Updated 21 August 2026
What is gluten anyway?
Gluten is simply a mixture of plant proteins found in wheat and closely related grains such as rye and barley. It acts like glue in dough, helping bread rise and hold together, and giving bread its familiar chewy texture.
So, plant proteins. That doesn’t sound bad, right? Keep reading.
But it’s natural. Our ancestors ate wheat!
The wheat of today is very different from the wheat people ate for most of human history. After World War II, plant breeders created new strains designed for higher yields and better baking performance—fluffier loaves that were easier to process on a large scale.
The result was modern common wheat — the soft, fluffy bread that fills supermarket shelves. These modern varieties contain forms of gluten that did not exist in the same way in older plants. Those newer gluten proteins are harder for the body to break down and can contribute to leaky gut1,2,3, which is a major problem these days for many people!
Even more seriously, for those people who have the genetic predisposition, any gluten can turn on celiac disease, which is an autoimmune condition. Modern gluten is especially reactive and more likely to set this process off. People with autoimmune thyroid conditions such as Hashimoto’s can also experience flare-ups from modern gluten4,5.
Not only are we eating a different kind of gluten, we also grind modern wheat into much finer flours than our ancestors did, which increases our exposure to these proteins.
It’s Not Just Gluten — Meet the ATIs
For decades, almost everyone assumed gluten was the only problem in wheat. That changed in October 2016 at United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Week when researchers presented work6. showing that another family of wheat proteins—amylase-trypsin inhibitors, or ATIs—can activate immune cells in the gut and drive inflammation that reaches far beyond the intestine, including conditions such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
ATIs make up only about 2–4% of the protein in modern wheat, but they are unusually effective at turning on an immune response that starts a cascade of inflammation in the gut that can spread to other parts of the body. These proteins survive cooking and digestion, so they keep wreaking havoc after you eat them. Research shows that modern gluten-containing grains carry by far the highest levels of these immune-stimulating ATIs, while many older wheat varieties and nearly all true gluten-free grains contain far less.
Since the 2016 UEG findings, researchers are finding even more possible links between ATIs and other chronic inflammatory conditions.
Despite the 2016 UEG presentation getting mainstream media attention at the time, ATIs are still almost never mentioned; the focus stays gluten-focused. And while modern gluten proteins are problematic, it’s the combination of modern gluten and high ATI that helps explain why modern wheat can contribute to so many health issues in people today.
Ok, then I’ll just eat organic whole-wheat. Problem solved, right?
No. Organic farming is better for avoiding toxic chemicals, and it’s better for the environment, but the problems described above have nothing to do with pesticides or fertilizers. They come from the grains themselves. Choosing organic does not change the genetics of the grain, so won’t improve the quality of the gluten proteins or remove the immune-activating ATIs.
There are many chemical fertilizers and pesticides that organic does help with, one of which is glyphosate. In some regions, glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) is sprayed on wheat and other crops shortly before harvest as a drying agent. That practice can sometimes leave large amounts of residues on the grain. Glyphosate is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” There are also concerns that glyphosate can disrupt hormones and beneficial gut bacteria. Organic wheat cannot be treated with glyphosate, so choosing organic can reduce or eliminate that extra chemical load. That is a real benefit, but it still does not change the gluten or the ATIs. Those proteins are built into the grain itself.
Wheat is everywhere!
Wheat and its relatives hide in far more places than bread and pasta. You have to become a careful label reader to avoid it! Common unexpected foods and products that often contain wheat or gluten include:
- Soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and many marinades
- Broth, bouillon cubes, gravy, and soup mixes
- Lunch meats, hot dogs, sausages, and self-basting poultry
- Flavored chips, fries (shared fryers or coatings), and seasoned nuts
- Candy (especially licorice and some gummies), salad dressings, and cream-based sauces
- Instant coffee, flavored yogurts, and energy or protein bars
- Malt vinegar, brown rice syrup, and certain spice blends
Ingredient names that indicate modern wheat or modern gluten include: wheat, wheat flour, wheat starch, wheat bran, wheat germ, bulgur, durum, spelt, dinkel, semolina, farina, graham flour, hydrolyzed wheat protein, modified wheat starch, seitan, triticale, barley, malt, malt extract, malt syrup, malt flavoring, malt vinegar, rye, and brewer’s yeast. Also watch for the terms natural flavors, modified food starch, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and dextrin when the source is not specified.
Even some medications, cosmetics, and lip products can contain wheat-derived ingredients. When in doubt, look for a clear “gluten-free” label or contact the manufacturer.
Best choices for grains
The practical goal is to avoid modern wheat, barley, rye and spelt—the grains with the highest combination of problematic gluten fragments and ATI proteins.
Ancient and heirloom wheats such as einkorn, emmer (farro), and Khorasan wheat (Kamut) are different from modern common wheat. Einkorn is the best of this group. It is the oldest cultivated wheat, has simpler genetics, weaker gluten, and the lowest levels of the inflammatory ATI proteins of all the wheats. Because of these differences, some people find they don’t react to einkorn the way they do to modern wheat. Heirloom grains still contain gluten, so anyone with celiac disease must avoid them completely. People with an autoimmune thyroid disease (such as Hashimoto’s) should also use caution with them because the theoretical risk of a flare exists, though the evidence is weaker than it is for modern wheat. For everyone else, carefully chosen heirloom grains (especially einkorn) can be a good option.
True gluten-free and low-ATI options – These are the safest for most people and contain little to no gluten or ATIs: rice, corn (maize), quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, millet, teff, sorghum, fonio, wild rice, and oats. (Note that oats are often grown or processed with wheat so can be contaminated with gluten. People with celiac disease should strictly choose only certified gluten-free oats. Even then, a small number of people with celiac disease still react to the oat proteins themselves and need to avoid oats entirely.)
By the way, we have a full article about how to Turn Toxic Rice into a Gut Superfood. It even has information about which are the best rice and rice noodles!
Summary and Our Favorite Gluten-Free Options:
Alright, in summary, skip modern gluten-containing grains. Choose naturally gluten-free grains and seeds most of the time, and use true heirloom varieties such as einkorn only if you tolerate them well and do not have celiac disease. This approach removes the two main sources of gut irritation and systemic inflammation that modern wheat delivers.
Bread SRSLY is mostly organic and has no added sugar. It is also a dedicated gluten-free bakery: https://shop.breadsrsly.com. This bread is amazing. It really tastes like a normal sourdough!
Happy Campers is a dedicated gluten-free bakery with wonderful (mostly organic) ingredients: https://happycampersgf.com/
Base Culture has a really interesting line of gluten-free bread: https://baseculture.com/collections/frozen-bread. They are not organic, but otherwise mostly have great ingredients. Some of their gluten-free breads have high protein because they use a good amount of egg and nut butters! Their high-protein gluten-free breads have an interesting flavor that grows on you. They are in the frozen section of some health food stores, but they also ship.
BFree (https://www.bfreefoods.com/) and Canyon Bakehouse (http://canyonglutenfree.com/buy-gluten-free-bread-products/) are not organic and their ingredients could be better (especially Canyon Bakehouse), but they are both delicious which can be good for picky eaters.
Edison Grainery Quinoa Pasta: https://edisongrainery.com/collections/pastas Edison Grainery is a very reputable company that does a lot of quality testing. We absolutely trust and love their entire line!
Jovial Foods Einkorn pasta and crackers: https://jovialfoods.com/collections/jovial-einkorn Jovial is another very reputable company that also takes great care in their entire product line. They have some products available at various health food stores, but the also ship directly.
Jilz Crackers are made with almond flour and other nuts and seeds. They are more unique in texture and flavor: https://www.jilzglutenfree.com/ These are minimally processed and actually delicious!
Hopefully you will find some things in here that you like! And if you are experimenting with gluten-free recipes or products and find something great, please let us know. We are trying to expand out gluten-free section.
References:
1. Drago et al., 2006. Gliadin activates zonulin signaling and increases intestinal permeability in both celiac and non-celiac tissue.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16635908/
2. Lammers et al., 2008. Gliadin binds the CXCR3 receptor, releases zonulin, and raises permeability.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18471443/
3. Hollon et al., 2015. Increased permeability after gliadin exposure occurred in all groups studied, including people without celiac disease.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4377866/
4. Celiac Disease and Autoimmune Thyroid Disease: The Two Peas in a Pod.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9312543/
5. The Role of Gluten in the Development of Autoimmune Thyroid Diseases: A Narrative Review.
https://brieflands.com/journals/ijem/articles/153730
6. UEG Week. New study links protein in wheat to the inflammation of chronic health conditions. United European Gastroenterology, October 17, 2016. https://ueg.eu/a/200