Gluten for punishment

0 Comments | USA TODAY, August, 2008 | by Kim Painter

Meet the latest dietary bad boy: gluten.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. It causes some people serious health problems. But those people don't seem to be the only ones buying the gluten-free beer and brownies suddenly for sale everywhere. Consider:

*Marketers estimate that 15% to 25% of consumers want gluten-free foods -- though doctors estimate just 1% have celiac disease, the best-defined and most severe form of gluten intolerance, says Cynthia Kupper, executive director of the non-profit Gluten Intolerance Group of North America (gluten.net).

*When Oprah Winfrey undertook a "21-day cleanse" this summer, she eliminated meat, dairy, sugar, caffeine -- and gluten.

*Gluten-free diets are catching on at colleges, says...