🍞🌾 A quick guide on gluten...

🤔 What is Gluten!?

Gluten is a general name for proteins found in wheat, rye, and barley. It acts like a binder, holding food together and adding a “stretchy” quality—think of a pizza maker tossing and stretching out a ball of dough.

What’s not great about gluten is that it can cause serious side effects in certain individuals. Some people react differently to gluten, where the body senses it as a toxin, causing one’s immune cells to overreact and attack it.

🧐 What about Oats?

Oats are naturally gluten-free and can add diversity and offer nutritional benefits to a gluten-free diet. Celiac Disease Foundation’s medical experts recommend only oats labeled gluten-free as cross-contact may occur when oats are grown side-by-side with wheat, barley or rye.

Common Gluten-Free Myths Debunked ⬇️

“A gluten-free diet is healthier.”

This is not true EXCEPT for people who have celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, or other gluten-related disorders.
For the general population, the presence or absence of gluten alone is not related to diet quality. What’s important are the overall food choices made within a diet, whether it is gluten-free or not.

“A gluten-free diet is good for weight loss.”

Whether or not a diet promotes weight loss is not related to the presence or absence of gluten.

“Surely a few crumbs of bread can’t hurt.”

Even tiny amounts of gluten can damage the intestinal cells of a person with celiac disease, even if there are no obvious immediate symptoms.
Tiny amounts of gluten can be problematic for people with gluten sensitivity, too.