Gluten

Food · Pantry & Condiment · Food, Typed Supps

The stretchy protein in wheat, sold on its own. Harmless for most people, genuinely dangerous for those with coeliac disease.

Stage by stage

Intake (Mouth): Rehydrated gluten sets into a dense, chewy network that eats like meat.
Digestion (Stomach and small intestine): Proteases break most of it down, but proline-rich gliadin peptides resist cleavage and survive intact.
Absorption (Small intestine): Amino acids are absorbed normally; the protein is complete but limiting in lysine.
Outcome (Intestinal mucosa): In HLA-DQ2 or DQ8 carriers the surviving peptides trigger a T-cell response that damages the gut lining; in everyone else they pass through.

Time to effect

Months: In diagnosed coeliac disease, mucosal healing on strict avoidance takes months to years.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Protein
Selenium
Iron

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 360
Protein: 75.2g
Carbohydrate: 13.2g
of which sugars: 0g
Fat: 0g
of which saturated: 0g
Fibre: 0.6g
Sodium: 29mg

Food vs. supplement

Vital wheat gluten sits somewhere between an ingredient and a protein powder. Per gram it is cheaper protein than whey and cooks into something that eats like meat, but it is lysine-limiting where whey and soy isolate are not, and it is off the table entirely for anyone with coeliac disease or wheat allergy.

Kitchen tip

Vital wheat gluten is a bread improver at one to two per cent of flour weight, and the base of seitan at higher ratios. Because it hydrates fast and sets hard, mixing it into liquid gradually prevents lumps that never fully disperse.

Common myth

"Gluten is inflammatory for everyone." In reality: Gluten triggers an immune response in people with coeliac disease, a genetically determined condition affecting roughly one in a hundred. For the rest of the population there is no established harm, and blinded challenges often fail to reproduce symptoms attributed to it.