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Wheat Gluten Promotes Obesity

More and more people are eating gluten-free. In rather rare cases, this decision is based on a diagnosed celiac disease. More commonly, it is the general malaise that consumers experience after consuming wheat products. The flatulent and gelatinous feeling in the digestive tract that comes from the gluten protein is just one symptom of the increasing gluten intolerance in industrialized nations.

Today’s wheat is a ‘chronic poison’

Wheat is one of the world’s most consumed grains. In contrast to our ancestors about 10,000 years ago, however, wheat is no longer a truly natural product, but a genetically modified mixture of different cultivated forms. This genetic modification is not aimed at human health, but primarily at the highest possible yields.

Agriculturally bred to grow as quickly as possible and to ward off pests, as well as being continuously adapted to the mechanical conditions for industrial baking processes, we are now dealing with a grain whose protein content consists of at least 50 percent gluten.

About 50 years ago, the gluten content of wheat was significantly lower. The more of this gluten protein in the grain, the easier it is to make commercial baked goods. Not to mention the chemical additives used to extend the shelf life of these mass-produced “staple foods”.

The health danger of this wheat is that our digestive system has not adapted in such a short period of time. Cardiologist and author of the book Wheat Belly Dr. William Davis isn’t shy about calling modern wheat a “chronic poison” that not only harms celiacs but affects us all.

Opponents of the modern grain economy like Davis blame wheat for the obesity of Western society and for the widespread degenerative diseases such as diabetes, intestinal diseases, heart disease, skin diseases, arthritis, depression, and dementia, which can be traced back to wheat and gluten-related belly fat.

Gliadin – New wheat protein is said to increase intolerance

The negative headlines about wheat and gluten are piling up. This has to do with the increase in chronic intestinal inflammation called celiac disease, as well as over 200 other health conditions that clinical studies have shown can be linked to the consumption of grains.

In order to focus attention on the apparent trigger of these ailments, alternative health media increasingly prefer the term gluten toxicity to gluten intolerance. Gluten toxicity, which causes autoimmune reactions such as celiac disease, mainly comes from the gliadins (prolamines) contained in gluten.

Gliadins are non-water-soluble proteins that result from the connection of several amino acids. Together with the protein mixture glutelin, gliadins form the basic structure of wheat gluten. Gliadins are considered to be the main cause of gluten intolerance in people with celiac disease and should therefore be avoided as a matter of urgency. However, since the generally difficult digestibility of gliadins can manifest itself in the form of many symptoms (e.g. chronic fatigue, mental disorders), Davis emphasizes:

It’s not just about people with gluten intolerance and celiac disease. It affects us all. Gliadins are not for anyone. In fact, it is an opiate! This substance binds to the opioid receptors in our brain and stimulates the appetite in most people,
explained Davis.

Wheat Belly – Belly fat from wheat gluten

Everyone knows the term beer belly, but many may be less aware that it is more precisely a wheat belly. Whether beer belly or wheat belly, both mean nothing other than abdominal fat (visceral fat) that is stored around the abdominal organs (e.g. liver, kidneys).

Unlike subcutaneous fat, abdominal fat produces hormones similar to endocrine glands and emits pathogenic signals that provoke inflammatory processes in adipose tissue, promote insulin resistance, and manipulate satiety. The inflammatory signals sent by abdominal fat are the start of a vicious cycle, causing the body to produce more fat in order to bind potential pathogens in the fat cells and prevent them from entering the organs.

Modern wheat, which is ultimately used in many beers, contributes to that dangerous belly fat because its glycemic index exceeds that of a candy bar! In this context, Davis refers to the carbohydrate amylopectin, which as the main component of wheat starch causes blood sugar levels to spike.

Five tips for gluten-related obesity

Do you have a “beer belly” or do you suffer from a bloated stomach, especially after eating wheat products, despite ruling out celiac disease? The following five side effects suggest gluten intolerance:

  • increased blood sugar levels
  • Skin conditions such as acne, rashes, and eczema
  • Anxiety, depression, lack of energy
  • Intestinal disorders, fungal infections
  • premature aging (including dementia)

Grain-free diet as a health transformation?

With the epidemic of modern wheat weight gain in the developed world and the many clinically proven health ailments, Davis advocates a wheat-free diet as a transformative solution to various diet-related diseases. People who say goodbye to this grain should not only lose excess weight and thus belly fat, but also digestive disorders (e.g. IBS, heartburn), diabetes, arthritis, depression, and much more. could be cured by this diet.

Davis regards organic whole wheat bread as a lesser evil given its high gluten content and glycemic index (GI). To the American television station CBS, he described modern wheat as a creation of genetic research from the 1960s and 1970s.

As alternatives, Davis recommends “real food” that has largely been spared from agricultural interests, above all organically produced fruit and vegetables, healthy fats (e.g. avocados, olives), and only occasionally high-quality meat (especially game).

What if we didn’t replace incompatible foods such as cereals containing gluten with more digestible cereals, but completely avoided cereals? What then happens is not an improvement in our state of health, but a transformation of our health,
like Davis.

also, dr Jeffrey Fenyves and Dr. Stephen Fry from the Center for Digestive Wellness in Kingsport, Tennessee, recommend a grain-free or gliadin-free diet, which is not only based on wheat but also on rye, barley, spelled and unripe spelled, Kamut, einkorn, emmer, oats, and triticale (a cross between rye and wheat) omitted. This applies to most conventional baked goods and pasta as well as processed products with hidden grain components (e.g. beer, ready meals, grain coffee).

Gluten-free alternatives

In particular, as a convinced vegetarian or vegan, you do not necessarily have to commit to losing belly fat (= a kind of Stone Age diet completely without grain, legumes, and dairy products).

There are valuable, gluten-free grains or pseudo-grains such as rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, and corn that can enrich our diet with their nutritional contribution. Health food stores and well-stocked supermarkets now carry gluten-free flour and baked goods themselves.

However, these products should be consumed with caution. In the organic sector, too, it is the most highly processed industrial product whose sophisticated composition imitates the gluten-containing grain and has little to do with natural nutrition.

Traditionally baked sourdough bread made from rye is generally better tolerated than other types of bread. Germinated grain, on the other hand, has the advantage that the hard-to-digest protein is converted into easily digestible amino acids with the help of the enzymes formed during the germination process. The most well-known bread made from sprouted grain is Essene bread, which is available in health food stores and is baked at low temperatures (around 100 degrees), and has a low glycemic index. Even legumes with their high-quality plant-based protein and their B vitamins hardly leave out less well-tolerated cereals.

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Written by John Myers

Professional Chef with 25 years of industry experience at the highest levels. Restaurant owner. Beverage Director with experience creating world-class nationally recognized cocktail programs. Food writer with a distinctive Chef-driven voice and point of view.

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