Since the growth of Internet health information sites, most of us now know about gluten – the culprit in grains that can cause chronic debilitating health issues for those of us who cannot tolerate this indigestible plant protein.
Gluten is a plant protein that is only digestible in the stomachs of rudiments animals. Ruminants, such as cows and goats, have two stomachs that are enzyme rich and contain the specific enzymes necessary to digest the outside protective layer of plants known as cellulose, and then breakdown, absorb and utilize this plant protein metabolically.
Humans do not possess the enzymes to break down plant cellulose. For us, cellulose is fiber or roughage that passes through our body without benefit as a nutrient. Many individuals are highly sensitive to gluten, where others have a greater tolerance and ability ro remove it from their system and not have serious consequences or impact on their immune system.
In many cases obesity and chronic disease states are the silent symptoms of this often unrecognized food allergy, that for many acts as a systemic poison once ingested.
Over the past 25 years much research has been done on gluten allergies. Here is a brief list of the types of chronic conditions
gluten allergy can contribute to:
- Stomach pain and digestive disturbances
- Attention Deficient Disorder
- Crohn’s disease and other bowel disorders
- Nervous conditions and anxiety
- Fatigue
- Migraines and headaches
- Fibromyalgia
- Reproductive disorders and infertility
- Dizziness
- Arthritis and joint pain
- Immune disorders and infections
- Poor wound healing
The popular low carbohydrate diets have demonstrated the impact gluten has on weight gain and weight control. Often simply by eliminating gluten foods for a period of three (3) months, individuals see a remarkable and dramatic change in their chronic health condition as well as their body mass.
While not everyone is so sensitive to gluten that they must follow a gluten-grain free diet, it should be noted that not eating grains does not eliminate any important nutrient from your diet that you cannot get from other foods such as vegetables, nuts, beans, seeds and so forth. If humans never ate grains again we would be all the better for it.
Part II – How and why human added grains to our human dietWith all good wishes,
Georgianna
Copyright 2011 G. Donadio