I...have no idea...
It's...uh...something that people worry about...
I don't understand gluten enough...
What is it? Oh...uh...I don't even really know...
I don't know a whole lot about it, except that gluten-free is a good healthy way to eat...
It is some kind of starch, maybe? Or something?
Carbohydrates.
Carbs...?
Okay, so some of us - maybe many of us - are a little
confused. Gluten has become synonymous with
carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are terrifying things that definitely,
absolutely should never cross our mouths...Lovely people,
we've been misled. So - gluten - what is it?
Gluten is not a carbohydrate. Gluten is actually protein - really - a complex
mixture of hundreds of distinct proteins; and it's not just found in wheat
you'll also find gluten in barley, rye, even oats. However, there are plenty of
grains that do not contain gluten, like corn, rice, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, and
quinoa. Gluten is found in the seed; and that's what we're eating when we're
eating wheat, barley, rye and oats. Gluten proteins are storage proteins. Their
purpose is to store nutrients like carbon and nitrogen, to feed the future
baby plant that will one day burst out of that seed. But of course we're
harvesting those seeds - those edible grains - before the baby plant has a
chance to grow and consume those nutrient reserves. Let's look at wheat
bread. Wheat seeds are harvested and ground into a powder - flour. That flour is
mixed with water to make dough. As the flour soaks up the water, the gluten
proteins are hydrated and this is where the magic happens.
That hydration causes the gluten proteins to bind together into a strong
stretchy web that will form the structure of the bread.
When yeast is added to the dough, the yeast breaks down the starch and
basically burps out carbon dioxide. Gluten is like a net catching those
carbon dioxide bubbles and causing the dough to rise; creating pockets of air
within the bread that give it its deliciously light and chewy texture.
There are all different kinds of wheat. Some inherently have more gluten protein
than others. Now bread bakers like higher protein
flour because they get that good rise; while cake Baker's like lower protein
flour, because they're not looking for a chewy texture; they're looking for tender.
They don't want a lot of gluten creating super strong bonds that'll make their
cakes tough and rubbery. Okay, so now we know the super powers of
gluten. It can act as a binding agent and add elasticity. Well, those superpowers
can be used for both good and evil.
Gluten has become a common additive in lots of highly processed foods, because it
improves texture and moisture retention. So you might find gluten in strange
places like candies, or ice cream, or salad dressings, where it's used as a
thickener or emulsifier - even deli meats. If you ever see "vital wheat gluten" on an
ingredient list, that means gluten that's been separated from wheat. It goes into a
lot of packaged bread to give it a boost, because it's been processed in a kind of
forced hurry. Vital wheat gluten, by the way, is also used to make meat
replacements like seitan, which makes sense if you think about the texture of
meat - with all its connective tissue - then a strong web of gluten is a pretty good
substitute. Scientists have noted an alarming increase in gluten intolerance
here in the States, and they no longer believe it's simply a problem that's
gone undiagnosed. The jury is still out on the causes, but there are scientists
who are studying whether it's all the extra added gluten that we're putting in
our processed foods. Gluten sensitive people have a reaction to gluten.
Although scientists are still trying to figure out the triggers, the symptoms are
clear. They include stomach aches, skin rashes, even life-threatening anaphylaxis.
The most known disorder is celiac disease. It's hereditary, and it causes
the body's own immune system to attack the intestines when gluten is around.
About one percent of the u.s. population is believed to have celiac disease. Some
gluten sensitive people find they can eat sourdough bread. I'm not talking
about anything packaged that you buy in a store - I'm talking about real sourdough
made with wild yeast and allowed to ferment for a long time - sometimes
even days, allowing the yeast time to break down most of the gluten, before it
even hits the digestive tract. So here's what I'm thinking about: somewhere along
the way, as our knowledge of very real gluten disorders has deepened, so has our
broader suspicion of gluten. A lot of people have come to the conclusion that
if gluten is bad for some of us, it must be bad for all of us - which is complete
nonsense. But from that fear has risen an entire industry of gluten-free products.
If you compare the ingredient list of a gluten-free bread that you buy in the
supermarket, versus a traditional wheat bread that's made of flour, water, yeast
and salt, the gluten-free list is vast and full of surprising ingredients that
are only there to mimic the taste, the texture, even the nutrition of wheat -
things like corn starch, soy protein, dextrose, modified cellulose...And so if
you're not gluten sensitive, you have to ask yourself: why am i eating this stuff?
Listen, thank God that gluten free choices exist for all the people who do
suffer from gluten. But if you don't - and you can find out by visiting your doctor -
then you might want to reconsider how glorious gluten can be. For someone like
me, who's been making my own sourdough for about six years,
then gluten is nothing short of miraculous.
Okay, let me know if you want me to make another one of these "What Is It?" videos,
on a food or an ingredient that you've been wondering about. Drop a comment
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