It’s kind of felt like not eating wheat is the “in” thing to do. While there is some controversy, there is a solid evidence base about negative health effects for some individuals with wheat consumption.
From celiac disease, to non-celiac wheat sensitivity and wheat allergy, it’s worth trying to understand the potential effects of wheat on our health.
Why wheat is linked to so many modern-day health problems, when it has been a staple of the human diet for thousands of years?
To understand how wheat has changed since it was first cultivated, how these changes could be affecting human health
Probably the most well accepted condition related to wheat consumption is celiac disease. Celiac disease is a condition where you have an immune response to gluten, a protein found in wheat, wheat products and other related grains, including barley, rye and triticale.
The immune response to gluten often creates symptoms, including bloating and diarrhea. With continued consumption of wheat, the symptoms can become severe, even life threatening. In the general population, celiac disease affects about 1 out of every 100 individuals.
For celiac disease, blood testing can usually identify cases, although confirming the diagnosis requires an intestinal biopsy to visualize damage to the intestinal tract. While most people with celiac disease have symptoms, there are silent cases.
Some individuals may have an immune response that is causing damage without specific symptoms. For anyone with celiac disease the standard treatment is lifelong avoidance of wheat and gluten.
It’s also worth noting that celiac disease has well known associations with other autoimmune conditions, including psoriasis, dermatitis herpetiformis (a blistering skin condition), type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroid conditions.
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Thank you ….Sometimes called non-celiac gluten sensitivity, this condition was finally accepted as a diagnosis only fairly recently and still maintains some controversy.
Adding to this, there isn’t a complete understanding of the mechanism of how wheat causes symptoms for individuals with the condition.
However, there does appear to be a subset of individuals with digestive symptoms, usually indigestion, bloating, and diarrhea that get better when wheat products are removed. In addition, they have a flare-up of symptoms if wheat is reintroduced.
Non gastrointestinal symptoms are also common and can include fatigue, headache and anxiety.
To confirm the diagnosis, celiac disease must be ruled out. While some diagnostic markers appear to have weak correlations with the condition, no laboratory testing is considered diagnostic.
The exact incidence of the condition is also difficult to nail down, although it’s likely more common than celiac disease itself.
Treatment again is the elimination of products containing gluten and wheat. Like celiac, a number of other medical conditions are correlated with non-celiac wheat sensitivity.. Links with fibromyalgia also appear significant.
Close to full resolution of fibromyalgia symptoms has been documented in some patients if they sustain a gluten-free diet long term. Interestingly, depression, anxiety and psychosis also show correlations to non-celiac wheat sensitivity.
Do you want to add a word or two?….
Wheat is the most widely grown crop on our planet, yet industrial breeders have transformed this ancient staff of life into a commodity of yield and profit—witness the increase in gluten intolerance and ‘wheat belly’.
Modern wheat depends on synthetic fertilizer and herbicides that damage our health, land, water, and environment.
Fortunately, heritage ‘landrace’ wheats that evolved over millennia in the organic fields of traditional farms do not need bio-chemical intervention to yield bountifully, are gluten-safe, have rich flavor and high nutrition.
Yet the robust, majestic wheats that nourished our ancestors are on the verge of extinction.
I am allergic to modern wheat. I suffered miserably from bloating, malabsorption, and indigestion for many years. No doctor could help me. Yet when I removed wheat from my diet, the symptoms vanished.
Your comments ….
I am deeply disappointed in the wheat industry for ignoring—even refuting—the reports of the rise in gluten allergies.
Gluten is the name for proteins found in wheat, barley, and rye. Gluten is also added to foods as a thickening agent or to provide texture and flavor.
Gluten has a stretchy quality to it and is the ingredient that gives bread and baked goods their chewy texture. Eating whole grains like wheat, barley, and rye is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. However, gluten can cause health concerns for some.
Some people experience adverse reactions and health risks when eating foods containing gluten.
The peptides found in gluten are resistant to stomach acids, which can make it hard for some people to digest. These peptides can cause various symptoms from mild indigestion to more serious health conditions.
Gastrointestinal discomfort or allergy symptoms can develop as a result of eating gluten. Many people have developed celiac disease.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system seeks gluten as a toxic invader and attacks it, resulting in intestinal damage.
People with celiac disease are at risk for developing more severe disorders due to malabsorption of vitamins and minerals
You Should Avoid Gluten
If you have any symptoms of gluten-sensitivity, you may want to consider removing gluten from most of you following a Primal eating plan are already avoiding wheat.
The occasional dabbing of soy sauce, maybe a bit of crusty bread at a restaurant, sure, but for the most part, you’re not munching on baguettes in parks on sunny days, wolfing down huge sandwiches, and eating pasta. Wheat avoidance tends to be the rule in our circle. Still, though, haven’t you had that moment where someone asks “What’s wrong with wheat?”
You mutter something about gluten and the advent of agriculture that doesn’t really sound convincing, even to you?
Consider today’s post a crash course in exactly why modern wheat in particular is a problem. To borrow a horrible concept that has helped politicians and their cronies obfuscate the truth for decades, these are “talking points” to which you can always refer when asked.
Flour made from the whole kernel is called graham flour and becomes rancid with prolonged storage because of the germ-oil content retained. White flour, which does not contain the germ, preserves longer. Inferior and surplus wheats and various milling by-products are used for livestock feeds.
The greatest portion of the wheat flour produced is used for bread making. Wheats grown in dry climates are generally hard types, having protein content of 11–15 percent and strong gluten (elastic protein). The hard type produces flour best suited for bread making.
The wheats of humid areas are softer, with protein content of about 8–10 percent and weak gluten.
The softer type of wheat produces flour suitable for cakes, crackers, cookies, and pastries and household flours. Durum wheat semolina (from the endosperm) is used for making pastas, or alimentary pastes.
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