Gluten Part Two: It’s In The Wheat

The information and alarm stirred up by the gluten craze is overwhelming.

Is it an industry gimmick to drive up specialty food prices or a real issue affecting millions of Americans? And if so, why?

The “why” is the real question.

Why, all of the sudden, are millions of Americans suddenly afflicted with celiac disease, wheat allergies, gluten intolerance and gluten sensitivity?

In addition to an increase of type 2 diabetes, and obesity, diseases aggravated by inflammation are also on the rise.

Dr. Mark Hyman M.D. has written a great article that goes to the real problem which has been blamed on gluten; the wheat.

This is not to say that there are not real health issues linked to gluten, however, the “new” wheat is causing problems, too.

Super Starch, Super Gluten and the Super Drug that we are all ingesting in all kinds of food products are to blame, according to Hyman.

Scientifically created “Franken Food” engineered by Agri-business giants within the last 50 years have created a food product much unlike that which humans were designed to consume.

The Bible says, “Give us this day our daily bread”. Eating bread is nearly a religious commandment. But the Einkorn, heirloom, Biblical wheat of our ancestors is something modern humans never eat.
Instead, we eat dwarf wheat, the product of genetic manipulation and hybridization that created short, stubby, hardy, high yielding wheat plants with much higher amounts of starch and gluten and many more chromosomes coding for all sorts of new odd proteins. The man who engineered this modern wheat won the Nobel Prize – it promised to feed millions of starving around the world. Well, it has, and it has made them fat and sick.
The first major difference of this dwarf wheat is that it contains very high levels of a super starch called amylopectin A. This is how we get big fluffy Wonder Bread and Cinnabons.

If you are suffering from weight gain, inflammation, diabetes or prediabetes consider your diet and how you can avoid toxic wheat.

Gluten Free; Gimmick or Good Nutrition?

Gluten free products are popping up everywhere and some would say that they are a waste of money.

The gluten free frenzy has become “food fashion”.

Many people falsely believe that gluten-free means healthier when, indeed, it does not.

For those who have been diagnosed with celiac disease there is a medical reason to avoid products containing gluten, however, many people have been self diagnosing gluten sensitivity based on internet research and conversations with friends and simply end up funding an industry which preys on fear and misinformation.

The worldwide market for gluten-free products is nearly $2.5 billion, spurred in part by the Internet, alternative medicine and questionable scientists with ties to manufacturers, coauthor Dr. Roberto Corazza of the University of Pavia told msnbc.com in an email.
Gluten is a component of the protein mixture in wheat, rye and barley flour. For people with the autoimmune condition celiac disease, foods that contain gluten trigger the immune system to attack the lining of the small intestine. The only treatment is a lifelong, gluten-free diet. Untreated, celiac disease raises the risk of life-threatening conditions such as digestive tract cancers. About 1 in 133 Americans has celiac disease, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation.

Should Everyone Avoid Gluten?

Is gluten just the gimmick of the moment?

It seems like everyone is gluten intolerant, gluten sensitive or suffering from celiac disease these days.

But just who is really suffering from gluten?

The American Gastroenterological Association says that much more needs to be known about gluten sensitivity before official guidelines can be devised—including how many people suffer from it and to what degree.

About 1% of people in the U.S. have celiac disease, a fourfold increase over the past 50 years. Some gastroenterologists say that for every patient with celiac disease, they see six to eight who have the same symptoms, but without the tell-tale antibodies or intestinal damage needed to confirm celiac.

Evidence is mounting that gluten sensitivity does exist. Dr. Fasano and colleagues last year compared blood samples and intestinal biopsies from people with suspected gluten sensitivity to those with confirmed celiac disease and healthy controls, and found distinct differences in each.

Celiac Disease is on the Rise

It seems that the big new health trend is gluten-free.

Gluten seems to be everywhere and in everything, especially if you suffer from Celiac Disease.

We hear of gluten intolerance and celiac disease so often because there has been a marked increase of the population who suffer with this autoimmune disease.

The amount of gluten in our food, which has risen in the last 90-100, as well as improvements in hygiene and sanitation have been noted to contribute to the affliction.

Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disorder that causes the body’s immune system to attack the small intestine, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. The attack is prompted by exposure to gluten, a protein found in such grains as wheat, rye and barley.

The disease interferes with proper digestion and, in children, prompts symptoms that include bloating, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. Adults with celiac disease are less likely to show digestive symptoms but will develop problems such as anemia, fatigue, osteoporosis or arthritis as the disorder robs their bodies of vital nutrients.

Gluten-free whether you need it or not!

Trying a gluten-free diet is not such a bad idea.

Even though it’s an extremely difficult diet to follow people who struggle with gut problems but have tested negative for celiac disease are determined to take matters into their own hands.

By eliminating gluten rich foods from the diet they can reduce intestinal upset and improve the quality of their lives.

With all the new gluten-free products on the market these days, it has become increasingly easier to eat healthily and continue to enjoy a variety of foods.

“Within a week of eliminating [gluten], I started to feel markedly better,” says Cooper, now 36, from Melbourne, Australia. “It wasn’t a gradual feeling better; it was almost a crossing-the-street kind of thing.”

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