It’s widely believed that humans only started eating grains between 7,000 and 12,000 years ago when agriculture was invented. It proved very useful because grains grow easily and can store through the winter. Unlike other tubers and root vegetables, which also grow easily, grains mature in a uniform way, which means they can all be harvested at once. This allowed rulers to count how much people were growing and tax them a percentage of it.
Some wholegrains can make up a small part of a healthy diet, but overconsumption of grain is harmful and has caused a decline in health. The highly processed white flour products we now consume on a daily basis are very toxic and acidic.
To make white flour, they first take whole wheat and remove the outer layer of bran (which they often repackage and sell separately in health food stores to aid with digestion and cure constipation.) They also remove the germ and sell that separately as wheat germ. These are good ingredients which have vitamins and fiber and minerals like calcium, magnesium, zinc, cobalt, vitamin e, b vitamins and folic acids. What is left, they grind them into a fine powder and then bleach it! After all that, they have the cheek to add synthetic vitamins and minerals which do not metabolize as well as their organic counterparts and call it fortified!
White flour has anti-nutritional value because nutrients are needed in order to metabolize it for energy. Almost all of the nutrients found in whole wheat are lost in the process of creating white flower. Processing wheat into white flour destroys 78% of the fiber. Fiber is meant to fill the stomach and send a signal to the brain to tell it that you are full. That shuts down your appetite. Without fiber, you tend to stay hungry, consume more calories, and put on weight. Perhaps the one of the main reasons why obesity is so prevalent these days is because of all the white flour products in our diet. Almost all bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, and baked products are made from white flour because it is cheap and is highly processed to keep forever. Maybe that is another clue as to why it should be avoided. If bacteria won’t even eat it, why should we?
All in all, it has little resemblance nutritionally to organic, whole grain wheat which can be part of a healthy diet for those who are not allergic to it.
In the last five decades, cases of celiac disease have increased by 400%, doubling in the last two decades alone. People wonder why we are getting on so badly with wheat when our grandparents seemed to get on fine with it, eating bread and cakes almost every day. One of the reasons why is because it isn’t the same wheat!
There used to be 10,000 different variations of wheat in China alone, now there are only around 1,000 in the world. Scientists hybridized our wheat to make it more resistant to environmental threats like drought and fungi. The resulting crop has a subtly different protein structure than before, and this has become the primary type of wheat eaten around the world today. Research suggests that the reason behind the dramatic spike in celiac disease and gluten intolerance can be traced back to the changed protein structures found in modern hybrid strains of wheat.
The new wheat yields more per acre, which is good for the farmer, and it has more gluten in it, which makes it easier to bake with, and it has higher protein content in it – but it has one major drawback. It’s poisonous.
Gluten is a very difficult molecule for us to digest and metabolize and has an inflammatory effect on the body. By increasing the protein content, we also increased the number of lectins, which are natural pesticide which the wheat produces to protect it from insects. Unfortunately, in larger doses they are harmful to us too.
Modern wheat also contains a gluten protein called gliadin, which is not found in high quantities in ancient varieties of wheat. When gliadin is consumed, our intestines release zonulin, which increases the permeability of the intestines. This disrupts the lining of our intestines, causing gaps to appear, and these gaps allow wheat proteins like gliadin to escape the intestines into the bloodstream. When this happens, your autoimmune system will respond by increasing levels of inflammation as a way of fighting what it perceives to be dangerous intruders. This is called leaky gut syndrome. Colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, enteritis and even Crohn’s disease can result.
Of course, the wheat products we buy today are also sprayed with far more pesticides including glyphosate (round-up) than those our grandparents ate were. In fact, wheat and corn are some of the most sprayed food for mass consumption. Because people are admitting so many more toxins these days then they were in the past it’s possible their bodies just have a harder time processing grains in addition to everything else they have to metabolize. Digestive health is poorer because pesticides and herbicides, as well as antibiotics and (allegedly) vaccinations damage the microbiome.
Many will find that einkorn, the ancient evolutionary predecessor of the wheat we eat today, will not produce the allergic reactions, skin conditions, nausea, stomach cramps, spikes in blood sugar and poor sleep which modern bread does to many sufferers. which usually involved.
Wheat generates significant levels of acidity in the body and has a uniquely harmful effect on blood sugar and insulin levels. Studies show that the carbohydrate in wheat, known as amylopectin A, increases blood sugar levels more than just about every other type of carbohydrate – including those found in ice cream, candy bars and even processed white sugar. When you eat wheat, your body is receiving an excess of sugar that it is turning into fat as quickly as it can. Often people find when they give it up, not only do they lose unwanted weight, but their moods and sleep improve as well – that is, once they get past the addictive withdrawal symptoms!
If you are looking for alternatives, buckwheat is naturally gluten free. You can buy healthier grains like millet and amaranth and high-quality brown rice. and a lot of people get on far batter with rye bread than with bread made from wheat flour. You can get creative stuff your turkey with quinoa instead of breadcrumbs…
High quality rice can be delicious and nutritious, but you should know what goes into making white rice. White rice is brown rice stripped of its bran and germ layer, reducing its fiber and nutrients like manganese, phosphorous, iron, vitamin b3, vitamin b1 and vitamin b6. Sometimes sugar and other ingredients are added to make it more palatable. Brown rice gets its name from the color of the grain. It is a whole grain, which means it is made up of all three essential, unprocessed components of the original grain: the bran, germ, and endosperm.
You may have noticed that no sooner have you eaten white rice than are you hungry again twenty minutes or so later. That’s because it’s not nutritious and has been stripped of its fibre. Refined rice like white basmati causes blood sugar spikes due to its low fibre content. They are associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. If you love rice, make sure you get the real stuff. Not the processed Frankenfood variety. Only eat natural rice.
One more thing – puffed grains are extremely bad! The high heat and pressure used to create them alters the molecular structure of the proteins, turning them into poisons. Many people eat rice cakes, thinking they are a healthy alternative to other foods, but they are not. Puffed rice cereals are not health foods and are usually full of sugar! Popcorn is not included in this cautionary warning, because it is not heated in the same way, but if eaten to excess it can cause weight gain.
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