I know it can be very serious if someone has celiac disease. I read recently of a 55 year old man who was very sick and in serious danger of dying. He kept deteriorating and nothing seemed to help. Then, someone thought to test him for sensitivity to gluten. Bingo! That was the problem. When he stopped getting gluten, he made fast progress toward health.
I guess anyone can develop an adverse reaction to gluten at any age. More and more, I see gluten-free products. Noticing some in a store, my brother-in-law wondered if he could get extra gluten. He wondered what is done with gluten that is removed from grain products. Trying to get extra gluten might be of interest one way or another.
I am have a similar question for caffeine. I saw a picture in a Scientific American article once of a man with an actual shovel heaving great loads of some sort of grayish goo out of a vat and the caption said he was shoveling caffeine. I wonder what is done with caffeine that is removed from coffee and other sources.
It seems that the question "Can I get extra gluten?" is not silly, although the answer in many typical grocery stores in the states might be "Not from us". The gluten is a major source of the protein and is used to raise the protein level of some vegetable foods, according to this article in the Wikipedia.
Various articles I looked at said that diagnoses of gluten sensitivity are on the rise and gettting sick from the stuff is no joke. Shampoos are being made that are specifically gluten-free, both so that a child with the sensitivity who gets some shampoo in the mouth during hair washing won't get sick and also to help people with stronger sensitivity who react to the presence of gluten on their skin.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
