Why refined Grains are Harmful + Gluten free Wholegrain Alternatives

“The whiter the bread the sooner you’re dead”.

Dramatic as this jingle may appear, unfortunately these days a common staple in most people’s diets provides little to no nutritive properties and cannot support animal or human life.

Wheat is a key ingredient in Western diets. We consume it in the form of bread, pies, cakes, biscuits, pasta ,cereals and sauces after it has been heated, fractioned, fragmented until it is almost impossible to recognise it as its original form. This processing strips most of the nutrients from the grain.

Why refined grain products are harmful:

1. They can be excessively starchy and high in gluten ( a topic for another blog but in a nut shell greater than 40% of the population have an intolerance or sensitivity to gluten causing varying degrees of digestive disturbances an potentially enhancing the development of many chronic diseases).

2. Nutritionally Imbalanced

3. With refining, grains can contribute to the development of many degenerative diseases. Altered calcium-phosphorus balance in these products leaches calcium from bones and teeth. Also, sugar which is often added to these foods can not only impact the progression of tooth decay but is now recognised to promote diabetes, obesity and other inflammatory health conditions.

A Loaf of Chemicals

Let’s just list a few:

• Bleaches

• Nitrogen dioxide

• Azocarbonamide

Also added to refined grain products are salt, skim milk powder, enzyme activators, sulphates, chloride and bromate.

The real question is:

Is the shelf-life of products more important in our economy than the health and wellbeing of people?

I would suggest that refined grain products are a burden to our economy as a result of the general populations degenerating health and the subsequent increases in health costs to individuals and the government.

Next time you go shopping, consider these healthy, gluten free whole grain alternatives:

1. Amaranth

2. Buckwheat

3. Corn

4. Millet

5. Quinoa

6. Rice

7. Wild rice

8. Oats (oats are inherently gluten free but may be contaminated with wheat during processing).

Here’s to happy tummies and healthy long life!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013 at 07:33PM