After all of the very specific information of the past few weeks, this week I give you a blog entry that’s a bit shorter, but no less pertinent.
Have you ever seen words like “glue”, or “gum” used to talk about gluten? I see it all the time. At first I thought, “do these people know anything? They have no idea what gluten is and are talking to me about glue (probably because the name looks alike)…”
Parenthesis: Only two years ago in my region of Abitibi, the vast majority of people had no idea what gluten was, so when people spoke to me of glue I was exasperated. Even at the grocery store it was a constant struggle to find items labeled “gluten free”. I simply had to pore over the ingredient lists of absolutely everything I ate. I can tell you that my first gluten free grocery store mission was an extremely long one. Not to mention dealing with restaurants. And again, thank you to my family and friends for supporting me because it certainly hasn’t always been easy. I’m grateful that so many of you are so understanding.
Anyway, back to our glue!
Turns out, those people weren’t crazy because in Latin gluten means glue. Additionally, the words are synonymous because gluten, in fact, adds elasticity and consistency to things. This is why bakers still use the finest processed flour possible because the gluten proteins are even more present and facilitate the work of these artisans.
In addition to these two arguments, it is because gluten glues itself to the food in your gut that celiacs get diarrhea and constipation. It also sticks to your intestinal walls, bullying your intestinal villi and causing a variety of other health problems.
So there you have it, my story behind the association with glue!
http://journal-bio.com/tag/le-gluten/
http://plaisiretsagesseaumenu.com/lintolerance-au-gluten-4-fois-plus-presente-quil-y-a-50-ans/
http://www.fitandpeach.com/archives/2013/11/10/28360444.html
