Wheat, Fast Food & Insane Food Policies
Wheat, Fast Food & Insane Food Policies
Is Modern Wheat Dangerous to Humans? Are modern changes in how wheat is processed making wheat harmful for human consumption? Citing new research, this concerns David Perlmutter, M.D. in his recent piece for The Daily Beast. See http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/10/wheat-threatens-all-humans-new-research-shows.html The processing of wheat has significantly changed over time. Modern processes have created legitimate concerns as wheat related allergies are rising and the “gluten free” diet is increasingly popular. If you want an extensive read on the history of wheat processing see Katherine Czapp’s 2006 blog piece “The History of How Wheat Became Toxic” at http://maninisglutenfree.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/the-history-of-how-wheat-became-toxic/ According to Dr. Perlmutter, research shows that modern wheat is capable of producing more than 23,000 different proteins, any one of which could trigger a potentially damaging inflammatory response. One protein of concern is wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). WGA is classified as a lectin—a term for a protein produced by an organism to protect itself from predation. WGA may not only have harmful effects on the human gut but may also be harmful to the heart, the endocrine and immune systems and perhaps the brain. Read the rest of this post »