Gluten?

[Mowbray]

what is Gluten please?

[sir.prize]

Try this

www.busycooks.about.com/library/glossary/bldefgluten.htm

[rescuer]

Gluten is the protein in wheat, rye, oats and barley and must be avoided by people who are coeliacs ie. they cannot eat items which have gluten in them. I was diagnosed in 1979. At the time it was known that 1 in 1000 people had the problem but it was thought to be much higher. It is now known that 1 in 100 people are affected. The gluten destroys the villi which line the small intestine and through which we absorb the food. In coeliacs this causes malabsorption resulting in a marked loss of weight.Keeping to a gluten-free diet puts one back to 'normal'.

It is essential that people are diagnosed by a doctor and do not go on a gluten-free diet without medical confirmation.