How They Created A Monster

A Quick Preamble:

Yup, it’s absolutely true, wheat didn’t used to be so dodgy or so bad for your health…as a matter of fact, and because of pressure due to the increasing global population, as recent as the late 1900’s saw the start of the use of new technology and methodology for serious mass-production of “refined” wheat at much lower productions costs…

…and even more recently, the year 1960 rang in the even-worse changes for wheat as we more-or-less know it today – genetic manipulation and cross-pollination (cross-breeding) gave us a high-yield dwarf wheat which caused massive changes in the protein and nutrient content of the wheat we were now forced to consume, in vast quantities, all over the world…and voila…

The Monster Is Created…and is wreaking havoc around the world..!

Cutting To The Chase:

Although popular theory holds that wheat hasn’t been around long enough for our slowly evolved human body to have adapted to cope with its’ absorption as a food, it has still been around and consumed by us for a very long time…yet the many associated diseases and illnesses blamed on wheat and its’ products are actually only very recent developments..!

So, it therefore makes perfect sense that the massive changes in wheat production caused massive changes in the health-sustaining nutrient properties of wheat.

In essence…the wheat and the wheat based food products of our fast-paced, population exploding, modern world is genetically and biologically totally different from the wheat we consumed for thousands of years..!

It isn’t just the fact that the reduction of nutrient quality within the new very-much-changed and massively-refined wheat gave rise to the ability of spiking blood-sugar at an incredible speed, but also our grain preparation underwent major changes – for the sake of being able to prepare and bake bread and pastries quicker, easier and on a vastly larger scale.

The original – and still by far the best method, of treating our wheat grains was to ferment them after they were soaked and sprouted…and then “Slow-Rise” yeast was used when baking bread…

…which subsequently makes them oh-so-important nutrients a whole lot more accessible because fermentation increases certain ‘good’ amino acids while decreasing the nasty anti-nutrients.

Now our flour is heavily refined and bleached – there’s most of the “goodness” gone, right there – and to top it all off, this ‘bleached’ flour is then used for baking bread with “Fast-Rise” yeast…another nutrient stripper – ask anybody with yeast intolerance problems..!!

A Few Negative Facts…

• Wheat now contains much more of the problem-causing Glutens that effect so many…Studies proved that the older varieties of wheat didn’t cause reactions in people suffering with Celiac disease – the worst form of “gluten intolerance”.

• Modern wheat has a much higher derogatory effect on cholesterol levels, blood-sugar levels and inflammatory disease markers.

• Wheat is now many times less nutritious and most certainly many times more harmful than the older and better prepared varieties…there is a significant decrease of up to 28-30% of essential minerals such as Iron, Zinc, Copper and Magnesium – all critical for good NATURAL health.

• It has become a steadily rising form of “staple food” for so many people throughout the world…a staple habit that cannot easily be changed…along with the subsequent health-destroying rise of blood-sugar and gluten related ailments and diseases – some, quite deadly.

So, Can You Get Such a Thing As “Healthy” Wheat..?

Personally, i don’t believe so anymore, although if you’re REALLY want to include some bread in your diet – and why not, if you like it..?..and if you can get some of the old type of grain, like EINKORN and then ferment it before you bake it yourself…?!?

A comfort food at best…it can be made to look beautiful and smells truly wonderful when freshly baked…a damned shame really, because i used to find fresh bread really tasty and so very convenient for holding a pileof delicious ‘stuff’ together in the form of a good old-fashioned “sarmy” – a Sandwich to those not from the South East of England…but then again, i’m old enough (something i wouldn’t normally admit) to have partaken of the good stuff.

A Final Anecdote:

There are a few breads around that “supposedly” don’t have quite the adverse health-screwing effects as others i.e. Sour-Dough and Rye…BUT…the base ingredient is still a modern wheat/flour combination of one type or another…right..?!

basically, if you truly care about your health and the health of your nearest-and-dearest and if you can’t get hold of the older varieties of wheat and then ferment and bake it yourself, then i know for a fact, it’s better that you avoid wheat-based products altogether – that’s bread, crackers and pasta…like the “proverbial” plague…!!

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