translated from Spanish: What is gluten and what causes it, foods that contain it

Over the past few years, a discussion has broken out about whether gluten is a harmful substance to the body and you’ve probably wondered if it’s healthier to buy gluten-free products. In the following lines we explain what gluten is, what foods are present and what effects it could have on your body. Read more: The 7 nuts with the most protein, ideal for diets
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What is gluten?
Gluten is a soluble protein compound that is present in some cereals, mainly wheat, oats, barley and rye. It is the substance responsible for giving consistency, thickness and elasticity of food made with certain grains. It has a low nutritional value, but plays an important role in the production of foods produced with cereals. He is responsible for the fluffy bread, of elasticing the dough to shape the pastas, thickens your beer and thickens the oat flakes at your breakfast.  What causes gluten in the body?
Gluten is a natural part of the grain of these cereals and is not toxic or harmful on its own, but there are people who have difficulty digestion and trigger an allergic reaction in their body. This reaction can have as its origin various reasons, can be generated by hereditary causes, by allergy to a certain cereal grain or simply because the intestines and colon are too sensitive to process an entire cereal grain.What are the foods that contain the most gluten?

wheat
rye
barley 
oat
pasta
french fries
White flours
Tortillas
Buns
beer

Read more: Who shouldn’t eat ginger What are gluten-free foods?
There are other cereals that by their nature do not contain this combination of proteins called gluten, for example rice, maize, sorghum, quinoa, amaranth, among others. Vegetables, legumes and fresh, unprocessed tubers, also do not contain gluten. All nuts except wheat are gluten-free. Nor are all fresh and unprocessed fruits gluten. The same goes for all kinds of red meats, poultry and fresh fish.How can gluten-free foods be identified?
You should always look at the labels of the foods you eat, in some cases it is indicated that they are gluten-free or suitable for celiacs, but not if the legend does not appear you should verify that they do not contain cereals such as barley, wheat, rye, oats or any type of white flour.

Original source in Spanish