What is Gluten?

So, you can’t eat gluten. But what is gluten? I often refer to it as the devil, but now thinking about it I don’t think that is wholly, scientifically true. I found this video & thought it was amusing. So I thought I would share it:

So… what is Gluten?!

Many of us have problems consuming gluten. It might be due to autoimmune diseases such as Coeliac Disease or due to a gluten intolerance. But… what is gluten?

It came to my attention that I don’t actually know exactly what gluten is… I think I am slightly clearer on it’s definition than those in the above video… but I’m still not fully clear.

So according to LiveScience… Gluten is:

“Gluten refers to the proteins found in wheat endosperm (a type of tissue produced in seeds that’s ground to make flour). Gluten both nourishes plant embryos during germination and later affects the elasticity of dough, which in turn affects the chewiness of baked wheat products.

Gluten is actually composed of two different proteins: gliadin (a prolamin protein) and glutenin (a glutelin protein).

Though “true gluten” is sometimes defined as being specific to wheat, gluten is often said to be part of other cereal grains — including rye, barley and various crossbreeds — because these grains also contain protein composites made from prolamins and glutelins.”

That’s all folks…

Now that we all know what gluten actually is… we can continue not to eat it Have you anymore gluten related questions?! Let me know in the comments below, or on Facebook/Twitter.

Thanks for reading & learning with me…

Becky xxx

What is Gluten?