Many say that eating whole grain wheat is good for your health; so is whole grain good for your health?
This is a MYTH.
Prevailing wisdom and U.S. dietary recommendations suggest that eating whole grains is essential for good health, but a great deal of evidence says just the opposite.
According to the acclaimed natural health practitioner and writer Dr. Joseph Mercola, the “ … evidence shows that whole wheat in particular (yes even organic), can contribute to significant health problems — both physical and mental.”
One major consequence of wheat consumption is that it raises insulin levels, which can lead to:
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• Weight problems
• High blood pressure
• High blood cholesterol
• Type 2 diabetes
• Cancer
Wheat also contains mycotoxins — toxins produced by fungus. In addition to the health problems triggered by excess insulin, mycotoxins can unleash a whole host of other serious health issues, including:
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• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Miscarriages
• Headaches
• Infertility
• Developmental delays in children
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Celiac disease
Other grain-related health problems, especially celiac disease, also result from gluten — a protein found plentifully in wheat and other grains such as barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and oats.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disorder characterized by a sensitivity to gluten. However, troubled digestion is far from the only consequence of gluten intolerance. Celiac disease has been linked to numerous other health conditions such as diabetes … anemia … short stature … infertility … Down syndrome … and diarrhea.
According to one study conducted in 32 states, almost 2 million Americans suffer from Celiac disease. Unfortunately, the majority of Americans affected by celiac disease are entirely unaware of the problem.
Indeed, Dr. Mark Hyman, a practicing physician and pioneer in functional medicine, says that an estimated 99% of people who have a problem with eating gluten don’t even know it.
“They ascribe their ill health or symptoms to something else,” says Dr. Hyman, “not gluten sensitivity, which is 100% curable.”
In a recent blog post, Hyman describes a recent large study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that people with diagnosed, undiagnosed, and “latent” celiac disease or gluten sensitivity had a higher risk of death, mostly from heart disease and cancer.
This study looked at almost 30,000 patients from 1969 to 2008 and examined deaths in three groups: Those with full-blown celiac disease, those with inflammation of their intestine but not full-blown celiac disease, and those with latent celiac disease or gluten sensitivity (elevated gluten antibodies but negative intestinal biopsy).
The findings were dramatic. There was a 39 percent increased risk of death in those with celiac disease, 72 percent increased risk in those with gut inflammation related to gluten, and 35 percent increased risk in those with gluten sensitivity but no celiac disease.
This is ground-breaking research that proves you don’t have to have full-blown celiac disease with a positive intestinal biopsy (which is what conventional thinking tells us) to have serious health problems and complications — even death — from eating gluten.
In regards, to the question – is whole grain good for you? Dr. Mercola agrees completely. He says that one of the most important changes you can make to your diet for overall health as well as for weight loss is to limit or completely eliminate wheat.