What’s Wrong with Wheat? Guest Post By Susan Neal RN, MBA, MHS

Today’s post is written by author Susan Neal who will be making an appearance on my podcast The Segilola Salami Show. In this post, Susan talks about what’s wrong with wheat, in her opinion, and what she feels you can do for the betterment of your health. Happy reading!

What’s Wrong with Wheat?

For centuries, people flourished by consuming bread. Nevertheless, the problem with wheat is that it is not the same today as it was one hundred years ago. Most people have no idea that wheat has been bred to the point the body thinks of it as a foreign substance. This is from hybridization. Eliminate wheat because it is addictive and the human body has difficulty digesting the gluten.

Today, grocery stores and restaurants make nongluten food choices readily available. Why has gluten sensitivity skyrocketed? Fifty years ago, sensitivity to gluten was rare. I believe it is because the human body cannot proficiently digest the gluten in wheat the way it is hybridized now.

 

Hybridized Wheat

Norman Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing the food supply through hybridization—crossbreeding of different varieties—of wheat. He crossbred various types of wheat to create a high-yield dwarf wheat. Wheat is now only a couple of feet tall, drought resistant, and prolific. Unfortunately, the gluten changed so much that it can induce gluten sensitivity. Therefore, do not consume wheat products. No waffles, pancakes, muffins, cake, piecrust, pizza, pretzels, bread, pasta—the list goes on and on.

Gluten is in wheat, barley, and rye. Yet breads made of barley and rye are uncommon. Therefore, I believe the gluten culprit comes from the hybridization of wheat.  Wheat is addictive because a polypeptide from wheat passes through the blood-brain barrier and goes to the opiate receptors in the brain. These receptors release dopamine, the feel-good neurohormone, making you desire more of the product.

Since gluten in the hybridized wheat is difficult to digest, some individuals become sensitive or intolerant to the gluten. These individuals experience digestive problems when they consume foods with gluten. If a person’s body does not recognize gluten as food, their immune system attacks the gluten and, unfortunately, their body at the same time. The intestinal lining becomes damaged, resulting in holes in the intestinal wall (called leaky gut). Those holes allow food to enter the bloodstream. In turn, a person may become allergic to other types of food as well. It is not surprising that gluten sensitivity is often paired with an autoimmune condition because the body accidentally starts harming its own cells as it attacks the broken-down food particles in the bloodstream.

In other words, if you get an autoimmune disease, it could have been caused by a gluten sensitivity you didn’t know you had. This sensitivity could have caused your immune system to get confused and attack a part of your body. Therefore, I recommend anyone with an autoimmune disease not eat wheat.

 

Processed White Flour

White flour is one of the most prevalent wheat products used today, and it is far removed from the grain it once was. A wheat berry consists of three layers: bran, germ, and endosperm. White flour contains one part of the wheat kernel—the endosperm, which is mostly starch. The other two parts of the wheat contain the fiber and nutrients, and these are not included in white flour. The flour has also been chemically bleached, consequently, the grain no longer resembles the wholesome food it once was. Now a slice of bread will raise your blood-sugar level higher than a teaspoon of sugar.

Before 1870, wheat was stone-ground, and the whole grain was mashed (all three parts of the kernel). The invention of the steel roller revolutionized grain milling. With this device, the components of the wheat berry could be separated. Removing the bran (fiber) and germ (nutrients) significantly extended the shelf life of the processed flour. Stone-ground flour contained natural oils from the wheat and became rancid after sitting for a time on the shelf.

This limited shelf life is similar to nuts and oil. Have you ever eaten a rancid nut or smelled rancid oil? The capacity of food to become spoiled is a good thing because the foul smell and taste lets you know the value of the food is gone. However, food industries prefer products with a longer shelf life so their products won’t go bad and can be sold for a longer period of time.

Unfortunately, after the bran and germ components of the wheat berry were removed from the wheat, people started having diseases caused by deficiencies in B vitamins because the wheat germ, which contained the grain’s nutrients, was removed from flour. Therefore, in the 1940s, vitamin enrichment of bread began.

Processed foods, like white flour, with their extended shelf life, do not go bad anymore because the natural nutrients were removed. Consequently, such foods don’t benefit the human body. In fact, if we eat processed foods that do not contain nutrients, we deprive ourselves of essential vitamins and minerals. A lack of nutrients leads to malnutrition. We end up overweight but malnourished because the processed foods did not contain nutrients or fiber, only empty calories. No wonder our bodies are unhealthy.

 

Susan Neal Bio

Susan Neal RN, MBA, MHS, lives her life with a passion to help others improve their health. She is a Certified Health and Wellness Coach. She is the author of six healthy living books. Her best-seller 7 Steps to Get Off Sugar and Carbohydrates, a Selah award winner, sold over 5000 copies in its first thirteen months. Find your inner peace through Yoga for Beginners: 60 Basic Yoga Poses for Flexibility, Stress Relief, and Inner Peace. You can find her on SusanUNeal.com.

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What do you think about this blog post “What’s Wrong with Wheat? Guest Post By Susan Neal RN, MBA, MHS”? Do you agree with Susan on what’s wrong with wheat? Has the blog post influenced your opinion of wheat and/or processed white flour? Do you have any follow on questions for Susan? Please leave a comment below