Gluten, gluten, gluten. When will we stop hearing about gluten?!
We hear about gluten allergies, we hear about gluten-free diets, we hear from people who don’t know what gluten is, and then we make fun of them all. But should we? First, let’s find out why gluten is bad for you (okay, so it’s probably not bad for you, but there’s more to the story than that).
1) Why gluten is bad for you: Because you have celiac disease, dummy!
Researchers now know that celiac disease is much more common than once thought, and doctors can more easily diagnose someone. These folks can’t eat gluten, which is unfortunately found in one of the most common ingredients known to mankind–wheat.
A lot of people who have irritable bowel syndrome may have celiac disease and not even know it. That’s why gluten is bad for you–many people with celiac disease have been sick for a long, long time and have become accustomed to living that way.
2) Why gluten is bad for you: because gluten products have more than one ingredient!
If you don’t have celiac disease, then gluten won’t cause any problems–maybe. Most people can metabolize the ingredient just fine. But still, many people without celiac disease swear on everything they know and love to feeling much, much better after eliminating gluten from their diet. Why on earth is that?
The answer is simple and logical, and we should all be able to put two and two together in order to arrive at the blatantly obvious answer. But if you’re not looking at the numbers, then even the simplest equation is difficult to solve.
Gluten is found in flour. Consequently, those poor gluten-free souls are forced to eliminate all foods containing flour from their diet. Have you ever baked bread, cookies, brownies, or muffins? Then you should immediately know which other ingredient is associated with flour. Keep thinking. Have you ever eaten a bowl of cereal? What about all the other processed foods lining the shelves of any grocery store? If it contains wheat, then which other ingredient must it contain?
The answer: Sugar!
Two plus two. Now that you know the numbers in the equation, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that avoiding gluten will inevitably make you feel better–because you’re inadvertently and substantially reducing the sugar you consume, too. The sugar and other processed garbage in your diet are making you feel like crap–not the gluten. But avoiding sugar will also leave your body bereft of most gluten-containing foods. See how that works?
3) Why gluten is bad for you: Because you don’t even know what gluten is, and that’s just embarrassing!
It’s disappointing that we live in a world where people are belittled for not knowing technical details of an ailment. There are numerous articles on the internet pointing out how often gluten-free individuals don’t even know what it is.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat. Many people are allergic to that protein. Those people have celiac disease.
But what difference does reciting information make? How many people can provide a technical explanation of cancer, heart disease, or stroke? Instead of asking people what gluten is, why not ask them what the function of their kidneys is? What does the pancreas do? What does the spleen do? And why do you have such enormous gynecomastia? Feel free to look the last item up on your own–you won’t be disappointed. In any case, how many of us can provide specific details about our own organs?
Not the majority.
The point is this: Don’t tease people for being short of details about why gluten is bad for you. Those details won’t make you feel any better if gluten (or sugar!) makes you sick. But even so, being asked about gluten might lead to stress. Add it to the list of reasons why gluten is bad for you!
What are your thoughts? Are you being driven nuts by people blathering on about gluten? Is this article driving you nuts? Are we all just nuts? Shoot us a comment below! Gluten, gluten, gluten!