Alright guys, this is a big (and important) one. Let’s just dive right in.
There are so many myths, false health claims, and misinformation about grains being thrown at us left and right.
One search on google will give you 142,000,000 results – most of them full of confusion. You’ll get article titles like “Grains: Are They Good For You, or Bad?” or “Why Are People Suddenly Saying That Whole Grains Are Bad for Your Gut” or “Should You Avoid Grains?” or “What everyone gets wrong about whole grains”.
There’s honestly just so much junk and so many unclear answers out there as to whether grains are truly healthy, or not.
And I don’t find that surprising – it’s actually a really smart strategy. You throw a bunch of information and conflicting statements together to confuse and overwhelm, and eventually people will just get so flustered that they stop caring in the first place.
Genius.
It’s a good thing you are here because I’m going to help clarify.
So let me start by just giving you the answer… we can talk about why in a minute.
As my friend Mark Sisson put it: “Apart from maintaining social conventions in certain situations and obtaining cheap sugar calories, there is absolutely no reason to eat grains.”
Why? Let’s look at the science.
What Are Grains?
Grains are the hard, edible seeds of grass-like plants (called cereals). They come in many varieties (wheat, corn, rice, oats) and are one of the most consumed foods worldwide (if not the most). As a staple food in most countries, they provide more food energy worldwide than any other food group by far.
Grains are made up of three main parts:
- Bran – The hard outer layer or shell
- Germ – The core of the seed that provides nutrients when it sprouts and grows
- Endosperm – The starchy food source for the growth of the seed
A “Whole grain” contains all parts of the seed and can contain nutrients like B-vitamins, iron, phosphorus, selenium and Magnesium. On the other hand, refined/processed grains often have the bran or germ removed – removing all of the good naturally occurring nutrients!
What makes refined grains worse? Manufacturers will add synthetic nutrients to make up for the good stuff they took out in the first place!
What’s the takeaway here:
Some whole grains contain important nutrients, however, refined grains ( the ones that most of us consume) have been stripped of any nutrients that make it worthwhile to eat in the first place.
You Know What A Grain Is, So Why Should They Be Avoided?
1. They Are A Distinctly Neolithic Food That The Human Animal Has Yet To Adapt To Consuming
The agricultural revolution revolved around grains – they could be stored for months at a time, were easy to mass produce, and allowed for the construction of permanent settlements.
Back then, grains were harsh, tough things that took a lot of work to make them edible – and even then they probably didn’t taste to good.
Left untouched, grains may not have been as much of a problem, however…
2. Longer Shelf Life and Wide Availability(to sell) Was Put Before Health Effects
As new processing techniques emerged in the 19th century, grains were completely destroyed.
To increase shelf life, manufacturers would strip apart the parts of the whole grain and just use the starchy endosperm to create an inexpensive and finely ground white flour.
This is now a refined grain. Yep, that means that all of the good stuff is gone and all that is left is the high-carb, high-calorie endosperm.
With everything stripped away, the refined carbs become easily accessible to the body’s digestive enzymes WHICH MEANS…
Consumption leads to rapid spikes in blood sugar levels!
This is just a fact. When we eat foods with refined carbohydrates, our blood sugar goes up rapidly and returns to normal after a period of time. This creates cravings and increased hunger!
Unfortunately, these refined grains are what most people on a Western Diet consume (basically every American).
They are low in nutrients, are fattening, and totally harmful to our bodies.
Ok so it’s pretty bad, but let’s look at what wheat manufacturers did that puts consuming grains completely out of the question…
3. The Creation Of Dwarf Wheat
In the mid 20th century, agronomists developed new types of wheat to increase wheat production per acre. It’s called dwarf wheat and it’s even less nutritious than the previously refined grains and is full of harmful anti-nutrients.
Anti-Nutrients? What Are Those?
To help with your understanding, I want to start by establishing some ideas that we can all agree on:
Most living things do not want to be consumed by other living things right? Right. And because of this, each species tends to have its own defense mechanisms against other invading predators.
Plants are the same way. They want to live to spread their seed and “reproduce” in a sense.
So what are some examples?
Well, nuts have those tough shells and grain have those toxic anti-nutrients(lectins, gluten, phytates). There it is. I sprung that one up on ya quick didn’t I?
The thing is, humans cannot deal with anti-nutrients. We are simply not adapted to grain consumption like some other creatures – birds, rodents, some insects. Because we lack this adaptation, here’s what happens when you consume these anti-nutrients:
- Lectins
More on Dwarf Wheat
There’s an interesting study out there that I was introduced to after reading Mark Sisson’s article, “The Problem With Modern Wheat”.
Since 1843, researchers in England have been conducting the “Broadbalk Winter Wheat Experiment” to look at nutrient content of different wheat cultivations. Check this out:
Between 1843 and the mid 1960s, the mineral content, including zinc, magnesium, iron, and copper, of harvested wheat grain in the experiment stayed constant. But after that point, zinc, magnesium, iron, and copper concentrations began to decrease – a shift that “coincided with the introduction of semi-dwarf, high-yielding cultivars” into the Broadbalk experiment. Another study found that the “ancient” wheats – emmer, spelt, and einkorn – had higher concentrations of selenium, an extremely important mineral, than modern wheats. Further compounding the mineral issue is the fact that phytic acid content remains unaffected in dwarf wheat. Thus, the phytate:mineral ratio is higher, which will make the already reduced levels of minerals in dwarf wheat even more unavailable to its consumers.
This just reiterates the fact that modern wheat varieties have a nutrient content of close-to-zero and create an imbalance that can lead to nutrient deficiencies because of the phytic acid content.
4. Grains Are Prepared Differently
Today, bread is made by taking refined white flour and mixing it with a commercial “quick-rise” yeast. In almost all other cultures, bread is traditionally made with methods that include soaking, sprouting, and fermenting (sourdough cultures) that make the nutrients in grains more easily available to the human body.
Not only that, but remember the phytates I mentioned above? Well, these traditional methods help to reduce the number of phytates that can bind to minerals in the body.
It appears that we’ve substituted convenience for health. Yikes.
5. Grains Are Extra Toxic In The United States
Other than the occasional serving of white rice, I haven’t eaten a grain for the past three years. But what’s funny is that if I were to vacation to Italy or France or another country, I’d probably allow some wheat to be a part of my diet.
Why?
Because most foreign countries ban the use of harmful chemicals on their food supply – I’m talking about RoundUp, herbicides, pesticides, high-fructose corn syrup.
The United States is one of the only countries that actually allows this stuff to be used and put on our food – it seems like everyone else knows it’s toxic!
So Here’s The Real Problem With Grains
The Healthy Home Economist published an article that highlights how glyphosate (which is sprayed on conventionally grown U.S crop) may be to blame for the rising rates of celiac and other gut-related diseases. You can read that article here.
Not only are you getting a good dose of anti-nutrients from consuming grains but your also getting chemical crap put into your body! Fantastic! (No, no at all)
Grain consumption seriously brings about no good. Literally nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Nothing.
So Should We Consume Modern Grains?
There’s no point. We don’t need them to survive. They don’t actually provide us with nutrients. They don’t make the foundation of a healthy diet. They don’t… They won’t… We could go on forever. It’s an undeniable NO from me.
Here’s What You Can Do
That’s all I got on grains… hopefully that helps!
I’ll see you guys on my next blog!
If you’re interested in going paleo, I wrote a tutorial that will explain everything and help you get started right now. In college? I’ve got a super detailed guide on how to maintain your diet and find the resources you need to stay healthy ! Have any questions about anything? I’m happy to help!
