CORRECT EATING AND NUTRITION IN CASE OF ALLERGY: GRAINS AND CEREALS
Reference has been made to the fact that grains and cereals are a proven allergen and one of the most common known to man. Furthermore, it is possible to be addicted to grains without realizing it. Addiction is linked directly with allergy, as one always exists with the other. Adverse reactions to grains can be extremely subtle, and it is often very difficult for individuals to link grain allergy with specific health problems. Grain allergies can vary from slight to severe. Symptoms can range from overweight, tiredness, mental illness, to chronic disease. There is one thing that is certain in our grain-eating oriented society and that is — We eat too much grain and cereal and this is causing health problems for a great many people.
Some people are allergic to all grains, others to specific grains. The worst common offender is wheat. Dr Philpott in his book, Brain Allergies, feels that wheat causes more problems than any other allergenic substance. He says, 'In my studies, wheat is seen to be the highest maladaptive reacting substance, especially in invoking mental symptoms.'
Writing in his book, Health for Life, Dr William Vayda refers to the wheat problem as, 'A disorder being increasingly diagnosed in the Western world, due to the vastly increased consumption of wheat products, beyond the levels the human body was designed to handle.'
Although cereals provide the bulk of diet for many people world wide, it cannot be said to be a natural food for humans. In terms of human evolution, it is only a 'moment' since man began to cultivate and eat grains, prodigiously. Prior to a few thousand years ago, he subsisted, for six million years, on hunting and gathering. During this time, cereals played only a very minor part in his daily diet. Therefore, in terms of evolution, the human body has not yet had time to develop mechanisms to handle properly, the copious quantities of cereal and grain products that are eaten today.
With the exception of millet and buckwheat (not a true grain), grains are acid-forming in the body. Even when cooked, they are, comparatively, difficult to digest and can produce abdominal swelling and flatulence. Because they are a seed, they contain an enzyme inhibitor, which is not easily broken down, even by cooking. This places a great strain on the pancreas and liver, resulting in a build-up of toxins in the body. Studies, made by various medical researchers, have shown that cereals, wheat in particular, cause deposits of calcium salts in the tissues, leading to degeneration and hardening of the arteries.
Reference was made, in an earlier chapter, to Dr Edward Howell, of Florida, in the United States. In his book, The Status of Food Enzymes in Digestion and Metabolism, he referred to research done on the Malays and Filipinos. These people subsisted mainly on rice, and it was found that they eventually developed marked hypertrophy (enlargement) of the pancreas. When this occurs, it indicates that the pancreas is overworked and, in the case of these people, it was due to the huge volume of enzymes that their pancreases had to produce, in order to digest their rice intake. It was found that, whilst Malays and Filipinos had about 50 per cent enlargement, the average American, also, had an enlarged pancreas. When you consider the enormous exposure in our Western diet to processed foods, which contain cereals as fillers, plus the average daily intake of breakfast cereals, bread, biscuits, cakes, etc, it would be surprising if our own intake of cereals is very much less than that of subsistence rice eaters.
People who have a, largely, grain-based diet do not live long lives. They tend to be active up to middle age, but after that, deteriorate quickly. The excessive strain, placed on the human body by a substantial daily intake of cereal and grain products, eventually wears it out. It has been found that an enlarged pancreas will steadily deteriorate in function after middle age, unless it is relieved of the continuous overload placed on it by daily grain consumption.
Wheat, in particular, is a renowned allergen. It has been estimated that 30 per cent of all people are allergic to wheat in some way. The degree of allergy varies, considerably, between individuals. Some should never eat it. Others may eat it fairly regularly but not every day. Grains in general, and wheat in particular, should be eaten sparingly, and certainly not every day, if the body is to cope satisfactorily with them. Otherwise intolerance and allergy may develop, resulting in a progressive and subtle deterioration in health.
A common fallacy is that cereals and grains are necessary to provide enough carbohydrate and fibre. This is not so. An adequate supply of fibre and carbohydrate, can be obtained by substituting fresh fruit and vegetables. An added advantage is that, in their raw state, they are easily digestible, due to the enzymes they contain, thus aiding the pancreas and enhancing nutrient absorption and good health.
However, if you feel that you can tolerate cereal and grain products (preferably not daily), then you should eat wholemeal and whole flour products which have greater nutritional and fibre content. White flour is virtually useless as a food. It is really just a 'filler', and places a great burden on the whole digestive system. Some people with grain allergies can react far less severely to refined white flour, than to wholemeal flour. This should not be taken as a reason for eating white flour regularly. Its nutritional value is so low, that it is pointless to eat it often, and to do so can be detrimental to good health.
Dr David Reuben, whose books have sold over 6 million copies, has this to say about white flour in his book, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition:
Flour millers like to store flour for long periods of time so they can buy it cheap and sell it at high prices… so they remove the wheat germ and bran, leaving only the next to worthless pale, white, starchy endosperm. Endosperm keeps almost forever. Why does endosperm keep so well? Because bugs don't eat it. Because there isn't enough nutrition in a ton of white flour to keep one teenie weenie bug alive. A diet of so-called bread made from white flour — taken right off the supermarket shelves — can't keep laboratory animals alive and it can't keep your children alive.
On the process of 'enrichment' of white flour, he found that,
In the process of milling, over twenty-six essential elements are totally or partially removed from the flour. The laughable process of 'enrichment' puts back about one-sixth of a cents worth of cheap, synthetic vitamins consisting of thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. They also dump in little tiny bits of iron, often in the form of iron filings. If someone pulled twenty-six of your teeth and gave you four little false teeth in return, would you consider your mouth to have been 'enriched'?
This questionable process of 'enrichment' also applies to breakfast cereal,
There is no category of food product on the market that is more expensive, more profitable and more nutritionally disastrous, than breakfast cereals.
Breakfast 'cereal' is a fascinating product: refined sugar and refined flour mixed with hydrogenated oil and salt. It contains more artificial colouring than vitamins, is almost 90 per cent starch and sugar and is preserved with chemicals that poison test animals.
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Allergies
