What Are Those Grains Doing To Your Guts?!?

It’s the last week of this month dedicated to childhood obesity.  we have spent some time talking about how bad grains are with respect to insulin resistance.  That was a tough subject but you may be a person or have a child who doesn’t really get fat no matter what they eat, so you might be thinking that grains are OK for you to eat.

That was the main, most obvious one.  Today we are going to go into other reasons why you should stay away from as many grains as possible.

These are the proteins that the plant has developed to protect itself.  This is similar to the torns that roses have, and the chemical that makes you itch that poison ivy has.  Lectins are proteins.  You might be saying “great, grains have proteins! – let’s eat more!)  But these particular proteins are not able to be digested by humans.  Other proteins can be broken down into amino acids which we can use to make more proteins that we need, lectins can’t be broken down.  So when they do get into the stomach, they pass through the system as big chunks which scar the intestines up and keep some of the cells from being able to absorb the good nutrients they are designed to.

Then if that wasn’t enough once inside your body will see the indigestible protein as an invader and the immune system will start to attack them. This happens every time you eat your bowl of frosted flakes or eat that piece of bread. Eventually the body will build up immunity to these proteins, but they are very similar to good proteins and also similar to proteins that make up the human body.  So there is potential for the body to start to fight itself, (this is called an autoimmune disorder).  Not everyone develops this problem, but there is a good chance of it happening so how lucky do you feel?

All grains just like humans and other animals want to reproduce.  The thing about grains is that they have everything they need for the reproduction.  The germ, (baby) needs is trace amounts of nutrients like iron zinc calcium and magnesium. grains contains chemicals called phylates that help collect these minerals and they bind to them so they can keep them for the germ and no one else can use them.  So, even though the germ is inside your body and has no chance of reproducing, the phylates will bind to these minerals and keep them from being used by your body.

Put those 3 things along with the insulin problems we have talked about before and you will find that there is some great reasons to get rid of your grains.

Eat grain free for a month.  Totally grain free or it doesn’t count.  So no corn chips at the restaurant, not toast at breakfast.  Nothing.  Just because its gluten free doesn’t mean its grain free. By the end of the month, you should find yourself, feeling much better.