Gluten-Free Baking: Wherefore and Why

There is so much I could say on this topic, and in fact I've been putting off writing this post for two days because the scope of information is so vast it's intimidating.  So, ultimately, I've opted to split this into two posts: the why, and the how. Later on I will follow up with some more concrete science info to back up my assertions & descriptions, but right now I just wanted to touch on the surface of the issue a bit.

So: gluten-free baking.  Why bother?  It's certainly a major challenge: gluten provides the elasticity and binding that most of us take for granted when baking with flour.  It's a double challenge if, like me, you're attempting gluten-free AND vegan baking, because the other food ingredient that traditionally provides elasticity and binding in baked goods is eggs, and I can't eat those either.  But gluten intolerance is becoming a bigger and bigger issue in society today.  For example, when I used to volunteer at a theatre festival selling ice cream, I was frequently asked which  ice cream products were gluten-free.  People were always excited when they realized I actually knew the answer.  And while I now am trying to follow a gluten-free (or at least gluten-low) diet myself, I actually started learning about gluten-free baking so I could bake for gluten-intolerant friends.  So I'm guessing most readers probably know someone in their life who have issues with wheat or gluten.  But before one can go about accommodating these restrictions, it's important to know what exactly your (or your friend's) sensitivity is.
Some reasons why someone might adopt a gluten-free diet:

• Celiac disease (CD): celiac is actually an auto-immune disease*, which results in incredible sensitivity to gluten.  Even trace amounts of gluten can cause major symptoms in Celiac individuals.  (For instance, did you know that there's gluten in most conventional soy sauces?  That's enough to make someone with CD very ill).  Eating gluten leads to major inflammation of the intestine, which over time can cause permanent damage, and also seriously impairs the body's ability to absorb nutrients from food.  (Risk factors for CD can also be inherited, so for those of us who have a relative with CD, it's worth paying attention to our own reactions to gluten over our lifetime)

• Gluten sensitivity: this term is a bit contraversial, but I mean it in fairly generic non-medical terms: someone who reacts to gluten but isn't celiac (and thus isn't necessarily quite as sensitive to trace amounts of gluten).

• Wheat allergy: while gluten is the most common allergen in wheat, there are other proteins that someone can develop an allergy to.  People who are reactive to wheat, rather than gluten, have a different list of alternate foods available to them, because there are several gluten-containing grains which more easily replace wheat than the gluten-free alternatives.

• Behavioural reasons: there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that suggests a gluten-free (and casein-free, i.e. no milk protein) diet can help lower symptoms of autism and Attention Deficit Disorder. Based on my VERY brief review of the literature, it looks like scientific studies on gluten-free diets and autism are fairly recent, and somewhat contradictory; it appears there's some evidence to support the theory, but not all reports have shown effects, and there's a fair amount of bias involved (parents who know their kids are on the treatment are more likely to expect to see improvement, and it's hard to hide a gluten-free diet because it's so restrictive).  I really want to do more (and proper) research on this topic, and will probably post about it sometime in future; for now, all I really wanted to say is that I do know people who've adopted a gluten-free diet for these reasons, and for the purpose of this post, these people are probably following a similar diet to people with gluten-sensitivities or CD.

*Immunology side-note for those who are interested: An auto-immune disease means that the body's immune system is actively attacking itself.  Most of the time, when someone is allergic to something, their body mistakes that something as a dangerous invader and mounts a response - the symptoms we experience (a rash, or sneezing, or digestive pain) are signs of inflammation.  (Rather like when we get the flu shot, we feel like we've gotten the flu - many of the symptoms we experience any time we're sick are because of what our body is doing to fight the invader, not what the invader is doing to us).  Auto-immune disease takes this problem to a new level.  In celiac disease, inflammation (swelling of the tissue, increased mucus, and lots of visiting immune cells) causes a great deal of the symptoms.  But in CD, the presence of gluten also tricks the body into thinking that certain of our body's own proteins are "invaders" that need to be destroyed.  So our body starts attacking itself, which makes the symptoms that many times worse, and can lead to serious damage over time.

So, how does one go about accommodating these restrictions?  I'm going to post more about the actual nitty-gritty how to's of gluten-free baking, but for the moment I wanted to clear up a few common areas of confusion:

• Contrary to its name, glutinous rice doesn't actually contain gluten.  So for those of you who, like me, quite enjoy sticky rice and mochi, do not fear.

• Similarly, despite the name, buckwheat isn't actually at all related to wheat.  (It's related to rhubarb though, which is possibly my favourite piece of random foodie trivia.)  It's also gluten-free and safe for people with gluten allergies to eat.

•  Spelt & kamut: both spelt** & kamut are types of wheat.  Kamut is an ancient wheat that isn't processed in the same way as modern grains.  Spelt is a wheat relative.  Both contain gluten, although spelt contains less gluten than common wheat.  Some people with wheat allergies are able to tolerate kamut (because it's less processed) or spelt (because it has lower levels of gluten).  I personally can tolerate spelt better than I can wheat, but I do know there's a risk that if I eat a high-spelt diet, I will develop an allergy to it as well.  Spelt is absolutely out for people with CD, and people with gluten sensitivities should probably stay away as well.  It is, however, much easier to bake with spelt than with most truly gluten-free flours, so if you are able to eat it, it will make your baking life easier.  Also, spelt is one alternative for people who aren't necessarily allergic, but are just trying to decrease their wheat consumption.

• Rye & barley: both rye and barley contain gluten.  People with wheat allergies that aren't gluten-specific may be able to tolerate rye and barley, but people with gluten sensitivities should stay away.  (Keep in mind that malt products are derived from barley, and as such aren't gluten-free either)

• Oats: oats are very controversial on the gluten-free front.  From what I can tell, common wisdom now holds that oats themselves don't contain gluten, but current manufacturing process means that most oats gets contaminated with a certain amount of gluten.  I do believe there are companies in the United States who market gluten-free oats (oats which have been manufactured in a way there's no cross-contamination).  I personally don't worry about oats in my own baking, but I haven't to date baked for anyone with CD.  There is a level of care (which extends to my baking instruments as well as my ingredients) required when baking for that level of reactivity. 

• Corn, rice, buckwheat, sorghum, potato, and tapioca are commonly used flour alternatives (there are other less-commonly used alternatives as well).  Millet &; quinoa are tasty grains which can be used in cooking.  (I like millet as a couscous substitute, and quinoa is just generally delicious and awesome).

• Not so much applicable in baking as in cooking, but gluten is used in a lot of flavouring and thickening agents, and also as a protein supplement (most obviously seitan, a gluten-based meat substitute).  And as I mentioned earlier, gluten is also present in most soya products (soy sauce, and derivatives like Worcestershire sauce and Teriyaki).  So if you're considering a gluten-free diet, be careful and read up!

**Completely bio-nerdy site note: spelt is a hexaploid grain!  What does that mean, you ask?  Well, all cells have their genetic material divided into chromosomes (distinct large physical molecules).  Most organisms have two pairs of each chromosome (so for example, we have 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a total of 46).  Paired chromosomes contain the same genes, but may have different versions of them.  (Rather as if I were to compare, for example, two different left shoes.  Both are going to be about the same size (presuming they're both mine), and will have heels and soles and tops, etc.  But each of those parts might be different (eg. flat heel vs high heel), even though both shoes HAVE a heel on the bottom of the back half of the shoe).  Some plants, however, got fancy, and ended up with more than 2 sets of chromosomes.  Common wheat is tetraploid, i.e. it was has four sets of chromosomes.  And spelt went even further, and is hexaploid, i.e. it has six different sets of any one given chromosome.  Crazy!

Some practical tips and tricks for gluten-free baking to follow, but in the meantime, I hope that helped clarify (albeit complicate) the wonderful world of grains, and who can eat them.

If you have any questions about any of the material, or want to know more about any particular issue, please drop me a comment.  (And I admit that while I've tried my best to research the issues, there is a LOT of material out there on gluten-free cooking, and it's possible that I've made an error or misrepresented a point.  If that's true, corrections always welcomed and humbly accepted).

(And if anyone got the Gordon Lightfoot song reference in the post title, quadruple bonus points!!!)