Wheat Lectin: Another Reason Why You Should Skip Bread

Bread is a staple food around the world. In America, wheat is the grain of choice and is used for a variety of other foodstuffs besides bread. The wheat that we eat today, however, is not the same wheat consumed by early civilizations.

Pure wheat flour has only been milled into refined white flour during the last two centuries. Modern agriculture and hybridization has turned wheat into something unhealthy. Eating wheat can cause a number of health conditions including problems in the gut, the bloodstream, the brain, and sometimes, even in the joints, cardiovascular system and endocrine system.

Celiac disease or gluten intolerance, is one of the most common forms of food allergies associated with wheat. It affects roughly 2 million Americans or 1 in every 133 people.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. If your body cannot digest gluten, the undigested protein causes your immune system to attack the lining of your small intestine, which can trigger diarrhea or constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain.
When the small intestine sustains more damage, it will be difficult for it to absorb nutrients such as iron and calcium, and this can lead to more serious problems like anemia and osteoporosis.

Besides gluten intolerance, another problem associated with wheat consumption is wheat lectin.

Lectin is the wheat plant’s defense mechanism against fungi and insects. Unfortunately, lectin is also very resistant to breakdown by living systems, interferes with normal biological processes, and acts as an anti-nutrient.

Sprouting and fermenting usually helps neutralize some of the harmful effects of anti-nutrients. Lectins, however, are resistant to these processes. This is why lectins, particularly a type known as wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), are abundant in whole wheat breads and are present even in so-called “healthy” sprouted breads.

There are a number of ways that WGA can wreak havoc with your health as it can:

• promote the synthesis of inflammatory chemical messengers
• bind to and activate white blood cells.
• pass through the blood-brain barrier and may attach to the protective coating on your nerves known as the myelin sheath
• inhibit nerve growth factor, which is important for the growth, maintenance, and survival of certain target neurons.
• induce programmed cell death
• interfere with gene expression
• disrupt endocrine function
• adversely affect gastrointestinal function
• share traits with certain viruses

Dr. Joseph Mercola believes that about 75 to 80 percent of ALL people will benefit from avoiding wheat and all types of grains, regardless if one is suffering from Celiac disease or not. This is where the no-grain diet comes in. Dr. Mercola’s no-grain diet is more than just a wheat lectin and gluten-free diet; this revolutionary eating plan is designed to help you achieve healthy weight loss and stay slim for life by showing you how to beat grain addiction.

If you eat a lot of toast and sandwiches, it may be hard to imagine not eating bread at first but if you’ll give it a shot, you’ll find that a grain-free diet will provide you with a lot of health benefits in the long run.

7 Tips on How You Can Succeed with Your Diet

Are you one of millions of people who’ve set weight loss as part of your New Year’s resolutions? Many are determined to lose weight at the start of the year but the reality is only a few are successful.

But why do most dieters fail? Because they think of diet as a quick fix and something temporary. Many go for the latest fad diets endorsed by celebrities. Many of these diets are unhealthy and once you quit them, your weight will come back and may even make you heavier than when you started.

Diets fail not because you lack the willpower; it’s because you return to your old habits and do what your body tells you to do, Dr. Joseph Mercola explains. Dr. Mercola is the proponent of the no-grain diet, a revolutionary eating strategy designed to help you effortlessly lose weight. Most diets will recommend cutting down on grains and sugars but on the no-grain diet, you will TOTALLY avoid eating grains and sugars for a certain time to give your body time to change the messages it’s sending you.

Mercola’s no-grain diet aims to totally reprogram your system for permanent weight loss. It isn’t easy to give up grains at first but with enough discipline, you’ll find that going no-grain is very achievable. Here are some tips that will help you stick to the no-grain diet:

1.    Do it for yourself – Your main motivation for going on the no-grain diet should be you, yourself and you. Use the diet as your first step to take control of your health this year.
2.    Know the benefits – Familiarize yourself with the benefits of the no-grain diet. Aside from weight loss, the no-grain diet will help you beat your addiction to unhealthy food so you can stay slim for life, thus improving your physical health and how you view yourself.
3.    Commit to the diet – The first phase of the no-grain diet only requires three days. If you can make it through the initial phase, the eating plan becomes easier to sustain.
4.    Constantly remind yourself – Place notes around to remind you of your commitment to the diet.
5.    Stay consistent – The more consistent you are, the easier it will be to stick to the no-grain diet. Set a regular time for your meals and snacks to help you build a healthy habit.
6.    Remove temptation – Restructure your environment to take away the things or obstacles that might tempt you to cheat on your diet.
7.    Know the pain – If you’ve tried diet after diet with little or no success, let the pain of failure motivate you to stick to your commitment. You should also be aware of the consequences of going back to your old eating habits.