Wheat: 200 Clinically Confirmed Reasons Not To Eat It

Posted on: Sunday, October 7th 2012 at 5:00 am
Written By: Sayer Ji, Founder
This article is copyrighted by GreenMedInfo LLC, 2017

200 Reasons not to eat wheat
Image source: Lynn Friedman

With sales of foods labeled gluten free now reaching over 6 billion dollars a year, something truly profound is happening to the way in which Americans are perceiving the role of wheat in their diets. Once celebrated as the very poster-child of the health food movement, folks are increasingly rejecting this “king of grains,” and are now identifying it as being at the very root of their health problems.

Detractors claim that the movement is just a fad, or worse, that those who have embarked upon it without an official diagnosis are a bit crazy. After all, simply “feeling better” following gluten elimination is not considered to be proof of anything within the conventional medical system.  Biopsies, antibody, and genetic tests later, if nothing is found, and you still think gluten – this ‘sacred,’ omnipresent grain – is a problem, you might just get referred to a psychiatrist.

But anecdotes and “subjective experience” aside, the type of clinical research that constitutes “Truth,” with a capital T, from the perspective of the dominant medical establishment, can be found on the National Library of Medicine’s biomedical database known as MEDLINE. This vast bibliographic archive contains over 21 million citation entries, which as of time of this writing, contains 9,776 references to gluten

There has been a sharp increase in interest and research on the topic of “gluten intolerance” – although we prefer to label the subject “gluten toxicity,” in order to shift the focus away from the “victim” back to the “aggressor,” the gluten itself. In 1971, there were 71 studies listed on MEDLINE which referenced gluten. Last year in 2011, there were 514.  

One of our many interests here at GreenMedInfo.com is to identify “Problem Substances,” which is why we have created an index by that name with 698 subjects listed from A-Z.  If you navigate to WHEAT under the “W’s” you will find a list under “Advanced Topics” with 205 health conditions and/or adverse health effects associated with wheat consumption, all of which were determined solely through research in peer-reviewed and published medical journals indexed on MEDLINE.

You will also find, below the listed diseases, a “pharmacological actions” field set which lists 20 distinct ways in which wheat harms the body, e.g. nerve-damaging (neurotoxic), immune-damaging (immunoreactive), inflammatory, etc.

At present, the conventional medical establishment only identifies a handful of disorders likely to be caused by wheat consumption, such as:

  • Wheat Allergy
  • Celiac Disease
  • Dermatitis Herpetiformis
  • Exercise-Induced Wheat Anaphylaxis

These conditions, however, are but the tip of a massive “celiac” iceberg.  In a previous essay, The Dark Side of Wheat, we discussed the problem from a more philosophical perspective.  There is now, however, a huge dataset firmly establishing the likelihood that wheat intolerance, or better yet, wheat toxicity, is a universal, human species-specific problem, occurring only in differing degrees, and mostly sub-clinically, at least through the optic of conventional screenings and technologies.

One must also account for the “invisible thorn,” which is wheat lectin – known more technically as Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) — and which can cause a broad range of adverse health effects, even while being undetected through conventional screenings.  Learn more about this topic in our essay Opening Pandora’s Bread Box: The Critical Role of Wheat Lectin in Human Disease.

In order to fully appreciate the extent of damage wheat and/or gluten consumption can have on the body, included “sprouted wheat” (since WGA is still present), view the screenshot from our Wheat page below:Quick Summary: 205 associated Diseases

NAMECUMULATIVE KNOWLEDGEARTICLE COUNTFOCUS ARTICLES
Celiac Disease1395150
Wheat Intolerance40229
Gluten Sensitivity38035
Gluten Intolerance33627
Autoimmune Diseases13612
Schizophrenia1117
Food Allergies: Wheat10611
Food Allergies9710
Psoriasis825
Down Syndrome805
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 17312
Irritable Bowel Syndrome714
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 1: Prevention708
Celiac Disease: Diagnostic Considerations637
Autism Spectrum Disorders615
Sjogren’s Syndrome603
Cerebellar Ataxia534
Dermatitis Herpetiformis504
Epilepsy506
Graves Disease503
Liver Disease502
Multiple Myeloma503
Multiple Sclerosis503
Migraine Disorders445
Atopic Dermatitis404
Casein Intolerance402
Gastroesophageal Reflux402
Hyperthyroidism402
Anaphylaxis: Exercise-Induced375
IgA Nephropathy363
Gastrointestinal Inflammation345
Infertility312
Autoimmune Thyroiditis302
Cirrhosis: Liver301
Diarrhea: IBS associated301
Hypothyroidism303
IgA rheumatoid factor: elevated302
Infertility: Female301
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma303
Polyarthritis301
Psychoses301
Eosinophilic esophagitis264
Epilepsy: With Cerebral Calcifications253
Cerebral Calcifications232
Diarrhea233
Celiac Disease: Prevention222
Abortion: Spontaneous212
Ataxia: Cerebellar213
Miscarriage: Recurrent212
Thyroid Nodule212
Atherosclerosis201
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity202
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder201
Autism201
Cardiomyopathy201
Cholestasis201
Cholestasis: Autoimmune201
Coronary Artery Disease201
End-Stage Autoimmune Liver Disease (ESALD)201
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis201
IgE-Mediated Hypersensitivity202
Infant Nutrition201
Meniere’s Disease201
Organ Transplantation: Liver201
Palmoplantar Pustulosis201
Peripheral Neuropathies201
Restless Legs Syndrome202
Rett Syndrome201
Sensory Neuropathies201
Macroamylasemia194
Intestinal Permeability176
Asthma154
Ataxia143
Headache132
Pancreatitis132
Lymphoma122
Psychiatric Disorders122
Cancers: All112
Rheumatoid Arthritis112
Thyroid Cancer112
Acquired hypogammaglobulinemia101
Allergy: Cow’s Milk101
Anaphylaxis101
Aphthous Ulcer101
Ataxia: Dominant101
Ataxia: Sporadic101
Atopic Dermatitis: Infant & Childhood101
Attention Deficit Disorder101
Brain Injury: Hippocampal Damage101
CNS White Matter Abnormalities101
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome101
Celiac Disease: Early Onset101
Child Mortality101
Children: Impaired Growth101
Chronic Constipation, Children101
Colitis: Collagenous101
Constipation101
Depression: Unipolar101
Diarrhea: in Children101
Enamel Defects101
Epithelium Damage: Lymphocytic infiltration101
Food Allergies/Intolerances: Cereals/Grains101
Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage101
Gluten Ataxia101
Hepatitis: Autoimmune101
Hippocampal Sclerosis101
Hypertransaminasemia101
Hypogammaglobulinemia101
Kidney Cancer101
Liver Fibrosis101
Mania: Acute101
Microscopic Colitis Syndrome101
Mortality: All-Cause101
Mucosa: Flattened101
Myocarditis: Autoimmune101
Myopathies101
Myopathies: Inflammatory101
Nervous System Diseases101
Neurological Illness: GAD antibody-associated101
Nightshade Foods Intolerance101
Pregnancy: Prevention of Problems101
Small-for-gestational-age infant101
Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2101
Stiff-Person Syndrome101
Stomatitis: Aphthous101
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE)101
Thyroid Neoplasms101
Turner Syndrome101
Urinary Stone Disease101
Kidney Diseases92
Prolactin: Inappropriate Secretion82
Anemia72
Conjunctival Tumor61
Ectopic Calcification61
Encephalopathies61
Glomerulonephritis61
Hypocalcemia61
Neuromyelitis Optica62
Pituitary Diseases61
Polyneuropathies61
Prolactin Hypersecretion Syndrome62
Seizures61
Splenic Calcifications61
Splenic Diseases61
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus61
Urticaria62
Immune Disorders: Low Immune Function51
Malabsorption Syndrome52
Enteropathy42
Insulin: Elevated42
Male Hormone Imbalances41
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 231
Facial Palsy31
Folic Acid/Folate Deficiency31
Food Allergy: Immunoglobulin E-mediated31
Gastrointestinal Diseases32
Hydronephrosis31
Hyperamylasemia31
Inflammation32
Insulin Disorders32
Kidney Stones31
Opiate Addiction/Withdrawal31
Osteogenesis Imperfecta31
Osteomalacia31
Osteopenia31
Osteoporosis31
Parathyroid Diseases31
Parathyroid adenoma31
Stroke31
Thrombosis31
Tremor31
Urolithiasis31
Uveitis31
A1C21
Allergies21
Blood-Brain-Barrier Disorders22
Demyelinating Diseases21
Diabetes: Glycation/A1C21
Drug Toxicity: Methotrexate21
Glucagon: Excess Secretion21
Gynecomastia21
HPA Axis Dysregulation21
Insulinitis21
Low Immune Function: Thymus Dysfunction21
Serotonin Disorders21
Thymus Atrophy21
Ataxia: Idiopathic11
Brain: Microglial Activation11
Breast Cancer11
Chorea11
Clotting11
Dementia11
Food Poisoning11
Guillain-Barre Syndrome11
Huntington Disease11
Hyperinsulinism11
Insulin Resistance11
Lane-Hamilton syndrome11
Lectin-Induced Toxicity11
Miscarriage11
Myelopathy11
Neurologic Disorders11
Neuropathy11
Osteoarthritis11
Oxidative Stress11

Quick Summary: 20 associated Adverse Pharmacological Actions

NAMECUMULATIVE KNOWLEDGEARTICLE COUNTFOCUS ARTICLES
Neurotoxic28723
Immunoreactive12813
Immunotoxic999
Teratogenic914
Inflammatory406
Interleukin-15 downregulation222
Proliferative201
Nephrotoxic132
Diabetogenic124
Allergenic112
Cardiotoxic101
Endocrine Disruptor62
Immunosuppressive51
Cytotoxic44
Endocrine Disruptor: Insulin Resistance21
Endocrine Disruptor: Pancreas21
Serotonin Down-Regulation21
Interleukin-4 Up-Regulation11
Oxidant11
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C Up-Regulation11
Sayer Ji

Sayer Ji is founder of Greenmedinfo.com, a reviewer at the International Journal of Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine, Co-founder and CEO of Systome Biomed, Vice Chairman of the Board of the National Health Federation, Steering Committee Member of the Global Non-GMO Foundation.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of GreenMedInfo or its staff.

© October 7th 2012 GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.”

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