# gluten

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gluten/631955>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 19, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gluten/631955 "2012-08-19T11:50:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![stosh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@stosh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gluten/631955/1 "2012-08-19T11:50:49Z")

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I never heard of this stuff and now it seems as though everybody is allergic to it. What is it?

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**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gluten/631955/2 "2012-08-19T12:05:21Z")

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It’s a protein composite found in wheat. It’s what makes a dough elastic.

> **[Gluten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten)**
>
> Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain cereal grains. Although "gluten" often only refers to wheat proteins, in medical literature it refers to the combination of prolamin and glutelin proteins naturally occurring in all grains that have been proven capable of triggering celiac disease. These include any species of wheat (such as common wheat, durum, spelt, khorasan, emmer and einkorn), barley, rye and some oat cultivars, as well as any cross hybrids of these grains (such as Gl...