The warnings against wheat in Wheat Belly are in reference to hybrid wheat strains which is a very different thing from genetic modification or GM wheat which, as of this writing, does not exist in the consumer marketplace.
When a plant is hybridized, the basic plant DNA is not mixed with the DNA of another, completely unrelated plant species or even the DNA of animals or bacteria which is what happens with genetic modification.
The Difference Between Hybrid Wheat and GM Wheat
Hybridization of plants has been practiced for centuries and the truth is that most of the plant foods we consume everyday are hybridized in some form or fashion. Hybridization typically occurs through selection of desirable and inheritable characteristics that are either dominant or recessive genetic traits.
In the case of wheat, strains that are high in gluten have been favored in recent decades given that they are more desirable in food processing with the result that modern wheat is much higher in gluten than nonhybridized (wild) strains such as einkorn wheat.
In other words, hybrid wheat is not GM wheat. Does this mean that hybridized wheat is bad for your health?
Not at all. I personally have no problem eating high gluten hybrid wheat. Note that heirloom wheat varieties such as durum used to make traditional foodstuffs like bulgur are usually better tolerated though. I don’t feel this is the primary reason for the big belly problem that many Westerners suffer from today as claimed in Wheat Belly.
There are plenty of people who are wheat or gluten free that suffer from the same belly issues!
The real crux of the problem is the complete mess that the vast majority of Westerners have made of their gut environment with all the processed foods, sugar, rancid vegetable oils, antibiotics and other pharmaceutical use. An imbalanced gut environment will most assuredly not be able to digest wheat that is high in gluten and undigested food rots in the gut producing excess gas, bloating, growth of pathogens, and breakdown of the gut wall that results in – you guessed it, “wheat belly” as well as autoimmune symptoms such as food allergies or gluten sensitivity.
However, is wheat the real problem?
No it’s not.
Fix the gut and hybrid wheat digests just fine in most cases .. particularly if you prepare the wheat properly by sprouting, soaking or sour leavening as practiced by traditional societies which breaks down gluten into more digestible form.
So if you want to avoid modern strains of wheat because you don’t digest it well, that is fine. Just know that it really isn’t hybrid wheat that is the problem. Getting gut health in order is the real key to solving any food digestion or sensitivity problems over the long term!
For more information about how to reverse gluten sensitivity and other food intolerance issues which go a long way toward flattening that “wheat” belly, check out these previous posts on the GAPS Diet.
Now, if and when GM wheat is introduced into the marketplace, that is a whole new ballgame as it is unknown what effect this would have on human physiology and digestion in particular.
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Bravo!!! I applaud you for this article. I’ve been reading the anti-grain materials for the last year and it all comes back to traditional preparation. We have greatly cut down our grain consumption in the last few months but finding we don’t necessary enjoy the restriction.
So now we are looking into learning traditional soaking methods. I failed miserably at sourdough but will definitely try again!
Yes, sourdough is tricky.
You lost me as a reader. Dr William Davis never claimed the wheat we eat was a GMO. He specifically reitterated that wheat has been hybridized with meathods that, in his opinion, were worse than GMO.
Thanks to Wheat Belly I found that I am allergic (not intollerant or sensitive) to all grains. Wheat was the worst offender. Dr William Davis provides good reseach on wheat. The plant is different than it was 50 years ago and those changes are not suited to all people.
I agree that unhealthy guts are a large reason why we have so many problems, but I think scientists fiddling with our food supply are doing much worse damage.
Correct .. he never claimed that but many people think that is what he meant and are seriously confused. I get emails all the time from people who think wheat is GM because of reading that book.
If you fix your gut chances are you will be able to eat grains again properly prepared. Avoidance of grains is only necessary temporarily and a paleo/primal diet will NOT fix the gut. GAPS is what is needed for 6 months to 3 years or so and then “normal” traditional eating can be resumed.
I’d rather eat things that don’t need to be de-toxified first.
Umm… What would you eat then? You *do* realize that all plant foods have some kind of natural toxin in them, right? Leafy greens, beets, apricots, figs, and others are high in oxalates. Avacodos, tomatoes, blueberries, honey, and peppers (among others) are all high in salicylates. Grapes, berries, and teas are high in tannins. Broccoli is goitrogenic. All these foods are still good, nourishing foods. You just have to prepare them properly in order to reduce the irritating effect of the toxins. And some of them can’t reduce these innate toxins no matter how you prepare them (like avocado or honey).
@ Food Renegade, obviously it would take high doses for this to harm you, not how you prepare your food. The last time I checked none of the foods listed needs to be “prepared properly”.
Funny – she misreads your article, and states emphatically that you’ve lost her as a reader! Gotta be thick skinned to be a health blogger, I tell ya!
Par for the course I’m afraid 🙂
Jana… I agree with you 100%… and cutting the wheat out of my diet in August has changed my life… no more heart burn, no more sore knees, no more vertigo or migraines, the list goes on and on.
I didn’t read Dr. Davis’ book until months after I started the Dukan Diet, but it explained exactly why I questioned 3 weeks into my diet why those things had stopped.
Why don’t you take it to the next level and heal your gut which is the reason for the problem with wheat in the first place (in most cases)? Cutting out the wheat is a short term band-aid approach. You will find over time that other foods cause the same problems as wheat did and you will have to cut those out as well … more and more and more foods cut out over time if you don’t address the root of the problem which is gut imbalance.
Hi Sarah… thanks for the reply… I have cut out wheat, sugar and all processed foods, at this point. I don’t take antibiotics or other pharmaceuticals. I do, on occasion use homeopathics or herbs. I get regular chiropractic, massages and acupuncture.
My gut is about as perfect as it could get, at this point 🙂
I have had no bloating whatsoever since cutting out wheat in August… no IBS, no crampy diarrhea, happy tummy 🙂
Sounds like elimination diets help for awhile, but then people can develop intolerances to more variety of foods as Sarah says, and also new symptoms surface. Wondering if eliminating foods creates nutritional deficiencies over time causing more problems. Healing the gut, the re-gaining food tolerance is a better approach long term than just food avoidance. Unfortunately, healing the gut can take sooooo loooong…….
I think you are correct. Davis cites hybredization and GM. The GM has just increased the problem. I will stick with the wheat free and make an effort to avoid gluten as much as possible.
Thanks for the clarification. I thought it was already in the food supply too. Do you buy your organic sprouted flour from http://www.organicsproutedflour.com? I just saw the ad on your page and was wondering if that is the best source. I have just been buying organic flour from the health food store. Thanks again.
Kaley
Hi Kaley, I make my own sprouted flour. It’s pretty easy … video on this blog if you need to learn how.
thanks. I will check that out!
I think most of us need to get some testing done regarding food allergies. I think with the increased amount of gluten in the wheat and what- hundreds of thousands of years worth of evolution-due to hybridization; it would be foolish, even with a borderline allergy to grains to continue to eat wheat. In my humble opinion Dr. Davis has brought up a fact about the hybredization. First, nevr tested. And the gluten has never been fully examined.
I don’t think hybrids are bad in general, but in this case, the research suggests that our hybrid wheat isn’t what it used to be, not only in gluten content, but in overall nutrition. My family hasn’t gone off of wheat, but we eat a lot less and have been eating a wider variety of grains to get max nutrition. There are several ancient wheat varieties still available that are higher in nutrition. Spelt has become my new favorite, as it is closer to wheat, but much higher in nutrients.
I do think Wheat Belly falsely claims that wheat is the “big” problem… we have so much more going on than wheat, but it is a clue into our food system that often, grains, vegetables, fruits are engineered for production purposes and not health purposes.
I have prepared and eaten traditional foods for several years including fermenting, sprouting, soaking, good fats, raw milk, etc. I have learned so much from the NT book, their website, and various blogs and videos (love yours Sarah). I am grateful for such depth of resources. I have no digestive issues at all, but after reading Wheat Belly I gave up grains a few months ago. Although I sometimes miss my yummy sour dough bread with butter, I am glad (at least for now) that I gave up wheat and most other grains. I have lost the few pounds that I needed to; I’ve always had a small waist and I was beginning to get a bit “thick” around the middle. I had not eaten processed foods, vegetable oils, sugar, or taken any drugs of any kind in over 20 years. I also have lost almost all of my cellulite. The best benefit though has been that without an automatic “go to food” (bread), I have gained such an appreciation for winter squashes, lots of vegetables, beans, and even nuts. I have become much more creative in the kitchen. I won’t say that I will never go back to eating grains, but at least for now eating no wheat works for me. BTW, I am 60 years old.
If it works for you, then by all means don’t eat it! 🙂
I know for me, I would be very unwell if I was grain free. It is not in my genetic makeup to eat that way as I am not an Eskimo.
Although I should add that a few months on GAPS did me a world of good but I knew when it was time to come off it and reintroduce grains and I was better than ever for that decision!
Probably about 80% German, light skin, hair, eyes… my genetic makeup contains Celiac. You don’t have to be an Eskimo to not need wheat
I see your point about gut health and the flaw you are pointing out in wheat belly. My question is: Are we really getting a lot from properly prepared grains? Like you commented on coffee ” It would still be wise to avoid coffee though as it has little to no redeeming value other than a few antioxidants which is no way overcomes the negative downside of this health robbing drink.” So if you have eliminated grains and are on working towards healing your gut, is there a huge benefit from adding properly prepared grains back into your diet? Could you not get the few nutrients that properly prepared grains has to offer from other foods?
I feel that properly prepared grains are an integral part of the diet. Any woman who has breastfed knows that soaked oatmeal causes her milk supply to go through the roof. A baked potato doesn’t do the same thing by a longshot. If grains contributed nothing to health then traditional cultures would not have consumed them AND Dr. Price would not have observed that the cultures that consumed a balanced diet of animal foods and cereal grains were the BEST proportioned and the STRONGEST. It is the extremes in diet that produced the least desirable results with vegetarians being the unhealthiest and the grain free populations not equaling the health of the balanced cultures which ate cereal grains.
Great article. Thanks for thanks for the clarification! All of our foods have changes drastically over the years – another great example is the potato. Too many people are demonizing wheat as the root of all evil.
Thanks to Wheat Belly, many people are seeing amazing benefits in their health simply due to eliminating wheat. Yes the GAPS diet might also see the same benefits but it’s not an easy diet and takes a lot of time and effort to implement. Wheat belly is a much simpler option for most people.
You blame processed foods for people’s gut problems, most processed foods contain wheat. Coincidence? I think not.
Also, the first stage of gaps eliminates wheat anyway.
Not true … all grains and disaccharrides are eliminated on GAPS not just wheat. Eliminating just wheat is a band-aid approach to health. It solves nothing. As gut imbalance continues to deteriorate, more and more and more foods will need to be eliminated over time … best to deal with the root of the problem and solve it with GAPS. I’m not into band-aid approaches to health myself. I like to just make the problem go away — permanently.
Processed foods are but ONE problem causing gut imbalance. Rampant overuse of sugar, antibiotics, and other meds is a HUGE part of it. Many processed foods do not contain any wheat and yet contribute to gut imbalance as well. Switching to processed foods that don’t contain wheat is not going to move the ball forward to better health in the slightest.
Grain is the tool of tyrants; it is the food of slaves.
I’m really considering GAPS for myself. I currently have to take thyroid replacement meds for hypothyroidism and inhaler for asthma. Do u know if I can keep doing that on GAPS until hopefully I don’t need it or will the meds “block” the healing?
You should consult with a GAPS practicioner. Kim Shuette in San Diego is a good resource for these types of questions. You can reach her biodynamicwellness.com