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
his saliva The pizza softens into a squishy lump His tongue pushes the lump into his throat From there it moves to his stomach The stomach breaks down the food into its basic parts Those parts become a liquid mixture The liquid leaves his stomach and enters his intestines His intestines absorb the nutrients his body needs The leftovers are removed as waste products in the form of urine and stool Most people's bodies don't have trouble with gluten They can happily eat pizza without a problem But that's not always the case Some people have a bad reaction to gluten The gluten irritates their small intestine They can get abdominal pain or diarrhea Gluten might even damage their digestive system These people need to avoid gluten But most people don't want to avoid pizza They search for gluten free substitutes The words gluten free pop up at restaurants and stores everywhere 8
With a growing demand for gluten free foods many companies are now making gluten free products GLUTEN EVERYWHERE People who can't tolerate gluten eat gluten free food But it's not easy Gluten is everywhere It's in chewy pizza dough and freshly baked bread It's in cereals bagels pasta and crackers Gluten is found in most bakeries restaurants coffee shops and fast food outlets This is a huge problem for those with gluten troubles That's why they're searching for substitutes 9
