What Is Wrong With Grains?

What’s wrong with grains? Some Alexandria, VA, citizens don’t eat most grains due to gluten intolerance, but other factors might make you want to eliminate them from your diet, even if they don’t contain gluten. People on a Paleo diet don’t consume grains because they believe our prehistoric ancestors didn’t, so our bodies can’t properly break them down, causing issues with our digestive system. There are reasons grains may not be healthy for you and ways to offset those problems.

Processing makes a difference.

Today’s grain is not processed as it was in the past. Historically, grain was soaked, sprouted, or fermented when making bread. That’s not true today. When it’s ground to flour, companies remove the bran and germ. The bran contains fiber that’s necessary for a healthy diet. The germ contains all the nutrients of the grain. All that is left is the endosperm. It’s primarily starch and empty calories.

The grain is different today.

In the 1960s, scientists created a hybridized high-gluten grain. Gluten is a combination of two proteins, glutenin and gliadin. Gluten makes bread chewy and gives it the dense texture and structure of modern white bread. It became so popular that over 90% of flour in the US comes from that hybrid. It may be the reason for an increase in people with gluten intolerance.

Grains contain antinutrients like phytic acid and lectins.

Phytic acid diminishes the absorption of magnesium, copper, calcium, iron, and zinc. It can cause issues in digestion to prevent enzymes from digesting protein and starch. Lectins are a category of anti-nutrients that protect plant seeds. One lectin is agglutinin. It’s a natural pesticide. GMOs are high in agglutinins, which may explain a high rise in gluten intolerance. Prolamins are another type of lectin. It prevents it from sprouting until conditions are perfect. It is what allows grains to survive in the digestive until they can be expelled in animal waste. The waste provides the fertilizer for the seed once expelled where it can grow. High amounts of lectin in the body can

• Many of the grain products on the market today are highly processed. Companies bleach flour to make it white and add various chemicals to extend shelf life.
• A negative reaction to prolamins in grain can cause a cross-reactivity from other types of seeds, like rice or oats. The symptoms of gluten intolerance continue if prolamin is the problem.
• Grains produce enzyme inhibitors that don’t allow you to break down the protein in grains. Your body then produces more enzymes in a snowballing chain that leads to an abundance of digestive enzymes that potentially can destroy the gut lining and cause leaky gut syndrome.
• You can reduce some of the problems associated with grains by choosing products containing sprouted grain, fermented grain, or soaked grain. Sprouted grain has more folate, fiber, useful amino acids, and polyphenols than unsprouted grain.

For more information, contact us today at Team Worx Fitness