“Can’t I have bread?” Separating Truth from Fiction About Wheat and Gluten.
Today’s topic: Wheat elimination and why gluten-free is not the issue or the solution.
If you do one thing to improve your health and fitness, eliminate wheat. That’s it. Here’s why:
Wheat. It’s not the “staff of life.” Our wheat is not the wheat of biblical times.
In ancient times wheat might have enabled early populations to survive, but it does nothing to make us thrive. Take 500 calories worth of any wheat product or any grain and compare the nutrient and fiber content to almost any vegetable or fruit. No comparison. Empty calories, period.
The wheat that was grown in biblical times – or even 100 years ago – is not the same thing we are eating now. It hasn’t been genetically modified, per se, but it has been hybridized to the point it is not recognizable. It elevates blood sugar faster and has less nutrients.
Wheat in biblical times had 28 chromosomes. Today it has 42. Genetically this is a huge difference. As an example, this is way different than the difference between humans, that have 46 chromosomes, and an orangutan that has 48. No one will argue that we are different than orangutans, so no one should argue that we should eat wheat because our ancestors did. It’s just not the same plant at all.
Wheat is addictive and stimulates appetite.
Wheat stimulates opiate receptors, which give you a “high” which makes you eat more. About 1/3rd of people who remove wheat from their diet report withdrawl symptoms, and even physical illness, which is sometimes called the “low-carb flu” or “Atkins Flu.” This can last 4-5 days for some.
In clinical obesisty trials, groups that were given opiate blocking drugs ate an average of 400 calories per day LESS after being given doses of naloxone, versus a placebo.
Wheat is now in almost EVERY processed food and pretty much all cereals. It stimulates appetite in 90-120minute cycles. You eat more and more all day.
“Wheat Bellies and Muffin-Tops”
Eating wheat elevates blood sugar…fast. Faster than a Snickers bar.
High blood sugar means elevated insulin levels, which means fat storage. This equals fat gain, hyperinsulinemia, pre-diabetes, disrupted hormones, and metabolic syndrome.
Lectins in wheat (and all grains) are thought to block the hormone leptin, which is an appetite regulation hormone. Think of it as your body’s “gas gauge.” Your brain thinks the tank is empty, but it really isn’t, so you eat more.
Leaky Gut
Your gut and intestinal tract is not supposed to be permeable. What is in your gut is supposed to be in there, and not in your bloodstream.
The wheat protein gliadin causes the release of zonulin, which in turn causes intestinal permeability, and release of bacteria and undigested food particles into your bloodstream. This is the root of many autoimmune disease like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.
For those of us that don’t have it as bad, it causes inflammation and elevated cortisol secretion.
Misc. other ailments: Look these up, paired with “wheat.” You will be surprised.
Acid reflux.
Eczema
Asthma
ADHD
Various rashes.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Dementia.
Why gluten-free substitutes are not the answer.
Almost everything that is made gluten-free is made that way by substituting wheat with things like rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch. These are some of the only things that will raise blood sugar faster than wheat. They might serve as a little “cheat meal” once in a great while, but they are definitely not something to make a staple.
What matters is your body.
Eliminate wheat 100% for 30 days. That’s it. Nothing to buy. Nothing to lose. See what happens. Reintroduce if you want to after 30 days and see what happens. If nothing, you’ve lost nothing. If you have a negative reaction, then you know you are on to something.
Further study.
Wheat Belly, by Dr. William Davis. This book will change your life.
There are other texts popping up these days. Keep reading!