What's so bad about GRAINS?

"Jay, I hear you talk about avoiding wheat and other grains all the time- what's so bad about them??"


I hear this constantly.  "Amber waves of grain" has such a halo of goodness about it...

But, let's look at it from the WHEAT'S perspective:

The wheat itself, (and other grains as well- corn, barley, etc.- but wheat is the biggie here) does not want to be eaten! Would you willingly give your babies to a creature that wanted to eat them??

No, probably not...

You would fight, rend and claw to protect your progeny; as a mammal, that is your defense mechanism.

Plants, however, can't run or fight; they have developed different defense strategies to protect themselves and their young:  Anti- nutrients, aka POISONS!

Lectins:  These little anti-nutrients within grains are there to subtly poison any mammal that might eat them- they make the intestine permeable, leading to a "leaky gut" where bad things have free access into the bloodstream, making invasion of your body really easy!

Phytates: These are also built into the grains, and they make it impossible for your body to extract the nutrients you think you are getting from your "healthy whole grains".  So, you are basically consuming  empty calories along with your poisons...

Gluten:  Gluten causes many problems, like lectins, gluten will cause your gut to be "leaky", letting in all sorts of bad.  Can you say "itis"?  Well, any disease that ends in that is traceable to a leaky, grain compromised GUT!

In addition, gluten has been strongly associated with Cancer...

I think that wheat has figured out how defend itself rather well!

We just need to pay attention!!

Truly, there is no reason to eat wheat, or other grains, EVER.  The USDA "My Plate" agenda be damned!  They are only in the business of selling Government subsidized wheat, soy and corn.

Health to them is not even on their agenda!

So, be a "Paleo Pirate" yet again: sink those "wonderful grains" to the bottom of the Wine Dark Sea!

Arghhh!

J

Lose your Gut by Healing your Gut!

It's true: by avoiding non-paleolithic foods such as grains and other foods that irritate and inflame the gut, and introducing fermented foods that introduce probiotic bacteria back into the gut, your long-standing gut inflammation and problems related thereto can gradually be resolved!

What problems you may ask?  MY gut is just fine!


Actually, it's probably not...

If you are experiencing one or more of a host of modern illnesses and maladies, they can probably be directly traced to your leaky, inflamed gut.  And inflamed gut (intestine) cannot absorb vital nutrients properly.  In addition, it can (and does) let in damaging anti-nutrients from the many bad foods we now consume, that mimic our own cells enough to instigate our own immune response to start attacking our own healthy cells!


This is the probable start to most autoimmune diseases- 


allergies
multiple sclerosis
parkinson's disease
arthritis
ulcerative colitis
crohn's disease
irritable bowel syndrome


and the list just goes on and on....

Fat Storage is another side-effect of a leaky inflamed gut- when you have an inflamed gut, one side effect is that your body cannot properly absorb nutrients... when there is a nutrient shortage, the body says:

"I'm hungry!  EAT!"


And so you do.  The problem is, your body has tons of calories, it just needs nutrients.  But, the only way your aching body can signal you is by hunger.  Hunger is not specific- it can't say

 "I need lots more protein, and B vitamins; also could you throw in a lot more medium train triglycerides like coconut oil, and also some anti-oxidants, and would you please cut back on the sugar, anti-nutrients, and other crap?"


Nope- your body can only say simple things: "I'm hungry" or "I'm thirsty".

You can answer that call with either great nutrition, which is the whole point of the call, and start eating quality Paleo foods like the aforementioned coconut oil, meats, seafood, veggies, nuts, etc. or else you can  shovel down some processed crap and further inflame your gut, insult your system, and store a lot of body fat!


And your body will again say "I'm hungry!  EAT!"


At this point, it's up to you.  You can finally give your body what it is asking for, real food as God and Nature made it, or you can continue the cycle of processed crap as industry intended, and your body will continue the cycle:

Store fat- still hungry- EAT!


And the metabolic syndrome and accompanying autoimmune diseases will also continue to mount up, along with your GUT!


So, the choice is yours- either HEAL or GROW your GUT!

J

Dr. Terry Wahls interviewed by Sean Croxton on Underground Wellness! Good stuff- Y'AALL!

I heard this podcast today, and was struck with many parts 

of it being very well done!

Dr. Wahls is just great- she has reversed the course of her own MS, and is running a study where those enrolled are doing just what she did- eating a Paleo diet, and eliminating the grains and sugars that destroy our bodies...  a great study indeed!

I was happy to hear her recommend using a Vitamix to incorporate vegetables into the diet, (mixed with fruits for palatability of course)- sound familiar?  Of course it does, Paleo Peeps!

She emphasized the point that these raw veggies, (frozen is still raw!), contain all of the enzymes that are so crucial to our overall health and well-being.  I especially liked her recommendation of a fermented vegetable addition to the smoothie, like adding sauerkraut- similar to my own fermented kefir and apple cider vinegar additions.  Way to go, Dr. Wahls!!  I drink to you- Sláinte!

Late last year, I learned of Dr. Terry Wahls and her miraculous recovery from MS. During her now-gone-viral TEDx talk, I was very happy to find out that the doctor’s recovery was not attributable to the latest technology or pharmacological research, but to Real Food.

Unwilling to live out the rest of her years from the confines of a tilt-reclined wheelchair, Dr. Wahls took it upon herself to scour the research on neurodegenerative diseases. What she found were 45 critical brain-building nutrients, most of which are deficient in the Standard American Diet.

As Dr. Wahls explained during our broadcast, the human body is a chemistry set requiring specific nutrients in order for reactions to occur and for structures to be built. Without these critical nutrients, the structures of the brain (as well as the many other systems of the body) are either made incorrectly or not made at all. Like I say, you can’t build a brick house without the bricks.

When at least two out of three people reading this blog are deficient in minerals, and one in two are deficient in the B vitamins as well as vitamins A and C, I think it’s fair to say that we are nation short on bricks, and knee-deep in chronic degenerative diseases as a result.

When the chemistry stops, we die. In the meantime, we deteriorate. That is, unless we add the right bricks back to our diets.

What’s exciting about Dr. Wahls’ story is the fact that the bricks she used to reverse her MS came by way of the Paleo Diet, as she removed grains, legumes, and dairy while maximizing the consumption of the 45 brain-building nutrients.

Never underestimate the power of Real Food.

In OUR PODCAST, Dr. Wahls covers a range of topics including…

* The different stages of MS

* Why greens, sulfur-containing foods, and colored veggies are critical for building a healthy brain and body

* The connection between starches, gut health, and autoimmune diseases like MS

* The importance of removing toxins from the body

* Why a supplement program is important but not a replacement for Real Food

* The doctor’s take on grains, gluten-free flours, and eggs

* Why the standard medical approach to MS will not change without published clinical trials

* What you can DO to support nutrition-oriented MS research by visiting The Wahls Foundationwebsite

Check out this podcast- you'll be glad you did!

J