I had the fabulous opportunity to listen to Dr. William Davis speak at the World Conference on Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine. He presented his thoughts on wheat in an incredibly logical and understandable format. I have decided to give you my dumbed down synopsis on why WHEAT is not the healthy grain with which educators inform us. I have to plead ignorance on this subject and am grateful to read and learn more everyday to help educate you to the dangers of our food supply. Remember, nutrition isn’t taught in medical school!
Wheat dates back to the Roman Empire when grain was traded for land. Around 850 to 900 BC , huge glacier melts raised global temperatures allowing wheat to be grown more readily. Thus ensued the first consumption of grain by humans. Initially, the seeds of the grain were intolerable to the human gut and caused severe diarrhea. Therefore, the seeds had to be cooked or heated to make human digestion possible. This dramatically changed the culture from the hunter/gathering model to a cultivation model. Hence, birth of agriculture changed our food supply. When we started consuming grains on a regular basis many changes happened. The jaws and facial structures of humans decreased because of less need for mastication. Dental decay increased. We lost height and bone size. Also, iron deficiency was born. So ironically, wheat started causing disease this early in the evolutionary path. Spoiler alert—it’s only going to get worse.
This original wheat was called Eiknorn wheat that contained 14 chromosomes. I won’t bore you with the intricate science that ensued and will refer you to the book for the specific details but this original wheat was then mated with wild grass multiple times to evolve to the 19/20th century version of wheat called Spelt which then contained 42 chromosomes.
In the 1960’s, the fear of world population explosion caused a push by the government to fund the development of high yield crops. We then started to increase the yield of wheat crops in hopes to feed the starving population. The wheat then underwent repetitive hybridization with other wheats and grasses to yield a crop with big seeds and heads and a much smaller stalk. This modification allowed for a heartier plant that was much more resistant to climate changes, susceptible to fertilizers, and yielded larger seeds. Now remember–what did the wheat seed originally do to humans? (make them sick???)
Many people say that it is unethical to not eat bread. I mean what did Christ do at the last supper? He broke bread–but his bread isn’t the bread we are eating today! His bread was much closer to what God placed on this earth. Humans have modified that original grain so dramatically that we have made ourselves ill!
Please consider reading Dr. Davis’s great book for more information. More to come on the whole Gluten/Gluten Free issues in following posts. He also has some great grain free ideas and recipes at his site http://www.wheatbellyblog.com
More blog posts to come as I continue to read and educate myself on the dangers of wheat.