Gluten

[Nod2003]

What is in gluten that is bad for humans, and why is it found in so many food products?

[Sensei]

6 minutes ago, Nod2003 said:

What is in gluten that is bad for humans, and why is it found in so many food products?

Did you start your research about gluten from reading Wikipedia page about it.. ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten

 

"In a small part of the general human population, gluten can trigger adverse autoimmune reactions responsible for a broad spectrum of gluten-related disorders, including coeliac disease, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, gluten ataxia and dermatitis herpetiformis.[6] Their treatment is the gluten-free diet."

 

[Nod2003]

I really struggle with Wikipedia.  Because anyone can change it, it’s hard to know if it was accurate.  

It also seems like gluten is a bigger problem then just for intolerant people, because that wouldn’t be very many people so would only be a small market.  Instead it’s a pretty significant market, there must be a reason why.

[Itoero]

21 minutes ago, Nod2003 said:

What is in gluten that is bad for humans, and why is it found in so many food products?

Gluten contain glutamine. The polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders caused by expanded cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats encoding a long polyQ tract in the respective proteins.

Edited January 26, 2019 by Itoero

[Nod2003]

Ah, so it causes neuron issues in some people then.  So why does it get added to so many foods?

[zapatos]

9 minutes ago, Nod2003 said:

I really struggle with Wikipedia.  Because anyone can change it, it’s hard to know if it was accurate.  

 

You don't trust the anonymous people telling you things through Wikipedia but you trust the anonymous people telling you things here? People here cite Wikipedia on a regular basis.

[Sensei]

13 minutes ago, Nod2003 said:

I really struggle with Wikipedia.  Because anyone can change it, it’s hard to know if it was accurate.   

I find it powerful and useful that everybody can add something other people forgot to mention. Obvious devastation attempts are detected by special bots which analyze what kind of modification user did. Less obvious devastation are fixed by human moderators.

If somebody participated in creation of the real paper Encyclopedia made error, that error will remain there forever. Till the next fixed release of Encyclopedia. But who is rebuying book they already have? If you're not expert in area, there is no way you will see error. Contrary to Wikipedia. On Wikipedia it'll be fixed in a few hours or days.

Edited January 26, 2019 by Sensei

[Nod2003]

That makes sense.  I’m guessing it has improved a lot from back when I first took a look at it more then 10 years ago.  Maybe I’ll give it another chance.

[CharonY]

4 hours ago, Itoero said:

Gluten contain glutamine. The polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders caused by expanded cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats encoding a long polyQ tract in the respective proteins.

I really hope that the intention of this post is to show how  easily you get wrong information in random internet boards.

[John Cuthber]

10 hours ago, Nod2003 said:

  So why does it get added to so many foods?

It isn't. (Well, it seldom is)

However, wheat is used in a lot of food production, and it contains gluten.
So it's hard to guarantee that foods are gluten free.

It's also important to recognise that humans have been eating gluten (in wheat)  for thousands of years. Only a small number of people are troubled by it.

For the rest of us, it's food.

10 hours ago, Itoero said:

Gluten contain glutamine. The polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders caused by expanded cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats encoding a long polyQ tract in the respective proteins.

Gluten contain glutamine.
Yes, it does. So does most food.

" The polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders caused by expanded cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats encoding a long polyQ tract in the respective proteins."
Yes, they are- they are a genetic glitch.

And the two things are not related to eachother.

Why did you post that?

[Itoero]

12 hours ago, Nod2003 said:

Ah, so it causes neuron issues in some people then.  So why does it get added to so many foods?

Glutamine is necessary for muscle building and it has an effect on your mitochondria. Many proteins contain glutamine but the 'concentration' differs.

8 hours ago, CharonY said:

I really hope that the intention of this post is to show how  easily you get wrong information in random internet boards.

What's wrong about that information? I did not say it's the only protein that contains glutamine. But the concentration glutamine is high in gluten.

2 hours ago, John Cuthber said:

And the two things are not related to eachother.

Why did you post that?

Yes they are. Gluten contain a lot of glutamine, your ribosomes create proteins with a long glutamine tract, those proteins bind, form a body and do damage. I have a polyglutamine disease.(SCA type 7)

[Strange]

13 hours ago, Itoero said:

Gluten contain glutamine. The polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders caused by expanded cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats encoding a long polyQ tract in the respective proteins.

FFS. That has nothing to do with gluten in food.

13 hours ago, Nod2003 said:

Ah, so it causes neuron issues in some people then.  

No. You would be better relying on Wikipedia, which is usually OK for science related subjects, than some people who post here.

Quote

So why does it get added to so many foods?

It is an important component of wheat flour, and many other ingredients. Good bread depends on the presence of gluten, for example.

[Nod2003]

So it’s inherent to wheat, not an added chemical like I originally thought.

[John Cuthber]

47 minutes ago, Nod2003 said:

So it’s inherent to wheat, not an added chemical like I originally thought.

Yes.

It's a natural part of wheat (and some other grains)

2 hours ago, Itoero said:

Yes they are. Gluten contain a lot of glutamine

And, the body is quite capable of making glutamine if there's none in the diet.

Eating gluten isn't the primary issue here.

[CharonY]

In addition to what others mentioned regarding polyQ diseases are, issues with gluten involve inflammation responses. Those are not universal as only a subpopulation has issues with it as John said.

I.e. there is no compelling evidence that gluten are harmful to most, but we got evidence why it is a bad idea to get health info from random sources.

[dimreepr]

http://celiac-disease.emedtv.com/celiac-disease/celiak-disease.html

[Janus]

17 hours ago, Nod2003 said:

 

It also seems like gluten is a bigger problem then just for intolerant people, because that wouldn’t be very many people so would only be a small market.  Instead it’s a pretty significant market, there must be a reason why.

The large market is due to a lot a of people don't really know why gluten is just a problem for intolerant people.   Somehow awareness of this intolerance found its way into the public conscience.   And, people being people, started to get the idea that gluten is bad for you in general and a fad of eating gluten-free started.  People who had no real need to started avoiding gluten.  As the fad grew,  the market for gluten free products grew, and companies saw that market and obliged.  Of course, as more gluten free products started showing up, more people s joined the fad... (Like you, they thought "Well if there wasn't anything to this gluten-free idea, there wouldn't be so many products.) 

The upshot of this is that those people who really do need to avoid gluten have suddenly had their choices expanded.  The sad part for them will be when the gluten free fad ends ( and it will eventually end, as all fads do),  companies will start to drop their gluten free selections as the market shrinks again.

[Huckleberry of Yore]

About seven years ago I started a low carb diet, they called it Atkin's back then.  Now it's keto.  I lost 85 pounds and was able to stop taking blood pressure meds.  This involved no sugar and no starch, including any grains.  The only exception, I stopped drinking beer and replaced with occasional vodka.  Then one day I was channel surfing and watched a program about the evils of grains in terms of human diet.  The programs featured Dr. Davis, a cardiologist who had written a book called Wheatbelly.  His claim was that grass seeds (wheat, oats, corn,...) have only been eaten by humans for a few thousand years and contribute to the obesity problem, diabetes, as well as a variety of inflammatory and auto-immune conditions.

At that time I recalled a year earlier while working for a couple weeks in Germany I had violated my no-grain rule and ate the very delicious German pretzels.  I also recalled that around that time I experienced swelling and pain in three finger joints on my left hand.  Dr. Davis was suggesting there could be correlation.  As luck would have it, I had to return to Germany for another 2 week stint.  So I once again ate the pretzels, and once again my fingers swelled and ached, and once again went away when I returned home.  That was 5 years ago and it hasn't happened since.  I'm a believer.

[John Cuthber]

17 minutes ago, Huckleberry of Yore said:

His claim was that grass seeds (wheat, oats, corn,...) have only been eaten by humans for a few thousand years

The evidence says about 10,000 for deliberate cultivation, and heaven knows how long before that.

[Huckleberry of Yore]

As opposed to 2 million years give or take eating squirrels and fish?  Furthermore, the grains have evolved significantly just in the last century and probably don't very much resemble those eaten in ancient times.

[John Cuthber]

OK, so let's start with the important bit; the guy didn't do his homework.

And then there's the fact that those  squirrels you mention have been eating grain for even longer.

So, how toxic can this stuff be?
And, there's the fact that data isn't the plural of anecdote.

And, if you think the only thing in pretzels is gluten then you haven't thought it through.

So, you may well be imagining the effects.
or it may be one of the real effects- it's not as if anyone disputed the fact that it causes problems for some people.

[Itoero]

6 hours ago, Strange said:

FFS. That has nothing to do with gluten in food.

Yes it is. Gluten in food also contain a lot of glutamine....

[Huckleberry of Yore]

>>>> OK, so let's start with the important bit; the guy didn't do his homework.

To whom do you refer?  Dr. Davis, or me?

>>>> And then there's the fact that those  squirrels you mention have been eating grain for even longer.

I didn't mention it because I don't know it to be true.  And neither do you.  I'd suspect they more likely ate acorns.  Furthermore, if the squirrels were eating grains what difference does that make?  That wouldn't invalidate the assertion that humans shouldn't eat grains, just that squirrels probably should.

>>>> So, how toxic can this stuff be?  And, there's the fact that data isn't the plural of anecdote.

I quoted the book Wheatbelly if you are actually interested in the someone's answer to that question.

>>>> And, if you think the only thing in pretzels is gluten then you haven't thought it through.

Precisely.  Perhaps you've read Wheatbelly?  That is exactly what he states.  Some of the other proteins and starches in grain are arguably even worse than gluten.

>>>> So, you may well be imagining the effects.  or it may be one of the real effects- it's not as if anyone disputed the fact that it causes problems for some people.

I would have thought this to be obvious, but yes of course, I can't prove you are wrong.