Essentially, it’s a blend of proteins in the endosperm of wheat plants. The endosperm is the part of the seed that contains starch, oils, and proteins like gluten to provide nutrition to the plant and consequently the human diet. This protein blend is made up of gliadins and glutenins; with glutenins contributing more to the quality of dough, and gliadins being the ones that are troublesome to people with gluten allergies. The reason we see this protein blend in a lot of foods and things like medicine, supplements, makeup products, and even glue, is that they form a strong disulfide bond together and a hydrogen bond with the protein glutamine; which makes gluten viscous enough to mold many different kinds of foods and other …show more content…
Nevertheless, it’s not only the increasing newly diagnosed people with CD that are consumers of gluten-free foods. The Gluten-free food market is growing so rapidly that it’s estimated to surpass lactose-free and low-carb products and reach 6.2 billion USD by 2018. In Canada, about 10 million people prefer to eat gluten-free, which is almost a third of the entire population! The fascinating thing is that only 1% of those consumers have CD and 6% have non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). With CD being the last reason for following a GFD, Agriculture Canada states the additional reasons in order of increasing prevalence: “1. Asthma/allergies 2. Depression relief 3. Cleansing regimen 4. Stress relief 5. Mental function 6. Joint pain relief 7. Healthier skin 8. Weight loss 9. Nutritional value 10. Digestive Health”. The common notion is that people with NCGS also share these motives for their gluten avoidance; but in a way, they are in between the two