Is gluten really harmful to human health?

What is gluten?

Gluten is nothing more than a type of plant protein found in various cereal grains - barley, wheat, rye and oats. Gliadins and glutenins are the proteins that determine the properties of gluten. They are what enable it to bind water, which is why its addition provides products with softness, plumpness and elasticity. This is why doughs containing gluten have an amazing fluffiness and the baked goods themselves are characterised by an easier retention of freshness.

In addition, gluten has been credited with improving taste. Where can you find it? In practically most products! In addition to the flours of the cereal grains mentioned above, which are used in breads, pasta and desserts, gluten is also found in:

• cured meats
• flavoured alcoholic beverages
• canned and preserved foods
• certain spices
• sauces and bagged dishes
• flour-based dishes (e.g. pancakes, dumplings)
• pizzas and other fast food with dough or bread
• various sweets (especially biscuits, waffles and bars)

Gluten and its effects on health - what can it cause?

Demonising gluten and seeing it as a substance which has extremely harmful effects on human health is only justified in a few cases. It should certainly not apply to healthy people. In the absence of a confirmed intolerance, there is really no reason to eliminate it from the menu for good. It is completely different in the case of people who have a poor tolerance for the protein accumulated in cereal grains. Experts distinguish four main models of gluten intolerance.

Celiac disease

It is an autoimmune disease that has a genetic background. In this case, the consumption of gluten is actually harmful to human health, because it causes damage and atrophy of the intestinal villi. This in turn leads to disorders in the proper absorption of nutrients from the food we eat.

Duhring's disease

Gluten intolerance, which causes only dermal (skin) symptoms - people suffering from it struggle with the appearance of itchy papules, erythema and unaesthetic blisters on the body after eating a gluten product.

Gluten allergy

The consumption of gluten-containing products causes extremely severe and dangerous allergic reactions, which can occur with varying severity and at different rates. There are two types of gluten allergy:

• Type I - dependent on IgE antibodies and leading to symptoms caused by the immune system, e.g. vomiting, hives, runny nose or bronchospasm
• Type II - unrelated to IgE antibodies and leading to headache, diarrhoea, constipation or skin lesions, among others

Gluten sensitivity

The problem of oversensitivity to gluten concerns people who have a confirmed lack of celiac disease and allergy to gluten. In their case, consumption of a product containing gluten causes a number of adverse consequences only after several hours. The consequences, however, are bloating, weakness, feeling of fatigue, stomach pains and headaches as well as eczema.