What is gluten? It’s a kind of protein found in most grains like barley, wheat and rye. Most breads, for example, contain gluten. There are several grains that do not contain gluten, including corn, wild rice, quinoa, oats, millet and amaranth.

1. What The Heck Is Gluten?
What is gluten? It’s a kind of protein found in most grains like barley,
wheat and rye. Most breads, for example, contain gluten. There are
several grains that do not contain gluten, including corn, wild rice,
quinoa, oats, millet and amaranth.
The most common type of gluten encountered in the American diet
comes from wheat flour. Much of the gluten can be removed from
wheat flour if desired, but not all of it, no matter what you do. This is
especially important, for example, because today, many Americans are
increasingly developing gluten allergies, including a very serious
digestive disorder called celiac disease. Gluten-free diets are also
increasingly touted for their benefit to children with autism, for
example.
What does gluten do in bread?
Assuming you can have gluten and are not allergic to it, though, it’s
very nutritious. It’s very high in protein and very good for you, and it
gives bread its chewy texture. It also keeps the gases that are released
during fermentation when bread is made (during the rising process) so
that it becomes light and fluffy before it’s baked. Because it’s also very

2. elastic, it helps keep its shape so that bread can actually be formed into
loaf shapes and isn’t simply a gluey lump.
Wheat products are used in many different forms and are very
versatile, and the gluten in flour is what helps make it so. For example,
flour can be kneaded together with other ingredients to make
piecrusts, other types of dough such as pasta dough, and so on. This
would be very difficult if not impossible to do were it not for the
binding effects of gluten.
Gluten is also very absorbent, which is why it’s useful in bread (for
example, to sop up gravy with a piece of bread on a plate). And because
gluten is so absorbent, it can be used as a special “meat substitute” for
those on vegetarian diets.
Adding extra gluten to bread
The bread machine has made it popular to make your own bread, and
specialized bread flours with extra gluten added have come on the
market so that you’re sure of having a high gluten bread produced,
which makes it more chewy, fluffier, and simply a better bread in
general.
You should note that because all-purpose flour has had most of its
gluten removed, it’s not suitable for bread machine or breadmaking
use. However, whole-wheat flour has had none of its gluten removed,
which makes it suitable for breadmaking. In general, you do need
plenty of gluten to make a good, chewy, fluffy loaf of bread that’s going
to taste good and hold up well.
On gluten allergies: how is a gluten allergy handled?

3. Even though adding EXTRA gluten to bread may be a good thing when
you’re making bread, if you have a gluten allergy, you must do exactly
the opposite. And unfortunately, because gluten is in so many things
these days, it can be very difficult to handle a gluten allergy. The simple
fact is, though, if you are diagnosed with celiac disease, or if you have a
child, for example, who is sensitive to gluten and wheat in other ways
and you think removing it from the diet would be beneficial, this is
something you’re going to have to avoid.
Your task if you want to avoid gluten is to simply avoid all products with
wheat in them, as well as the grains rye and barley. It’s unfortunate
that you’ll have to avoid these grains for the rest of your life, since
celiac disease does not go away. However, it can be controlled if you
avoid consuming these grains.
It used to be much more difficult to follow a gluten-free diet than it is
these days, because so many people are either suffering from celiac
disease or think it’s a good idea to avoid gluten in their diets for other
reasons (i.e., such as if a child suffers from autism).
However, fortunately, manufacturers have seen the benefit in offering
gluten-free cereals, breads, and other products normally made from
wheat, barley and rye. Because of that, you have much more choice
these days than you did even just a couple of years ago if you need to
avoid gluten.
For more information to help you easily transition to organic living,
please visit Vida Humphreys at Eat Simply Organic.