Measles, tuberculosis, and wheat

Humans have made many dietary mistakes over the years but two mistakes, in particular, stand out: close contact with animals, mostly ruminants, who conveyed their diseases to us and the adoption of the seeds of grasses as human food. These two practices not only changed the course of human history but also human disease. Over the last several centuries, Westerners have populated North America, South America, Pacific islands and other regions. Equipped with superior tools of warfare such as swords and muskets, contact with Westerners decimated indigenous people such as the millions of native Americans, Aztecs, and Amazonian rainforest dwellers. Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes’ conquest of the Aztecs alone is estimated to have reduced the population of 30 million by 90%. But much of the mortality suffered by indigenous peoples were not from raids, swords, or bullets, but from disease. Westerners brought diseases that indigenous people had not been exposed to, such as measles, tuberculosis, whooping cough, chicken pox, and the flu. These health conditions were common among Westerners, thereby generating partial tolerance or resistance to their effects. Westerners acquired these diseases through the domestication of animals. When humans first invited grazing creatures–-cows, sheep, goats–-into our huts, adobe homes, or caves, often sleeping in the same room, using them for milk or food, we acquired many of their diseases: tuberculosis, smallpox, flu and a long list o...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle gluten-free grain-free grains joint pain Source Type: blogs