Like me, you have probably heard all your life that whole grains are good for you and that wheat is a healthy staple. But the truth is that these are NOT a healthy option even if they do not appear to cause problems in the short term. As usual, if we take a look at the facts and put aside our conditioning and mental programming the truth can be seen.

Awareness is growing that refined grains and white flour are best avoided but whole grains still enjoy an image of wholesome goodness in most people’s minds. However, there are many reasons why whole grains are not a food to which the human genome is suitably adapted to consume. In Episode 42 of “Living outside the matrix” Dr William Davis shares some surprising truths about wheat in particular and whole grains in general that illustrate why this is so.

Some of the Problems with Whole Grains

Gluten sensitivity and coeliac disease are both on the increase today and can be attributed to the consumption of wheat and other (but not all) whole grains. But gluten causes a cascade of problems for all of us, not just people with these conditions. Gluten is only partially degraded by human digestion and some of the breakdown products, or peptides, act as opioids in the brain. These induce behavioural changes and also stimulate the appetite and the extra consumption of approximately 400 calories a day. For this reason, wheat is discretely put into many processed foods to stimulate consumers to eat more of that product.

Gliadin is one of the breakdown products of Gluten in wheat and other whole grains and it triggers a process that stimulates Zonulin in the gut to open up the tight junctions between the cells of the gut lining. Normally this amazingly intelligent membrane lets in nutrients and prevents the absorption of un-wholesome substances as well as controlling the excretion of toxins. However, gliadin disrupts this process and is one of the factors responsible for creating a leaky gut and thus destroying the crucial barrier between the body and the outside world, compromising this intelligent epithelial membrane and undermining the immune system. Now wheat germ agglutinin and lipo-polysaccharides and many other lectins and harmful substances can enter the body and cause serious problems over the medium to long-term.

According to Dr Williams Gliadin from Gluten has been associated with hundreds of ill-health conditions. However, we must resist the temptation to focus exclusively on Gluten. There are so many other problems with wheat.

Lectins in Wheat and Whole Grains

Wheat germ agglutinin or WGA is a lectin that protects wheat from various pests such as insects, yeasts, molds and bacteria. So strains of wheat with higher quantities of WGA have been selectively bred into modern wheat to increase pest resistance. However, Dr Williams points out that WGA is a potent gastrointestinal toxin to humans in only nanogram quantities. If you eat a standard ‘healthy diet’ containing whole grains at most meals you will ingest about 20 mg per day!

Like Gluten and the Glyphostae sprayed copiously on wheat as a herbicide and as a desiccant, WGA increases intestinal permeability and damages the gut lining triggering an auto-immune response and various disorders in due course. It is also highly inflammatory once in the blood. Given that inflammation is the root cause of all disease (according to Dr Zach Bush in this previous interview) this means that eating wheat and other whole grains is a comprehensive onslaught on the integrity of the gut. It is vital to know this because gut health is foundational to overal health. Whole grains, and particularly wheat,