With the number of diagnosed cases of gluten sensitivities on the rise and the growing popularity of the 'paleo' diet, it is becoming more common to have grain free diets. But after generations of doctors telling us to eat a diet filled with whole grains. Why are people ditching the food pyramid and re-writing the rules of nutrition?
In his book Wheat Belly William Davis MD states that there is not a single part of the body that is not negatively affected by the consumption of modern wheat. Comparing our likeness to our ancestor the chimpanzee to the likeness of the modern grain to its ancestor.
"Small changes in wheat protein structure can spell the difference between a devastating immune response to wheat versus no immune response at all." - William Davis MD.
Now I could talk for hours about the ins and outs of modern vs. ancient wheat, but instead I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of Wheat Belly and having a read for yourself. But for those of you who prefer cliff notes I will give you the summation of how wheat evolved to how we know it today according to Dr William Davis:
In about 8500BC an ancient semi-nomadic tribe called the Natufians were believed to be the first to harvest and store a grain called einkorn. Einkorn was a genetically simple grain consisting of only 14 chromosomes and put quite simply was rubbish to bake with. However, the Natufians must have enjoyed einkorn porridge because they began to cultivate the ancient grain.
It is believed that einkorn then cross pollinated with goat grass, resulting in a more genetically complex grain known as emmer. With the chromosomes of einkorn and goat grass, emmer had 24 chromosomes. Einkorn and emmer were the most popular forms of wheat for some thousands of years until another case of cross pollination; emmer bred with another grass, Triticum tauschii giving us the closest link to modern wheat, a 42 chromosome Triticum aestivim, which was then selectively bred and genetically altered to give us the thousands of wheat varieties that we know today.
It is this chain of genetic events that has changed the gluten proteins in the grains we eat today from the simple einkorn of yester year. As the varieties of wheat became more genetically diverse so did the number and variety of glutens within the grain, resulting in a grain containing considerably more destructive gluten than its' ancient counterparts.
Dr Davis explains that we now have a genetically diverse, pliable, and more aesthetic grain, with the added cost of a magnified concentration of destructive proteins. It begs the question of... health or happy baking?
Why does gluten have such a negative effect on our bodies? Even though it is a naturally occurring protein, and don’t texts as early as the bible describe grains as the "staff of life"?
In the book Dangerous Grains Jonathan V. Wright, MD explains how in the 1980's an Australian practitioner; Dr Christopher Reading; author of Your Family Tree Connection, investigated links between family medical history and the cause of what was described as "un-diagnosable symptoms". Later Dr Reading worked with over 100 patients positively diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Lupus. Through the complete elimination of grains, dairy and the addition of supplementation, Dr Reading was able to eliminate the symptoms related to the disease and upon further blood tests the patients returned negative test results. Dr Wright explains that Dr Reading essentially cured over 100 lupus patients, stating that, "...even in the United States of 2002, any lupus specialist will tell you that's impossible.."
Dr Wright also mentions an article in the British medical journal Lancet where it is explained that a large number of autoimmune diseases are linked with the genetic marker "HLA-B8". It was also found; in a 1981 study on HLA-B8 cell-mediated immunity to gluten (FG Simpson, AW Bullen, DA Robertson & MS Losowsky) that it is possible that the HLA-B8 genetic marker is associated with an increased immune response to gluten. Is there a direct link between gluten and non-celiac autoimmune diseases? One person who believes this to be true is Dr. Peter Osborne, the clinical director of Town Center Wellness in Sugar Land, TX and founder of Gluten Free Society.
"There are actually 140 autoimmune diseases that we’ve identified, and the only scientifically agreed upon cause for autoimmune is gluten sensitivity. Now there are other triggers for autoimmune disease. An infection can trigger an autoimmune disease. A vitamin deficiency can trigger an autoimmune disease, particularly vitamin D. But gluten tends to be kind of that central core hub that’s always present". — Dr. Peter Osborne
Dr Wright continues to explore in Dangerous Grains areas of the globe where gluten containing grains have been consumed for longer periods of time, such as the middle east, where the Natufians were located, there is a lower percentage of people with the HLA-B8 marker. Suggesting that this is a result of un-treated gluten sensitivities having an adverse effect on various fertility and reproductive issues. Considering, with this eminent affect continuing to ignore the possibility of grains being more damaging than nourishing are we in effect breeding out the sensitivity to gluten, and if so at what cost?
"It'll still be much longer than another ten thousand years before consumption of gluten grains removes all of us sensitive to them from the gene pool" - Jonathan V. Wright MD.
Do we want to live through thousands of years with unnecessary disease and illness?
In my opinion, I feel that the negatives of consuming grain and grain products far outweigh the benefits, there's no denying grains are a good source of fibre and carbohydrates. They are great fuel and are very convenient in today's busy lifestyle, but after weighing it all up I would much prefer to get my fibre and carbohydrates from fruit and vegetables.
I suggest picking up a copy of Wheat Belly or Dangerous Grains and speaking to your doctor about the possibility of a gluten sensitivity, be informed yourself on the issue and to carefully consider about whether consuming grains is something you think or you know is beneficial to your health.
Always
April
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