What is Gluten?

"What is Gluten?"

That's the first question I'm asked when I say I don't eat gluten. So here is my answer: Gluten is a protein that is responsible for the elasticity in grains such as wheat. Some people are gluten intolerant, celiac's disease, and a lot more people than you might think are gluten sensitive.

When I first went GF I simply changed my sandwich bread from good 'ol Mrs. Baird's 100% Whole Wheat (which you'd think would be a good thing but not necessarily) to Udi's Gluten Free Sandwich Bread. You find this in the frozen bread section at the grocery store. That's all I did. I did this for a week or so, tried to not eat breads or pasta any other time, and gradually started the change. I then saw a package of gluten free pasta at HEB and was in heaven. I changed my cereal from Cheerios to Chex Mix which is naturally GF since it's made of corn.

The basic premise when going GF is to avoid flour. That's basically all I think of when choosing what to eat. Think of something - bread, pasta, cake, even soup, if it has regular flour in it, it also has gluten. Gluten Free products are made with rice flour, corn, other flour combinations and xantham gum to act like gluten and flour, without the upsetting and negative qualities.

Luckily there are several GF blogs, websites, etc. to help you learn what gluten and wheat does to your body, your digestive system and how our diets have changed in the last several years where grains and wheat are in literally EVERYTHING and not so great for you. It's basically a filler, when you could be putting fresh lean meats and veggies in your body to fuel it better.