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  Home Page » Features » Columnists » Green Medicine » What Is The Big Deal With Wheat

What is the big deal with wheat?

by Nancy Utter
Wheat is in the news. Wheat-free and gluten-free products and information are hot topics in health. So what is the big deal? Is there a really good reason for you to give up your bread and doughnuts?

It really depends on how healthy you would like to be. Let me give you a definition of what I mean when I say wheat. I am talking about products made from wheat flour. Wheat is a grain that is milled into flour and used to make foods like bread, pasta and baked goods.

Wheat also is added to many processed foods such as alcohol, soups, salad dressings, ice cream, frozen foods, candy and vitamins. It has many different forms, including gluten, graham flour, monosodium glutamate (MSG), hydrolyzed vegetable protein, durum flour, semolina and bulgur. Wheat in different forms is prevalent in our processed American diet.

Commercial, refined wheat products are not healthful food. However, because of agricultural economics and our nationwide carbohydrate addiction, wheat has become the foundation of America's cultural food base. It is everywhere and in everything. If you read the labels on packaged foods, you will see what I mean.

So what is the problem? There actually are many problems with wheat, but I am going to focus on just one of them here. One of the biggest problems with wheat is that once it is refined, it changes significantly. When wheat is milled into flour, the protective shell of the grain is broken, and many of the natural nutrients are lost when they are exposed to air. White flour then is bleached in a process that kills any remaining vitamins but makes the flour very white. This is the reason Wonder Bread is enriched. It is because the refining process removes all the vitamins and nutrients.

So what happens to a refined flour molecule when you eat it and it begins the journey through your digestive tract? The immune cells in your digestive tract have to be able to identify food from foe. When a substance does not “look" like a food because it has lost all its natural markers, there is a good chance it will be attacked.

Wheat stimulates an immune system attack and begins a chronic inflammatory process in the gut. The immune chemicals of alarm flow through the bloodstream to the whole body, provoking a state of inflammation in other areas of the body. Joint pain and allergies are two common examples of this process. Chronic inflammation is the underlying cause of most chronic disease states in this country.

Eliminating wheat from your diet can be challenging because it is in so many processed foods. However, it is becoming easier and easier because so many people have become intolerant to wheat and the demand for wheat-free products is high. There are many resources available to help if you need it. Best wishes for success in your journey to better health.

drnancy@durangonatural medicine.com. Nancy Utter is a naturopathic doctor who completed a five-year training program at Bastyr University in Seattle. She works in Durango with people of all ages and varying illnesses. Green Medicine appears the second Monday of each month.