Whether you have a gluten intolerance, are interested in health food and dieting, or are just a person on this earth, you’ve heard of gluten. If you don’t practice a gluten free diet though, the knowledge might stop there. What is gluten? What foods contain it? Why might someone not want to eat gluten? As a certified gluten-free facility, we’ve got those deets for you.
What is Gluten?
What’s the first food that comes to mind when you think of gluten? Probably bread. That’s for good reason, as gluten helps bread keep its shape and chewiness. Gluten is the general name for hard to digest proteins found in wheat. It’s in everyday foods beyond bread such as noodles, crackers, cereal, croutons, gravy, soup, and even beer. Most of us don’t have a problem eating any of these foods. However, 6% of the population have varying degrees of gluten sensitivity and 1% even have full blown Celiac’s disease.
What is Celiac’s Disease?
Celiac’s disease is an immune reaction to eating gluten. When someone with Celiac’s disease has gluten, a response triggers in their small intestine. With time, damage to the small intestine’s lining starts to prevent the individual from absorbing nutrients. Symptoms they may experience could include changes in appetite, stomach pains, bloating, nausea, anemia, depression, fatigue, headaches, rashes, body aches, or even numbness. Celiac’s disease along with these symptoms can develop at any age. Our Graphic Designer, Hannah, has a friend who felt crummy for a solid year in her early twenties. Upon realizing her “normal” was constantly feeling awful, she finally went to the doctor. She learned she had Celiac’s disease, made the necessary changes, and she feels much much better today.
However, for individuals with Celiac’s, those necessary changes aren’t as simple as just cutting wheat out of their diets. In addition, those with Celiac’s disease have to make sure that the surfaces and utensils used to prepare their food haven’t touched foods with gluten. Check out our 15 Things We Love About Spokane blog post to read about our favorite Celiac’s friendly restaurants in Spokane.
What Foods are Gluten Friendly?
To quote the late and great comedian John Pinette, “I don’t know what gluten is, but apparently, it’s delicious, and you need to put it back in there! What has gluten in it? Everything! Every reason to wake up in the morning!” We love you to pieces, John, but luckily there are actually some wonderful gluten-free options out there! There are many totally gluten-free foods to choose from that promote a healthy, well-rounded diet. Those foods include fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, beans, and many many more. There is even a solid selection of grain and starch foods to choose from that don’t naturally contain gluten like rice, cassava, corn, soy, potatoes, quinoa, flax, and chia.
BumbleBars and JunoBars…
Here at BumbleBar, we’re proud to offer a variety of energy bars that are not only completely gluten free but have never so much as touched a surface or utensil that was ever exposed to gluten. We’re a certified gluten-free facility, so if you asked one of our bars if they’d ever heard of gluten, they’d probably think you were speaking gibberish (and why shouldn’t they? Gluten is a funny word). On top of being friendly to our gluten intolerant friends, BumbleBars and JunoBars are completely and packed with powerhouse health ingredients that are delicious and nutritious to everyone, gluten intolerant or not.
