Natural Choices — Health Food, Organic Produce, Gluten Free, Vitamins, Supplements — Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana

I write a lot about gluten-free foods on our wee blog because we have the best gluten-free food selection in these United States!

Now I’d like to talk about a food that is decidedly not gluten free–because it’s 100% wheat gluten!

I speak, of course, of that glorious friend of veg-heads everywhere: seitan! Could this be the world’s greatest food? In winter, it warms. In summer, it consoles. In spring and autumn, it nourishes the body and the mind. In all seasons, it empowers, enlivens, and invigorates.

The only thing is, it’s not gluten-free. But it’s scrumptious.

Where does this kooky name come from? According to Wikipedia,

Seitan, a neologism of Japanese origin, is the name used to refer to wheat gluten in the macrobiotic system of cooking and health, as formulated by the Japanese-born philosopher George Ohsawa (1893–1966). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is said to have been coined by Ohsawa in the early 1960s, but its etymology is uncertain, with the most likely explanation being that it is derived from the Japanese sei- (“to be”, “to become”), or -sei (“of the nature of,” “made of,” e.g. in shokubutsu-sei, “made of vegetable”) + tan-, as in tanpaku(shitsu) (“protein”).

I speak Japanese, so I’ll add another one: it could be sei (星 = star) + tan (短 = short), meaning short star! I think that’s it, because seitan can become the “star” of your diet, yet it’s “short” on fat and calories!

I wept to see how inadequate the Wikipedia article was when it comes to seitan’s nutritional content (nada info, people), and thus I turned to this thread on www.veganforum.com and found this post:

From my White Wave Foods box of Wheat Meat:

Serving Size = 85g – A 16 oz. box of this provides for 5 servings, but I make three per box.

Calories = 130
Total Fat = 0%
Sodium = 270mg or 11% of the RDA
Carbs = 9g or 3% of the RDA
Fiber = 3g or 12% of the RDA
Sugar = 0%
Protein = 24g (that’s great)

Vitamin A = 0%
Calcium = 6% of the RDA
Iron = 4% of the RDA
Vitamin C = 0%

There isn’t any other nutritional information listed. Basically, this is a high protein food which is fat free. It is best to eat this in combination with veggies with high vitamin content.

No fat, tons of protein and fiber–what’s not to dig? So… perhaps it’s time to make this short star a main player in the constellation of your diet!

–Matt