CBS: Modern wheat a "perfect, chronic poison," doctor says

[dfitzo53]

Man. This is somewhat disconcerting to me because I try to incude the "healthy" whole wheat as part of my diet.

Any opinions on gluten-free bread? Yes, I know it is costly.

My wife recently had to experiment with gluten-free. In terms of our baking at home, things seem to turn out fine. I made a berry cobbler for Thanksgiving that everyone loved. The gluten eaters said they couldn't tell the difference and were just as satisfied as the gluten-free folks.

In terms of store-bought bread, it's hit or miss. We've found the Udi's brand to be pretty good, and the Ener-G brand to be mediocre.

Edit: Also, if you want to truly go gluten-free you have to think about a lot more than bread. Wheat is worked into a lot of food additives, plus there's the concern of contamination in a factory that processes wheat alongside say, rice or oats.

[KingGibbs]

Thanks dfitzo.

Couple of things. We all know how bad processed foods are for us, but aren't gluten-free products HIGHLY processed?

Also. From what I've been gathering, there is no reason to go gluten-free unless it is for medical reasons. Without doing too much research I am guessing that some are gluten intolerant and others are not? Kind of reminiscent of lactose intolerance?

I am not one that would dismiss this gluten-free push, but like anything else, I am skeptical when products come out of nowhere at a high cost to take advantage of the latest headlines.

[The Evil Genius]

Thanks dfitzo.

Couple of things. We all know how bad processed foods are for us, but aren't gluten-free products HIGHLY processed?

Also. From what I've been gathering, there is no reason to go gluten-free unless it is for medical reasons. Without doing too much research I am guessing that some are gluten intolerant and others are not? Kind of reminiscent of lactose intolerance?

I am not one that would dismiss this gluten-free push, but like anything else, I am skeptical when products come out of nowhere at a high cost to take advantage of the latest headlines.

From what I have read, like lactose, everyone is intolerant of gluten. It's the degree of intolerance that causes the problems.

With gluten, you have 4 different types of people.

1.) People who eat gluten and have no problems digesting it.

2.) People who have auto-immune diseases (like Celiac's) where their small intestines become damaged over time with the consumption of gluten products.

3.) People who have wheat, yeast, gluten allergies.

4.) There is a growing (partly from proper diagnosis and partly from super gluteny wheat products) population of people who have a wheat (gluten) intolerance. These people make up the bulk of population who are going gluten free.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

I've been about 20-30 pounds above where I'd like to be since my junior year of college, but had never really started looking seriously into nutrition until a few months ago, largely because it just seemed a bit overwhelming to me. I've never really known anything about how to cook, and like others have mentioned, it seemed like there were always new "fad" diets popping up every few months, so I didn't even really know where to begin. But eventually I just... did. I don't even remember what I started with, I just decided to start reading up and see what conclusions I could eventually reach based on what information I could understand from a variety of sources. And so far, those conclusions have all revolved around the notion that one of the best things you can do is dramatically cut down on the grains in your diet, especially wheat. I think the "paleo" community makes a lot of sense there, and that's without even getting into the genetically-modified stuff of the past century. Humans have only been eating large amounts of grains since the invention of agriculture about 10-15,000 years ago after millions of years of evolution, so it seems unlikely that our bodies would be "designed" to eat that way. The number of people who report dramatic improvements in their health—not just their weight, but their overall health—after mostly cutting wheat/grains out of their diet is remarkable.

Has it worked for you?

[The Evil Genius]

As for shelf ready gluten free products, yes some of them can be highly processed. Although most use alternatives to wheat flour (like rice flour, sorghum, tapioca starch, etc)...so in the end they are no more processed than other products you can buy off the shelf.

[LEED3D]

I'm glad the science behind the dangers of wheat products is coming to the forefront. You'll have a few people here and there that were blessed with great genetics and go their entire lives being able to eat whatever they want. However, most people are not. Gluten proteins permeate the intestines and can lead to a whole myriad of digestive and overall health issues.

I struggled with IBS issues for years and nothing worked for me until I kicked the wheat out of my diet. There's a reason the paleo and primal diets are becoming so popular now... they work! I've never felt better when I keep my diet centered on meats and vegetables with as little sugar and grains as possible. This book started the journey for me and I highly recommend it if anyone is interested. I'd suggest as least giving it a whirl and you'll see how much weight you can lose and how good you'll feel.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Primal-Blu...imal+blueprint

The author, Mark Sisson also has his own website which I visit daily. www.marksdailyapple.com

Let me know if anyone has any questions. I've gotten a few friends going with this lifestyle and they've all stuck with it.

[KingGibbs]

FYI. For those of you that are gluten-free and want a snack I suggest the 'Food Should Taste Good' products. I always buy the sweet potato chip because I just wanted a healthier snack and it wasn't by gluten free persuasion.

[LEED3D]

A great gluten free bread alternative I really like is "Against the Grain." They make rolls, bagels and even pizzas. They keep it simple by using Tapioca Starch. Most gluten free products are processed with a bunch of crap that I would stay away from.

[PeterMP]

I've been about 20-30 pounds above where I'd like to be since my junior year of college, but had never really started looking seriously into nutrition until a few months ago, largely because it just seemed a bit overwhelming to me. I've never really known anything about how to cook, and like others have mentioned, it seemed like there were always new "fad" diets popping up every few months, so I didn't even really know where to begin. But eventually I just... did. I don't even remember what I started with, I just decided to start reading up and see what conclusions I could eventually reach based on what information I could understand from a variety of sources. And so far, those conclusions have all revolved around the notion that one of the best things you can do is dramatically cut down on the grains in your diet, especially wheat. I think the "paleo" community makes a lot of sense there, and that's without even getting into the genetically-modified stuff of the past century. Humans have only been eating large amounts of grains since the invention of agriculture about 10-15,000 years ago after millions of years of evolution, so it seems unlikely that our bodies would be "designed" to eat that way. The number of people who report dramatic improvements in their health—not just their weight, but their overall health—after mostly cutting wheat/grains out of their diet is remarkable.

A few things:

The mutation of the lactase gene that allows many of us to consume diary products is only a few thousand years old. The advent of keeping and milking cows is even more recent than use large scale gain based agriculture.

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolib...070401_lactose

Yet undoubtedly the mutations of the lactase gene and the ability to drink milk was favorable in at least certain areas and even arose independently in different areas.

The idea that our diet changed over 10,000 years ago and there wasn't substantial evolution to start to cope with it seems unlikely.

From an evolutionary perspective, it is possible to be in a state where there is no "good" solution simply the best of the bad.

The biggest issue I have with the paleo diet is most of the people practicing it today aren't really practicing a paleo diet. They aren't even practicing a meat based diet from 50 years ago.

Look at what meat most people eat. It is things like ground beef and chicken breast.

There is almost a complete lack of organ meat in the modern diet. Even my dad would talk to you about eating different meals based on organs as a kid.

Rather than going out of your way to conciously avoid grains, I suspect many of us (including myself) would be better off if we worked more organ meat into our diet at the expense of ground beef, chicken breast and the related meats that are common to the modern diet. When you look at evolution and the evolution of diet, it occurs to me that is the second largest way that diets have evolved (first would be the explosing of sugar w/ high frucotse corn syrup) and not just over the last 10,000 years (where there will be a responding evolutionary component, but over the last 50 years where there is much less likely to be a responding evolutionary component). Organ meats are important sources for all sorts of micronutrients and who knows what all we are missing by excluding them in our diet the way we do today.

This also realted to Jumbo's idea of diversity. A point I want to generally echo for most people w/ respect to their diets. Too much of anything, including wheat, is probably not good for most people.

And some people clearly have larger issues with wheat and should VERY actively avoid it.

[LadySkinsFan]

Another grain that people can use is spelt. I've used it, it's like whole wheat but is supposedly more digestible.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?t...spice&dbid=143

For those looking to add fiber to their diet, I use this product. It seems to work and doesn't have side effects like other powdered fibers. I mix it into my hot tea every morning and it dissolves well.

Now Foods Acacia Fiber Organic Powder

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o09_s00_i00

[Enter Apotheosis]

From an evolutionary perspective, it is possible to be in a state where there is no "good" solution simply the best of the bad.

This pretty much reflects how I see things. Too much of anything will inevitably kill you, you just have to do your best to strike a balance and adjust per your individual needs and preferences.

The biggest issue I have with the paleo diet is most of the people practicing it today aren't really practicing a paleo diet. They aren't even practicing a meat based diet from 50 years ago.

Look at what meat most people eat. It is things like ground beef and chicken breast.

There is almost a complete lack of organ meat in the modern diet. Even my dad would talk to you about eating different meals based on organs as a kid.

The leading group of paleo folk do seem to encourage variety and the consumption of organ meat. More emphasis could stand to be placed on it, though, as a lot of people simply find the idea unpalatable. That's definitely an area of diet a lot of people never consider. The default these days seems to be to look towards nutritional supplements that are only questionably effective at best.

Always strange to see people who I'm fairly certain have made cracks about my dietary habits and views on food come around and see the light.

It's sort of like coming around and seeing the light of Scientology

[Corcaigh]

Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.

[Special K]

No doubt in my mind that nutritionists, dieticians, and health nuts are easily the least trustworthy "experts" on the planet.

I'm all for healthier eating (particularly cutting back on grains, opting to go with organic fruits and veggies, and choosing grass fed/pasture fed meat). I still don't like the idea of vegetarianism being regarded by some as THE healthy option, though. It's fine if you do it for ethical reasons or just because you enjoy eating that way but pushing it as superior to a diet that includes meat is absolutely misleading. Now, I will say that Forks Over Knives is... interesting. They do a good job of pulling out a lot of correlative facts and figures but the evidence they rely on to stake their case is far from being causative.

I like the paleo movement as it's pretty similar to how I like to eat and it's a group of people that at least tries to be thorough in vetting its sources and keeping up with the science. Still, it's best to take the whole thing with a grain of salt and recognize that there is merit to other approaches (including higher carb, lower fat diets).

Yeah, I used to be more against vegetarianism because I thought it was difficult to attain an adequate protein intake without meat and poultry. After a fair amount of my own research (in addition to attending vegetarianism conferences hosted by my former school of public health), I've become a believer in this type of diet. It is very much possible to incorporate a wide variety of foods into the daily diet to obtain enough nutritional protein on a daily basis. Because I was never a really big red meat eater anyway, it was pretty easy to transition over to a wholly vegetarian diet. Wish I could say my motivation came from my intrinsic desire to protect animals...but it's not.

Obviously, this wouldn't be the type of diet that I would recommend for everyone (in fact, I don't really recommend any types of diets to anyone because I'm far from being an expert in nutrition). Many people have grown up on a diet consisting of a ton of meat. With those types of people who wouldn't even consider giving up meat, I just recommend limiting their red meat intake and trying to purchase red meat with the lowest saturated fat content. Also, I agree with looking for grass fed livestock, cage-free eggs, etc.

Always strange to see people who I'm fairly certain have made cracks about my dietary habits and views on food come around and see the light.

Yeah, amazingly, none of us humans know everything about every subject matter on the face of this earth (except a few notable posters in this forum). Sometimes it's helpful to admit you don't know everything and by keeping an open mind, learn new information on a daily basis. Then there's the whole dealing with people trying to rub it in your face and stuff...but that's a whole nother issue

[Koolblue13]

Yeah, amazingly, none of us humans know everything about every subject matter on the face of this earth (except a few notable posters in this forum). Sometimes it's helpful to admit you don't know everything and by keeping an open mind, learn new information on a daily basis. Then there's the whole dealing with people trying to rub it in your face and stuff...but that's a whole nother issue

Yeah, I understand that. Being ridiculed sucks, but it's nice when people "see the light" so to speak. Fwiw, I eat meat.

[Special K]

Fwiw, I eat meat.

Based on your stances regarding animal rights that you've displayed here in this ES forum, I'm very surprised to hear you eat meat. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just surprising to me. Do you eat all kinds of meat, or only limited selections of mea, or whatt?

Even though I'm a recent vegetarian convert, I still eat meat if it's served to me as I think it's rude to not eat food offered to you by hosts. I just don't cook it myself