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Wheat gluten - friend or foe?

incorporating Recipes and Cooking
Fluke
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Wheat gluten - friend or foe?

#468369

Postby Fluke » December 24th, 2021, 2:56 pm

I'm off to some of the family tomorrow for Christmas dinner, for various practical reasons it's a vegetarian affair, some eat meat but aren't bothered one way or the other, some can't eat dairy or eggs for health reasons, so meat is off but dairy is in but strictly segregated to one end of the table. We've agreed to bring something to go on the table that anyone can eat. I'm going for something I found on the internet (link below) but never tried before, it's a vegan take on honey roast ham. I've done everything except the last bit where you score it, glaze it then put it in the oven for half an hour before serving. I'm a bit nervous because I have never done it before, nor have I tasted it, it's going to be a hit or a flop on the day, I've no idea which.

Anyway, the recipe is quite involved, there are loads of ingredients but the thing that gives it is 'meatiness' (let's not go into why vegans want meatless) is a thing called 'wheat gluten' or 'vital wheat gluten' or 'satain' all these terms are used interchangeably to refer to this product. You buy it in powder form - it looks like a small bag of flour, I'm hoping there are no gluten-free people amongst us.

If you look at the ingredients of anything, but especially anything proclaiming to be suitable for vegetarians/vegans, you'll almost certainly find this ingredient (which worries me - if big food uses it it must be bad, right?). My honey roast ham has 330g of the stuff, I simply can't decide of gluten is a benign thing or evil, if the latter, never mind covid, we could have a medical emergency on our hands.

Any advice but especially reassurance would be most appreciated.

https://www.avantgardevegan.com/recipes/vegan-christmas-ham/

Alaric
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Re: Wheat gluten - friend or foe?

#468374

Postby Alaric » December 24th, 2021, 3:18 pm

Fluke wrote:Any advice but especially reassurance would be most appreciated.


Inveasingly products, particularly sausages, advertise themselves as "gluten free". That usually means it doesn't have wheat flour in it. I believe an allegy to it is relatively common.

chas49
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Re: Wheat gluten - friend or foe?

#468379

Postby chas49 » December 24th, 2021, 3:38 pm

You won't have a medical emergency.

Although the term "gluten allergy" is used by various people - there isn't really a true allergy to glutem

There are some people who are allergic to wheat - but it's not the gluten that caused that.

There are several conditions which can loosely be described as intolerance or sensitivity to gluten. Probably the most common is coeliac disease. A coeliac sufferer needs to avoid all traces of gluten. If they inadvertently consume even a tiny amout, they will probably experience (very) unpleasant symptoms - but not a life-threatening allergic reaction. Repeated or prolonged consumption can cause significant health issues, but one incident will not be an emergency.

If any of your family are coeliac (with a diagnosis), they will tell you what they can eat and what they can't. Essentially no traces of gluten - which means no wheat, barley or rye (and some other grains). Even a product which states "may contain trace" is to be avoided.

HOWEVER - there is no proven health benefit of avoiding gluten unless you actually have a real intolerance or sensitivity to gluten.

So - GF foods are not more healthy - in fact they often contain more sugar or fat as well as other ingredients to try and substitute for the properties of gluten. Unless any of your family are actually gluten-intolerant, there's no need to seek out GF foods.

A reliable source of information can be found here: https://www.coeliac.org.uk/home/


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