should you go gluten free?

so, just what is gluten?

If you guessed “carbs,” you’re wrong. Gluten is, of all things, a protein. The confusion is in the fact that it’s found in many grains, hence the carbohydrate connection. It’s actually what helps foods maintain their shapes, working as a kind of glue to hold things, like that delicious pizza dough, together. You’ll find gluten in wheat (so breads, cereals, pasta, crackers, cookies, scones, you name it), barley (also in its more popular form—beer) and rye. But it can sneak into processed foods, soups, sauces and salad dressings in the form of thickeners and additives as well.

the celiac connection

One out of every 141 people in the United States has celiac disease, according to what researchers found in 2012 (but many experts think that number is closer to one out of every 100). For people with celiac disease, gluten can actually damage the small