2. The food that used to be at the heart of many diets for
thousands of years, bread, is now considered ‘poisonous’ by
many health experts because of the gradual modification of
wheat.
3. Nowadays, it’s very common to hear terms like “gluten-
free” and “celiac’s disease” thrown around, and a lot of
people I come across are skeptical. “Bread’s been around
forever so how can it be bad?” they say. “Our ancestors
never had bread-related digestive issues or diseases. I bet all
this talk about gluten is just a bunch of new age nonsense.”
4. The truth, however, is that there’s a very good reason why
these problems didn’t arise until relatively recently – the
wheat we eat today is a far cry from the wheat we ate in
the past, even as few as 60 or 70 years ago.
5. 1. Processing
The food industry has
developed new ways of
processing wheat that strip
away all nutritious
components (such as bran
and germ) and leave only
starchy carbs and highly
refined flour that has
contributed to huge spikes in
blood sugar in many
consumers.
6. 2. Preparation
Bread used to be baked by
soaking, sprouting, and
fermenting wheat and then
baking the bread with slow
rise yeast. This fermenting
process is where a lot of the
benefits of bread came from,
like increased amino acid
lysine and reduced anti-
nutrients such as phytic acid,
lectins and enzyme
inhibitors. Today, however,
our flour is not fermented
but bleached, and our bread
is baked with quick rise yeast
to save time and money.
7. 3. The Plant Itself
Older, highly nutritious
varieties of wheat like
Emmer, Einkorn and Kamut
have fallen by the wayside,
replaced by various versions
of high-yield dwarf wheat.
This plant came about from
genetic modification in the
1960s, and its concentrations
of zinc, copper, iron, and
magnesium are about 28%
lower than non-modified
wheat of the past. Scientists
have confirmed through
samples that soil has not
changed over the years – the
decrease in nutrients comes
only from the modification of
the wheat itself.
8. Celiac disease indicates that a person has a severe form of
gluten intolerance. The reality is these intolerances have
always been around; they just were never an issue until
modern bread started containing higher amounts of
problematic glutens. In fact, none of us are meant to be
consuming as much gluten as we do now.
9. Unhealthy breads are now ubiquitous, and it’s increasingly
hard to find older bread strains like Einkorn. The safest bet
is to make bread yourself, or leave wheat out of your diet
completely. All of the nutrients I’ve mentioned that used
to be found in bread can now be found in other foods, so
you won’t be starving your body of anything it really needs
if you give up wheat entirely. Try eating more vegetables
instead – they are far more nutritious, and far less toxic!
