“ I have a wheat intolerance ”

I hear this comment with some regularity when, for instance, someone recognizes me as the author of the Wheat Belly series. This is a step in the right direction. But saying that you have a wheat intolerance is like saying “I have a tobacco intolerance.” The impact of tobacco smoking on health ranges from mild impairment, to incapacitating diseases such as chronic lung disease and abdominal aortic aneurysms, to death. A rare person escapes the ravages of years of smoking, but most people develop at least one, if not half-a-dozen, health problems from cigarettes. And so it goes with wheat: It’s a rare person who escapes its effects. But many people don’t recognize health problems caused by wheat consumption and think, for example, that their acid reflux, fibromyalgia, type 2 diabetes, lupus, or Barrett’s esophagitis are just a combination of bad luck and bad genes. Likewise, many people don’t realize that cataracts, plantar fasciitis, eczema, toe fungus, gallstones, and fatty liver are largely a result of the bagel or bran breakfast cereal you have every morning, the pasta salad for lunch, or rolls with dinner.  In other words, thinking that intolerance to wheat and related grains only shows up as celiac disease or gluten sensitivity is like believing that, if you don’t have an aneurysm in your abdominal aorta, then you must therefore be healthy despite smoking two packs a day. There are also many silent processes that you are unawar...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle gluten gluten-free grain grain-free grains health Inflammation Source Type: blogs