What is gluten anyway?

   Usually when I am with people and food is involved I politely decline eating any of it.  If they try to insist I say "no, really, I just ate", or "I had dinner with my family before I came".  Most of the time that is enough.  Sometimes though it isn't and I have to explain that I cannot eat it.  Then the questions start.  I explain that I am gluten intolerant and therefore do not eat anything with gluten in it.  A lot of people say "oh, okay" and leave it at that.  Once in a while I get "oh, you are on that diet kick too?  It seems like everyone is doing that."  Um...no, I just don't feel like eating something that will make me feel miserable for three days.
   What is gluten anyway?  Gluten is a protein found in all forms of wheat. This includes durum, semolina, spelt, einkorn, kamut and faro.  It is also in grains related to wheat like barley, rye and triticale. 
   Gluten is insoluble in water.  When the starch is washed from the wheat grain gluten remains and can be used as additive to other foods in order to increase the protein content. Gluten is what makes bread products have the texture they do.  The higher the gluten content the chewier the finished product is.  Bread flour has more gluten in it than cake flour.  That is why the white bread that kids like so much is so fluffy and chewy.  That bread is made from flour with more gluten in it. 
    Gluten is not only in foods made from flour.  Manufacturers use gluten for many things.  It can be used as the basis for imitation meats.  Why would a wheat protein be found in my vanilla extract?  If the alcohol used to in the extract is made from wheat there will be gluten in it.  Spices can have gluten hidden in it to keep them from clumping. Most soups have gluten in it because they use flour as the thickener.  These are just a few examples of where gluten can be found.
     It is a chore every time I go to the grocery store.  I have to read labels every single time I want to buy something to make sure there is not any gluten in it.  If I am not sure I don't buy it.  If we have cookies or crackers or granola bars in the house it is because I have made them.  I make cupcakes for Hallie if a child in her class is having a birthday so she is not left out of the celebration.  She has to give me any candy she gets so I can make sure it is on the safe list.
   If Hallie accidentally ingests gluten we have a rough couple of days.  Just this week something sneaked into her diet.  I have not figured out what yet but I have an idea.  We had gluten free pizza last night and it probably was handled by someone that had been working with the regular pizza.  Today she was very sensitive.  She was constantly in tears and when asked why she would wail "Caden and Jamie are being mean to me".  We are all in the same house together and they have not been any different than any other time they play together.  She also has had tummy issues  all day. I know from past times that she may not sleep well tonight and tomorrow could be another rough day.  Fortunately after Tuesday we should be back to normal!
     I have printed out lists to have on hand and I visit websites constantly to look up ingredients.  Here are a couple of websites I frequent that may help anyone else that is staying away from gluten.
http://gluteningredients.com/
http://www.celiac.com/
http://www.glutenfreeliving.com/ingredient.php
   I hope this helps families with a starting place to gather information about where gluten can be hiding.  I didn't want to go deep into the science of gluten and make this even harder to understand.  If you do want to research gluten or celiac disease more a good place to start is http://www.celiac.org/. They have a button labeled "Resources" with links to  science reports and experts.