The Great Wheat Controversy: It’s Either the Staff of Life or It’s Killing You. You know, one or the other.

wheat

Feeling cranky today because now that Ye Olde Royal Birth has happened there’s nothing to look forward to for the rest of the summer until all the sandals go on 75% off clearance? Well if you’re feeling in the fighting mood, nothing starts an argument faster in health and fitness circles these days then asking someone “So, how do you feel about wheat?” Depending on their paradigm they’ll either try to drive a wooden stake through your heart or slap you across the face with a BLT on multigrain. (Which is a win-win for you as you get to either get to get your Buffy on or get a free lunch.)

Long been called “the staff of life” for its role in helping sustain humanity since approximately 10,000 BC, wheat has recently taken a PR hit worse than Lindsay Lohan and Anthony Weiner combined. And wheat hasn’t even publicly flashed its genitals! (Leave that up to those skanky bananas, amiright?) Think I’m exaggerating? (Okay, I am. I always do. My husband likes to call it my Hilton – maiden name – hyperbole.) But only a little bit. Consider this quote from a recent article on RawForBeauty by nutritionist Natasha Longo provocatively called “Why 80% of People Worldwide Will Soon Stop Eating Wheat.”

“Modern wheat grains could certainly be considered as the root of all evil in the world of nutrition since they cause so many documented health problems across so many populations in the world.” Longo quotes Dr. Marcia Alvarez, who specializes in nutrition for the obese.

Wheat – the “root of all evil”? And here I thought it was the love of money! Or at least homemade meth labs! But seriously, when my friend posted this on her Facebook wall, I was intrigued. First because clearly here was a medical professional as fond of hyperbole as I am and second because I really am curious about how healthy or not wheat is. Even ten years ago nutritionists were touting “100% whole wheat” as one of the healthiest foods you can eat and now people would rather club baby seals with the “staff of life” than eat it.

But, like anything that gets this much attention, it’s hard to tease apart what the research says from all the hype. First I looked to my personal experience. Thanks to my genetic testing I know I do not have the gene predisposing me for Celiac disease and (as far as I can tell) I’ve never had a bad reaction to wheat. After reading Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis (Remember that name, he’s going to come up a lot!) I eliminated wheat and gluten from my diet for 6 weeks. I felt absolutely no difference. And yet I have so many friends and have read so many anecdotal reports of people feeling better after eliminating wheat and/or gluten that I’m sure it does help some people. Add in the fact that the world trade for wheat is greater than for all other crops combined. So in an effort to clear things up for myself I decided to go through Longo’s article and examine some of the claims she makes.

Claim: “Wheat is now responsible for more intolerances than almost any other food in the world. “ (Longo again quoting Alvarez.)

According to the Center for Celiac Research & Treatment wheat intolerance affects approximately 18 million people, or 6% of the population. According to the symposium commissioned by the World Health Organization, 60% of adults have a dairy intolerance. Of the 8 most common foods to cause reactions, the Mayo Clinic lists wheat as #8.

My verdict? Meh. It’s hard to measure how many people are “intolerant” of something because of all the different ways that can manifest but judging by these quick stats, I’d say wheat is in the top ten but definitely not number one.

Claim: “Modern wheat really isn’t wheat at all. And it’s less nutritious”

– Longo writes that “Once agribusiness took over to develop a higher-yielding crop, wheat became hybridized to such an extent that it has been completely transformed from it’s prehistorical genetic configuration. All nutrient content of modern wheat depreciated more than 30% in its natural unrefined state compared to its ancestral genetic line.”

This is a tricky question since modern wheat (like many crops) has evolved since it was first introduced in the human diet. Some strains happened naturally in the wild (as in wind, bees, animals frolicking in various fields and whatnot) while other strains – like the dwarf wheat most commonly cultivated today – were bred purposefully by humans. I think everyone would agree that all varieties of wheat today differ genetically from the mother seed (whatever that was).

But does it make it less nutritious? According to the quite extensive Broadbalk Experiments, the short answer is yes. Thanks to the shortened stalks, less sun and more shallow root systems, the most common dwarf wheat strain is more deficient in certain vitamins. As for the 30% number cited the only source I could find was Longo herself so I’m not sure where that came from.

My verdict? True.

Claim: “The Nutritional Value of Wheat is Practically Non-Existent In Its Current Form”

– Longo goes on to conclude that “the nutritional value of wheat is non-existent.” I’m not sure that it’s a reasonable leap to go from “less nutritious than the ancient not-messed-with-by-man grain” to “not nutritious at all” but I looked up some stats on wheat. It seems that everyone agrees that white flour (a.k.a. wheat processed to 60% extraction) is nutritionally void. (Sorry crusty French bread!) However, according to the George Matjellen foundation (which says on their site that they’re a non-profit with no commercial interests or advertising, a claim which I’m taking at face value since I don’t have the time to look up everything), 100% whole wheat products keep the germ and the bran attached and have “excellent to very good” health benefits and list it as one of the healthiest foods you can eat with high levels of manganese, magnesium, fiber and tryptophan.

Longo rebuts this, writing, “Some experts claim if you select 100% whole wheat products, the bran and the germ of the wheat will remain in your meals, and the health benefits will be impressive. This is again a falsity promoted by the wheat industry since even 100% whole wheat products are based on modern wheat strains created by irradiation of wheat seeds and embryos with chemicals, gamma rays, and high-dose X-rays to induce mutations. Whether you consume 10% or 100% of wheat is irrelevant since you’re still consuming a health damaging grain that will not benefit, advance or even maintain your health in any way.”

If I’m reading her response correctly she’s not saying that it’s false that the bran and germ are included in the 100% whole wheat products but rather that the nutritional benefit they provide is negated by the manipulation of the grains. Whether or not irradiation mutates food (it’s used to kill pathogens) is still up for debate. The USDA considers it safe. Much of Europe does not. But all of that (including the chemical Longo references) is moot if you buy organic whole wheat. According to the USDA “organic” means free of synthetic additives like pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and dyes, and must not be processed using industrial solvents, irradiation, or genetic engineering.

My verdict? False. Not only does whole wheat contain some vital nutrients and fiber but you can avoid the issues Longo described by buying organic.

Claim: There are many health risks [from wheat consumption] for proportionally large segments of the population.

– This is really the big question, right?? Longo writes that “there are so many adverse and crippling effects such as neurological impairment, dementia, heart disease, cataracts, diabetes, arthritis and visceral fat accumulation, not to mention the full range of intolerances and bloating now experienced by millions of people.” She adds that “Dr William Davis has documented several hundred clinical studies on the adverse effects of wheat. These are studies that document the neurologic impairments unique to wheat, including cerebellar ataxia and dementia; heart disease; visceral fat accumulation and all its attendant health consequences; the process of glycation via amylopectin A of wheat that leads to cataracts, diabetes, and arthritis; among others. There are, in fact, a wealth of studies documenting the adverse, often crippling, effects of wheat consumption in humans.” She adds that wheat gliadin has been associated with cerebellar ataxia, peripheral neuropathy, gluten encephalopathy (dementia), behavioral outbursts in children with ADHD and autism, and paranoid delusions and auditory hallucinations in people with schizophrenia, severe and incapacitating effects for people suffering from these conditions.

So, I’ll have you all know that I looked up every single one of the diseases listed above. Every. Single. One. I read until my eyes bled. (Yes, I want a gold star.) The consensus, from what I can tell, is that there is no consensus. First, a lot of these issues are listed as effects of “systemic or chronic inflammation.” Inflammation is certainly very trendy these days but it is notoriously hard to diagnose or document as it can refer to a wide range of symptoms. I’ve even been told by one noted health professional in an interview that I was massively inflamed even though I have no symptoms at all. Honestly I find that hard to buy. If I feel good and all my health markers are good then it seems unlikely (though not impossible!) that I have some lurking system-wide issue.

Second, a lot of the studies linked the above illnesses with people with a known gluten intolerance, usually looking at a population with diagnosed Celiac’s Disease. This is problematic because you’re looking at a population that is genetically intolerant of gluten and does not describe the general population as a whole.

Last, lots of these things are either considered lifestyle diseases (diabetes) and/or complications of aging (cataracts) both of which have multiple causes and it’s hard to tease apart what’s caused by gluten/wheat specifically and what’s caused by other factors.

My verdict? I have no freaking clue. This could be true – just like you can’t say diabetes is absolutely caused by wheat, you also can’t say that wheat absolutely does not play a role in diabetes. This could also be false. And it’s likely particular to each illness or disorder. (I know parents of kids with autism who say their kids do infitinely better without wheat.) That said, I’m uncomfortable with blaming a single food for the entirety of American’s health problems.

Claim: You won’t miss out on a wealth of essential nutrients by giving up wheat as you can get them in other places.

– Longo quotes Dr. Davis as saying that if you replace wheat with healthy foods like vegetables, nuts, healthy oils, meats, eggs, cheese, avocados, and olives, then there is no nutrient deficiency that develops with elimination of wheat.

My verdict? True. I love the flexibility of a well-rounded diet! Which is why I have no problems with people taking wheat out of their diet. If you think it helps you to abstain, I certainly don’t think you need it.

Claim: Due to the unique properties of amylopectin A, two slices of whole wheat bread increase blood sugar higher than many candy bars. 

– Amylopectin A is apparently 70% of the “complex carbohydrate” that makes up whole wheat bread. (The other 30% is amylase.) Amylopectin A is called a “super carbohydrate” because of how quickly it is digested and enters your blood stream as sugar, causing an insulin spike. A quick check of the glycemic index verifies this. (Although it should be noted the GI is not the end all and be all of health as it lists fructose as being very low GI when fructose is notoriously awful for you.) Check out this article for a more complete explanation.

My verdict? Surprising but true!

Claim: “An estimated 20-30 percent of the world’s population may carry the genetic susceptibility to celiac disease–and the way to avoid turning these genes ‘on’ is by avoiding gluten.” 

– Without extensive genetic testing this is hard to say but experts put the NIH puts the figure at 10%. That said, according to researchers genetics only account for 40% of a person’s likelihood to get celiac disease. Read this NY Times piece for more info on the genetics behind Celiac’s.

My verdict: Unverifiable. But even if it is true, it doesn’t ensure you will get Celiac’s disease. On the other hand, not having Celiac’s does not rule out a gluten sensitivity.

Claim: “Dr. Alvarez estimates that between the coming influx of genetically modified (GM) strains of wheat and the current tendency of wheat elimination in societies, that a trend is emerging in the next 20 years that will likely see 80% of people cease their consumption of wheat from any form.”

– Despite having read the article six times, I still can’t figure out where that 80% (both in the quote and in the headline) came from but I’m assuming he’s guessing based on trends he sees in his patients? I think he might be saying that 80% of people have a bad reaction to wheat in its current form but later in the piece Dr. Davis clarifies, “It is not my contention that it is in everyone’s best interest to cut back on wheat; it is my belief that complete elimination is in everyone’s best health interests.” So that would mean 100% of people react badly to wheat? At any rate, I think it’s quite the assertion to make that wheat will go from one of the most consumed foods on the planet (it battles with rice for #1) to completely eliminated by 80% of the population. I don’t even know if that’s economically or agriculturally feasible given how many people rely on wheat as a primary source of calories.

As to the GM part of that, there are currently no genetically modified (as in genetically engineered, not to be confused with cross-breeding or hybridization) strains of wheat on the market today. Monsanto has developed several but has either not gotten approval or withdrawn their application for all of them. However, they’ve indicated their plans to submit a strain for approval in the next 3-5 years so it’s quite possible that we’ll see GM wheat in the near future. And of course there was that mysterious appearance of the Monsanto GM wheat in a random field in Oregon and again in Thailand. It’s out there.

My verdict: Likely true about GM wheat, sensationalism on the rest.

My Conclusions

This is exactly the kind of thing I drive myself nuts over. I’ll admit that my instinct when someone with a bunch of letters after their name says something is “the root of all evil” is to snap my heels, salute and yes ma’am! Plus, I came away from my days and days (oh yes) of research on this still pretty confused about all of it. In the past, when I’d get drowned in research like this I’d just say to heck with this! and chuck whatever it is out of my diet. Better to be safe than sorry? But that’s how I ended up orthorexic, folks…

So this time, at least for now, I’m going with this: I feel fine when I eat wheat. I’ve taken it out of my diet and saw no benefits from it. I like eating it. Therefore I will continue to eat it.

That said, the way I eat wheat is probably different from most people. I hardly ever eat crackers, boxed cereal, store-bought bread and the like. I don’t like the taste and I don’t like how processed it all is. (Yes, even the 100% whole grain breads.) I do love a big bowl of cracked wheat though (wheat boiled in water until it bursts open or “cracks”) and I’ll sometimes make my own bread products like muffins, pretzels and pancakes. I don’t eat wheat every day. I don’t restrict it but like meat I just don’t crave it or feel like I want it every day so I just mix it in to my meals sometimes. I don’t know if any of that makes a difference.

But these are my conclusions. What does this all mean for you? I hope you’ll tell me in the comments! Am I missing something major? Do you eat wheat or avoid it? How do you feel about genetically modified foods?? (That’s another topic I’m not sure about either!)

35 Comments

  1. As I Tweeted at you, my daughter and I have wheat allergies. Not intolerance. Allergies. Diagnosed and everything (well, hers is. Mine is just, “hey, I have those symptoms, too and was told they were because I eat too fast, but I never really believed that and now I really don’t.”).

    So… we limit the wheat in these parts. Given the choices of allergic reaction that at any point can be fatal and cutting the wheat, well, it’s a no-brainer.

    Man, it’s hard to avoid, though. Yet the more we do, the better we feel!

  2. I’m at work so will try to make it short, but… though avoiding wheat for some is curcial (like allergies) avoiding it for all is silly and will not make celiac diseases disappear. Mutations don’t occur just in plants, but in humans too. I also wonder about hte “clinical” studies…I can almost garantee that anyone with an agenda in mind hasn’t necessairly taken the time to conduct an unbiased, controlled, experiment or trial, with a diverse group of people and enough subjects to draw statistically sound conclusiosn…all biased. each side ofhte stody will show strong resutls bcause of that.

    THat being said, I don’t avoid any kind of food…

  3. I’m allergic to yeast and a number of molds. Breads without yeast are OK but you would be amazed how many foods have mold including flat breads. I do much better with a cracker over any bread for that reason.
    More bad news. I can’t eat chocolate of any kind because of the mold in chocolate even the expensive stuff from Belgium.

  4. I agree that if it bothers you, it should be eliminated and if not then that’s great. I have a fructose/fructan intolerance (FODMAPS) and generally avoid it, but my husband eats wheat all of the time with no problem

    I actually came across this study yesterday that concluded a lot of people who were not celiac but had a suspected gluten sensitivity were actually reacting to FODMAPS.
    http://agajournals.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/is-gluten-the-culprit-in-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity/

  5. About 3 years ago, I was looking for something to solve the bloating and gastrointestinal discomfort I was experiencing after almost every single meal. I was walking around with a steady supply of Gas-X in my pocketbook, and my friend’s doctor attributed to age – “Welcome to your Farty-Forties”! Not acceptable to me.

    I happened upon all the “literature” saying grains are baaaad, so I decided to give it a go, even though I LOOOOVE bread (whole wheat!) and pasta, etc. It worked. For me. Bloating and discomfort gone and I’ve never looked back. I’ve found that I can tolerate it in small doses, but if I have more than one slice of bread or tiny portion of pasta, I pay for it.

    • Yup, this is so me! I do eat rice though, and it doesn’t seem to affect me.

      Have you noticed that you have increased sensitivities after cutting it out? I feel like I feel it more when I slip up, now!

      • I eat rice too with no problems. I do notice it doesn’t take as much to feel the effects, though I’m not sure if it’s increased sensitivity or I’m just more aware, or when I was eating that stuff a lot and all the time so I was just “used to” feeling bad.

  6. My experience is purely anecdotal; I gave up grains for a paleo/whole foods challenge and when I went to incorporate them back in, anything with gluten made me a) break out on my forehead, b) get so lethargic I couldn’t find the motivation/energy to get off the couch and c) have worsening seasonal allergy symptoms.
    And prior to the challenge I would not have thought I had any issues with gluten or any other grains. So my thought anytime anyone tells me about fatigue or allergy issues is to suggest that eliminate grains for at least a month and see what happens! Whether research supports it or not, if you feel better, who cares?

  7. I definitely have wheat issues too 🙁 Bummer, cause it is the best tasting and most versatile grain. If I eat more than a tiny bit I get tummy pains and digestion issues!!!

  8. Turns out wheat was responsible for my lifelong stomach issues, which doctors had variously attributed over the years to stress, obesity, drinking too much coffee, or “that kind of thing just happens sometimes.” I went gluten free and after 24 hours the change was incredible.

    It’s fine for other people – I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as a lot of sources say, and if someone’s fit and healthy AND eats wheat, who am I to judge? But personally I feel so terrible when I have any that I’m not even tempted anymore.

  9. Honest – I don’t care what the studies say – I LOVE BREAD! 🙂 I eat the really healthy nutritious stuff most of the time & occasionally the other stuff. Unless a doc says I have to stop eating bread & wheat – I am going into the ground eating it. 🙂

    Thx for all your research!

  10. This sort of topic really hits a sour patch with me so I get pretty heated over it. Every time someone gives me another Doom and gloom story about a food or nutrient I seriously want to throttle them.

    Yea yea I know, science, studies blah blah blah. All I know is that following one food phobia to the next caused me more stress and anxiety than the actual food.
    I’m all for someone looking at a food for the cause of something that’s afflicting them. If you’re really sensitive to something then by all means go after it. But It’s so easy to convince people that something is wrong with them and then link it to some sort of food these days. It’s almost as if we think that we should always feel great, never be tired, sick, bored, sore, or feel blah. If I wake up tired then something must be wrong and so the nutrition detective starts.

    Also I highly disagree with the idea of eliminating a food for a while and then going back to it as a way to test if it’s a bad thing for you. My experience is that a negative experience to a food after abstaining from it doesn’t mean it’s bad, but rather it means you’re no longer conditioned for it. You can do the same thing with exercise. If you stop working out for a month and then go back for a hard workout you’re going to feel sore and crappy, but that doesn’t mean the exercise is bad. it just means you’re out of shape for the food.

    ‘scuse the rant Charlotte, (*pant pant huff*). It’s ideas like this that make me take great pleasure in eating ice cream and fried chicken in front of my friends who are convinced they will live to be 100 because they gave up tofu.

    • That’s exactly what I think when I see these scientific articles – and why I appreciate someone questioning them! I do have a sensitive intestine system; but with me, it varies what I react to and that just gives me knowledge of the stress factor in my system. I don’t really eat a lot of wheat in bread or other foods but that makes it OK for me to have pizza on Fridays not worrying whether it’s got wheat or yeast or whatever in it. My body tells me (quite harshly…) when it’s not satisfied and when it does, I usually know what triggered it.

      I believe we all have to do what Charlotte writes towards the end; do what feels best for us. We are not created equal in this matter.

    • I think that’s a poor analogy. Yes, when you eat something all the time, any *chronic* symptoms are milder and less noticeable because you’re used to dealing with them. If you eliminate the possibly offending food and then try again, if it’s a problem, you get more *acute* symptoms that are harder to ignore.
      With exercise, if you stick with it, the “chronic” side effects are pleasant: increased energy, muscle tone and weight management. So initial “acute” soreness is something to work through.
      With irritating food, if you keep with it, the “chronic” side effects do not eventually become pleasant, just slowly less noticable. If living with a perpetual level of milder (or not so mild) discomfort is preferable to you over the difficulty of eliminating the offensive food, then I think that’s a whole other thing.

    • Matt, I totally agree with you. That’s all I have to add 🙂

  11. As much as I love wheaty things, I’m afraid it doesn’t agree with me. Like Jen said, our grandpa had celiac as does our aunt. My dad gets a terrible reaction (burning mouth, immediate indigestion, stomach pain) from anything whole wheat. I had stomach problems when I was little and when no tests came up positive, the answer was “gluten intolerance.” I lived gluten free for 11ish years. Minus the occasional cheat or “breaks” I would take. I can now eat normally without any change in stomach comfort. Yay! However, I have other health issues that one of the major helps to overcome it is a gluten free diet. So my 30 day challenge to see if it helps will be starting here soon! I’ll let ya know if it makes any difference. I do also have a good friend who gets flare-ups of rheumatoid arthritis in her hands whenever she eats any wheat. If she eats as much as a bread roll, she’ll be in pain.
    So my theory, it seems as if wheat is causing a bunch of people more pain than it’s worth to eat. Not that those who don’t have any issues with it should stop eating it, but I do wish it were easier to eat without it. It’s amazing what crazy things have wheat in it! It is so hard to avoid, but there is a growing number of people who chose to not include it in their diets. I don’t think it will reach 80% of the population (although China and other Asian countries supposedly doesn’t eat much of it at all so that’s a decent percentage right there) but I think it won’t be the main staple to everyone’s diet pretty soon.

  12. I still find articles like this super triggering. I think maybe that’s something we need to consider in the midst of all of this drama over “don’t eat this” or “don’t eat that”. What kind of harm are we doing by demonizing certain foods? Of course if a food bothers people I think they shouldn’t eat it but is it really necessary to try to convince everyone that X food is the root of all evil? Really?

    Personally I’ve never seen any connection between wheat and any bad symptoms so I don’t see a reason to practice restrictive dieting. I often find actually that I’m more satiated and stay full longer when my meals include wheat. Sometimes I even *gasp* eat white bread products. I’ve spent far too much of my life avoiding certain foods to do it any longer.

  13. I know that when I eat wheat my immune problems get worse…intestinal issues, swollen joints as well as congestion; so I rarely eat anything with wheat in it (and boy do I miss bread!!!). That said, the rest of my family, including my kids; do not seem to have any issues with wheat so they eat bread, pasta, etc. It is hard for me to abstain when they are chowing down on sandwiches and wraps, but since eating them causes me pain, I have found other ways to enjoy the same meal with a few ”tweaks”…anything you can put on bread can be eaten as a salad!!! I’m with you Charlotte..if you feel good and a food doesn’t make you feel bad, why wouldn’t you eat it?

  14. We’re going wheat/gluten/casein free to see if it helps our kids’ autism. I know I feel better having cut it out. But if it doesn’t affect you negatively, there’s no reason to do away with it.

  15. Wheat has turned into yet another scapegoat.

    Yes, some people really are intolerant or really allergic, but a lot just assume less wheat will do them good. Not verified.

    I say: all in moderation. I try to get my carbs out of other sources as well (quinoa, sweet potato, oatmeal), but bread definitely has a place in my life. 🙂

    (And when I eat French baguette, it’s WHITE. Yum.)

  16. THANK YOU for this post! I too am very confused about it. So it’s great to have all the confusing info in one place!

    My 23andMe says I’ve got about 2.5 times higher risk than average for celiac; it’s on my “suspect” list for stomach bloating, but then I’ve never been rigorous enough to eliminate all the suspects. I realize though, if I want to get tested for celiac, I need to go back on it.

    Still even with my higher risk, it’s a fairly rare disease so I’m not gonna stress about it. But I do think I’ll get tested.

  17. Hey Charlotte,
    Great post! I recently just finished reading Wheat Belly and it had me convinced to stop eating it completely as I see you did for 6 weeks. Interestingly you said you didn’t notice any changes. I am like you in that I don’t eat a whole lot of wheat on a daily basis, but the book sold me; however, now I’m not so sure. It seems that anyone I talk to these days has gone gluten-free and claim to have lost tons of weight, feels great, etc. Maybe I should just try it for a while and see if all of those things happen to me. I do have some food allergies (nuts and apples) therefore suffering a few stomach issues, so it’s always intrigued me to try some sort of elimination diet to see if I’m allergic to anything else. Besides eliminating foods, are there other tests out there?

    Thanks for the informative post!

  18. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this here before, but I did try cutting out wheat & dairy for a while. For years, it seemed, I’d been reading how wheat & dairy are behind all kinds of health issues – bloating, digestive problems, fatigue, weight gain, skin conditions, and more that I’m sure I’m forgetting. The one thing I did notice is that my eczema cleared up within 2 weeks. Since then I’ve been off & on, and I think it’s mainly cutting out wheat that makes the difference (though I don’t eat a huge amount of dairy anyway). But aside from clearing up my eczema (which is awesome, don’t get me wrong), I didn’t notice any differences in how I felt (I was really hoping for increased energy, was disappointed that didn’t happen).

    I think it is like so many things – we are all affected differently. If you don’t have any issues with wheat, I don’t see the need to cut it out.

  19. I’ve been about 85% paleo for almost two months. My non-paleo tends to be soy, sugar, and sushi rice. Apart from losing weight, the biggest benefit I’ve gotten (and this is huge for me) is a massive decrease in gas. Since then, I’ve been told by several people that grains and veggies don’t interface well in the gut. Wish I knew that back when I was having so much trouble with it! I might have tried paleo sooner!

  20. Gold star!!! 🙂 I can’t believe you have the motivation to do all this research AND write it up for us. All the time. 10 gold stars.

  21. Heres a fun fact: gluten makes me feel terrible in the US. In Europe I can go eat croissants and crusty bread to my hearts content but not in the UK. What?! I have no idea- my guess is they use a different strain or something.

  22. Thank you for the research! I have tried eliminating gluten from my diet without noticing a change (which I’m thankful for because I’m vegan and love my seitan!). Great article Charlotte. Balanced and fair, and though it is hard to draw conclusions, it seems to come down to what works for each individual.

  23. So first of all, I’m a nutritionist/dietitian and I hate when books say that one diet works for everyone (unless the only rule is to eat real food. That I can get behind). Gluten is not my friend– I have an intolerance and have been off it for over five years but crazy fact– I have no problems with gluten in Europe. I can go there and eat croissants and crusty bread to my heart’s content with no noticeable consequences. Not sure why, I think maybe they use a different strain of wheat or something. Also, this does not apply to the UK. Weird right?

  24. Wow…Thorough!!! It seems that for nearly every food source, there is always issues: For beef, we’ve got grain-fed and hormones; For chickens, we’ve got…Well, never mind…Chickens are gross…Kidding, same as beef issues, and tight pens, etc. For Fish, we’ve got plastics and mercury. And so, with wheat, we’ve got all this ‘stuff’ you so expertly reported on. My take is very similar to yours. I don’t think I am one of the 6% suffering with celery disease, so, I will enjoy my wheat products every now and then. For the most part, I don’t generally eat wheat, but that’s not because wheat is in cahoots with Satan. It’s because my nutritional lifestyle/gameplan, avoids sugars and starches (grains become glucose relatively quicky once consumed), but that’s just me, and works for just one guy. Every now and then, I’ll eat a sandwich, and have an ice-cream, and drink some tequila, etc. Most days, I’m not getting sloshed, and most days, I’m not eating bread. Doesn’t make bread evil. It just means, that bread is high in carbs, and so avoiding it as a daily food, helps me achieve my goals. LOVE your stuff. Sincerely, t

  25. For me, it is all about weight control and cutting out sugar/starch in general to that end. It is hard to stick to because I have no digestive trouble with any foods.

    For years I daily ate home ground whole wheat bread with ADDED gluten flour to make it lighter, with zero adverse affects. Then I started getting fat even without processed or junk foods 🙂 In my effort to eat less calories, I cut out most carbs (meaning grain), I was already nearly dairy and fat free (was vegan for years), and reintroduced lean animal protein. That helped with the weight, but then I started adding in more carbs (because they are yummy!) and started gaining weight again. I couldn’t be on a low-carb, low-fat, and low-protein diet! Although I did try with intermittent fasting (which resulted in a little weight loss far outweighed by the incredible anxiety, depression, lethargy, and irritability due to hunger with few results).

    So while I have no obvious digestive adverse reaction to any food, for weight control I have had to cut out a lot of things. I replace them with vegetable alternatives (like zuchinni noodles or bed a greens), which of course keeps the weight off better than whole wheat pasta or rice. To keep irritability at bay, I started adding in a lot of extra fat, and the weight went down more with increased energy and vitality. So now I am grain free/low carb with a low protein, high omega-3 fat diet. It is very filling, so I can stay low cal without being hungry. But in my case generally feeling better is from eating a lot more fat, not from cutting out grain.

  26. My opinion is this. There ain’t much better or that brings people together more than a good bread!!

    If a good bread is bad for us, it’s just plain not right!

  27. I cut out dairy. Nothing changed.

    I cut out wheat. It was like I was a different person.

  28. Good research and analysis, Charlotte. I have relatives with celiac so I know how important this can be, and I’ve done a lot of gluten-free cooking myself. The jury’s still out on whether gluten-free makes a difference for me, but right now I’m thinking that dairy makes a bigger difference.