In regards to eating meat

[Monica]

Monica, a quick question if you don't mind - bar fibre, what are the other benefits of wholegrain? I eat wholegrain bread almost daily and have been wondering if it's too much or not.

Whole grain breads are definitely healthier than refined flour breads, because they still have the nutrients intact. Refined flour is devoid of nutrients, and it also tends to clog the colon.

There is some controversy on grains, however. In recent years, it has become trendy for some alternative health practitioners to say grains are 'bad' while promoting a return to heavy meat and animal fats.

I haven't been able to figure out their rationale. I reject that premise and think it's a very dangerous trend.

One of the arguments against eating wheat is that some people can't handle the gluten. There are ways to find out if one is gluten intolerant, but you'd probably know it if you were. Those who think grains are bad, say that everyone is gluten intolerant to some degree but just don't know it. They claim that if people eliminated grains, they'd feel a difference.

I'm not convinced those claims are true. If they are, I would speculate that it's probably because of the generations of pesticides used in the grains, and the GMO, rather than the gluten.

In any case, there is a huge difference between grain made into flour and kept on a shelf for weeks or months (the germ goes rancid) and freshly milled grain flour (nutrients of the germ intact). Then, if you take it a step further and actually sprout the grain instead of grinding it into flour, it ceases to be considered a grain and is now considered more like a vegetable. Its nutrients are multiplied many fold, and there are no longer any issues about gluten or any of that stuff.

So sprouted grains are always excellent. Everything I'm saying here is really about grains made into flour, which is a complex subject and very controversial.

Whole grains should have wholesome goodness.

However, what people are currently eating aren't actually natural whole grains. Wheat and corn have been so over cultivated and so heavily sprayed with chemicals, that the toxic chemicals have become part of their genetic makeup. So even if you buy organic, you might not be able to escape the effects of those toxins.

Then there's genetic modification (GMO). I recently read some stuff on corn that made my skin crawl! Corn is a mere shadow of its former self. Same with wheat.

In short, the grains called wheat and corn aren't really wheat and corn!

I disagree with the idea that humans should completely eliminate grains. Certainly, cooked whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, etc. are wholesome and healthy.

Flour products, not so much. Sprouted grains are always better. When I do eat corn, I try to get the blue corn, which hasn't been genetically modified (as far as I know). I recently bought some seeds for some heirloom corn varieties like Aztec Blue, Purple corn, etc. I want to do my part to preserve those plants before they totally get wiped out by Monsanto.

Another problem with wheat and corn is that they are so insidious. Think about what most people eat every day: donuts, cereal, hamburgers, sandwiches, pastries, etc. All contain wheat. And anything with sugar - which is virtually all the foods on the SAD diet - will have high fructose corn syrup. Eating too much of the same 2 foods brings its own set of problems. Then on top of that, they are refined, and on top of that, have pesticides, and on top of that, are now GMO.

The solution is to buy organic as much as possible, have more variety in the diet, and eat your grains sprouted as much as possible, to increase nutrients and decrease any issues you may have. You'd be amazed at the wonderful raw sprouted brains and crackers you can make! It does take some work though. So much easier to just buy chips or a loaf of bread! When I get busy, I tend to eat more grains than I should.

It's not that grains/breads are bad. It's that people depend on them too much because they're easy and convenient.

Getting back to bread, there is also the issue of the yeast. Some people with systemic candida have sensitivity to yeasted breads. Again, if you did have trouble with that, you'd probably know it.

To summarize: I personally wouldn't worry about a couple of slices of wholegrain bread as part of a healthy diet, unless you have reason to believe you have sensitivity to gluten or yeast.

If that's the case, then you might look into some of the sprouted breads.

Hope this helps!