Why replace wheat? How?
Wheat flour is found in bread, pasta, cereal, cookies, cakes, biscuits, pizza, couscous, noodles, and many other packaged food products. It is a white powder that is milled from wheat (Triticum aestivum). In many places, farmers have bred and hybridized wheat over many, many years to satisfy the demands of commercial bakers for elasticity and shelf-life.
The milling process removes most, if not all, of the nutrients, such as zinc and B vitamins. So-called “whole grains” are often a marketing gimmick. The nutrients and the fiber (cellulose) in “whole grains” are removed in the standard milling process. Some processors add synthetic vitamins and minerals to the processed grain, but what does this tell you about the processing? Some brown bread in supermarkets has been baked with caramel coloring or molasses to make it look healthy. Dr. William Davis, MD, describes the myths of healthy whole grains. A cardiologist, Dr. Davis describes his journey from conventional to natural methods in this podcast.
Of course, many people eat wheat at every meal, with cereal at breakfast, bread at lunch, and pasta at dinner, but does it nourish them? Another reason to avoid wheat is that it is the most heavily sprayed crop of all with synthetic pesticides, such as glyphosate. According to Dr. Stephanie Seneff, PhD, you can detoxify yourself of glyphosate.
It is not about “gluten-free”.
Wheat contains not only gluten but also gliadin and other things that can be chronically inflammatory to your digestive system. The current fad for “gluten-free” overlooks this fact. “Gluten-free” products usually substitute refined rice, potato, or corn flour for wheat flour. These other refined flours can inflame digestion as much as wheat.
Many processed gluten-free foods still contain high levels of sugar and food additives. They have simply replaced the flour with other gluten-free ingredients. Eating such refined gluten-free foods can still lead to obesity, blood sugar, blood pressure, and other health problems. Processed food manufacturers research what they call the “sweet spot”, the optimum combination (for them) of sugar, salt, and fat that makes eating a specific food product habit-forming.
Buckwheat or oats can be healthy substitutes for many people. Rye and barley also contain gluten, but may be easier for you to digest, if well fermented or gently processed. Sweet potatoes, oats, buckwheat, and millet can be healthy substitutes for wheat for some people.
Devoid of nutrients, processed wheat can increase blood sugar (glucose) as rapidly as table sugar or soda. Most of the sugar (carbohydrate) in wheat is in the form of amylopectin A, which rapidly increases sugar in the blood. This makes the blood and tissues slightly acidic and tends to deplete you of nutrients, such as magnesium and vitamins C and B.
Baked wheat products contain carcinogenic chemicals called acrylamides that form in the browned portion of breads, cereals, muffins, and so on.
There are at least two hundred clinically confirmed reasons not to eat wheat, as compiled by greenmedinfo.com. Wheat can gradually damage your health. Do your own research, and then decide for yourself.
Wheat germ agglutinin
Wheat germ agglutinin is an inflammatory, immune-disrupting protein found in wheat. It is not the same thing as gluten. Wheat germ agglutinin can provoke an inflammatory response in gut cells. It can also disturb the natural immune barrier in the gut. This can make the gut more permeable to things that do not belong in your blood. Many people have a digestive system inflammed by wheat even without a formal diagnosis. Again, this is separate from the problem of gluten. Both gluten and wheat germ agglutinin are found in wheat. You can have trouble with wheat germ agglutinin, even if you have no reaction to a gluten elimination challenge. Simply abstaining from wheat can reduce or eliminate this digestive inflammation. Try it for a week and see how you feel.
Another reason to cut wheat from what you eat is that wheat may reduce blood flow to the brain.
Dr. Peter D’Adamo ND, in his book “Eat Right 4 Your Type“, advises avoiding wheat, particularly if you have blood type O. His advice is to skip bread, sandwiches, pasta, and all that contains wheat. Substitute vegetables, fruits, and oatmeal.
Phytic acid
Grains, beans, and legumes contain phytic acid, which can interfere with absorption of zinc, manganese, iron, magnesium, and calcium in some people. Soaking, processing, or cooking may or may not remove this anti-nutrient. Some people are more sensitive to phytic acid than others. Buckwheat, millet, amaranth, oats, and quinoa can be practical substitutes for wheat for some people, depending on their processing. Others gain health by eliminating all grains.
You may be addicted to wheat, according to Dr. David Perlmutter MD in his book, “Grain Brain“. Wheat may be making you overweight and ill, according to Dr. William Davis in his book, “Wheat Belly“. According to Dr. Davis, if you cut wheat, you can gain health and lose your big belly. Instead of toast, bread, or a croissant with breakfast, why not try oatmeal or buckwheat porridge? Instead of a sandwich for lunch, why not try drinking more water before the meal, and then eating a vegetable salad, protein (meat, fish, chicken, turkey, quinoa, or tofu), and nuts or seeds? All of the recipes on this site are wheat-free.
Nota bene. You could try cutting wheat for a week, and see how you feel. Ideas for breadless sandwiches are here. You have nothing to lose by trying this.
According to Dr. Davis, various flours are healthy substitutes for wheat flour, including almond meal, almond flour, ground pecans, ground walnuts, coconut flour, ground flaxseed, pumpkin seed meal, sesame seed meal, garbanzo bean flour, and chia seed meal.
Do your own research.
Critics of this idea say people have been eating wheat since the beginning of agriculture almost ten thousand years ago. They further claim that there is no clinical evidence that wheat makes people overweight nor that it depletes minerals and vitamins. “The War on Wheat” is a thirty-nine minute film by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that is skeptical of Dr. Davis’ denunciation of wheat.
Eating processed wheat began soon after the industrial revolution started. Biscuits with sugar were served to factory workers with little time to prepare their own food. Unrelated to wheat, but related to processed food, is that canning food also began in the nineteenth century. Lead was used to seal the cans.
One cheap, simple way to test yourself for possible allergies, such s wheat, is to test your pulse, as described by Dr. Arthur Coca, MD in his book, “The Pulse Test“.
According to the Vancouver Naturopathic Clinic, besides wheat, the most common foods to trigger a reaction (in some people, not all) are corn, soy, yeast, dairy, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, and peanuts. Some people are not allergic to some of these.
For some people, but not for all, other common allergens include rye, barley, oats, potatoes, paprika, MSG (monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer), tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, hot peppers, orange, beef, pea, bean, fish, sugar, plum, fowl, melon, carrot, sweet potato, grape, peanut, pineapple, beet, spinach, strawberry, cinnamon, garlic, black pepper, vanilla, and artificial sweeteners. Again, not everybody is sensitive to all of these.
Unrelated to wheat but related to food sensitivity, some people, possibly those with blood type O, are sensitive to foods in the “nightshade” (Solanaceae) family, which includes tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and paprika. These foods can cause digestive problems in some people.
Dr. Stephen Gundry MD, author of the book “The Plant Paradox“, explains that certain foods are high in lectins, certain plant proteins that deter insects from eating these plants. For example, the seeds and skin of tomatoes contain more lectins than the pulp. In Italy, traditionally they remove the skin and filter out the seeds to make tomato sauce from the pulp only. This reduces the content of lectins in the tomato sauce. Peanuts, cashews, beans, and grains are also high in lectins. These foods may appear to be healthy, but they can be inflammatory to the digestive system for some people.
Unrelated to lectins, but possibly equally noxious for some people, are oxalates. Some people may be sensitive to foods that are high in “oxalate“, which include rhubarb, raspberries, spinach, beets, chocolate, almonds, and others. In certain people, oxalates can cause kidney stones, which are mostly crystals of calcium oxalate. Possible remedies are to drink a lot of water with apple cider vinegar, dandelion, horsetail, and others, according to Healthline, a well-researched and referenced resource. Chanca piedra, a tropical herb in Latin America, has also been used to dissolve kidney stones. Do your own research.
Dr. Michael Ruscio DC, author of “Healthy Gut, Healthy You” describes common food intolerances and how to treat them. Most of all, each person is individual, regarding food intolerances. What appears to be an allergy or an intolerance may be the result of a detoxifying effect of a certain food for a certain person.
Unrelated to the risks of wheat and other food intolerances, be aware that many foods can be adulterated. The most commonly adulterated foods are seafood, olive oil, milk, honey, fruit juice, coffee, vanilla extract, wine, black pepper, and cinnamon. Buyer beware.
In her eighty-six minute presentation, “What’s Really so Bad about Processed Foods, Anyway“, Melanie Warner, author, points out that he primary ingredients in most processed foods are powdered or derived from wheat, soybeans, corn, and milk.
References
Davis MD, Dr. William, “Wheat Belly“, Rodale, 2011, pdf, presentation 1:06, related presentation :47
Davis MD, Dr. William, “How wheat and grains cause heart disease“, article
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