Interesting Food Facts
An increasing number of people have been developing food intolerances and insensitivities. Gluten and sugar are two items that many people need to stay away from. Below are some facinating facts about both of these areas.
Agave
Agave nectar is a wonderful alternative sweetener. Even though it has been around for a long time, Agave nectar has only recently been introduced to most of us. The introduction of this new sweetener is timely as it has a relatively low glycemic index due to its higher proportion of fructose and lower levels of glucose. This fact should prove attractive to those with special diet considerations or who monitor glucose intake. It is both organic and kosher. It has approx 1.4 x the sweetening power of white sugar.
Gluten
Gluten is a protein contained in the grains wheat, barley, rye, and oats. This is what gives a doughy/elastic consistency to flours derived from these grains. According to Dr. Fine at Entero Lab, the gluten-containing grains we eat today are actually domesticated, genetically hybridized versions of what originally were wild grasses. Wild grass, being what it is, a wild plant, may possess some toxicity. Some individuals possess certain genes that recognize gluten for the foreign protein that it is. The ensuing reaction of our body, gluten sensitivity, is a natural survival mechanism to protect itself from the foreign toxic protein that it thinks gluten is. This happens when there is an ongoing immune reaction to gluten in the diet. This reaction varies depending on how sensitive a person is to gluten.
Gluten intolerance affects as many as 1 in 133 Americans. This intolerance can be inherited, lie dormant for years and then be activated by some form of life stress. The only way to avoid the accompanying symptoms and risks to people with this problem is to remove gluten from their diets.