Previously, he said, “I’m eating gluten-free.” have you come across phrases or posts on social media praising gluten-free eating? You may be under the impression that gluten-free nutrition can be a panacea for many. So can gluten-free eating really be a cure-all? If you are talking about a celiac patient, a gluten-free diet can really be a source of healing, because the only treatment for this disease is provided by a gluten-free diet.
Celiac Awareness Day is celebrated worldwide every year on May 9th. With these celebrations, it is aimed to raise awareness about celiac disease in society, to facilitate patients’ access to gluten-free products and to improve their quality of life. We also wanted to briefly summarize this issue for you.
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Meet Gluten
In fact, many of us in our society have a fairly close connection with gluten. Maybe there is gluten in every meal you eat during the day! Because gluten; wheat/ rye flour, all foods prepared with these flours (pasta, couscous, noodles, etc.), it can find a place for itself on our tables in the form of bulgur. It is also estimated that gluten has been present in the human diet for about 10 thousand years.
So what is this gluten? Gluten is actually one of the basic storage proteins of wheat. Gluten, which is found in barley, rye, wheat products, consists of gliadin and gluten proteins as a structure.
Gluten also plays an important role in ensuring the texture and elasticity of pastry products! So a nice fluffy cake, a fluffy bread happens thanks to gluten. In addition, thanks to this feature that provides texture, gluten is also often used in many food production systems, especially in the pastry / bakery sector.
Celiac Disease: It is Seen in One in a Hundred People!
You may not have had any negative ideas about gluten until now. Unfortunately, however, various ailments can be seen in some individuals with gluten intake. Among the gluten-related diseases, the most studied disease is known as celiac disease. In addition, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, wheat allergy, gluten ataxia are also among the special conditions Decoupling gluten from the diet.
The incidence of celiac disease is increasing, especially in Western societies. According to research, celiac disease is observed in about 1% of Western societies. Celiac disease continues to be an increasing problem worldwide.
Celiac disease is explained as an auto-immune disease. In this disease, the immune system response along with gluten intake causes inflammation in the intestine, villi atrophy (destruction of absorption cells in the intestine) and an increase in intestinal permeability.
In celiac disease, removing gluten from the diet provides relief of symptoms, but the damage to the small intestine is of great importance. Because the small intestine plays a very big role for the absorption of many nutrients. In celiac patients, the absorption of iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, thiamine, B12, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K is disrupted.
Gluten-Free Alternatives
In fact, it is possible to say that all natural foods that are not associated with wheat, barley and rye are gluten-free. For example, many foods such as rice, potatoes, corn, oats, buckwheat, sorghum, teff, quinoa, amaranth, Decongestants are among the foods that do not contain gluten naturally. Of course, at this point, it is necessary to pay attention to packaged and processed products. For example, it is necessary to carefully examine the contents of a buckwheat cracker to decide whether it is gluten-free or not.
It is of great importance for a celiac patient to have the habit of reading food labels at all times. According to the standards set by the FDA, a product is expected to meet the following conditions in order to receive the gluten-free designation: “Food must contain 20 ppm or less gluten by nature, or contain gluten below 20 ppm if exposure to gluten is unavoidable.”
Celiac patients should not shop for products whose nutritional content appears to be gluten-free without seeing the phrase “Gluten-free”. Because if gluten-free and gluten-free alternatives are produced on the same production line, cross-contamination can occur, and there may be an amount of gluten in these products that may disturb a celiac patient.
Pay Attention to the Cost of Gluten-Free Nutrition
In one study, 352 participants were asked whether they had followed a gluten-free diet before. About 11% of the participants stated that they have followed a gluten-free diet before, but about 70% of these people say that they voluntarily followed this diet even though they had not received any diagnosis about it before. At this point, it is necessary to draw attention to the unconsciously applied gluten-free diets.
Unfortunately, gluten-free products can cause higher costs compared to other alternatives. For example, gluten-free flour of the same brand costs about 3 euros for 1 kg, while whole wheat flour mixture costs about 1 kg (May 9, 2024, market price). Although the increasing demand for gluten-free diet enables the proliferation of gluten-free alternatives in the market, it can lead to a deterioration of the supply/demand balance in economic terms. For this reason, if it was not recommended by your doctor, if you do not have a health reason, it is necessary to have an awareness that gluten-free products are essential only for celiac patients.
Summarize
Celiac disease is an auto immune disease whose incidence has continued to increase in recent years. Gluten-free nutrition, on the other hand, can be summarized as a requirement or even a necessity for celiac disease. Although a gluten-free diet can be provided with gluten-free foods naturally, care should be taken and the labels of packaged products should be read. In addition, it should be taken into account that unconsciously applied gluten-free diets can increase the cost of gluten-free products.
