To Grain or not to Grain? A little common sense goes a long way!!

Well, where do I start with this one? I was going to do a write a little about Vit D3, Magnesium, Calcium and what the real story is…really I was…but I saw a short article in a magazine and got distracted.  I know thats hard for some of you to believe that I can get distracted.

Now first let me start by saying these blogs are just small pieces of bigger picture of tips of the iceberg with the main body below. You get the idea. Basically, each blog could be its own chapter in a book so I just “piecemeal” the info out and hope some people get it and maybe get inspired to do further research.
I have to say that I love Costco. Did I mention that I love Costco? It’s an awesome store and carries some high quality products and foods. So the point of this blog is not to rip on Costco, more to make a point of the type of information that is put out to the public and accepted as “gospel”.

Well I got the Jan 2011 edition of the Costo Connection, a product magazine that they put out, and on pg. 73 found an interesting artcle titled, “Grain and Bear it.” The article goes into the usual spill about the health benefits of grains and how the U.S. Department of Agriculture says in their “Healthy People 2010” report that “a lack of whole grains has become the single most common dietary deficiency in America.” Now who said that again? Dept of what? Exactly. I bet they did say that.

I’m not going to type the whole thing out but its about a four paragraph article (probably just needed to fill space on a page) with the usual cookie cutter type information and filled with words like “may” and “can” and other safe generalities. Plus the article makes the usual references from The American Heart Institute and National Cancer Institute citing the benefits of fiber.  Which is, oddly enough, found in vegetables and fruits.  Weird, I know.

Guys, if you haven’t figured it out, I am an advocate of Paleolithic nutrition. I’m not a purist but I mix sound nutrition that is supported by physiologic evidence with some common sense. Its hard to down those who read these types of articles and believe them. Hell, I can’t down the author, I’m sure they follow the same “conventional wisdom” that is out there.

I agree some grains are worse than others, but without a doubt wheat, barley and rye are the biggest culprits. All grains contain some level of lectins and phytates. Lectins (this is a short definition) are proteins that are glutenattes that have the ability to pass through our intestinal tract and bind to various cells and tissues. The problem is when they do this, the up-regulate our immune system which attacks them and the surrounding tissues and creates anti-bodies that go after similar tissues which may be healthy cells in our body. Yes, there are good lectins and bad lectins. WGA (wheat germ agglutenatte) is a bad lectin and is also called gluten.
Not only does WGA (gluten) bind to certain structures in the epilethial cells of our small intestine, thus causing damage and inflammation, but they also interfere with TM (transglutaminate), which is an important enzyme that is involved in the processes of making almost every type of organ or muscle cell in our body as well as structures in the myelin sheath of our brain and nervous system. You see where this is going right? So we eat a lot of “healthy” whole grains loaded with WGA and we mess with TM and as a result develop ATM (anti-body for transglutiminate) and our immune system attacks our own body. Then we develop auto-immune related disorders including, to name just a few, cardio vascular disease, arthritis, muscular sclerosis, Alzheimers, bone loss, malnutrition disorders, headaches, fatigue….and on and on.

Grains, also contain phytates. These things have a strong affinity to metal or mineral ions such as zinc, iron, magnesium and calcium. Pretty important things.  So they bond to them and leach them out so we can’t absorb them as well. Cool huh?

But wait, not only do grains do this, they are also very acidic. That means they tip our ph to the acidic side so our body responds by becoming more alkaline. Just like taking Tums to help with acid buildup and heartburn, our body uses calcium do to this. Where does it get the calcium? That’s right, the bones. So it actually accelerates bone loss…something our Paleolithic ancestors, who had significantly denser bones and carried stronger leaner muscle, didn’t have to worry about. What did they eat? No grains, very little (if any) dairy, lots of meat/fat, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. Anyway, that is another blog.

Hopefully you get the picture.  Avoid gluten…primarily wheat, barley and rye. Whew! That was a lot. If you have celiac disease (allergic to gluten), you should already know this stuff. If you have specific questions, please feel free to send me an email found in the “my complete profile” section of the “About me” column on the left. I will try to answer them and put them in a post.

This is just the tip of the iceberg my friends. I had to get it out after reading that article and reading the source. A great book I read is The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. I highly recommend it. There is a link to his site on the right, so check it out. There are many other books out there that I’m sure I will mention later.
That will give you something to think about. I hope and encourage everyone to do their research and educate themselves. Until then, here is a link with a little bit of info and a short review of Robb’s book.

http://www.simplynutritio.us/?p=357