Before knowing about the fact whether there is gluten in popcorn or not, Let’s check out some of the amazing facts about Gluten first:
- What is gluten?
- Necessary to avoid Gluten
- What is Celiac Disease?
- Causes Of Celiac Disease
- Symptoms and Effects Of Celiac Disease
- The celiac symptoms with the adult
- The celiac symptoms with the children
- Effects of gluten in celiac-prone patients
- Appropriate treatment for celiac
- Functions of gluten in our body
- Is there gluten in popcorn
- Role of maize prolamins
- Fact I verified
- Conclusion
What is Gluten?
Gluten is a kind of protein that is often found in cereals we eat, such as wheat, barley, rye, and many other kinds of cereal we use in our day-to-day nutriment. Now suddenly a question arises in our mind is that why gluten is present in these cereals which we often include in our diet to reduce weight? Is gluten good for weight loss? Yes, the same struck in my mind too. Let us know a little more about gluten to find the answer.
Gluten is a French word that means a sticky substance. Do you remember glue? Yes, the same sticky substance we use to stick the paper and other materials. Gluten gives elasticity to these cereals and a shape to them. Have you ever noticed while kneading a wheat dough for Bread, Pasta, Crackers, Cookies, pretzels, and pies, how it is so sticky? It is because of the presence of gluten in the wheat. It also gives shape and texture to the dough.
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Necessary to avoid gluten:
Not all of us need to ensure the presence of gluten in our diet.
Gluten is not harmful to everyone but at the same time not good to everyone too. People who are prone to Celiac Disease should have Gluten-Free Diet in their day-to-day life. Gluten is dangerous to them as it affects their digestive immune.
Celiac-prone people are “gluten sensitive”. If they include Gluten in their daily diet, it may show the symptoms of bloating, diarrhea, severe abdominal pain.
What is Celiac Disease?
Celiac disease is a severe autoimmune disease that occurs due to genetically predisposed people where the ingestion (the process of in taking the food, drink, or any other substance into the body by swallowing or absorbing it) of gluten, damage the small intestine.
It is estimated that 1 in 100 people worldwide is affected by celiac disease. The most astonishing fact is that nearly two and a half million Americans are affected by Celiac Diseases that are not even diagnosed.
When the Celiac disease person intakes gluten into their body, it reacts severely and the immune system of the small intestine is affected. This may result in damage on the villi a small finger-like projection that helps in nutrition absorption in our body. When the nutrition is not absorbed properly it may lead to many other diseases.
CAUSES OF CELIAC DISEASE:
There is no definite cause for celiac disease in the human body. The research has said that most of the people affected by celiac disease are due to their family genes. If a close relation of a person such as siblings, mother, father, grandmother, and grandfather is affected by celiac disease there is a one percent chance that the younger generation or another member of the family is prone to be affected by this disease.
The other major cause of celiac is that lifestyle or medical stress such as surgery, heavy medication. Emotional stress and pregnancy and other stress in our body causeceliac disease in our body.
Infant feeding practices, gastrointestinal infections, and bacteria in the gut may also contribute to celiac disease.
SYMPTOMS AND EFFECTS OF CELIAC DISEASE:
The signs of celiac differ from person to person. The symptoms may differ between adults and children.
THE CELIAC SYMPTOMS WITH THE ADULT
- Diarrhea
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Bloating and Gas
- Severe Abdominal Pain
- Nausea and Vomiting
- Constipation
The celiac symptoms often can be non-digestive symptoms also which are as follows
- Anemia caused due to iron deficiency
- Loss of bone density (osteoporosis) or softening of the bone (osteomalacia)
- Itchy, blistery skin rashes (dermatitis herpetiform). The rashes usually occur on the elbows, Knees, Torso- other main parts of the body rather than the head, arms, and legs.
- Headaches and fatigues
- Mouth ulcer
- Nervous system injury, including numbness and prickling in the feet and hands, Cognitive impairment – Disease that causes trouble in remembering, learning new things.
- Joint Pains
- Hyposplenism – Reduce the function of the Spleen such as removing the damaged RBC (Red Blood Cells) of our body.
THE CELIAC SYMPTOMS WITH THE CHILDREN
The children with prone to celiac disease shall suffer from the digestive problem and may have symptoms of
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Swollen belly
- Foul-smelling and stools
- Constipation
- Gastritis
When the digestive system of our body is affected, our body may not absorb proper nutrition from our diet. This inability to absorb the proper nutrition from our diet may result in the following symptoms.
- Improper growth in infants
- The enamel of the tooth can be damaged.
- Loss of Weight
- The person shall not have proper height upon their age. (Loss of stature).
- The puberty of the infants may be delayed due to the improper absorption of nutrition.
- The nervous system of our body may also be affected and shows the symptoms of learning disability, ADHD (Attention-Deficit /hyperactivity disorder).
EFFECTS OF GLUTEN IN CELIAC-PRONE PATIENTS
As listed above, taking a gluten diet by celiac-prone patients may affect the digestive system and small intestine. Over a period, the reaction of indigestion may cause damages in the small intestine lining and also results in malabsorption of nutrients. This may result in Weight loss, Anemia, delayed puberty, short saturations, etc.
If there is no appropriate treatment provided to celiac disease in the starting stage itself it may also lead the patients to be affected by cancer, lymphoma cancer- a cancer which affect the immune system that fights with germs. Gluten-sensitive can also lead to lactose sensitivity that is the patients may also be sensitive to dairy products.
When the immune systems of our body are affected by celiac over a period the patients are prone to be affected by lupus. Lupus is a disease that causes inflammation in various parts of our body such as skin, joints, lungs kidneys, blood cells even the heart and brain.
The inappropriate treatment of celiac may also cause the patients affected by various other diseases such as irritable bowel systems, scleroderma a disease that tightens and harden the skin.
There is another type of Celiac Disease, which is called Non- Responsive Celiac Disease. Though the Celiac person takes a gluten-free Diet, The Symptoms of gluten sensitivity continue in their body this is called Non- Responsive Celiac Disease or Refractory Celiac Disease. This symptom often continues because, the Celiac- Prone person still takes the gluten in their diet as they are unaware of the presence of the gluten.
In some people the gluten-free diet may initially respond to Celiac then after some period, again they start to experience the symptoms of celiac disease. Even in Some people, the symptoms continue because of unrelated conditions of Celiac Disease including bacterial overgrowth and lactose intolerance.
Appropriate Treatment for Celiac
The first and foremost thing to be done by a celiac patient is to consult a doctor when the patient is suffering from diarrhea or any other digestive problems that lasts for more than two weeks.
If a child is suffering from irritable bowel system or affected by statured growth, potbelly, foul-smelling, and bulky stool doctors are to be immediate and timely consultation of doctor is must.
The doctors are to be consulted before taking the gluten-free diet. If the gluten-free diet is taken previous to the consultation of the doctors the test results may change as per the current body condition. So it is highly recommended to take the Doctor’s consultation before starting the gluten-free diet.
FUNCTIONS OF GLUTEN IN OUR BODY:
As already mentioned above gluten is dangerous to people who are prone to celiac disease,
The astonishing fact is that gluten does not provide essential nutrients to the human body. At the same time, it is also not a bad protein for people other than those suffering from celiac disease. As mentioned earlier Gluten is not harmful to everyone but at the same time not good to everyone too.
Is there Gluten in Popcorn
Now we shall explore gluten in popcorn. There is no gluten present in corn, corn is naturally gluten-free. Corn is even used as an alternative for wheat for the gluten-sensitive prone person.
Now the question that arises in our mind is that whether the gluten-sensitive person can eat popcorn.
The fact is that corn does not contain gluten naturally. There is a protein named prolamins which are used as additive and preservative for many types of cereals. These Prolamins may cause digestive problems and other celiac symptom for a gluten-sensitive person.
Role of Maize Prolamins
Prolamins are generally considered as seed preservatives that are used to preserve seed or cereal-type consumer goods.
Glutens consist of mainly two proteins which are named Gliadins and prolamins. Since gluten consists of prolamins within them, the celiac-affected persons consuming the cereals that are preserved by using the prolamins may show the symptoms of their gluten sensitivity.
Fact I verified
Corn in its natural form is gluten-free. However, be on the lookout for gluten in corn that comes in a sauce or with any other ingredients, as they could contain the protein. Regardless of the type of corn you purchase, always double-check the ingredients label to make sure the product is truly gluten-free. Get help on reading food labels.
CONCLUSION
To sum up, with whether there is gluten in popcorn, Corn does not contain gluten naturally but popcorn may contain gluten.
Corns are naturally gluten-free but prolamins are added to corn as additives or preservatives. The Prolamins is a preservative that is used as a preservative of the cereals and seeds we consume in our diet. The glutens contain two other proteins inside it they are Giladin and prolamins. Thus, the prolamins are part of gluten so when these preservatives are added to corn the corn is gluttoned which makes adverse reactions on the celiac-prone person. So, celiac-prone persons must be attentive in buying the cereals which are preserved by using prolamins. Therefore, celiac disease persons are highly recommended to check, whether the ingredients mention in the package of the corn or any other form of corn such as popcorn, corn sauce, etc., contain gluten. The Celiac person is also highly recommended to use only gluten-free mentioned products in their diet.