My mum (who also has gluten
intolerance) told me of an article one day that warned of the changed structure
of wheat as being the culprit for most people’s wheat allergies nowadays.
My response: ewwwww...genetic
modification is to blame?? how do you get around that? Why did they have to do
it in the first place?
The reason why the wheat protein
changed is because farmers combined different types of wheat until they had a
species that produced the highest yield of grain, is drought resistant, insect
and disease resistant, heat tolerant, etc. Unfortunately, a side effect of this
is that the protein molecule of the wheat had changed too. The result of which
is a protein molecule that some people cannot tolerate, and some are severely
allergic to.
Melinda Beck of HealthJournal@wsj.com
says:
“The incidence of celiac disease is rising sharply—and not
just due to greater awareness. Tests comparing old blood samples to recent ones
show the rate has increased four-fold in the last 50 years, to at least 1 in
133 Americans. It's also being diagnosed in people as old as 70 who have eaten
gluten safely all their lives.
"People aren't born with this. Something triggers it
and with this dramatic rise in all ages, it must be something pervasive in the
environment," says Joseph A. Murray, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, Minn. One possible culprit: agricultural changes to wheat
that have boosted its protein content.”
Also an
article found at http://www.kipnews.org/2012/01/16/modern-wheat-really-isnt-wheat-at-all/
states:
“Plant breeders have changed wheat in dramatic ways...once more than 4
feet tall, modern wheat (the type grown in 99 percent of the wheat fields
around the world) is now a stocky 2 feet tall plant with an unusually large
seed head. Dr. Davis says accomplishing this involved crossing wheat with
non-wheat grasses to introduce altogether new genes, using techniques like
irradiation of wheat seeds and embryos with chemicals, gamma rays, and high-dose
X-rays to induce mutations...Intense crossbreeding created significant changes
in the amino acids in wheat’s glucoproteins, a potential cause for the 400
percent increase in celiac disease over the past 40 years. Wheat’s gliadin
protein has undergone changes, with what appears to be dire consequence. ‘Compared
to its pre-1960s predecessor, modern gliadin is a potent appetite stimulant,’
explains Dr. Davis. ‘The new gliadin proteins may also account for the
explosion in inflammatory diseases we are seeing’.”
The Dr. Davis mentioned above is a preventative cardiologist, Medical
Doctor, and author.
But there is a different opinion on the matter supplied by Sarah at http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/hybrid-wheat-not-the-same-as-gm-wheat/
:
“In
the case of wheat, strains that are high in gluten have been favored...does this
mean that hybridized wheat is bad for your health? Not at all... The real crux
of the problem is the complete mess that westerners have made of their gut
environment with all the processed foods, sugars, antibiotics and other
pharmaceutical use. An imbalance gut environment will most assuredly not be
able to digest wheat that is high in gluten and then undigested food rots in
the gut producing excess gas, bloating, growth of pathogens, and breakdown of
the gut wall that results in “wheat belly” as well as autoimmune symptoms, such
as food allergies or gluten sensitivity.”
She also
says that hybridized wheat is different than genetically modified (GM) wheat,
while the article that quotes Dr. Davis says that modern wheat used
commercially nowadays is both a hybrid and a product of genetic manipulation. There
are many different opinions on the matter, but the fact of the matter is that
the protein particle of wheat has still changed from the original specimen that
our bodies have evolved to handle. This applies to other food as well. There is
no knowing the effects that foods changed from the original format that we were
evolved to digest, will have on the human body.
This also
brings to my mind a diet that my friend told me about called the Paleo Diet. It
involves only eating foods that our ancestors from 10,000 years ago or older
would have eaten, thus avoiding the very problem that modern wheat poses to us.
It avoids all pastuerized dairy products, artificial sweeteners, grains or
grain-like foods, highly processed oils, soft drinks, iodized salt, fruit juice
and legumes. See more details here: http://www.paleoplan.com/resources/paleo-plan-food-guide/
Sounds healthy to me! I would love to
hear anyone’s thoughts on these articles and any suggestions on additional research
would be highly welcomed!
No comments:
Post a Comment