Viva Brighton Issue #80 October 2019

FEATURE
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A beginner's guide to...
Gluten
I was recently advised by a nutritionist to
eliminate gluten from my diet and I feel a
whole lot better for doing so. But what is gluten
and why is it such a problem for an increasing
number of people? Elle Fox, from the College of
Naturopathic Medicine, explains.
“Gluten is a protein that is found in quite a few
grains. The reasons it has become a problem
are manifold, but we can boil them down to one
main thing: human intervention. We've come
a long way from the ancient agrarian societies
who discovered that they could cultivate grasses
for food. We’ve cross-fertilised and hybridised
modern wheat to produce something that is
(supposedly) bigger and better, with greater
yield and greater resistance to pests. But it bears
no resemblance to the original steppe grasses
that our ancestors were used to, and the gluten
content is higher.”
Gluten gives bread its body and its springiness,
but it is a complex molecule that is hard for
our bodies to break down and modern food
production methods don’t help. “If you look
at traditional societies, bread was not made in
two and a half hours, as the bread you find in
supermarkets is today. Now we use genetically
modified yeast to make the bread rise very
quickly, so there isn’t enough time for the
micro-organisms to break down the gluten and
starches. That’s why wholegrain sourdough, made
over 24-48 hours, can be very well tolerated by
people who are otherwise intolerant to gluten.
The micro-organisms have started the digesting
for you.”
Other even more insidious substances find their
way into our food and further compound the
problem, explains Elle. “We have also introduced
pesticides and other toxins. For example,
glyphosate – a weed killer and mould reducer – is
sprayed on the crops many times a year and at no
point is it effectively removed. So, when you pair
a difficult to digest substance like gluten – which
is effectively like glue – with a toxic agent like
glyphosate, it hangs around in the gut, setting
off alarm signals from the immune system. The
gut is intimately connected with the skin and the
lungs so allergenic reactions might manifest as
problems with the sinuses, the ears, the throat or
the skin. And gluten is the major aggravator for
sufferers of inflammatory bowel conditions like
Coeliac and Crohn’s disease. Any amount will
make them very poorly.”
Elle believes that many of these conditions are
the inevitable result of a broken food production
system and takes the naturopathic perspective
that they can be greatly rehabilitated by healing
the gut with good bacteria and by eating foods
that are gut friendly.
“Processed food is not friendly to the body.
At CNM we’re hoping to re-educate people
that local food, organically grown and eaten in
season is the best thing you can give yourself.
It’s not grains that we should demonise but the
production methods. It’s part of a larger problem:
the commodification of food.”
Lizzie Lower
Visit naturopathy-uk.com to find out more about
CNM courses or join them at their open events
on the 2nd of October or the 9th of November at
Brighton Aldridge Community Academy.
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