I've been doing more reading of the fascinating book, Wheat Belly, by Dr. William Davis, and I found an interesting passage that I wanted to share with you...
Dr.
Davis basically did actual blood sugar tests on himself before and
after consuming a modern whole grain wheat bread vs the type of ancient
wheat that existed in the wild and began to be used as a crop between
5000-10,000 years ago -- einkorn wheat. The results I'll discuss below
are shocking.
Einkorn wheat is the ancient type of wheat that
existed and was eaten for several thousand years before modern
agricultural scientists began doing hundreds of hybridizations of wheat
over the last 50 years.
These hybridizations were done to
increase crop yield and other characteristics of wheat with no testing
or consideration for whether these hybridizations affected our health at
all, or how our body digests and processes this biochemically different
wheat.
Dr. Davis states, "...despite dramatic changes in
the genetic makeup of wheat and other crops, no animal or human safety
testing was conducted on the new genetic strains that were created."
After more details on the biochemical changes in modern wheat, he continues, "Wheat
gluten proteins, in particular, undergo considerable structural change
with hybridization. In one hybridization experiment, 14 new gluten
proteins were identified in the offspring that were not present in
either parent wheat plant."
It's no wonder that us modern day
humans have so much prevalence of wheat and gluten intolerance as the
source of so many digestive problems... we've had a mere 50 years for
the human digestive system to try to adapt to these new foreign gluten
proteins that were never present in the ancient human diet.
Now for the blood sugar tests that Dr. Davis conducted...
In
order to make a bread out of einkorn wheat, Dr Davis actually had to
obtain the grain from another country. It's not easy to find. He then
ground the ancient einkorn type wheat into flour and made a loaf of
bread out of it.
He then used modern day organic whole grain
wheat and ground that into a flour and baked a loaf of bread exactly the
same as the ancient einkorn wheat bread.
Then, on two separate
days, he conducted blood sugar testing on himself from a fasted state,
testing the ancient einkorn wheat bread on day 1 and testing the modern
day whole wheat bread on day 2. Check out the shocking results:
Day 1:
Fasting blood sugar: 84 mg/dl
Blood sugar after consuming 4 oz. ancient einkorn wheat bread: 110 mg/dl
That
would be a fairly normal response to the amount of ingested carbs.
However, look at the shocking blood sugar spike caused by modern day
whole wheat...
Day 2:
Fasting blood sugar: 84 mg/dl
Blood sugar after consuming 4 oz. modern day wheat bread: 167 mg/dl
Now
you can see actual results showing that modern day wheat, after 100's
of hybridizations and changes to its nutritional biochemistry, is a far
cry from ancient wheat that was eaten over 5000 years ago by our
ancestors.
If you remember from a few of my articles in recent
weeks, the higher your blood sugar goes more frequently, the more
advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that your body produces, and the
faster your body ages (your organs, skin, etc) including how old you
LOOK. You can read item #7 on this article to see how eating too much wheat has the unique ability to age you faster (not good!)
One
thing I try to do personally is to follow a fairly low-carb
(paleolithic style) nutrition plan most days of the week (except for 1
cheat day) ... This means a focus on proteins, healthy fats, and fibrous
veggies and a purposeful lack of grain-based foods and sugary foods as
much as possible.
Another trick I use whenever I do eat a higher
carb meal is to use certain herbs and spices before my meal or mixed in
my meal to help control blood sugar response. Cinnamon and cayenne are
two noteworthy spices that can help to control your blood sugar response
from a meal.
Here are 5 more powerful herbs to pay close attention to for blood sugar control...
5 powerful herbs that CONTROL your blood sugar when you eat carbs
Conclusion:
Today's
wheat is a far cry from ancient wheat biochemically and how your body
processes it... and not only that, but since wheat is in EVERYTHING
these days (unless you purposely avoid it), most people are eating
massive quantities of wheat that would have never existed in ancient
times in the human diet.
Here are some of the health effects that
Dr Davis identifies in his book Wheat Belly, that he argues are at
least partially caused by excess wheat consumption:
*Acne
*Heart disease
*Accelerated aging
*visceral fat in the abdomen
*Type 2 diabetes
*Acidifies the body, leading to weak bones
*Joint problems, including arthritis
*IBS and acid reflux
*addictive properties
*High blood sugar
Make sure to read this full article below to see exactly how eating too much wheat can tie into each of these health problems...
How cereal, bread, pasta, and muffins can damage your body
Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer