Generations ago wheat had a 50% lower gluten content and was cultivated mostly in Southwest Asia before spreading to Europe. Rice, corn, sorghum and millet were the norm in countries across the world. Today, wheat crops have genetically become very complex to allow for improved storage and improved baking. In fact, the genome for everyday wheat bread is 6.5 times larger than that of the human genome! That complexity gives it a massive number of proteins, each with a potential to cause symptoms.
It is estimated that 1 in 133 Americans of European descent may have the disease with over 1 million people in the US with undiagnosed celiac. In people who have gluten sensitivity or celiac, their bodies cannot absorb the vitamins and nutrients of the food they eat due to the immune system damaging the villi or the tiny walls in the intestine. Symptoms for celiac run the gamut from autoimmune system diseases like arthritis, lupus to allergic conditions like psoriasis, asthma, skin rashes to neurologic syndromes like depression and conditions like autism (which seems to respond best to a gluten free diet). Unfortunately for reasons not understood celiac disease can come on at any time in life and is believed to be hereditary.
Thankfully the foods that one can eat are numerous. I mentioned in a previous blog that looking at the vast array of foods that one can eat rather than ones that you cannot is not only a healthier approach but also opens one up to try a world of food from other cultures where many live without wheat. Focusing on what we can have than what we cannot makes the journey much more interesting.
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