Why are some people intolerant to gluten?

February 24, 2025February 25, 2025

Consuming gluten if you are intolerant is at best unpleasant and at worst dangerous. Gluten intolerance is a fairly common condition and you may be curious as to why.

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What is gluten

Gluten is a protein that is found in many grains such as wheat, rye, and barley. It may be found in oats if they have been processed with gluten-containing foods. It is often extracted to add to other foods to increase texture, shape, and protein or to bind processed foods together.

Protease is the enzyme that breaks down proteins but it does not work completely on gluten, meaning that undigested gluten gets into the small intestine. Generally, this is not a problem, but in some people, it triggers an auto-immune response.

Gluten intolerance

Research into gluten intolerance is ongoing, but it may be that the small intestine in sufferers has a lining that is too permeable, allowing undigested gluten into the bloodstream, resulting in inflammation.

People who are gluten intolerant may have a condition that causes this. Coeliac disease is an auto-immune condition that means sufferers experience damage to the small intestine if they consume gluten. Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity results in gluten-causing gastrointestinal irritation. Gluten ataxia is a neurological autoimmune disorder that causes the body to attack the brain in response to gluten. Other people who think they are gluten intolerant may actually have an allergy to wheat and would be fine with gluten from other sources.

The good news for the gluten intolerant is that shops now stock a range of gluten-free products and restaurants will usually have clearly labelled gluten-free items on menus. Even products that are typically packed with gluten, such as afternoon tea boxes with their scones, cakes, and sandwiches, will often have a gluten-free version, such as at https://www.afternoonteabox.com/.

Is gluten bad?

For most people, gluten is not a problem, but it has become fashionable to cut it out for weight loss, although it is more likely to be other ingredients in processed foods that cause weight gain. If you think you should stop eating gluten, you should first seek medical advice.