About Gluten Intolerance
About Gluten
- Gluten is protein found combined with starch in the endosperm of some cereals notably wheat, rye and barley
- Gluten constitutes about 80% of the proteins contained in wheat
- Gluten is responsible for the elasticity of kneaded dough, which allows it to be leavened, as well for the chewiness of baked products like bagels
- In the process of baking with yeast, gluten is responsible for keeping the fermentation gases in the dough, allowing it to rise
- Gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley and their end products
- No gluten is contained in rice (even glutinous rice), wild rice, maize (corn), millets, buckwheat, uinoa, amaranth, oats or teff
- However almost 3 million Americans are gluten intolerant.
About Gluten Intolerance
- Intolerance of gluten has been diagnosed as a disease - Celiac Disease (CD). CD is considered to be the most under-diagnosed common disease today, potentially affecting 1 in every 133 people in the USA
- In CD, an immune-mediated reaction to the gluten protein leads to damage to the lining of the small bowel. Nutrients are then quickly passed through the small intestine, rather than being absorbed
- The disease is permanent. Damage to the small intestine occurs every time gluten is consumed, even if symptoms are absent
- Autoimmune disorders that people with CD are at greater risk to develop include Dermatitis herpetiformis (a severe skin disease), Addison' s disease, autoimmune chronic active hepatitis, Graves' disease, Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (Type1), myasthenia gravis and thyroid disease. Other conditions include anemia, early bone disease, Downs Syndrome and fertility problems
- A gluten-free diet for life is the only treatment currently available
Gluten-Free: Whole Grain Millet
- This ancient minute sized grain is widely cultivated in Ethiopia
- It has an attractive nutrition profile, being high in dietary fiber, iron and providing some protein and calcium. It is similar to millet in cooking but the seed is much smaller
- Teff has an excellent amino acid composition (including all 8 essential amino acids for humans) and has lysine levels higher than wheat
- Because of this variety, it stimulates the flora of the large intestine
- The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops
- The protein content in millet is very close to that of wheat
Millet is rich in B vitamins, especially niacin, B6 and folacin, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc.
