Sorry, Do You Have A Gluten Free Option

Gluten allergy, or intolerance, is an example of both contagion and market conditioning. A person with celiac disease is not able to properly digest gluten and suffers from an immune response, leading to damage of the small intestine and discomfort in the abdominal region. Gluten allergy, however, does not exist. Gluten is binding protein found in grain based products. This is a hybrid of sorts, marketing and food fads have combined a real condition with general symptoms in order to create a new semi-believable condition. Abdominal discomfort after eating a meal is, well, quite common in the hefty United States population. It is more likely that people are reacting to portion size or to other aspects such as acidity in the food. Creating the concept of a gluten allergy creates a brilliant market. The company Healthy Digestives produces “Gluten Cutter” a “ Gluten Digestive Formula.”  The package states that it “helps to digest wheat, dairy, and other grains.” (Is is just me or is one of those three not like the others?) Each capsule contains a variety of enzymes. This package contains:

Xylanase,

Amylase, DPP-IV, Protease, Alpha Galactosidase, Lactase, Glucoamylase, Maltase, Lipase, Pectinase, Cellulase, Invertase, and Hemicellulase.

A person fresh from the torture of biochemistry can recognize a few of these friends from the krebs cycle, which is dealing with SUGAR breakdown, NOT gluten. It’s also interesting to see a galactosidase, involved in breaking to glycogen polymers, which is again SUGAR and NOT gluten. Finally, a keen eye can see that lactase is at play here, and person may actually be treating an underlying lactose issue while thinking that glucose is the issue. Other products, such as “Gluten Aid” and “Gluten Assist” have the same profile. They have a few of the above enzymes and a warning that “This product is not intended to replace a Gluten-Free diet and is not intended to treat or prevent celiac disease.” This tells you that what is being sold can’t actually treat a medical condition, it can’t do anything but sell to the belief that gluten is an issue. Even more interesting, one enzyme in “Gluten Assist” is called Tolerase® G. They have successfully managed to register their own homebrew of an enzyme.

            What really causes the issue? Fructan. Here is a link to an NCBI article explaining. Fructan, Rather Than Gluten, Induces Symptoms in Patients With Self-Reported Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29102613