<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Yesterday I posted about the 9th International Symposium in Baltimore,
which included comments on distilled alcohol and lectins. I have
received several questions about which alcohols are distilled and does
this also cover vinegars, and what are lectins? Therefore, I will give
this information to the best of my ability over the list serve.

Distilled alcohols are spirits (bourbon, whiskey, rum, vodka, etc., not
beer) and extracts and flavorings (vanilla, orange, almond, etc.)
Vinegars can be fermented and then distilled, or they can just be
fermented. Wine and apple cider vinegars and beer, to my knowledge, are
fermented. They are not distilled.

According to Gluten-Free Living and the dictionary; " 'Distillation is
the process of first heating a mixture to separate the more volatile
from the less volatile parts, and then cooling and condensing the vapor
so as to produce a more nearly pure or refined substance; non-volatile
impurities remain in the residue'.  'Scientists say gluten molecules are
heavy and non-volatile.  They will not turn into steam and cross over
into the end product.  So they should "remain in the residue'."

What this means is that any liquid that is distilled from grain has to
be gluten free because the gluten peptide in grain is too large to pass
over into the resulting liquid. It is possible that flavorings can be
added after distillation, but  bottles of spirits and vinegars will
usually include the name of the flavoring as part of the name of the
liquid. Examples are Bicardi Lemon', Spiced Run by Captain Morgan, and
Luksusowa Citris Flavored Vodka. an example of a vinegar with flavor
added is "Cider Flavored Vinegar". In these cases, you probably need to
determine the gluten free status of the flavoring. I believe that
flavored spirits are distilled after the flavoring is added, but I am
not sure about this. (If anyone can answer this question with scientific
information, please do share this with the list.) In any case, if the
product has flavoring, you need to check for gluten before consuming it.

Spirits that are not flavored are definitely gluten free. Beer is never
distilled, so beer is never gluten free. Sorry.

Now let's talk about lectins. According to Taber's Cyclopedic Medical
Dictionary, a lectin is;  " One of several plant proteins that stimulate
lymphocytes to proliferate." A lumphocyte is a; "Lymph cell or white
blood corpuscle without cytoplasmic granuals." In other words, lectins
can stimulate the body to make white blood cells. These are the cells
that fight infection or in the case of auto-immune disease, cause the
body to attack itself. There are those who believe that lectins might
initiate celiac disease/gluten reaction. However, this has not yet been
proven scientifically.

Since lectins are in many foods other than grains, such as potatoes and
tomatoes to name just a few, excluding lectins would result in excluding
a vast amount of foods that are currently not known to cause a celiac
reaction. Until science proves that lectins cause a celiac reaction, we
are advised by the scientific community not to exclude lectins from our
diet. This I believe is the basis of Dr. Kasarda's comment that lectins
are a non-issue and have nothing to do with celiac disease.

There are people who do have reactions to distilled products and
lectins, but these reactions are not known to be associated with gluten
intolerance. They are allergic reactions and do not damage the
intestine. We must remember that these are subjective statements or
antidotel information. This type of information is to be proven by
science before applying it to everyone.

In closing, if you have a reaction to something you eat, then don't eat
it again. If you do not feel comfortable eating distilled products or
lectins, then don't eat them. The gluten free diet is a very personal
thing and each person should decide, based on scientific information,
what they are comfortable eating. Don't exclude foods for everyone
because a few have "reactions".

Being celiac requires that you be knowledgeable about your diet. This
means that you investigate, investigate, investigate. This is
accomplished by reading scientific reports and calling the
manufacturers. Taking polls to determine the gluten free status of a
product is a dangerous way to secure this information.

Marge Johannemann
Louisville, Kentucky