在美國遍地都是近些年逐漸開始流行的“無麩質”食品，商店，餐館，便利店，隨處可見。壹些人覺得大概是又有人閑著沒事兒搞了個新的流行飲食，畢竟有很多先例比如像無糖，無肉，無奶，無脂肪，無膽固醇，現在又搞了個無麩質。沒聽過又好奇的朋友，我今天就聊壹聊無麩質飲食，帶妳探個究竟。
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.
麩質俗語就是面筋，是壹系列蛋白質，存在於小麥和其他壹些谷類如大麥，黑麥，燕麥等等。它使得面有彈性，很多食物裏都有面筋，面包，蛋糕，面條，比薩餅，醬油，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.
這使得堅持無麩質飲食很有難度，需要極度自律。壹般不是為了酷或流行而做無麩質飲食的人能做的了的，幾乎比吃素還難。
So you've got to have a really good reason to give up all that deliciousness, right? Which leads to the next point:
那麽，放棄諸多美食要有個好理由吧？不錯，下面介紹：
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.
我還記得壹個中國朋友告訴我她對面條過敏時我極度驚訝的心情。從中國文化角度出發，這簡直是件無法理喻的事。這怎麽可能？大家都吃面條，我吃了壹輩子的面條都沒事，這麽好吃的東西。我拒絕接受。
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.
後來得知有壹種病叫乳糜瀉。原來有壹些人不能正常消化面筋，吃了面筋他們就會小腹抽動，腹瀉，還會導致營養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.
還有壹些人屬於非浮靡瀉麩質過敏。這類人壹般不會有像乳糜瀉病人壹樣劇烈的反映，但是他們也遇到壹些問題，比如腹脹，腹痛及不適，便秘，頭腦不清和慢性疲勞等等。有些統計預計10%左右的人屬於此類。
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，要是知道自己屬於這類人肯定不想吃面筋了。我直到閱覽了很多相關資料，對自己早年多得不正常的腹脹，腹痛，腹瀉和便秘等癥狀加以對比診斷，才知道自己原來有這個問題。
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?
妳現在的想法可能和8年前我的壹樣：這麽普遍而收歡迎的食物怎麽會破壞人的健康呢？
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.
乳糜瀉病被歸為自身免疫病，自身免疫病指的是免疫系統攻擊自己的身體。乳糜瀉的情況是攝入面筋後免疫系統會攻擊小腸（絨毛）。壹些理論認為身體在辨別面筋對自身有害的之後發起對消化系統的攻擊從而達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.
其它面筋過敏的癥狀很可能就是面筋被吸收之後的微毒作用。此時妳也許會想，人類吃谷子吃了上千年，難道還不知道它有毒嗎？對此我看只能說它不足以殺死人，至少不會馬上致死，也許慢慢會，但是它的確給壹些人的正常生活添了些不適和麻煩。
If you are intruged, or thinking you might have some symptoms, you might ask:
看到這裏的都是感興趣的讀者，或者自身也有過敏感受的人，妳可能會問：
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.
驗血和小腸切片測試可以化驗出是否麩質過敏，但不是完全準確可靠。
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.
最好的檢驗方法實際上是試行短期無麩質飲食，比如60天不吃面筋，看看自己健康狀況會不會變好。然後再慢慢加入面筋，如果有不良反映，很可能就是麩質過敏的緣故。
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.
如果妳覺得自己有可能麩質過敏，我鼓勵妳試驗壹番或者再多了解壹下這方面的知識。如果妳確定自己沒關系，我也很開心能夠分享我的心得並讓大家了解有此種過敏的人群。
(The End)