/
https://celiac.org/gluten-free-living/what-is-gluten/
https://artofglutenfreebaking.com/lets-talk-gluten-replacers-in-gluten-free-baking/
https://www.healthcentral.com/slideshow/20-substitutes-gluten-free-baking