Hey TFL
I am sure that some of you have heard all the buzz lately about modern wheat, gluten, roundup, etc.
Claims are often as extreme as "Wheat is the main driver of most illness in modern times."
or "Wheat is making you fat, stupid, and unhealthy.
It largely seems to be fearmongering, but I have come upon various information that genuinely disturbs me.
Indeed, we have an obesity epidemic in the West - people are getting unhealthy fast- one need only look around them. Something is a problem and everyone would like to know what it is.
It seems that these days, no one can be trusted. The mainstream scientific / medical profession cannot be trusted. The agricultural industry cannot be trusted. "Alternative" health industry cannot be trusted. The government cannot be trusted. Who is in whose pocket? Distrust and doubt abound.
All of these groups have vested interests and make various, often contradictory, claims about the health effects of wheat. It seems like nobody really knows anything. The issue of human health is incalculably complex and has so many factors that it is impossible for one to really know if they are causing themselves some horrible disease down the line.
How much of this is legit and how much is a genuine concern? Should we be avoiding wheat altogether? Low carb? Paleo? High carb? Japanese diet? Mediterranean diet? Nordic diet? Ayurvedic diet? Chinese diet? Atkins diet? Everything in moderation? "Real food," the answer? What is "real food" anyway?
There's no winning with all of this junk! How can we sort out all of this nonsense?
At the end of the day, we all die anyway, so there's that comfort.
This forum is full of reasonable and well-educated people I am posting to open a discussion about the issue:
When we bake bread for our families and neighbors, are we negatively impacting their health?
of worrying about all that is definitely going to impact one’s lifespan and enjoyment of that life. I believe in everything in moderation and don’t worry about the rest. Of course, I am one of the lucky ones who can eat anything and everything and have no repercussions from what I eat.
Most of the stuff that is written regarding what you wrote is pure nonsense. The rise of the Internet makes it quite easy for anyone to post anything and claim that they possess some sort of expertise. Wheat gluten does cause those with celiac disease a significant problem. Fortunately food labeling and the availability of alternatives has ameliorated this. Diet fads are just that, fads. One just needs to eat a balanced diet and have some appreciation for the needed caloric intake so that they are able to maintain a healthy weight. Here is my own personal anecdote. A lot of years ago I was a speaker at a symposium on the toxicity of biotechnology derived pharmaceuticals (I have a PhD in biochemistry and spent my working career both in research and pharmaceutical regulatory affairs). At lunch on the final day, I was sitting next to one of the academic toxicolgists who was also a speaker. I saw he was eating the chocolate cake and drinking coffee both of which at times have been reported as having some cancer causing chemicals. I asked him somewhat in jest whether this worried him. His response, "I just follow my grandmother's rules; eat lots of different foods in moderation." that's pretty much what I do.
The Roundup story is another phony story and you can read the debunking on the Snopes website (the best source on the Internet to see if something is true): https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/grain-of-truth/ I use Roundup in my yard to control weeds and the only precaution I take is to wear some latex gloves when I spray. Roundup degrades very quickly in the environment relative to other herbicides.
The only other thing for me to add is that I was involved in a multi-party group effort that was looking at the safety of biotech derived foods. One of the things we looked at is whether there would be any increase in food allergies. If you look at the scientific literature, almost every food known to us causes an allergic or sensitivity response in SOME sub-group of people. At about the same time we were working on the report I had an intern working for me. He was eating an apple which I had never seen him do before and shortly afterwards had an outbreak of hives and swelling of his lips. I asked him had this ever happened before. He told me he didn't know because he generally hated fruit and this was the first apple he had eaten in five years!!! Go figure.
That's enough as I could go on the rest of the day. Happy Easter and Passover to all and the left over SD loaf is now in the freezer for the next week as I'll have to subsist on Matzoh {ugh).
The problem of obesity is easy to understand. People are taking in more calories than their body needs and it is stored as fat. If a finger is pointed for someone or something to blame, it should be pointed right at me and anyone else who is obese. I CHOOSE what to put into my mouth. I am INFLUENCED by culture, stress, availability, marketing and other things, I am sure.
However, I do want to offer some pictures and thoughts on how environment affects our weight status.
A&P was one of the largest grocery stores in the US.
So many choices. You can't see the forest for the trees. Wheat is barely a blip on the radar as to the "cause" of obesity.
Their is a lot of work to do when you no longer want to be obese. You have to ask yourself-"How did I get here?" The obvious answer is so simplistic no one believes it-I CHOSE to be here by eating more calories than my body burned. The work of weightloss is figuring out how to CHOOSE to eat less and still feel good. A lot of the work involves figuring out how culture, stress, availability and marketing(esp.that serves someone else's bottom line and not my bottom) affects my choices.
So is wheat causing me to be obese? Heck no! Eating products made with wheat in excess of my caloric needs sure does.
So open your eyes and ask yourself the tough questions. And make sure you listen to the answer because only then can you begin to institute change.
Well, you have that idea, and then there are people like this guy who are suggesting otherwise.
Smoke and mirrors. He is leaving out important phrases and using partial truths to engender the listeners bad memories and fears. He is selling the listener on a method he believes in-I'm not sure if money is involved but I wouldn't doubt it.
My words from above:
"A lot of the work involves figuring out how culture, stress, availability and marketing(esp.that serves someone else's bottom line and not my bottom) affects my choices."
Obesity is not caused by eating too much food ONE TIME. Obesity IS a consequence of eating too much food ON A REGULAR BASIS. There are many reasons why we would do this-"culture,stress,availability, and marketing" are the basic reasons I cited. Emotional eating,depression, boredom and hormone imbalance are forms of stress. Or create another category, if it suits you. If you want to use his terminology-eating too much is the PROXIMATE cause of obesity and the reason behind the excessive eating is the ULTIMATE cause. He is correct that weight loss will not be successful if the ultimate cause is not dealt with. However, the First Law of Thermodynamics is not a law he can repeal. Too many calories in on a regular basis is a formula for weight gain.
to a point. Exercise and eat in moderation, avoid too much sugar, animal fat and salt.... eat veggies and whole grains and eat all the chicken, lean pork, fish and shellfish you want. Drink plenty of water. The 'to a point part' is that you need or consume mass quantities of the following primary food groups - chocolate, Ice Cream, pie of all kinds, beer, wine, pizza and smoked meats - you just have to exercise slightly more is all :-) There is something for everyone in Lucy's diet.
This is interesting for anybody interested -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO3cIrNEuIc
Hope it's okay to post a video.
I had heard of the book (It’s being pushed by my optometrist) and was curious but this answered all of my questions. Guess what? I am going to continue to eat bread! ?
I'm old. Maybe I don't have a lot of time left because of all the dietary and lifestyle 'mistakes' I've made. What the hell, as long as I can chew I'll chew what I like. I'll go out with a grin on my face, grease on my chin, bitters in my whiskey and crumbs in my lap. Odds are that'll be cheaper than chasing an impossible immortality wrapped in fad and fashion. As to celebrities and their endorsements, well, I've seen too many of them in various states of undress, criminality, and inebriation to take them seriously.
Lol. I'm not old, but this seems like decent policy anyway.
Thanks for the link. It is amazing how well the placebo effect can work.
My motto is similar to Lucy's but with a few additions- All things in moderation, never drink anybody's Kool-Aid, be kind and live and let live.
I,too, will continue to enjoy life and whole grains of all types. There are many kinds of deliciousness out there-even GF.