the.com/gluten
The protein that makes bread chewy and dinner parties exhausting.
means A pair of proteins (glutenin and gliadin) found in wheat and related grains that form a stretchy, elastic network when mixed with water, giving dough its structure and bread its chew.
from Straight from Latin gluten, meaning 'glue' — the same root that gives us 'agglutinate.' An 18th-century Italian chemist isolated the sticky wheat protein and, noting its paste-like, binding quality, named it for exactly what it does: hold things together.
- actual culprit
- only a problem for celiacs and the truly sensitive
- word origin
- latin for glue, which checks out
- found in
- wheat, barley, rye, and suspiciously labeled sauces
- gluten-free boom
- a billion-dollar industry built on 1 percent celiac rate