Gluten gets a bad rap. In recent years, it’s become the most vilified component of our food this side of high-fructose corn syrup.
And while it may be trendy to say you’re going gluten-free, the truth of the matter is, unless you’re among the 1 percent of the population with celiac disease, gluten may not be your enemy.
Humans have been eating flour for thousands of years, and it’s no exaggeration to say that the discovery of the milling process is probably one of the most important innovations in history. It helped build civilization and led to an increased life span for our ancient ancestors.
Flour is not necessarily the problem, but the way we prepare it may be. Like so much in our modern world, industrialization may have stolen what was originally good about our food.
Bread has a pretty simple ingredient list: flour, water, salt, and beginning more than 5,000 years ago, a leavening agent, such as yeast. It’s not clear how yeast came to be introduced into bread, but it most likely occurred by accident, and what those long-ago bakers noticed was that its addition caused the bread to rise, making it lighter and fluffier.
What they didn’t know back then is what we know now—that the introduction of yeast to the dough not only changes its texture, it changes its chemical makeup.
When we add yeast to dough, the yeast begins eating the sugar in the flour, releasing carbon dioxide as a by-product (which makes your dough puff up). The fermentation process also breaks down the gluten protein into smaller pieces, making it easier for our bodies to digest and increasing its nutritional value. Think of it this way: Fermentation does part of the job of your digestive system: the gluten is being broken down before it even enters your stomach, so all you have to do is take its nutrition once it arrives. Fermentation also lowers bread’s glycemic index number, meaning it will be less likely to raise your blood sugar. This is critical because frequent blood sugar spikes can trigger insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes and more immediately, cause cravings and extreme hunger when it dips.
Long ago, bread was different. Simpler. It wasn’t made from highly processed flour, and it didn’t roll out of giant factories, presliced. It was made more carefully, often with a sourdough starter, and allowed to rise for many hours, if not days. Only in the 20th century have new industrial baking techniques made it possible to churn out a loaf ready to eat in about 3 hours.
Bread—and pizza crust—wasn’t meant to be produced this way. We’ve sacrificed speed for nutrition, and we’re doing our bodies harm in the process of making baking more profitable. Celiac disease—intolerance of gluten—is now about four times more prevalent than it was 50 years ago, and doctors aren’t quite sure why. One theory suggests it may have to do with the quickie, industrialized bread-making techniques and the way that gluten is not sufficiently broken down before it’s eaten.
Celiac disease is caused by an abnormal immune-system response to gluten that can damage the lining of the small intestine. The damage can often hinder absorption of nutrients. Sometimes the symptoms are obvious—diarrhea, anemia, bone pain, and a severe skin rash with the scary name of dermatitis herpetiformis. Often, however, celiac disease presents no symptoms at all. As a result, only about 5 to 10 percent of cases are diagnosed correctly in the United States. In some cases, those who think they’re gluten intolerant might just be intolerant to the overly refined wheat that’s so prevalent in America. And many times, those who can’t tolerate wheat gluten are able to tolerate other grains that contain gluten, such as kamut, for example.
Demand for wheat has exploded over the years, forcing industrial farming companies to create new strains of the plant and new ways to increase the yield. Monsanto operates a so-called Wheat Technology Center. Personally, I’d prefer my wheat to have as little to do with technology as possible. And what are these new types of wheat, and the pesticides that go with them, doing to our bodies? We don’t yet know for sure, but it could be that they’re responsible for this seeming rise in celiac disease.
Stress, believe it or not, can also cause gluten intolerance. So how do you know if you actually suffer from celiac disease or if your issue is due to work stress? The only way to know for sure is to undergo a battery of tests. Those who have celiac disease should probably steer clear of gluten, but what about those who don’t?
Gluten-free has become a trendy diet fad, and these days, the supermarket shelves are stocked with all sorts of products piously proclaiming their lack of gluten. Sales of these products grew 34 percent annually from 2009 to 2014, and total sales are predicted to reach a massive $2.34 billion in 2019, according to Packaged Facts. And the reason for the booming sales is that consumers believe these products are more healthful.
But are they? Not exactly. They’re often loaded with starch, which acts very similarly to sugar in the digestive system. A gluten-free diet can also lead to nutritional deficiencies, such as a lack of B vitamins, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, and fiber.
Following diets that shun gluten, such as paleo, may not be a healthy alternative. A 2014 study published in the journal Cell Metabolism found that people in middle age who ate a diet high in animal protein were four times more likely to die of cancer than those who ate a low-protein diet. Deciding to arbitrarily go gluten-free might not just hit you in the gut; it could hit you in the wallet. A 2007 survey found that the gluten-free products cost twice as much as conventional ones.
In short, it’s time to embrace pizza—even if you’re someone who is sensitive to gluten. I’ve had numerous customers who claim to be gluten intolerant come to my restaurant, eat my pizza and have no ill effects. They claim it’s the only pizza they can eat. They might be on to something.
In 2011, the medical journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology published a study involving a group of people who suffered from celiac disease. The subjects were split into three groups and fed bread that had been fermented for different amounts of time. And guess what happened? The people who ate the regular or only mildly fermented bread got sick—some so much that they had to drop out of the study. The patients who ate the highly fermented bread reported “no clinical complaints.” In other words, gluten-free people were able to eat gluten if it was prepared in the right way.
This is what I believe. This is what I’ve discovered in my own life. You do not need to cut pizza out of your life. When the dough is prepared the right way, it can be good for you and part of a well-rounded diet. You’ll learn how to do just that in chapter 5.