神马东西第212篇原创
Nowadays if you go to the grocery stores or restaurants, you will notice "Gluten Free" labels and menus are poping up overall the place. Some people may think what fad diet do those hippies come up with this time? And it looks like it's getting popular. After all, there are all sorts of concepts of sugar-free, meat-free, dairy-free, fat-free, cholestrol free, so it's just another thing. For those of you who are not familiar with it, I offer today to take you for a quick look at the gluten free concept and how I believe it's different from some fad diet and is probably here to stay.
在美国遍地都是近些年逐渐开始流行的“无麸质”食品，商店，餐馆，便利店，随处可见。一些人觉得大概是又有人闲着没事儿搞了个新的流行饮食，毕竟有很多先例比如像无糖，无肉，无奶，无脂肪，无胆固醇，现在又搞了个无麸质。没听过又好奇的朋友，我今天就聊一聊无麸质饮食，带你探个究竟。
What food contains gluten?
什么是麸质食品？
Gluten is a mixture of proteins found in wheat and related grains, including barley, rye, oat, etc. It's what gives the dough the elastic texture. It's in many many common foods, such as breads, cakes, cereal, pastas, pizza, soy sauce, and even beer. A lot of prossessed food also contains gluten.
麸质俗语就是面筋，是一系列蛋白质，存在于小麦和其他一些谷类如大麦，黑麦，燕麦等等。它使得面有弹性，很多食物里都有面筋，面包，蛋糕，面条，比萨饼，酱油，甚至啤酒，很多半成食品也含有面筋。
To maintain a gluten-free diet, one needs to be very disciplined. It's very easy to break it. It's really not for people who just think it's cool to be gluten-free. It's not cool. It's arguably more difficult than a vegetarian diet.
这使得坚持无麸质饮食很有难度，需要极度自律。一般不是为了酷或流行而做无麸质饮食的人能做的了的，几乎比吃素还难。
So you've got to have a really good reason to give up all that deliciousness, right? Which leads to the next point:
那么，放弃诸多美食要有个好理由吧？不错，下面介绍：
Who's on a gluten free diet? (why do people do it?)
谁吃无麸质？为什么要吃无麸质？
I still remember that I was shocked when a friend of mine told me that she was allergic to noodles about eight years ago. Coming from the Chinese culture, it is unheard of and was beyond my comprehension. How can that be?! Everyone eats noodles. I love noodles and have been eating it all my life! It's delicious! I was in denial.
我还记得一个中国朋友告诉我她对面条过敏时我极度惊讶的心情。从中国文化角度出发，这简直是件无法理喻的事。这怎么可能？大家都吃面条，我吃了一辈子的面条都没事，这么好吃的东西。我拒绝接受。
Then I found out about Celiac Disease. Apparently, there is a group of people who do not process gluten well. They get abdominal cramping, diarrhea, nutrition deficiencies and a host of other symptoms when they consume foods containing gluten.
后来得知有一种病叫乳糜泻。原来有一些人不能正常消化面筋，吃了面筋他们就会小腹抽动，腹泻，还会导致营养不良和很多其它病征。
And then, there are people who have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. These people might not have severe reactions to gluten like Celiac Disease people, but they could also experience a range of symptoms such like bloating, abdominal discomfort or pain, constipation, brain fog and chronic fatigue. Some estimates put 10% of the general population in this category.
还有一些人属于非浮靡泻麸质过敏。这类人一般不会有像乳糜泻病人一样剧烈的反映，但是他们也遇到一些问题，比如腹胀，腹痛及不适，便秘，头脑不清和慢性疲劳等等。有些统计预计10%左右的人属于此类。
Needless to say, if you are one of these people, you probably want to avoid gluten, if you are aware of it. I wasn't until I did researches that led to series of revelations, thinking back on the frequent than normal episodes of abdominal pain, bloating, diarrahea and constipation in my early life. Our next question is:
毋庸置疑，要是知道自己属于这类人肯定不想吃面筋了。我直到阅览了很多相关资料，对自己早年多得不正常的腹胀，腹痛，腹泻和便秘等症状加以对比诊断，才知道自己原来有这个问题。
Why? (How does it work?)
为什么会有人有这种病？
You might think the same I did eight years ago. How is it that such a common popular food that's almost in everything can hurt someone's health?
你现在的想法可能和8年前我的一样：这么普遍而收欢迎的食物怎么会破坏人的健康呢？
Celiac disease is classified as an autoimmune disease, which means the immune system attacks your own body. In this case, it's the immune system attacks the small intestines after consuming gluten. There're theories that speculate gluten has toxic effect on the body which is why the body is trying to minimize the exposure to it by limiting absorption through attacking itself.
乳糜泻病被归为自身免疫病，自身免疫病指的是免疫系统攻击自己的身体。乳糜泻的情况是摄入面筋后免疫系统会攻击小肠（绒毛）。一些理论认为身体在辨别面筋对自身有害的之后发起对消化系统的攻击从而达到不吸收有害的面筋的作用。
Other gluten sensitivities could be due to its actual toxic effect.
But, you may ask, we as human have been consuming it for thousands of years. Wouldn't we have known it better? All I can say is that it doesn't kill you, at least not immediately. It may or may not be killing you slowly, but it certainly can make some people's lives not as enjoyable.
其它面筋过敏的症状很可能就是面筋被吸收之后的微毒作用。此时你也许会想，人类吃谷子吃了上千年，难道还不知道它有毒吗？对此我看只能说它不足以杀死人，至少不会马上致死，也许慢慢会，但是它的确给一些人的正常生活添了些不适和麻烦。
If you are intruged, or thinking you might have some symptoms, you might ask:
看到这里的都是感兴趣的读者，或者自身也有过敏感受的人，你可能会问：
How do you know if you are gluten intolerant?
怎么知道自己有没有麸质过敏（统称）呢？
There are tests that can diagnose gluten intolerant including blood test and intestinal biopsy. But there isn't a conclusive method to detect all different levels of gluten sensitivity.
验血和小肠切片测试可以化验出是否麸质过敏，但不是完全准确可靠。
The best way is probably to remove it from your diet for a period of time, say 60 days. Then add it back in and see if you feel any difference. If you feel better while gluten-free and feel worst when adding it back. You probably have some level of sensitivity.
最好的检验方法实际上是试行短期无麸质饮食，比如60天不吃面筋，看看自己健康状况会不会变好。然后再慢慢加入面筋，如果有不良反映，很可能就是麸质过敏的缘故。
If you suspect you do, I encourage you to try it or at least look into it. If you are indifferent or have no concern about your health related to gluten, I'm happy to have shared what I know and hope to have brought awareness to this issue that impacts many people I know.
如果你觉得自己有可能麸质过敏，我鼓励你试验一番或者再多了解一下这方面的知识。如果你确定自己没关系，我也很开心能够分享我的心得并让大家了解有此种过敏的人群。
(The End)
