GLU(E)TEN? Is gluten a hype or a cause of many health problems?
It seems like you hear more and more people talking about gluten. Even McDonalds is now going gluten-free sandwiches. Is it now hype or are we simply finding out more and more about its effect on our health?
In any case, there is a lot to do about gluten. Gluten are so-called “sticky proteins. They stick together, as it were, bread, cookies and pastries, for example. Without gluten, the bread would fall apart. Gluten-containing grains are: Wheat, Spelt, Rye, Kamut and Barley. Pure oats do not contain gluten, but because they are often processed in a factory with all other grains, oats are often not completely gluten-free anyway.
So also products made from these grains, such as cookies, cakes, but also as a binder in sauces, for example. Consider flour. But also almost all breakfast cereals. As a variation, you could use gluten-free varieties such as Buckwheat, Amaranth, Quinoa.
It also seems like more and more people are suffering from gluten intolerance these days.
Grains are no longer the grains of, say, 40 years ago. Unfortunately, the methods of growing crops have changed negatively. Consider genetic manipulation of crops, human intervention in the development of specific species, with the goal of maximizing the yield of a crop. That means crops have to be resistant to pesticides, for example, grow less tall so they catch less wind and thus yields improve because a crop is less likely to fail in high winds. This, of course, can have a negative impact on our health. By intervening in the DNA structure (genetic structure), we often end up not knowing in the short- and long-term how it affects our health!
What is a fact is that the amount of gluten in genetically engineered Wheat is many times greater than in the original crops of the past. So even more glue say that can damage our intestines.
People who have Celiac disease have the worst form of gluten intolerance. A real allergy. They already experience major problems eating products that contain even trace amounts of gluten. In celiac disease, it is often seen that the intestinal villi are so stuck together by inflammation and broken that normal intestinal function is no longer possible. This also causes severe nutritional deficiencies. During a lecture the other day, I compared it to a coconut mat (doormat) that has worn out. Normally, the mat can absorb a lot of sand (compare this to nutrients). If the mat is smooth (inflamed) then the absorbability (surface area) is almost gone. This also leaves people chronically deficient in important nutrients such as minerals and vitamins.
Because the intestinal wall is inflamed, a so-called “leaky gut” also often develops. As a result, particles of the food can enter the bloodstream resulting in all sorts of nasty immune responses from the body. I previously wrote an article about the “leaky gut” in Body & Health.
Could it be a coincidence then that the word gluten is one letter away from the English word glue that appears in it? GLU(E)TEN.
In addition to Celiac disease, there is also a milder form of gluten hypersensitivity in which the intestines can also be slightly inflamed and cause a variety of problems. Consider abdominal problems such as irritable bowel or chronic inflammatory (inflammation-related) bowel diseases (such as Crohn’s disease, Colitis Ulcerosa) or bloating after eating, mushy stools or diarrhea. Very often, as a result, people receive unnecessarily heavy medication while the cause is not removed. Literature studies have shown a link between Crohn’s disease and celiac disease (gluten intolerance).
Celiac disease is examined by the family doctor or hospital through blood tests, and often to get clarity by removing a piece of intestinal tissue, called a biopsy.
Nothing is actually done with a so-called “silent Celiac disease” even though it can be measured perfectly well in the stool via specialized laboratory tests. These people are often told that there is no gluten problem. Often not Celiac disease, but a milder form. So it depends on how you look at things and what you measure. This is why I work a lot with fecal (stool) examination. Our stools say a lot. After all, measuring is knowing! But the question is what you measure and want to know.
So an ingrained and Primordial Dutch habit like bread is not necessarily the best.
Actually crazy to use this word. Primal Dutch. After all, bread did not appear in man’s diet in the distant past. Only much later in history did we start growing grains. In addition to the fact that gluten usually has a negative impact on our intestines, they also have it on our body weight. Research confirms this.
Do you have doubts about the possible impact of gluten on your health? Then let go of all gluten-containing products and replace it with pure foods as nature intended. So think more like a meal salad for lunch with vegetables, fish or poultry, nuts and seeds, olive oil and the like. Examples are also in my book.
Let food be your medicine, and medicine not largely your food!
Wishing you very good health and a gluten-free tasty meal!
Frank Jonkers. Practice Bodyswitch Heemskerk & author of “Kerngezond- Lifestyle as medicine”
www.bodyswitch.nl
SOURCE: “Core Healthy – Lifestyle as Medicine for Western Diseases”
