Wheat - "Ain't what it used to be"

Wheat species

Buckwheat, Durum, Semolina/CousCous (purified from Durum), Spelt, Bulgar, Triticale (a wheat hybrid), Kamut, Einkorn and Emmer (two of the earliest cultivated forms)

Many bible verses refer positively to eating bread, especially unleavened bread. However, the wheat of today is quite different to that of bible times

Wheat is not what it used to be due to hybridization and GM strains

The wheat plant no longer identifies with "the amber waves of grain" of more than a hundred years ago . . . now it has an efficient, shorter (~ 18" high) stalk, resisting damage by storms and pests, making it easier to harvest.  Also American wheat has been bred to have a higher gluten content than European wheat.

Modern wheat and the high quantities consumed seem to have induced several negative health effects

Including causing:

• Accelerated weight gain.   One of the main sources of carbohydrates, wheat actually has a higher glycemic index at 71 (average for refined white and whole wheat flour) than table sugar (sucrose) at 65!   Also a recent in vivo study determined that both WHOLE wheat and REFINED WHITE flour bread have a similarly high glycemic response. Zafar et al, 2020

Cut the wheat, Cut the weight

• Appetite stimulation.
• Gluten- related maladies.   E.g. Celiac Disease, nervous disorders, and others.
•  Blood sugar roller coaster ride.  With INSULIN resistance as a consequence.
•  Inflammation, osteoporosis, arthritis, joint pain, more.   Due to its acidity and anti- nutrients, such as phytates and lectins.

Modern refining process removes nutrients / adds chemicals / damages fat

A wheat kernel (or berry or seed) is composed of:

• The bran (Outer seed coat) - ~14% of kernel; rich in fiber, B vitamins, trace minerals; removed by refining process;
• The wheat germ (small core) - ~3%; the sprouting portion of the kernel; rich source of vitamins B and E; provides nourishment for the seed;  removed by refining process;
• The endosperm (the middle) - ~ 80- 85%; the mainly starch + protein food supply for the sprouting seed. Low B-vitamin and fiber content.

High milling temperatures turn grain's fatty acids rancid.   According to Sally Fallon, at the Weston A. Price Foundation, rancidity increases when milled flours are stored for long periods of time, particularly in open bins. Wheat used to be ground slowly at cool temperatures (sometimes using big stones, which leave most of its nutritious bran intact), but now it is ground using high- speed, high- temperature steel rollers .

White flour is bleached, nutrient deficient and contains harmful chemicals

• White flour has been chemically bleached at the end of the refining process.    A chlorine bath (producing chlorine oxide) is the industry standard for whitening processed flour for eye appeal, since oxidation during the refining process leaves the flour a less attractive grayish color. This process also ages the flour to improve its gluten (and thus its baking quality), replacing the need to actually take time to age the flour.
• Diabetes-causing alloxan is produced as a by-product of the flour bleaching process - Alloxan is used to purposely develop diabetes in lab rodents, since it destroys pancreatic, INSULIN-producing beta-cells by greatly increasing damaging free radical presence in them. If you don't want to risk getting diabetes, then you don't want this toxin in your body, even in small amounts.
• White flour is commonly the main ingredient in hamburger buns, tortillas, pastries, pasta, breads and cakes.

Nutrients lost from white flour along the refining "road"?

•  Almost all its vitamin E
•  90% of its magnesium
•  80% of its iron
•  70% of its phosphorus
•  50- 80% of its B vitamins
•  50% of its calcium
•  50% of its beneficial unsaturated fatty acids
• And many more nutrients

Additives add insult to injury - "synthetic vitamins and an unabsorbable form of iron added to white flour can cause numerous imbalances; dough conditioners, stabilizers, preservatives and other additives add insult to injury."- Sally Fallon

Cereal by dankeck. Licensed CC0 1.0

Extrusion processes make interesting cereal shapes and fancy looking crackers, but ensures even fewer surviving nutrients - "Slurries of grain are forced through tiny holes at high temperatures and pressures in giant extruders, a process that destroys nutrients and turns the proteins in grains into veritable poisons. Westerners pay a lot for expensive breakfast cereals that snap, crackle and pop, including the rising toll of poor health.."- Sally Fallon

Wheatgerm contains gut-perforating wheat germ agglutinin (WGA)

• Even small concentrations of the lectin WGA can cause proinflammatory activity in the immune system leading to gut inflammation
• WGA can bind to and activate white blood cells - again interfering with the immune system.
• WGA can penetrate the blood- brain barrier - and attach to the myelin sheath protecting the nerves.
• WGA can be toxic to cells and induce cell death.
• WGA is found in extremely high amounts in the wheat germ (even compared to high amounts of agglutinins in beans) - but WGA is also significantly present in its young sprouts and since it resists degradation by traditional methods, it is also present in sprouted wheat grain bread; there is no WGA in the endosperm (food storage area for plant), which is the source of white flour;  Miskind et al, 1980

A word on bran

Removed bran (of any grain) eaten in unnaturally high amounts seriously interferes with digestive metabolism and mineral absorption.   Referred to as a functional fiber, isolated bran is sold separately as a supposed health food. Not only did nature intend that the bran stay with the grain for their synergistic consumption, but also, bran contains the highest amount of anti-nutrients (namely phytic acid and lectins) of any food, and when it is consumed in abnormally high amounts as a "healthy"fiber food, these anti-nutrients wreak "digestive havoc" by perforating the gut lining,  reducing the body's absorption of minerals, and interfering with digestive enzymes.

References

Miskind et al (1980, Nov), Distribution of wheat germ agglutinin in young wheat plants, Plant Phys.  (1980 Nov) 66(5):950- 955 PubMed

Zafar TA, Aldughpassi A, Al-Mussallam A, Al-Othman A. Microstructure of Whole Wheat versus White Flour and Wheat-Chickpea Flour Blends and Dough: Impact on the Glycemic Response of Pan Bread. Int J Food Sci. 2020 Oct 5;2020:8834960. doi: 10.1155/2020/8834960. PMID: 33083447; PMCID: PMC7557900.  PubMed