A Gluten by Any Other Name...

So I realized, I started this blog and some of you may not really know what gluten is or how it has many different names. The most common mistake is that gluten is a grain contained in wheat...although wheat is a carrier for gluten it is not in fact gluten. As a matter of fact gluten is not a grain at all and there are many grains available that have no gluten in them. These grains include quinoa, amaranth, buck wheat, soybeans and although contreversial oats.
I consider gluten an ever elusive enemy. People who have Celiac or any kind of intolerance simply have difficulty digesting this sticky substance that holds many breads together. Gluten is insoluble meaning it will not dissolve when placed in water, on the other hand (this is controversial as well) it can be expunged from grain. I am sure your wondering what I mean by all this, I am no doctor so I am not going to pretend I know, however people with different levels of tolerance can handle certian grains like oats because the possibility of gluten being present has been disspelled. Many times oats are considered "bad" because they often store oats and wheat together raising the possibility of cross-contamination.
Most people with the allergy or Celiac are best to stay away from anything that may contain gluten as the effects both short and long-term can be serious. That being said don't be scared to experiment just do your research, call companies, google, etc. It's helpful to be armed with as much knowledge about the enemy as possible. In case you were wondering here is a list of different names that wheat goes by (I am listing wheat because although they are different it is the number one "carrier" for gluten):

• Binder or binding
• Bulgur
• Cereal
• Cereal binders or cereal protein
• Couscous
• Duram (durum)
• Einkorn
• Farina
• Filler
• Flour
• Frumento
• Graham
• Gum base
• Hydrolysed wheat protein
• Kamut
• Malt
• Manna
• Matzo
• Matzah
• Matzoh
• Modified food starch
• Modified starch
• Rusk
• Seitan
• Semolina
• Special edible starch
• Spelt
• Starch
• Thickener or thickening
• Triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye)
• Wheat alternative

Other names for gluten include:

Natural flavor: While not all natural flavors include gluten, if you see this term on the ingredient list it may or may not include gluten-containing grains or derivatives and should be avoided.
Monosodium glutamate: Again, not all monosodium glutamate (MSG) contains gluten, but foreign sources usually are derived from gluten-containing grains. In the United States, most monosodium glutamate is made from cane, beets or tapioca starch but even in the U.S. some manufacturers still use wheat gluten.
Emulsifiers: Emulsifiers are used to change surface properties of other ingredients with which they are combined. These emulsifiers may or may not contain gluten.
Lectins (lecithins): Lectins are made from the hull of grain. While it may come from a "safe" grain such as amaranth, it may also come from barley or other grains to be avoided by those eliminating gluten from their diet.

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