Gluten is a protein, and if you ever saw it on its own you might think it looked like powder for a protein shake. It grows combined with starch and several other nutrients which are all wrapped in a nice little package within the endosperm of certain grains like wheat, rye and barley. When these grains are milled to make flour, the protein stays along for the ride and acts as an elastic substance that traps expanding gasses during baking; that's what gives that great texture to bread made with the elasticity of wheat flour and makes for such a nice chewy consistency.Unfortunately though, for a growing number of people around the world, the infamous protein is difficult, if not impossible to digest. People diagnosed with celiac disease are completely unable to digest wheat, rye and barley. The lining inside the intestines of a celiac sufferer reacts in such a way that their body attacks itself in what's known as an auto-immune response … and it's painful! The only way to avoid this end-result is to stop eating glutenous food altogether.

It's rumored that Europe, the US, Australia, Mexico, and some South American countries have "common" occurrences of celiac disease with diagnoses in the range of one person for every one to three hundred or so. The problem is that there is no accurate information to compare against since gluten-intolerance and celiac disease seem to be some of the most commonly undiagnosed conditions of all. "Under-diagnosis" just means that most people don't rush to the doctor for an upset stomach, and when they do it's rare that the condition is correctly diagnosed as celiac disease or even an intolerance because the symptoms are so generic that they could be mistaken for almost anything.

Gluten is an integral part of wheat, rye and barley grains, and it's believed that wheat was first domesticated around 10,000 BCE. Who's to say that human beings haven't been suffering from intolerance and celiac disease since that long ago. There are interesting references dating back hundreds and even thousands of years that suggest these symptoms did actually exist back then, but it's almost impossible to prove and so it remains a likely but unconfirmed mystery.

Celiac disease usually starts as a mild intolerance, which at first can easily be mistaken for a simple tummy ache or indigestion. The symptoms of intolerance are very hard to recognize, so this is a problem for many people around the world who have this nagging mild discomfort but never do anything about it … why would they. Eventually, when these elusive symptoms are ignored, they can easily turn into a full-blown celiac condition.

Way back when the first farmers started domesticating wheat, rye and barley, they intuitively picked the most robust stalks that could withstand the elements. Over millennia of perfecting the heartiest crops, there seems to have been a negative impact on a significant portion of the human population. Wheat is the most abundantly produced crop in the world, and after thousands of years consuming so much bread, pasta and gluten-rich ingredients, it should come as no surprise that our bodies are reacting somehow, and probably have been for a very long time. Although this may be the catalyst, it most likely is not the true source of the problem ... even back in 200 BC, Plautus urged us to be mindful of "moderation in all things".