Is Wheat or Gluten really toxic?
This blog is written by Dr. Vibhusha Jambhekar (Nutrition consultant)
Lately it’s become hip to go
gluten-free. Based on little or no evidence other than testimonials in the
media, people have been switching to gluten-free diets to lose weight, boost
energy, treat autism, or generally feel healthier.
Gluten is a protein naturally
found in some grains like wheat. It acts like a binder, holding food
together and adding a “stretchy” quality—think of a pizza maker tossing and
stretching out a ball of dough. Without gluten, the dough would rip easily.
Gluten is most often associated with wheat and wheat-containing foods that are
abundant in our food supply. Negative media attention on wheat and gluten has
caused some people to doubt its place in a healthful diet. Gluten
and wheat hybrids have been consumed for thousands of years. It just didn’t
make sense that this could be the reason for so many people suddenly having
problems with wheat and gluten in general in the past 5-10 years.
Hence, I researched a little
more on this topic and came across some surprising facts!
Nutrition science believes
that consuming whole grains is the key to get all nutrients and have an
efficient digestive system. Whole wheat grains act as a prebiotic, feeding the
“good” bacteria in our bodies. Arabinoxylan oligosaccharide is a prebiotic from
wheat bran that has been shown to stimulate the activity of bifidobacteria in
the colon. These bacteria are normally found in a healthy human gut.
What’s not great about wheat
is gluten that can cause serious side effects in certain individuals. Some
people react differently to gluten, where the body senses it as a toxin,
causing one’s immune cells to overreact and attack it. If an unknowingly
sensitive person continues to eat gluten, this creates a kind of battle ground
resulting in inflammation and can cause:
1.
Fatigue
2.
Bloating
3.
Alternating constipation and
diarrhea
4.
Hyper acidity etc.
A gluten-free diet is the
primary medical treatment for this. However, understanding and following a
strict gluten-free diet can be challenging. It is important to consult an
expert to ensure that adequate nutrients are obtained from gluten-free
alternatives. Avoiding gluten means more than giving up traditional rotis, rava
i.e. semolina (all items made from it like upma, sheera etc.), maida (all items
made from it like biscuits, breads, cakes, pasta etc.)
However, as a nutritionist I
always wondered why gluten sensitivity has become common, when generations of
Indians have been consuming it for years. Recently I came across an article
which might help shed some light on this.
Research conducted by Dr.
Stephanie Seneff from MIT suggests that:
Glyphosate, a chemical used while growing
wheat significantly disrupts the functioning of beneficial bacteria in the gut
and makes the intestinal wall leaky and causes autoimmune disease like
symptoms.
Glyphosate is used
before harvesting to increase the yield and also as a herbicide. Dr. Stephanie
Seneff explains that when you expose wheat to a toxic chemical
like glyphosate, it actually releases more seeds resulting in a slightly
greater yield.
The practice increases yields by killing the
crops. Just before the plants die, they release their seeds in order to
propagate the species:
“It goes to seed as it dies. At its last
gasp, it releases the seed,” Seneff told The Healthy Home Economist.
However, glyphosate
doesn’t kill you immediately.
1. It hampers the
functions of beneficial gut microbes to synthesise critical amino acids.
2. It compromises immune
function
3. It inhibits synthesis
of vitamins
4. It compromises the
functions of bacteria to detoxify the multitude of foreign chemical compounds,
xenobiotics, that we are exposed to in our modern environment today.
As a result, humans
exposed to glyphosate through ingestion of its residues on industrialized food
products become even more vulnerable to the damaging effects of other chemicals
and environmental toxins they encounter!
What’s worse is
that the negative impact of glyphosate exposure is slow and insidious over
months and years as inflammation gradually gains a foothold in the
cellular systems of the body.
The consequences of this
systemic inflammation are most of the diseases and conditions associated with
the Western lifestyle:
·
Gastrointestinal disorders
·
Obesity
·
Diabetes
·
Heart Disease
·
Depression
·
Autism
·
Infertility
·
Cancer
·
Multiple Sclerosis
Glyphosate is now being
named as the culprit in a $280 million cancer lawsuit and labelled as a carcinogen by the World Health
Organization
Moral of the story? We need to go
glyphosate-free or chemical-free, not gluten-free. And that means going
organic, especially when it comes to consuming food. For those who are
sensitive to gluten, avoiding wheat for some time is the only treatment. But,
this has to be complemented with other interventions to heal the digestive
system. It is important to note that, food sensitivity is not always permanent.
It can be reversed. This ofcourse has to be monitored by experts. My firm belief
is that elimination diets never work; you eliminate whole classes of nutrients
when you eliminate certain foods. Always better to have a diet which balances
all nutrients!
1.
Neyrinck, A.M., et al.
Wheat-derived arabinoxylan oligosaccharides with prebiotic effect increase
satietogenic gut peptides and reduce metabolic endotoxemia in diet-induced
obese mice. Nutr Diabetes. 2012 Jan; 2(1): e28.
2.
Tojo, R., et al. Intestinal
microbiota in health and disease: role of bifidobacteria in gut
homeostasis. World J Gastroenterol. 2014 Nov 7;20(41):15163-76.
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