The other day I was reading some paleo related articles and ran across one called “Why is Wheat Bad for You?”. Since Cavegirls Kate and Stephanie and I were just talking about whether we thought wheat was bad for everyone or if it is just one of the foods to be wary of if you have unexplained illness, I decided to send this link to them to get their thoughts.

http://www.kriskris.com/why-is-wheat-bad-for-you/

Stephanie didn’t disappoint! Here is her in-depth analysis.

I think he makes some good points but draws a shaky conclusion or two.

He says:It is common knowledge that gluten can lead to a disease called Celiac Disease. This has been known for a while, but it is now believed that a large part of the population may be “sensitive” to Gluten.

This is characterized by the immune system “attacking” the peptides that gluten forms when it is broken down in the digestive tract (1). (this cites a pilot study done of six people… not at all conclusive)

Controlled trials in otherwise healthy people show that it can damage the intestinal lining, cause bloating, pain, stool inconsistency and tiredness (2, 3) (citation two is from a 34 patient study from which they concluded 

“Non-celiac gluten intolerance” may exist… MORE convincing for me. Citation 3 is again a relatively small group and they hit them with the high end of gluten – 40g- celiac.com says avg diet has 10-40g of gluten, but the results are also worth more looking.)

What this means is that wheat is probably unhealthy for most people, not just those who have diagnosed celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.

That last “probably” is a leap. I’d have to see a BIG ole study to make that conclusion myself. He’s made a global assumption based on a total of under 60 people. Not a really good representation of a global population of over 7 billion

• Glycemic load is an indicator I pay loads of attention to, but dates, too are Whopping high on the GI. For example, the citation he gives in the article shows that dates are the worst per serving of this group of foods. Dates were 42 Glycemic load, Kraft Mac and cheese next at 32, then a white bagel at 25… I think…just from a quick glance. Honestly, this isn’t very helpful to his case. I, however, know that I have to be careful with items high on the Glycemic Index, so that’s why as much as I love dates, I gotta be careful with them.
• Next paragraph he says: Given how common unnatural cravings are to wheat (and sugar) containing products, the idea seems plausible to me.

Cravings… being such a subjective experience… hard to quantify. I agree with this premise,I’m just not sure how useful it is in this case for argument’s sake.

• The paragraph on lipids is more convincing, but my beef with that study is: Thirty-six overweight men aged 50–75 y were randomly assigned to consume daily for 12 wk either oat or wheat cereal providing 14 g dietary fiber/d … Um…what else were they eating? This is that “bodies aren’t a closed system” problem in dietary science. The most effective of these sorts of studies was done recently by Kimber Stanhope, a nutritional biologist at the University of California, whose group PAID their test subjects to live at the test facility and fed them everything they ate during this time. THAT is control.

So, what do you think about this article? And do you think Wheat is bad for everyone or is it something to be aware of if you’re having some unexplained health issues? Can some people thrive while including wheat in their diet? Chime in!