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Even in its original form, grain (wheat, rye, oats, barley, corn) was not designed to be the staple of human or animal diet that it has become.
The two main problems with grains are:
- Gluten content of grains has been increased dramatically in the process of hybridization and genetic selection. Wheat in its original form contained about 5% gluten. It its present form it contains 55%.
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Eating most grains lowers the pH of the blood, causing the body to become acidic.
You have no doubt heard of Celiac Disease, a condition in which the body reacts to a specialised protein called gluten, found in the grains of wheat, rye, barley and possibly oats.
If not, Wikipedia has some excellent introductory articles on
gluten,
the gluten-free diet,
and Celiac disease.
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It was wongly assumed that only about 0.5 to 1% of the US population is affected by gluten intolerance. It now appears that gluten affects most people's health to a greater or a lesser degree. Often people do not realise that is their problem.
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The truth began to surface over the past decade, and it is evidenced in a book "Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic" written by Peter H Green and Rory Jones in 2006 - see link on the left. Originally thought of as an intolerance in children, it is being more and more realised that this problem affects people and their health for life.
Before we lay the blame on compromised immune systems, we need to understand what has happened to grains in the last 40-50 years.
I can't point you in any better direction than a wonderful article called Food Intolerance - Man and Animals versus Gluten, Casein, Soy, and Corn or How We Won the Battle of “Helm’s Deep” by John B. Symes D.V.M - Dogtor J - a veterinarian with 29 years of practice experience and some brilliant insights into what is happening with the health of the human species and its pets. This is not a short article, but believe me, it will blow your mind!
Read it well. It's not only ground-breaking, but as a lecture I can imagine it kept the Annual Meeting of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association on the edge of their seats.
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Eating most grains lowers the pH of the blood, causing the body to become acidic.
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 If you need any more convincing about grains, there are many articles on Mercola.com - the website of Dr Joseph Mercola - that point to the benefits of a grain-free diet. There is one from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition entitled
Optimize Your Health by Reverting to Ancestral No-Grain Diet. Here is the first paragraph:
"Some 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, our ancestors relied on a pre-agricultural, hunter-gatherer diet. Since then, with the invention of agriculture and industrial-scale food production, our diet has become rich in saturated fat, simple sugars, sodium and chloride, while nutrients such as fiber, magnesium and potassium are lacking. These dietary changes are thought to be risk factors to a number of diseases, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers."
You will note also a reference to increased acid production as a result of deviating from the hunter-gatherer diet - "The prehistoric diets were found to be net base-producing, while the contemporary diet tends to be net acid-producing." That's no surprise!
Click HERE to review a full list of the grain articles on Mercola.com.
I you still think I am overplaying the need to curb cabohydrates in the diet, please carry on to read my revelations about Sugars in the next part of this story. Here's a small quote:
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According to this report in Scientific American, "after years of bread, noodles and cakes, human tissues inevitably become rigid and yellow with pigmented AGE deposits."
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If you need any convincing on Dogtor J's comments about Casein and Soy, look no further than the following articles on this site, and the tables that are linked to them. I wrote these articles about 10 years ago, and their content is still 100% relevant:
More to follow.
Check HERE for ways to get chemicals out of your home.
Resources:
Angstrom
Synergies
Body pH
Parasites
Symptoms
Enzymes
Minerals
Vitamins
Soya - The Two-Edged Sword
Cows' Milk Allergies
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