Gluten Is Almost Everywhere....but Why?

[naserian]

Since i wend gluten-free and i start pay more attention in what i eat i notice that gluten can be found in things that you could never expect it...but why??? I mean why it seems to be so needed as a pruduct and as an ingridient???People consume it in huge portions everyday and its not healthy at all for anyone..isn't it?Or its good but only for people who are not celiac or gluten intolerant/sensitive?

[eatmeat4good]

It's cheap.

Farmer's are subsidized for it so it is solidly funded.

It works great as a filler and a thickener.

Old habits die hard.

We have nostalgic feelings for it because our mother's baked bread.

Baking is fun and represents love for family.

Agricultural researchers try to increase the gluten content of the wheat grain and they have been very successful.

It is addicting -- Gluten is the Opiate of the Masses.

It has been believed to be healthy food for thousands of years.

Under this burden, the nutritional content becomes irrelevant.

[Juliebove]

Gluten isn't necessarily bad for people who do not have celiac or a gluten allergy. I have neither. I don't consume a lot of it because my daughter can't have it. So I bring very little of it into the house. Mainly prepared foods. And I might order a sandwich in a restaurant. It doesn't adversely affect me.

But you are right. It is everywhere!

[Skylark]

Nutritionists say that whole wheat is healthy for people who can tolerate it. There are plenty of studies demonstrating the positive long-term health effects of eating whole grains. Thing is, modern wheat has been bred to contain a lot more gluten and I've always wondered whether that has been part of the cause of the explosion of celiac disease.

White flour is just a filler. It's so poor in nutrition it has to be enriched or people who eat a lot of it can get rickets or beriberi, and the high glycemic index contributes to development of type II diabetes. It's cheap, keeps well (since it's essentially non-nutritious), and makes a nice texture when added to food so it gets used a lot.

[cahill]

It is addicting -- Gluten is the Opiate of the Masses.

I know for me this was true. I know that 2 of my children refuse to go gluten free even when faced with medical evidence they would be healthier with out it.The only reason is because of their addiction to gluten .

Some normal logical people become almost insane with facing going gluten free. Sounds like addition to me.

We become addicted to gluten there for we become addicted to food. And food becomes our drug of choice instead of just sustenance for our body.

[domesticactivist]

In addition to being cheap filler due to subsidies, it has properties that give foods certain desired textures.

Grains are great for storage, too. Historically, once grains came about they made people in general less healthy, but they also allowed them to survive (as a population) in times of famine. We then went and made those the basis of our diet long term, which was a bad collective decision, IMO.

I just found this post last night and thought it was a good read on the subject:

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