The Natural Path: With or Against the Grain?
To say that there’s a lot of conflicting information about health out there is an understatement. One debate revolves around grains, and whether or not they are a necessary part of our diet. Wheat and gluten get a lot of press, and you may be wondering, what’s the big deal?
Over the years wheat, more specifically gluten (one of the proteins found in wheat, rye, and barley), has become problematic for many people all over the world. In the same way that some people have peanut allergies that can be deadly, some people have a severe reaction to eating even a small amount of gluten. These people have a condition called celiac disease. The cases of celiac disease have increased dramatically in the last decade. There are also some people who when they consume gluten just don’t feel right. Gluten can be implicated in a long list of symptoms, from digestive discomfort to difficulty concentrating to auto-immune conditions. So why is this a more recent phenomenon? Many theories abound, but one of them is related to the extent to which we’ve genetically modified wheat in recent history. Another theory is set forth by proponents of the paleo diet.
This popular diet advocates eating foods which our Paleolithic ancestors did over a million years ago. It claims that we are genetically programmed to eat few grains, as humans didn’t start farming them until 10,000 years ago. The diet places heavy emphasis on grass fed meats, eggs, and vegetables. There is some scientific evidence that supports the use of this diet, especially for conditions like diabetes, obesity, and some auto-immune conditions.
So should you eat wheat or not, and what types of grains are beneficial, if any? My motto is: moderation in all things. We are genetically unique creatures that don’t fit a one-size fits all mold. If you have a specific health condition then maybe avoiding or decreasing your grain consumption can be beneficial. In this case I would suggest seeing a professional who has experience in this area. If you are overall healthy and have no specific health concerns, then I believe a moderate consumption of whole grains such as brown rice, oats, barley, millet, and quinoa is advisable. The problem is that in our society we tend to overdo things, and we’ve overdone wheat. It is found in all sorts of processed foods and is ubiquitous in many kitchen staples, like soy sauce. People are developing intolerance to wheat like never before. Reducing our consumption of wheat and maybe gluten is something that can likely benefit our health, especially when we replace it with more vegetables in our diet.
This article originally appeared on our sister site beijingkids.
Photo: respironews.it
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WaqarOptimist
Submitted by Guest on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 18:08 Permalink
Re: The Natural Path: With or Against the Grain?
To say that there’s a lot of conflicting information about health out there is an understatement.
To say there is not a lot of conflicting infomation about pedestrian safety is also an understatment.
Anyone who disagrees can GFYS.
Got it, lol
Sikaote
Submitted by Guest on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 17:56 Permalink
Re: The Natural Path: With or Against the Grain?
If one has any doubts about wheat, carbs, overabundance of grains being destructive to health, they are simply still ignorant - are simply not educated in the matter, period.
I highly recommend reading two books: Good Calories, Bad Calories by science writer Gary Taubes and Grain Brain by Perlmutter, MD (and the sequel called Brain Maker, too! )
All three are available on Torrent download "somewhere" - even the audiobook versions! I heard that torrentproject.se is the best place to search.
The old food pyramid with "Grains" as the base is simply heinous. Grains are turned directly into sugar in the body. They are responsible for "greedy fat cells", metabolic syndrome, fatty liver, obesity, causing insulin resistance and type two diabetes, and more.
We have limited the grains seriously in our diet (2-3x a week rice, small amount of oatmeal, very occasional millet, quinoa, sorghum or barley) and our kids are doing better and better and hubby and I are slimmer for it as well.
We have always eaten a vast variety of vegetables, but instead of grains (rice etc) being the basis for most meals, we have upped the protein and especially the FAT in our diet. We eat only very occasional wheat, close to none (Okay, I do admit to a desperation school lunch a handful of times over the years of a frozen roll defrosted with cream cheese or nut butter or cheese!) .
We use vast quantities of coconut oil and homemade ghee. We eat
Veggies galore -roasted with ghee and seasonings, various vegetarian soups and cream soups, roasted cauliflower and broccoli, brussel sprouts, big salads, all of which the kids like and eat well, cherry tomatoes
Eggs galore -scrambled, over easy, soft boiled, hard boiled, egg salad, thai style with sauce, frittatas, custards, swedish pancakes and paleo pancakes (eggs, coconut milk, coconut flour, non aluminum baking powder, salt, vanilla extract)
Nuts -pecans, macadamia nuts, brazil nuts, walnuts, cashews, some peanuts
Dairy: cheese, goat milk, yogurt, homemade kefir
Fish: 1-2-3 x a week. Baked salmon, battered and fried haddock or red snapper (with paleo recipe for batter: egg, salt and spices, coconut flour, potato starch or cassava flour), some tuna, one of us like sardines too.
Beans (kidney bean salad, cold and warm mexican concoctions with kidney beans, lentil salad, lentil soup, split pea soup, brazilian black bean soup (from the Moosewood cookbook, yum), roasted garbanzo beans, hummus
and some meat (1-2x a month). We eat 99% of our meals at home, the meat meals are always out.
We use coconut flour & almond flour off of Iherb.com and cassava starch http://en.tootoo.cn/product-s1-1051466-en.html, not wheat flour.
One simple example of a small shift that has made a difference. The only day we eat a cold breakfast is on Saturday morning. We used to have CEREAL with yogurt with a bit of banana on top. We shifted it to
big bowl of BANANA swimming in LOADS of yogurt (as much as they want, organic, sugar free, grass fed GREEN YARD brand) and just a splash of granola or Amaranth or Spelt flakes etc. on top for interest/texture. Where we used to finish up a box/bag in a day, now it lasts many weeks. Small changes like this can add up to the overall grain intake picture.
I also recommend this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZnlW_w1HF8 (a great 20 something minute highlights from the documentary FATHEAD) though they don't specify that all animal products are not created equal: you want grass fed, pastured animals, hormone free, if at all possible.
Best of health, Liora
Grains are for cattle, horses, and other grazers.
Check out the book "Wheat Belly" for more information.
Sikaote
Submitted by Guest on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 17:54 Permalink
Re: The Natural Path: With or Against the Grain?
To say that there’s a lot of conflicting information about health out there is an understatement.
To say there is not a lot of conflicting infomation about pedestrian safety is also an understatment.
Anyone who disagrees can GFYS.
lioralourie
Submitted by Guest on Tue, 03/01/2016 - 10:07 Permalink
Re: The Natural Path: With or Against the Grain?
several more good books about this issue:
The Big Fat Surprise by Teicholz
Nourishing Traditions by Fallon
and especially The BulletProof Diet by Dave Asprey, he has a sensible approach and pages with great graphics. Let me see if I can include some graphics here!
lioralourie
Submitted by Guest on Tue, 03/01/2016 - 10:06 Permalink
Re: The Natural Path: With or Against the Grain?
If one has any doubts about wheat, carbs, overabundance of grains being destructive to health, they are simply still ignorant - are simply not educated in the matter, period.
I highly recommend reading two books: Good Calories, Bad Calories by science writer Gary Taubes and Grain Brain by Perlmutter, MD (and the sequel called Brain Maker, too! )
All three are available on Torrent download "somewhere" - even the audiobook versions! I heard that torrentproject.se is the best place to search.
The old food pyramid with "Grains" as the base is simply heinous. Grains are turned directly into sugar in the body. They are responsible for "greedy fat cells", metabolic syndrome, fatty liver, obesity, causing insulin resistance and type two diabetes, and more.
We have limited the grains seriously in our diet (2-3x a week rice, small amount of oatmeal, very occasional millet, quinoa, sorghum or barley) and our kids are doing better and better and hubby and I are slimmer for it as well.
We have always eaten a vast variety of vegetables, but instead of grains (rice etc) being the basis for most meals, we have upped the protein and especially the FAT in our diet. We eat only very occasional wheat, close to none (Okay, I do admit to a desperation school lunch a handful of times over the years of a frozen roll defrosted with cream cheese or nut butter or cheese!) .
We use vast quantities of coconut oil and homemade ghee. We eat
Veggies galore -roasted with ghee and seasonings, various vegetarian soups and cream soups, roasted cauliflower and broccoli, brussel sprouts, big salads, all of which the kids like and eat well, cherry tomatoes
Eggs galore -scrambled, over easy, soft boiled, hard boiled, egg salad, thai style with sauce, frittatas, custards, swedish pancakes and paleo pancakes (eggs, coconut milk, coconut flour, non aluminum baking powder, salt, vanilla extract)
Nuts -pecans, macadamia nuts, brazil nuts, walnuts, cashews, some peanuts
Dairy: cheese, goat milk, yogurt, homemade kefir
Fish: 1-2-3 x a week. Baked salmon, battered and fried haddock or red snapper (with paleo recipe for batter: egg, salt and spices, coconut flour, potato starch or cassava flour), some tuna, one of us like sardines too.
Beans (kidney bean salad, cold and warm mexican concoctions with kidney beans, lentil salad, lentil soup, split pea soup, brazilian black bean soup (from the Moosewood cookbook, yum), roasted garbanzo beans, hummus
and some meat (1-2x a month). We eat 99% of our meals at home, the meat meals are always out.
We use coconut flour & almond flour off of Iherb.com and cassava starch http://en.tootoo.cn/product-s1-1051466-en.html, not wheat flour.
One simple example of a small shift that has made a difference. The only day we eat a cold breakfast is on Saturday morning. We used to have CEREAL with yogurt with a bit of banana on top. We shifted it to
big bowl of BANANA swimming in LOADS of yogurt (as much as they want, organic, sugar free, grass fed GREEN YARD brand) and just a splash of granola or Amaranth or Spelt flakes etc. on top for interest/texture. Where we used to finish up a box/bag in a day, now it lasts many weeks. Small changes like this can add up to the overall grain intake picture.
I also recommend this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZnlW_w1HF8 (a great 20 something minute highlights from the documentary FATHEAD) though they don't specify that all animal products are not created equal: you want grass fed, pastured animals, hormone free, if at all possible.
Best of health, Liora
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