Gluten is a protein that has been present in wheat since it was first cultivated for human consumption about 10,000 years ago. But cultivated grains represent a mere “drop in the bucket” when it comes to the history of human subsistence using a “Paleolithic” or Stone Age diet.
A small proportion of people have a clear allergy to this gluten protein. The official diagnosis is “celiac disease.” And it develops just as you can develop allergies to other proteins. This diagnosis presents as a serious set of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.
Today, many people seem to fall short of receiving a celiac disease diagnosis…but they still suffer from a clear “gluten” intolerance. In fact, the proportion of people with problems digesting wheat and grains with gluten has ballooned to an estimated 30 to 40 percent, or more, of the population.
What has changed to cause skyrocketing rates of intolerance to gluten and wheat?
Gut-wrenching glyphosate
As I reported yesterday, some experts link the herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) to the increases in gluten sensitivity.
As it turns out, glyphosate blocks a key metabolic pathway that healthy bacteria navigate within your microbiome (gut). And poisoning the healthy bacteria in your microbiome leads to a host of problems, including systemic illness, GI upset, malnourishment, and fatigue — symptoms similar to those affected by gluten sensitivity or allergies.
So, when doctors tell you that you don’t test positive for an official medical diagnosis of celiac disease, they may be right. If you test negative for celiac, but still experience intolerance when you consume wheat or grains, you may actually be suffering from pesticide poisoning. Ultimately, though, it’s the same problem.
How about a bowl of pesticides for breakfast?
Since Roundup’s patent expired in 2000, nine different chemical companies, under at least 32 different trademarks, now make a product with glyphosate. In total, experts estimate that more than 100,000 tons of glyphosate are used each year on crops all over the world.
Crops like wheat and corn are genetically modified to withstand glyphosate, which kills everything else in sight. According to one account, farmers have been known to spray glyphosate a second time, directly onto wheat and sugar cane crops to dry them out, just prior to harvesting them. (It makes the grain lighter, easier to harvest and store, and resistant to molds.)
Of course, these ingredients are featured prominently in packaged foods such as breads, cakes, cereals, and cookies. We now know that these packaged foods contain ingredients with a double dose of the toxic herbicide.
Other studies have found alarmingly high levels of pesticides in these packaged goods.
The worst of it is, there’s nothing you can do about these packaged poisons — except avoid them — and everything else in the center aisles at the grocery store, for good measure.
Serious problems continue to mount
Tragically, food sensitivities may be just one of our worries when it comes to exposure to Roundup herbicides…
The CDC, EPA, FDA, and NIH should deal with this real and present danger to global health. Instead, they continue to chase down their favorite, politically correct
risk factors.
My advice…
Stay far away from the center aisles of the grocery store. Buy organic produce when you can. And if you want to avoid wheat and other grains that are probably contaminated with toxic pesticides, choose gluten-free products. My favorite source is Aleia’s Gluten-Free Foods.