Causes of gluten side effects and how to deal with them. What about me?

I really like bread and noodles, but some people have stomach discomfort when eating flour foods.  In such cases, one may be concerned about the side effects of gluten.  In this post, we will learn about this based on articles that appeared in the news.

References

• October 22, 2023 Korea’s Health Chosun

Causes of gluten side effects and how to deal with them. What about me?

What is gluten?

A ‘protein network’ created by combining glutenin and gliadin, proteins found in wheat.
The finer the mesh, the stronger the viscosity and elasticity of flour foods.

• Rumors and People's Responses to Gluten Side Effects
• Rumor: Gluten causes inflammation in the intestines, causing everything from skin problems to indigestion.
• Response: Completely eliminate wheat flour from the diet by eating pasta made from corn or brown rice flour instead of wheat flour.

...

Why Gluten Side Effects Occur

• In patients with celiac disease, the body cannot sufficiently break down gluten.  Remaining gluten stimulates the intestinal immune system and causes inflammation.
• When they eat flour-based foods, they experience symptoms such as bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal distension.
• The prevalence of celiac disease in the Asia-Pacific region is extremely low, ranging from 0.6 to 1.2%.

You can use gluten-free products to reduce side effects.  This type of product is designed for patients who are allergic to or unable to break down gluten.  Therefore, people who can digest gluten do not need to eat gluten-free products.  Nevertheless, the reasons why people bother to look for ‘gluten-free’ products are as follows. (Survey results)
...

• Because I thought it would be easy to digest: 27.1%
• Because it seems to have high nutritional value: 24.6%
• Weight control purpose: 16.1%

The idea that gluten-free products are ‘healthy food’ is a misconception, at least for the general public.

• Research results show that gluten-free processed foods contain less nutrients such as iron, magnesium, zinc, manganese, and folic acid than regular foods.
• As a result of the Spanish Food Research Institute's analysis of 654 types of gluten-free foods and 654 types of regular foods of the same type, gluten-free foods contained less protein and more fat than regular foods (difficult to consider them helpful for dieting).

Causes of gluten side effects and how to deal with them. What about me?

FODMAP foods, another reason for bloating

Even if you eat ‘FODMAP’ foods, you may still feel bloated.  In this case, you should first check whether you have eaten FODMAP foods when eating flour foods.

• FODMAP is a general term for sugar components such as galactan, fructan, lactose, fructose, and sugar alcohol (polyol) that are not well absorbed in the intestines.
• These sugars are not easily broken down by digestive enzymes, so most of them travel to the large intestine.
• During this process, when osmotic pressure occurs, a large amount of water flows into the large intestine.
• Sugar is fermented by microorganisms and gas is generated
• As a result, symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, and abdominal distension
• Miscellaneous grains such as barley and rye, raw garlic, raw onions, cabbage, asparagus, broccoli, beans, apples, pears, watermelon, and peaches belong to FODMAP foods.

If symptoms do not improve after following a FODMAP-restricted diet for 6 weeks, try cutting out wheat flour for 4 weeks.  If the uncomfortable physical symptoms improve at this time, eat 4 to 6 slices of flour every day for another 4 to 6 weeks to see if the symptoms recur.  If symptoms recur, you may have gluten intolerance.
…
In this post, we looked into general information about the side effects of gluten.  Although it is unlikely, you may have problems digesting flour, so please refer to the post and take care of your health.  Thank you.