Americans consume processed food products every day that are made from wheat. The most common wheat products include: bread, muffins, pasta, pretzels, pizza crusts, pie crusts, donuts, cakes, cookies, cereals and crackers.
Wheat, whether it is white flour or whole grain, is recognized the same in the body and turns to sugar. Sugar ultimately weakens the immune system, causes inflammation and upsets the body’s nutritional balance.
Because of hybridization (meaning crossing different strains to generate new characteristics) wheat in America is more problematic than wheat in other countries. In short, the wheat available today is not the same as it was 20 years ago.
Here are some things to consider before consuming wheat:
1. Wheat is loaded with gluten. The immune system recognizes gluten proteins in the digestive tract and thinks they’re foreign invaders. As a result, it attacks not only the gluten, but also the digestive wall itself. Moreover, hybridization has altered the wheat seed changing the gluten. Thus, people develop “gluten intolerances.”
2. Wheat spikes blood sugar rapidly. The large spikes are followed by rapid drops, which tend to stimulate hunger and trigger cravings for more carbs, which causes you to eat more and gain more weight instead of losing it.
3. Wheat contains substances that “steal” nutrients from the body. Wheat contains a substance called phytic acid, which can reduce absorption of important minerals. It may also cause people to burn through Vitamin D faster, contributing to deficiency and compromising your immune system.
4. Wheat consumption is associated with several brain diseases. Wheat is associated with many disorders of the brain, such as schizophrenia, cerebellar ataxia, autism and epilepsy.
5. Whole wheat drastically raises small, dense LDL cholesterol. Elevated levels of LDL (the “bad”) cholesterol are associated with a greater risk of heart disease.
6. Modern wheat has a lot of chemicals added to it. Wheat crops are sprayed with pesticides and fungicides. In addition, most of the wheat products are made from “bromated flour.” Bromate is an additive put into almost all flour that is toxic to the human body, especially to the thyroid.
Yours in health,
Jennifer
Sources:
www.wheatbellyblog.com