Bloated.
Over 75% of Americans have GI disturbance.
Think about that the next time you are in an elevator…
When was the last time you went a month without grains?
“Functional food” or medicinal food is any healthy food claimed to have a health-promoting or disease-preventing property beyond the basic function of supplying nutrients.
The general category of functional foods includes processed food or foods fortified with health-promoting additives, like “vitamin-enriched” products. Fermented foods with live cultures are considered as functional foods with pro-biotic benefits.
Functional foods are an emerging field in food science due to their increasing popularity with health-conscious consumers. The term was first used in Japan in the 1980s where there is a government approval process for functional foods called Foods for Specified Health Use (FOSHU).
Unfortunately, for many people there is absolutely nothing functional about grains. In fact they can be the cause of disease and poor health for years. If you have had the foresight to ever do an elimination diet to self check for a gluten sensitivity then you may have found what over 75% of most people already feel- A heck of a lot better health and vitality when they cut gluten containing grains!
Although much of what has been initially diagnosed by medicine as an Idiopathic rationale when it comes to GF diets, most who suffer from gluten sensitivity can have a barrage of symptoms. In the case of allergic responses, symptoms may appear as dermatitis but could also present as difficulty breathing during exercise. In both cases gastrointestinal symptoms may occur. In the case of idiopathic gluten sensitivity all known symptoms are confined to the nervous system.
Basically when it comes to fat loss, gluten can be a massive roadblock. If inflammation and any autoimmune response is generated by the gliadin, cortisol will elevate and midsection fat storage will be sure to follow. A major shift in the past decades towards a gluten free lifestyle began with the “Gluten-free” designation, drafted in 1981 by Codex Alimentarius defined by-
“For the purpose of this standard, gluten is defined as those proteins, commonly found in wheat, triticale, rye, barley or oats to which some persons are intolerant.”
Gluten is a protein composite, including Gliadin, that appears in foods processed from wheat and related species, including barley and rye. It gives stickiness to dough, helping it to rise and to keep its shape, and often giving the final product a chewable texture.
Enough of the human population suffers from gluten sensitivity of one kind or another that many foods are now required to be labeled to clarify whether they contain gluten. A gluten-free diet is a diet completely free of ingredients derived from gluten-containing cereals: wheat (including kamut and spelt), barley, rye, Malts and triticale, as well as the use of gluten as a food additive in the form of a flavoring, stabilizing or thickening agent. It is the only medically accepted treatment for ceoliac disease, as well as the related condition dermatitis herpetiformis and wheat allergy.
The protein found in gluten is very irritating to the gut lining and may eventually cause leaky gut syndrome along with bloating, gas, malabsorption and sIgA issues. Try going gluten free and see how you feel. If you don't notice a difference after 30 days- you most likely have a steel drum for a stomach and need no worry.
For the rest of us, order up the blue corn tortillas and salsa! Adios!
Note- (Additionally, a gluten-free diet may exclude oats, however medical practitioners are divided on whether oats are an allergen to coeliac disease sufferers or if they are cross-contaminated in milling facilities by other allergens.)
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