This photo below was shared with us, and it screams out, as if to warn us, that going gluten-free, and cutting out the grains will have no benefit unless you are allergic to gluten, and to make matters worse, if you eat gluten-free foods you will not lose weight …but gain weight!

Now, many of us realize that the first part of their warning is most definitely NOT true.  As you will read in our new book The Micronutrient Miracle, there are quite a few reasons that wheat might be an ingredient that is best left in the fields. We will run through them quickly here.

1. Gliaden – this protein found in the new, crudely genetically manipulated dwarf wheat (otherwise known as the wheat of today) is addictive. In Rich Food, Poor Food we explain: “Digestion of wheat works like this: when digested by stomach acids and enzymes the gliaden becomes exorphins, morphine-like compounds, which bind to opiate receptors in your brain. These exorphins, however, don’t relieve pain like other opiates; instead they cause addictive behavior and appetite stimulation that can result in the consumption of more than 400 additional calories every day! Ultimately, eating wheat is as addictive as morphine, crack, or heroine. The purveyors of wheat-based foods act as your local drug dealers, who realize that you will need another hit of obesity-inducing exorphins before you can say “gluten”.”
2. Gluten – Gluten sensitivity is most likely affecting many more people that doctors once thought. According to Mark Sisson, the author of the bestselling bookThe Primal Blueprint, “basic gist is that for many people, consuming gluten inflames the body, perforates the gut, and opens them up to a whole host of health maladies.”
3. Lectins – According to Dr. William Davis the author of the NY Times Bestselling book Wheat Belly, “The lectins in wheat likely underlie the increased intestinal permeability to multiple foreign proteins that cascades into inflammatory and autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.”
4. Amylopectin A – Responsible for the expansion of the visceral fat (the “wheat belly”) and causes the high sugar spike which can lead to diabetes, insulin resistance and heart disease.

Today’s modern wheat has all of these nasty, undesirable components mentioned above, so why would we really want to eat it anyway? Obviously, the reporter was wrong on the first part of their statement – there are definitely health benefits for anyone who decides to go wheat/gluten free.

Now, for the second part of the statement:  Some gluten products contain more sugar and fat and they might make you gain weight.  BRAVO!  They got that right. As we mentioned in an earlier post many of the gluten free foods on the market today are nothing but junk foods filled with POOR FOOD ingredients. But whose fault is that?  It is not the gluten-free consumer who is creating these culinary messes. Dr. Davis states, “We've got to keep on raising a stink on this ridiculous notion that gluten-free foods made with cornstarch, rice starch, tapioca starch, and potato starch are healthy replacements for wheat and gluten: They are NOT! Let's keep the pressure on, or else people will say, “Well, I went gluten-free and my acid reflux went away. I lost 10 pounds then gained 20!” This is the confusion caused by these gluten-free foods made with junk carbohydrates. The gluten-free community HATES this because much of their revenue–foods, magazines, conferences, websites–comes from the gluten-free food industry. These foods are no better than jelly beans! So all gluten-free food purveyors: Smarten up! Gluten-free replacement foods cannot be made of pulverized, high surface area starches, or else you will cause high blood sugars, diabetes, weight gain, hypertension, cataracts, dementia, heart disease, and cancer!”

This reminds us of one of the things that started America down the path to obesity in the first place.  Do you all remember when the “low fat” fad first started? Manufacturers jumped on that bandwagon and started creating low fat products loaded with added sugar and a host of artificial ingredients.  They weren’t interested in creating healthy foods; just in making the label read “low fat”.  And where did that leave us?  We aren’t going to even start to go into how misguided that low-fat advice ultimately was.  However, they are doing it all over again with the gluten free foods, and this time we can’t let them get away with it.

How do we stop them? Educate yourself! Take the time to learn which ingredients are healthy and safe and which ones are cheap and harmful fillers. We wrote RICH FOOD, POOR FOOD to help you do just that. In every aisle of the store we introduce you to wheat free foods (and their manufacturers) that are doing it right. And if your store doesn’t carry a particular food, we give you a downloadable list in our Micronutrient Miracle Motivation and Resource Center so that you can request it. Additionally we have other downloadable items such as coupons for our favorite Rich Food brands, and our Fab 14 and Terrible 20 wallet guide.

We hope this has helped ease some confusion surrounding the gluten free diet, and would love for you to join us for our next Micronutrient Miracle VIP coaching group! Details here.