Coming to you today by generator power! Last night we had a few crazy strong straight line winds blow through and they not only knocked a power line over behind our house, but snapped a few right in half as well. Luckily my husband had our house wired so that we can just plug in a generator and we’re good to go! ‘Cause living out in the country when your power goes out means NO water! And that’s not fun, especially with two littles.
Also – if you haven’t checked out the blog lately, please do so! I recently had it completely re designed and it’s just beautiful!! I have a few more thing to add/change, but it’s to pretty not to take a look.
Anywho…..
After running my series a couple weeks ago on gluten sensitivities, I’ve gotten asked a lot if wheat is “bad”, so I thought I’d give you my thoughts on it.
What is Wheat?
Wheat is actually a grass that originates in the ‘near East’, or the area around western Asia and Iran. There are many different variations of wheat and they all contain gluten – a protein. The wheat we see in the stores today is also very different from traditional wheat. It’s been hybridized many times over so that it actually contains more gluten to give us bread that has a wonderful rise and makes it nice and soft.
The Problems
The theories on why gluten effects so many people today in our country are numerous. There of course is the fact that we’ve changed it so much from what it was, that our foods would change drastically if we prepared them with traditional wheat grains. Wheat is also one of the number one sources of calories here in the U.S. and is the base of our food pyramid. Along with those issues we have also experienced lack of health due to processed foods and lack of nutrients because of our consumption of them. No longer do we consume nutrient dense foods full of the probiotics, vitamins, and minerals our bodies need to fight disease. We also have to deal with multiple toxins in our environment that break down and toxify our bodies. We are given antibiotics and the animal products we consume are also fed antibiotics, causing our gut health to falter.
Because of all of this combined, many of us now have issues digesting the gluten found in wheat.
Should Everyone Eat Gluten Free?
Almost 40% of Americans have some sort of gluten sensitivity. Some researchers actually state that 1 in 3 have gluten intolerance and most just don’t know. It’s also been said that 8 out of 10 have a genetic predisposition to it as well. Gluten Intolerance and/or celiac is linked to infertility, thyroid disorders, auto immune disorders, mental illness, and all sorts of disorders that are effecting our children in large amounts.
Personally, I’m going to go against the USDA guidelines here (yea – big surprise huh?!) and say that we as a nation eat way to much wheat! Whether or not a person has an actual intolerance to wheat, we would all do best to lower our consumption. I also think that each person, each family, needs to find out for themselves how their bodies tolerate it. If you have physical symptoms or disease and disorder that may be linked to gluten intolerance – get tested! Normal lab tests check for gluten antibodies within the blood and are not very reliable until complete villi atrophy takes place (when your intestines are damaged). Stool or saliva analysis is much more effective as both tests are more sensitive and will contain the antibodies even if the gluten has not damaged the intestines so much that the gluten is ‘leaking’ through the gut into the bloodstream. I’m also a big fan of cutting out gluten for a period of at least a few weeks to see how your body reacts if/when you start to consume it again. Many, many people I know have self-diagnosed themselves this way when conventional tests were not conclusive or came back negative. If you find you begin to feel poorly after then consuming wheat again – listen to your body! It’s probably something you’ll want to stay away from.
Even if you don’t have any major symptoms of gluten intolerance, I think it’s time to bring an end to our over consumption of wheat! I don’t think each and every person needs to stay away from wheat 100% of the time. If you do not have an intolerance to gluten, feel free to enjoy it.
Sometimes.
There is no reason we need to consume wheat at each meal! Expand your palate and try some new foods! Try focusing on going wheat free for one meal each day, or one day per week. You might really be surprised at the new foods you begin to enjoy.
So should everyone go gluten free? Not necessarily, just make sure to find out how your body reacts to gluten first and be aware of how often you include it in your meals.
I’ll also get into my opinion of grain within any diet very soon as my family and I have eaten completely grain free for a couple of months now!
Now, to going back offline. *sigh* The power company (even though we have our generator hooked up correctly and ‘legally’, wants it off for now as they have to cut the lines and take down a tree that fell on part of them. Actually I’ve held them off to finish this post! Told them I needed 15 minutes. So – I need to go shut it off. gulp. The though of being ‘un’wired drives me nuts!
Have a post about eating gluten free? Or a great wheatless recipe you’d like to share? Add you permalink below!!
All images and content are protected under US copyright laws, please do not copy and paste.
Links in the post above may be affiliate or referral links - meaning that through a sale I may be given monetary benefit. I blog with integrity and only endorse companies and products I love.
I am not a doctor and don\'t pretend to be one. Use everything you read only to inspire you to do your own research and be an advocate for your own health. Please read my disclaimer in full.
About Donielle
Your new blog design looks beautiful! Thanks for writing about GF so often. It is inspiring me to be brave enough to take the plunge.
[Reply]
Cute new design!!
My issue with gluten-free (which I plan to write about eventually) is that MOST people simply replace wheat with an equal amount of non-gluten grains. The starches are ALSO quite bad for you! People think “well if I just stick to rice, quinoa, sorghum, etc. then I am completely safe!” But it just isn’t so. The starches are still going to mess with your blood sugar and cause damage to your body.
The ideal situation is to eat grains in small amounts, focusing more heavily on fats/proteins, and including both fat AND either raw or fermented foods with meals which contain grain. I also believe that sprouted wheat is healthier for many (in moderation) than heavily processed gluten-free flours. We’ve had much success with this approach.
At our house, breakfast is almost always grain-free and containing raw fruit and egg yolks. Lunch may or may not contain grains (about half the time) along with raw cheese and kombucha. Dinner generally does contain grains but also has kombucha. This works really well for us!
[Reply]
donielle Reply:
September 23rd, 2010 at 1:33 pm
@Kate, Agreed. We’ve been 100% gluten free and about 80% grain free for the last few months – the first month being completely grain and legume free.
[Reply]
Oops, forgot to link up yesterday! I linked up a great, very flexible zucchini toss recipe.
It’s a good one for this linkup because it’s one of my roundup posts to all of interest in the gluten-free world, like some of the related symptoms/illnesses. It even shares your wonderful posts on gluten education! Important note: If one has any type of gluten issue, ALL gluten must be removed to reap the health benefits. And, it’s hard to see the effects when one continues ingesting gluten because one is on a continuing level of unwellness, even if not that far below optimum, so to speak.
Waiting to see if my link will show up … hoping that can’t go into Spam, too.
Shirley
[Reply]
Donielle, I’ve been thinking about gluten the last few weeks with your posts and was actually mentally formulating an email full of questions for you, but you’ve answered most of them here. As far as I know, I and the other members of my family don’t currently have any issues with gluten. But I’m curious as to why so many people in our culture are experiencing gluten intolerance. What happened to wheat and/or to our bodies that has made eating it so hard now? This has given me something to think about.
The other question I’d love some insight on is what might be done to PREVENT gluten intolerance. I’m trying to keep our wheat consumption restricted to home-baked goods which I make with freshly-ground organic or chemical-free wheat. (I also try to soak the flour in milk or water with some homemade yogurt whey for several hours as the start of the recipe.) But we still probably eat too much. It can be hard with a little one who is still getting teeth to eat anything but toast.
I’m looking forward to reading more on the subject.
[Reply]
donielle Reply:
September 25th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
@Joanna @ Starving Student Survivor, I’ll formulate my thoughts and post it next Wednesday!
[Reply]
Jennifer Reply:
November 28th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
@Joanna @ Starving Student Survivor,
here is a video that addresses just that question.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mS5SvHg7M4&feature=relmfu
[Reply]