My Thoughts On Gluten And Grains

Disclaimer: please remember I’m not a medical doctor or medical-know-it-all. Please always check with a doctor or a health professional before making any new and crazy changes to your life. 

Gluten-free products and being gluten-free (GF) have become huge trends during the past decade. Is gluten something you should avoid or just a fad and a waste of money? What about grains in general? You must have heard about LCHF (Low Carb High Fat), paleo, or keto diets. Some low carb/ no carb dieters doom grains altogether and regard them as a huge villain. Can grains be that bad?!

Like always, I believe in bio-individualism. What works for me, may not work for you and vice versa. Please always listen to your own body and its needs. Our needs may evolve over time. This all can be influenced by our age, gender, environment, climate, lifestyle choices, level of physical activity, health, etc. 

What Is Gluten?

GF products are often touted as health food. So many people are talking about “going GF”. But in many cases these are the very same people who don’t even know what gluten actually is. They just heard somewhere or from someone that it could help them to lose a few pounds.

Gluten is a protein found in certain grains, such as wheat, barley, and rye. Gluten consists of two components, gliadin and glutenin, and today we know that both of these components can cause issues. Gluten has a purpose: it acts as “glue" helping different foods to maintain their shape, and it provides the stretchy elasticity to dough, which helps to make foods like pizza crust and pastas. Not surprisingly gluten is added to many packaged and baked foods. 

Health Benefits Of Going GF

There’s this funny belief that going GF would solve all your health issues. Going GF isn’t going to make you any healthier per se unless you have a medical condition requiring to do so. GF products can be very low in their nutritional value and are often loaded with refined sugar and processed vegetable and seed oils, which can all cause inflammation in the body. Cookies are still cookies - labeled GF or not. These products are often made of corn starch, potato starch, tapioca starch and other low quality flours. It’s better to stick with foods that never contained gluten to begin with. 

Medical And Health Reasons To Eliminate Gluten 

Probably the biggest reason to avoid gluten is Celiac Disease which is an autoimmune disorder where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage on the villi in the small intestine. When the villi gets damaged, nutrients cannot be absorbed properly and this can lead to malnutrition and various long-term health conditions, such as anemia, infertility, osteopenia, and neurological issues. Since there’s no actual known cure, the very best way is to adopt a gluten-free diet. Celiac disease is affecting 1% of people worldwide. Yet, this isn’t the only reason why certain people experience their health to improve after eliminating gluten. More common is non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) and it has similar symptoms to Celiac but is recognised as less severe. Many people have undiagnosed sensitivity, and it’s estimated to be between 0.5-13% of the population. When you have sensitivity to gluten or an allergic reaction to wheat there’s no (major) damage to the lining of intestine nor would you test positive for celiac disease based on blood testing. Wheat allergy occurs rarely in adults. Allergies, including those to wheat, are associated with positive IgE assays. Obviously, there is a long list of other health reasons for why someone may choose to go gluten or grain free like in the case of many auto-immune diseases. 

What About Grains In General?

So why do some people want to limit or completely remove grains from their menu? There are people who say that certain components in grains - for instance lectins, enzyme inhibitors, and phytic acids - are problematic to our health because among other things these components could inhibit nutrient absorption. However, once grains are soaked, fermented, or sprouted the physic acid’s negative effects no longer apply. Also some do low carb diets to keep their insulin levels under control and/ or are in the hope of burning more fat and losing weight. 

Personally I don’t see a reason why a healthy, fit person who doesn’t have any medical issues should eliminate gluten, grains or carbs in general from their diet. If you have diverse gut microbiome and don’t suffer from leaky gut, you should be fine. Normally gluten eating bacteria are part of our microbiome. And why does our bodies naturally produce the enzyme amylase to break starches and grains down if we weren’t designed to eat them? Science and Scientific American have pointing out that there’s evidence that our ancestors were getting energy from grains as early as the Middle Ages. That was 100,000 years ago! 

Processed, refined grains - from which the germ and bran parts are removed - are problematic because during the refining process vitamins, minerals, fibre are stripped away. Whole grains (and pseudo-grains) can be a good source of many vitamins, minerals (such as iron, zinc, magnesium, selenium, calcium), fibre, protein, and even antioxidants. Whole grains have no cholesterol while being low in fat. Not only does the fibre travel with vitamins and minerals, but it also helps to sweep toxic residue out of the body, lower cholesterol, and keep insulin levels in healthy range and its help to prevent blood clots according to the Harvard School of Public Health. 

Also, your brain uses the glucose from the carbohydrates in your food for fuel. As Lisa Mosconi PhD explains, glucose is normally the only energy source for the brain and it’s crucial for the brain health to get enough of it. If you are serious about protecting yourself against dementia and cognitive decline, keep eating those carbs! I wouldn’t recommend anyone to fall into the no carb/ low carb trap. Yes, it’s true that leaner people tolerate glycemic load better than people who struggle with their weight. Unfortunately most low carb diets recommend consuming huge amounts of protein and fats. You certainly can over do animal-based protein and develop a kidney failure, and colon cancer.

I eat fully plant-based/ vegan. If I removed grains completely, my options would be narrowed down a lot, and to reach my daily energy requirements would become challenging. There are people who thrive on all sorts raw vegan diets (excluding all cooked grains) and they are absolutely fine and thriving. Moreover, during the coldest and darkest winter months in Northern Europe you very likely want to eat something warm instead of just cold, raw foods. Also, I don’t want to make my life too complicated and become neurotic about the foods I “can” eat if there’s no health reason to do so. 

Naturally Gluten-Free Alternatives

To get the health benefits you must eat whole grains - unrefined. Furthermore, I’m not saying that you should base your entire diet on grains, and eat huge amounts of them at every meal. Remember grains today are not what they used to be due to cross-breeding, hybridisation, and genetic modification. Always choose organic, unrefined options. There are several naturally gluten free (pseudo) grains out there. Great examples include quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, and millet. Root vegetables, yams and sweet potatoes are also great options as well as other starches like squash, beans, lentils, and rice. 

Always make sure what you do is right for you and your body.

Lots of Love!

RESOURCES:

Brain Food - The Suprising Science Of Eating For Cognitive Power by Lisa Mosconi PhD

Dr Will Cole: The Negative Effects Of Gluten + The Best Way To Go Gluten Free