INFLAMMATION! It is an internal destroyer of health and a precursor to all disease, from allergies to heart disease to cancer...to ANY illness and symptom! I spend a whole chapter on inflammation and alkalinity in my E Book, as they are vital to the IMMUNE system! So what went so wrong, when we used to consider grains, especially wheat to be the "staff of life?" And now they may cause internal inflammation! Let's talk about it.
Since the 60's we've become a nation that has consumed most everything we eat filled with white flour. Pizza, sandwiches, waffles, bread....it just goes on and on. People love carbs. Well, white flour, until the recent trend to go complex in carbs, did a number on our gut and colon, even if we weren't born with Celiac disease! There were TWO ways we created ourselves to become sensitive to grains, to the point it may have affected millions of people's immune systems and be at the heart of ill health, small or large, in many Americans. Now follow with me.
Our small intestine has gillions of hairlike thingies called villi that line the colon and move grains/wheat along as they undulate and help it digest. Well, what if you refine wheat and make it a sticky white, gooey mess that literally w/overuse just depletes the villi? You got it. You create a mild to serious copycat of the genetic disease, Celiac's disease, where villi are just gone. And to top it off, big food growers Hybrid wheat (over 90% of all wheat is now) to get greater yields and make it impervious to pesticides, and wheat becomes now even harder to digest and utilize, w/our villi missing colon!! So guess what happens?!! LEAKY GUT SYNDROME, where undigested wheat particles slip through the colon wall, straight into the bloodstream and it's like a big red light going off at the firestation! RED ALERT to the Immune system. It sees the undigested grain particles as INVADERS and works overtime to respond to them. Do it hundreds, no thousands and thousands of times, and you have INFLAMMATION, a weakened immune function, and guess what, you have SYMPTOMS. But who would ever track these symptoms which later could turn into even deadly disease to overuse of white flour products, then coupled by genetically altered , SUPER WHEAT! Oy Vey! If you have inflammation, it is a breeding ground for disease, from cancer to heart disease at it's worst...... to "just" colds, sinus infections, aches and pains, fibromyalgia, need I go on?!!!! And you just keep eating and eating, and think that eating whole grains, hey it's fiber, and healthful, and you just don't know why GLUTEN FREE became so prevalent. The New England Journal of Medicine, says that over 55 diseases have been tracked to this downward spiral, from an unhealthy immune system and inflammation. From depression to autism to cancer and heart disease, or things like headaches, and arthritis, and kids having earaches, you name it, are being considered as linked to this issue with overuse of white flour (wheat in it's refined state) and now wheat in it's HYBRID, altered state, even more hard to digest! Houston, we have a problem!!!!! Who wants inflammation, a weakened immune system and therefore weight. The body ALWAYS hangs onto weight for security, if you have symptoms!
So this is why I promote Gluten Free. If you have any health issues of any type, try Gluten Free for awhile and see if you see a difference in your health. The villi do come back over time. And your immune system goes....Ahhhhhh....and eventually, you can do mainly gluten free, NO WHEAT, but can do spelt breads ( a derivative) and oatbran/whole oats, rye crackers, etc. But NO WHEAT! Gluten Free is AWESOME. It's become so easy to find YUMMY Gluten free breads, cookies, cakes, pancake mixes, etc. etc. etc. It's COOL to go Gluten Free now...but more than cool, it could be VITAL to your health! I LOVE Pamela's Gluten Free products. Her cookies and pancake mix and brownie mix are 2DIE4......Even Trader Joes has an awesome Gluten Free Chocolate cake mix/brownie mix that seems, hmmmm, like Pamela's under their name *wink* *wink*
So consider what you might have learned tonight. Put down the multi grains and wheat for now, and stick to brown rice and gluten free flour and products. OKIE DOKIE....time to take my Health Angel hat off and let you "digest" all this. Smile. Here's pancakes/waffles for you quick toaster folks that are wheat free and at Traders. More gluten free products to come!
So if it's wheat free, does that mean it's gluten free? Or other way around? Or not so much?
ReplyDeleteA question I so appreciate, as in singing the "non praises" of wheat for many, I did not clarify what non-gluten really means. Gluten is the protein part of certain grains. It is present in wheat, but it is also part of grains such as rye, oats, and even spelt as well as some others. For some it triggers an auto immune response even if they are not Celiac, a disease that requires NO gluten whatsoever. When I had an immune disorder a decade ago, I did a complete NON-gluten diet for six months, and then was able to introduce oat bran for my cereal back in, and spelt bread several times a week. Each time I used wheat in my diet however, my immune system reacted, and I had symptoms that showed me wheat should not be a part of my diet. I have been wheat free since then, but not totally gluten free. I do eat oat bran several times a week, and spelt bread. Barley also has gluten, but after giving up whole wheat, for a period of time, I found having barley in soups here and there, did not trigger a slow deterioration of my immune system as wheat did. Most will not realize if they have had their immune system weakened by gluten intolerance, or leaky gut syndrome, until they go on a gluten free diet, and see an improvement in their health AND weight. I personally feel giving up wheat because of it's genetic modification and hearty gluten composition, is a food many could take out of their diet altogether. To summarize, if you feel your immune system is exhibiting health symptoms, try going completely gluten free. The villi do regenerate in non Celiac people. If you then introduce oat bran or steel cut, unrefined oats, or spelt, which still have gluten, you may be able to handle them with out any problem. I personally do not think wheat is a healthful product for people who have any type immune dysfunction. I hope this helps. Thank you for the great question. The pancakes at Trader Joes, are completely gluten AND wheat free, as is Pamela's mix from health food stores. They will be soft and fluffy and are made from rice flour and sorghum. If you want a chewier, more fiber filled pancake, Tree Street Grains has a multi grain, gluten free pancake that you can google and order online. It is a taste preference. With Traders you pop them in the toaster. With Pamela's and Tree Street, you use a mix and make from scratch. GOOD LUCK!
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