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.

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