No where better to start than what exactly is gluten. Gluten is a complex mixture of hundreds of related but distinct proteins, mainly gliadin and glutenin. Gliadin is to be blamed for most of the adverse health effects. Gluten is found in wheat (wheatberries, durum, emmer, semolina, spelt, farina, farro, graham, KAMUT® khorasan wheat and einkorn), rye, barley and triticale – a cross between wheat and rye. It is used to help foods maintain their shape by acting like glue holding everything together. The big three is Wheat, Rye and Barley, these will be the most common ingredients found.

What Food Contains Gluten

n Baked goods n Breads n Beer n Brewer’s Yeast n Cereals n Food Coloring n Frozen Vegetables n Malt (malted barley flour, malted milk and milkshakes, malt extract, malt syrup, malt flavoring, malt vinegar) n Medications n Oats n Pasta n Roux n Rye bread, such as pumpernickel n Rye beer n Salad Dressings n Sauces n Soups n Toothpaste n Vitamins & Minerals n

There hasn’t been enough testing done to really determine if gluten is bad for all of us. In regards to the reason why most people feel better upon giving up gluten is fairly simple. When giving up gluten your diet tends to make a shift to less processed foods and more real food options. Beside the gluten that you are avoiding, your body is no longer ingesting added sugars, genetically modified ingredients, unhealthy fats and high empty calories. This alone causes your body to feel better, have less inflammation, see better skin and have more energy. So to say it is strictly from the Gluten, the evidence just isn’t there. The evidence does however suggest that changing your diet to more real food choices and less processed items you feel better all around!