What's Gluten?

Gluten sensitivites are more common than we know.  Recent studies show that 1 in 167 children and 1 in 111 adults have a gluten allergy or intolerance.

What is Gluten?
Gluten is a protein composite, meaning it is a substance made up of several different proteins, in wheat and related grains in the triticeae family of grassy grains or cereal grains. These grains include barley, bulgur wheat, durum, einkorn, farro, graham, kamut, rye, semolina, spelt, and triticale.

The specific proteins constituting gluten that we are most interested in are the prolamin gliadin and the prolamin-like glutelin glutenin. They make up about 80 percent of the protein in wheat. These are the proteins which give gluten its unique structure and function… and these are the proteins responsible for triggering gluten intolerance symptoms, celiac disease symptoms and a non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

Prolamins are insoluble in water and are a general family of proteins common among these grassy grains. In fact, all the grassy grains related to wheat contain different prolamins, but since the polypeptide chains (sometimes just referred to as peptides) of each of these proteins is so similar to the proteins in wheat, they are still broadly called gluten. For example, while gliadin is the prolamin in wheat, secalin is the prolamin in rye and hordein is the prolamin in barley. These are also known as glycoproteins.

Glutelins are another prolamin-like family of proteins. The glutenin in gluten is a glutelin. Glutelins are heat-labile proteins, which means they are altered by heat (which is important for appreciating how gluten responds to baking), and are insoluble in water but soluble in dilute acids or alkalies (bases). While researchers consider the gliadins the more damaging proteins in gluten for people with celiac disease, the glutenins in gluten have also been shown to trigger a damaging autoimmune response in people with a genetic susceptibility to gluten.

Gluten also contains proteins called albumins and globulins, which are soluble in water or diluted salt water unlike the gliadins and glutenins. These are common storage proteins in many grains and do not greatly contribute to the unique quality of gluten-containing cereal grains. They are not known to trigger the problems triggered by glutenins and especially gliadins. When you see websites define gluten, they often don’t mention albumins and globulins because they are far less significant than glutenins and gliadins when discussing gluten intolerance.  Information and image from the above What Is Gluten section provided by Gluten-Intolerance-Symptoms.com

Misconceptions
One very common misconception about gluten is that it simply is grain. While, yes, gluten is typically found in wheat and other mainstays in the grain family, it is not synonymous with grain. Gluten is a component of grains and cereals. This fact does not imply sameness for simple inclusion in the grain family does not ensure that a food stuff will contain gluten. For example, many kinds of grains don’t even include a molecule of gluten. And this gets to the heart of the question what is gluten. Because, if grains can exist without gluten then, by definition, gluten cannot be grain!  Information on misconceptions provided by WhatIsGluten.net