GLUTEN AND YOU José watches closely as the pizza dough flies up toward the ceiling It spins in a floppy circle The chef holds her hands out waiting She skillfully catches the dough as it returns Then she hurls it back up into the air With each throw the dough stretches and widens Finally the disc of dough is the right size The chef throws it on the counter The elastic stretchy dough is ready for toppings She layers the dough with sauce cheese and pepperoni She slides it in the oven José sniffs the wonderful aroma of cooking pizza His mouth starts to salivate When the pizza arrives at the Pizza dough is often made of wheat flour which has gluten 5
table he quickly grabs BAKING WITH GLUTEN a piece Folding the When water is added to flour warm soft crust in half and the mixture is kneaded gluten strengthens the dough he takes a chewy bite It makes the dough elastic and stretchy Without gluten As he devours the the dough would break apart delicious meal he's The yeast in the dough has probably not thinking a chemical reaction with the flour This releases carbon about gluten But he's dioxide The gas expands as eating it Gluten is a the dough is heated Because of gluten the dough can hold mixture of proteins the expanding bubbles of gas It's found in wheat and This causes the dough to rise other grains It gives the dough its flexible stretchy quality That gluten is now heading straight into José's body THROUGH THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM From the moment he starts to salivate José's digestive system goes to work He chews the pizza It mixes with Pizza is a popular food It can be made with many toppings but it usually has a flour crust 6
