Suffering from chronic allergies or unexplained illness? This modern grain may be to blame.
For 10,000 years, the human species has consumed wheat. Yet, this arose over the last part of our evolution. Surprisingly, we were never meant to eat wheat or gluten nor did our bodies evolve to do so. In this article I’ll share why modern wheat is linked to health issues such as chronic allergies, leaky gut, autoimmune disorders and even heart problems. By eliminating gluten, many of my clients are able to quickly solve the root cause of illness and inflammation in their bodies.
In this article you will learn:
The history of wheat and how the grain has evolved due to mass production.
What gluten is and how it impacts the digestive system leading to imbalances in the body.
Why gluten-free products are ineffective solutions for your health and what you should actually eat instead.
How to quickly eliminate the root cause of illness and inflammation in your body.
Alternatives to gluten-free products and wheat and how to incorporate them into your diet.
During the last stages of human evolution, we were hunters and gatherers. From there, humans went from nomadic beings to settlers. We began domesticating food and crops. During this time, wheat became a staple food in the human diet. Agriculture became a huge part in attaining food, including other gluten-containing items such as barley and rye.
Wheat underwent various cross-mating advances. This lead to what we know as the modern wheat of today, the triticum species. This is a semi-dwarf high yield plant with huge seed heads. And it is completely different from the original plant, Einkorn. Whereas Einkorn only contained 14 chromosomes, the modern wheat has 42 chromosomes.
Fast forward to 1960 where the world had begun to fear rapid population growth. The fear stems from a lack of resources, including food. Yet, a German Scientist and Nobel Prize Winner, Borlaug, managed to cross various wheat plants to create a plant that yielded 8 times more per acre than previous types. This plant prevented various famines, saved the third world, and provided mass amounts of food to the growing world population.
But the alterations didn’t end there. Wheat was exposed to a chemical called sodium azide, an industrial toxin that induces mutations. And this is what is in the wheat we eat today.
But what about gluten? And what is gluten anyway?
Gluten is a stretchy protein made up of two other proteins, gliadin and glutenin. It provides the elasticity to bread dough. When it is mixed with water, air becomes trapped creating pockets and puffing up the bread. Think of those puffy and tasty croissants. That’s gluten’s doing.
However, some individuals have difficulty eating gluten. It binds to their intestinal tract. The result? They end up with a leaky gut, amongst other issues. Leaky gut is intestinal permeability
The protein, gliadin, found in gluten is a non-stretchy protein. And surprisingly, this protein acts similar to an opiate. It binds to opiate receptors in the brain, stimulating your appetite mostly, carbohydrates. It’s like when you eat pizza. You feel full, but at the same time, you’re still hungry.
Studies by Dr. Alessio Fasano,MD, Gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, show that this protein has the capacity to disrupt the intestinal barrier. And what happens in the gut doesn’t necessarily stay in the gut. In a healthy body without toxins or compounds disrupting normal processes, the intestine is able to decide what enters the body’s bloodstream and what doesn’t. But with gliadin, this mechanism is disabled. In other words, it impairs the gut’s ability to perform its job. This causes foreign substances to enter the bloodstream, even toxic ones. This is why some individuals when they eat wheat, they end up with bowel inflammation, brain fog, autoimmune diseases, and more.
So what happens when we eat gluten?
When any protein is ingested, it has to be broken down into simple amino acids for digestion. With gluten, we can’t do that. It can be broken down but only into pieces. It doesn’t become completely dismantled into simple amino acids.
Why? Because we don’t have the enzymes to do so. Cows have this ability. In fact, cows have 4 stomachs to do that job for them. We don’t.
For the majority of people, once gluten reaches the small intestine, the body will continue to get rid of it and excrete it. For others, they end up developing the aforementioned diseases. This creates an immune response and leads to even more problems.
Dr. Williams Davis said, "Wheat is toxic to everybody, but not everybody that eats gluten gets sick with it. If you are a person that experiences some of these symptoms, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, headaches, fog, muscle aches, joint pains, and other hundred conditions as well as not losing weight, stop eating wheat and you'll not experience it anymore."
For individuals who eat huge amounts of wheat on a daily basis, gluten is also consumed in large amounts. If this individual were to decide to go gluten-free, they may experience withdrawal-type symptoms. This happens because of the similar way that gliadin acts like an opiate on the human brain. Although not as harsh as heroin or morphine withdrawal, it’s still present. You might experience headaches, low energy, joint pain, heartburn, and acid reflux.
By the early 1980s, wheat was in everything, including pasta, bread, canned foods, dressings, frozen foods, potato chips, pancake mix, bread crumbs, and more. It was used to give more taste and texture, as well as to stimulate a person’s appetite so that they would consume more.
There was an explosion in the number of overweight and obese people. Inevitably, the healthcare system also saw these effects with more individuals being diagnosed with diabetes.
This was all happening due to gliadin, which stimulates the appetite causing weight gain and other health issues. It also had indirect effects on the development of eating disorders, such as bulimia, binge eating, and food obsession.
Wheat further has a high glycemic index. This means that it’s digested quickly and it enters the bloodstream fast causing blood sugar to hit the roof. In fact, two slices of bread raise blood sugar levels more quickly than 6 tablespoons of straight sugar.
But how does that happen when it’s a complex carb? The complex carbohydrate in wheat is Amylopectin A. This complex carbohydrate is very susceptible to the enzyme, amylase, which is located in the mouth and stomach. This means that it starts being digested right away, causing it to be absorbed quickly into the bloodstream.
Overall, wheat stimulates your appetite, raises your blood sugar too fast, and decreases insulin sensitivity. It also contributes to “wheat belly” which is visceral fat that encompasses the liver, kidneys, and heart.
By now, you’re probably thinking of going gluten-free. But the manufactured food has to replace the wheat flour in some form or another. These manufacturers often choose rice starch, corn starch, or potato starch. And surprisingly, these foods raise your blood sugar more so than wheat does. Because of this, gluten-free food is not highly recommended.
Go Grain-Free - Not Gluten-Free: Why?
The seeds of grasses and plants are very promiscuous. This means they frequently combine together and they share a ton of information. This also means that some of the genetics in wheat are shared by millet, rice, and oats. They are interlinked via their genetics.
Further, all wheat contains the protein wheat germ agglutinin. This toxic protein causes clotting of the red blood cells. This can lead to life-threatening cardiovascular disease.
“It’s all about lowering your blood sugar”. If you have high blood sugar, you have no control on heart attack,” says William Davis, MD, Cardiologist and best selling author.
Mark Hyman, MD, a Cardiologist and author, adds to this by stating, “The only drug to reverse diabetes type 2 is by eating the right food. There’s no other drug.”
As aforementioned, wheat raises your blood sugar more than anything else. And when you remove wheat, you may experience rapid weight loss. You lose water via the loss of inflammation caused by eating wheat. You also lose the appetite-stimulant effect of gliadin. When the gliadin protein is eliminated, blood sugar levels also lower back to normal. LDL particles are reduced which when raised is the leading cause of heart disease. Other things like arthritis, asthma, acid reflux, and ball syndrome also decrease or become non-existent- William Davis,MD, Cardiologist.
This is why it’s best to generally go grain-free, not just gluten-free.
And this has been proven in studies and research
A German scientist during World War II did the famous “banana babies experiment.” Wheat was not as available, so he had the babies eat gluten and not eat gluten. He discovered that wheat was the cause of celiac disease. The only way to treat it was to remove wheat completely. This is the heart and soul of how celiac disease is treated today. It also gives way to how what your eat and the food you put in your body can change everything.
Novak Djokovic, a professional tennis player, demonstrated this, including how food can completely alter your health and mood. He completely eliminated wheat and other grains. Consequently, his health and tennis performance transformed.
And now, YOU have the information to make an informed and educated choice for yourself. Try it out. Slowly eliminate wheat foods a little bit at a time. See how you feel.
But wait - what can you eat?
I can show you how to make bread, cheesecake, and chocolate cake - all without wheat or sugar. That way, you can still eat all your favorite foods while using these foods as medicine to heal and nurture your body. A good rule of thumb is to eat whole food, properly sourced that is in season and alignment with your own biochemistry and lifestyle. There are many different types of flour such as chickpea that do not contain wheat at your local health food store. Starting with substitutions is a great way to be able to keep eating your favorite foods without feeling deprived.
Food truly is medicine! Love yourself enough to change your diet and start viewing food from a more medicinal approach. There’s a world of possibilities on the other side.
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I’d love to hear from you! Having this information gave my health and quality of life back.That’s why I wrote this article, to help people in similar situations.
If you want to learn how to properly nourish your body to prevent and treat disease, join me in my program “Food as medicine”. To get started, schedule your free consultation here.
You are precious. Take care of yourself accordingly.
xx,