What Is Gluten, and Is Gluten-Free Healthy?
FOOD & HOME
What Is Gluten, and Is Gluten-Free Healthy?
By: Tanya Flink
In the past decade, gluten has increasingly become villainized. Individuals suffering from constant digestive distress have finally pinpointed their problems, citing gluten as the culprit. While celiac diagnoses have steadily risen year over year, only one percent of the American population suffers from this debilitating autoimmune response to gluten. Why, then, are so many people choosing gluten-free foods? And why are we dedicated to gluten-free, wholesome ingredients?
Gluten is not inherently a bad food. We realize entire civilizations have survived on high-gluten diets. However, gluten affects people in different ways, and there are a plethora of levels of tolerance, from life-threatening allergic reactions to mild digestive discomfort. We want to ensure that our products make you feel good—regardless of your tolerance to gluten—which is why we omit gluten from our ingredients.
Curious about gluten and how it may affect you? Here’s what you need to know.
What is gluten?
Gluten is a natural plant-based protein found in many grains including wheat, barley, spelt, semolina, and rye. It is used as a binder and adds a stretchy, sometimes chewy texture to foods. For example, it’s the gluten in flour that holds baked goods together and makes pizza dough stretch. It’s also the reason recipes caution against overworking pie crusts or biscuit dough, as developing the gluten too much can make it too tough and chewy.
How to tell if a product contains gluten
Any food that contains wheat-based flour contains gluten. These include your usual suspects such as bread, baked goods, pizza, pasta, cereal, and flour tortillas; however, gluten inclusion is not as obvious in several categories of food.
For example, the early age of plant-based meats relied heavily on gluten to create a meaty chew. Seitan, or vital wheat gluten, was a key ingredient, and many companies still use it today.
Other foods that often contain gluten include beer, chips and crackers, candy bars, granola bars, processed animal meats, dressings, seasoning blends, and potato products such as french fries, tater tots, and homefries (the seasoning is the issue).
To easily spot gluten in a product, first look for a “gluten-free” callout on the packaging. Not all products will have this callout—such as naturally gluten-free items like coconut yogurt or non-dairy milk—so you may need to look to the ingredient label. All companies are required to include an allergen statement at the bottom of the ingredient list if a product contains any one of the top nine allergens. Since gluten falls into this category, it should be listed in this statement. This can be as simple as “Contains: gluten.” If you have any doubts, we encourage you to reach out to the brand and ask them!
Is gluten bad for you?
The answer depends on the individual. At face value, gluten is a naturally occurring protein. Foods that contain significant amounts of wheat flour (and therefore gluten) like whole wheat bagels can provide moderate amounts of protein. For example, a whole wheat bagel contains 12 grams of protein and a single two-ounce serving of seitan contains 18 grams of protein. Gluten in itself is not an ultra processed food and can be part of a healthy diet.
Some individuals, however, cannot tolerate gluten. Wheat is one of the nine most common allergens, and about one percent of the US population suffers from celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that specifically affects the gut. Some of the most common symptoms of celiac disease include severe gastrointestinal distress such as bloating, constipation, and diarrhea; abdominal pain; and fatigue.
Celiac disease is different from an allergy—those diagnosed are not in danger of going into anaphylactic shock if they consume gluten. A true gluten or wheat allergy is categorized by an immune response against gluten in the body or air; symptoms can include gastrointestinal issues, but they can also include hives, nausea, wheezing, or anaphylaxis.
Those with gluten allergies and celiac only make up about two percent of the population, combined, but others may be gluten intolerant or sensitive to too much gluten. There is no official diagnosis for gluten intolerance, but you can work with a doctor and keep food logs to assess your gluten sensitivity. If you experience fatigue or digestive distress after eating foods with gluten (note, these symptoms can occur hours after consuming, even the next day) but are not allergic to gluten and test negative for celiac, you may have a gluten intolerance. According to the Cleveland Clinic, about six percent of the US population is gluten intolerant.
Are you sensitive to gluten?
A doctor or registered dietitian can help pinpoint a gluten allergy or celiac disease, but outside of these diagnoses, there is a range of gluten sensitivity and tolerance levels. To test your sensitivity to gluten, begin to observe how you feel after consuming gluten or a product containing gluten. Do you feel tired, sluggish, or bloated after eating? Does the bloat linger through the next day? Do you feel inflamed or puffy? These are signs your body is not digesting gluten well.
Eliminating gluten for three weeks can give you a clearer idea of how gluten affects you. By removing it completely from your diet and keeping everything else constant, you can observe how this change makes you feel. If you feel more energized, less bloated, or less puffy during this time period, there’s a good chance that you’re sensitive to gluten and may want to consider a gluten-free lifestyle. If you don’t feel a significant change by completely eliminating gluten, then you’re likely not sensitive to this food.
Is gluten-free healthy?
We chose to omit gluten from our products to empower anyone, regardless of dietary restriction, to enjoy our plant-based meats. However, we knew we had to do it the right way. Many gluten-free products contain fillers and other ultra-processed ingredients to replicate the structure of gluten. For example, some gluten-free plant-based meats may use soy protein concentrates and isolates, methylcellulose, hydrolyzed rice protein, and modified food starch, among other lab-made ingredients to replace gluten. These ingredients may not trigger someone with celiac disease, but they certainly won’t make you feel your best.
We believe in real food—food that not only tastes good, but makes you feel good. By using non-GMO pea protein, vegetables, spices, vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil, we don’t need gluten to craft that hearty, meaty bite.
For those without an allergy, celiac disease, or observed gluten intolerance, gluten can be a part of a healthy diet. As with most things, moderation and being in tune with how food makes you feel paves a clear path toward feeling your best.
For more ingredient guides, check out the other posts in Our Journal.