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- Sometimes I see references to the amount of prolamin or gliadin instead of gluten, why?
Sometimes I see references to the amount of prolamin or gliadin instead of gluten, why?
- By Scott Adams
- Published 07/26/1996
- Frequently Asked Questions: Celiac Disease & Gluten-Free Diet
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Scott Adams
In 1994 I was diagnosed with celiac disease, which led me to create Celiac.com in 1995. I created this site for a single purpose: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed so they can begin to live happy, healthy gluten-free lives. Celiac.com was the first site on the Internet dedicated solely to celiac disease, and since then it has become an invaluable resource to people worldwide who seek information about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet.
In 1998 I created The Gluten-Free Mall, Your Special Diet Superstore! which was also another Internet first—it was the first gluten-free food site to offer a shopping cart-style interface, and the ability for people to order gluten-free products manufactured by many different companies at a single Web site.
I am also co-author of the book Cereal Killers, and founder and publisher of Journal of Gluten Sensitivity.
To cereal scientists, gluten is the same as prolamin, but in some older terminology only the gliadin fraction is termed prolamin. Gliadin makes up about half of the gluten. The other half is often called glutenin, but it is very similar to the gliadin half in composition and structure and I suspect that it is toxic to a large extent. It would be simplest to say that gluten equals gliadin equals prolamin as far as toxicity is concerned.
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