Posted on 11/18/2004 8:48:52 PM PST by MarMema
The food pyramid is a three-sided polygon of lies. First, since it is almost exclusively presented in two dimensions, it is not technically a pyramid but a triangle. Second--and far more importantly, according to nutrition expert and author Danna Korn--the so-called food pyramid puts an abnormal emphasis on the consumption of wheat and wheat products, a diet that couldn't be less adapted to the human digestive system. Wheat, she insists, is the devil's food--even more than the delightful chocolate cake of the same name.
Korn's campaign against wheat began 14 years ago when her son was diagnosed with celiac disease--a genetic disorder characterized by the inability to digest gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. At the time, celiac disease was considered a rare pediatric disorder that was limited to gastrointestinal symptoms, but during the last decade, it has been recognized as the most common genetic disease in the world. Right now, it is estimated that celiac disease effects one in 100 people--"most of whom have no idea why they feel so terrible," says Korn.
The disease actually goes back 11,000 years to Mesopotamia and the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. There, humans evolved from hunter-gatherers to farmers and introduced gluten-based grains into the food supply. The human body--accustomed to a steady diet of foraged nuts, berries and meat--did not take readily to the change.
"That's really only yesterday, evolutionarily speaking," Korn says. "Our bodies still look at wheat like a toxin and try to fight it off. No human fully digests wheat. Even if you don't have a gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, your body does not completely digest wheat."
Symptoms of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease include fatigue, headaches, joint pain, depression, irritability and gastro-intestinal irregularities. As a result, they're often mistaken for other serious disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. "So these people are told, `Sorry, you've got fibromyalgia or you've got chronic fatigue syndrome, there's nothing we can do for you. Take these pain pills and go away."
The only way to diagnose celiac disease is a series of blood tests, and the only way to overcome it is to give up gluten cold turkey. "You go gluten-free, and your health will be fully restored," says Korn.
Unfortunately, the list of food items containing gluten reads like a catalog of scrumptiousness: "bread, pasta, pizza, cookies, cake, bagels and beer." And just because a bread is white doesn't mean it's gluten-free. All breads are made of wheat flour.
Despite the moratorium on fermented hops and barley, Korn says there are a number of options available to the dedicated boozehound, including "wine, tequila, vodka, gin, rum or any of a variety of non-wheat-derived spirits."
"We've perpetuated the myth that wheat is good for you and it truly is not," she says. "There's a little bit of protein in wheat. Other than that, though, wheat offers very little in the way of nutrition. Whole wheat is a whole grain and that's good for you, but you can get whole grains from so many other sources that won't have a toxic effect on your body."
Kind of ironic given that it was created out of whole cloth by the dairy industry to get people to consume more dairy products.
Iff 99 out of 100 handle it OK, why the big attack?
If they are symptom free and it's only detectable through tests, why stop eating wheat?
"Our bodies still look at wheat like a toxin and try to fight it off."
---
All I need is one statement like that to know this is more
liberal new age crapola.
All together now...
Roll the eyes... "Oh BROTHER!"
Roll the eyes... "Oh BROTHER!"
Roll the eyes... "Oh BROTHER!"
This would be the new fledging democratic state of Iraq, of course. I guess maybe I'm still in election mode because I expected "war" to be in the next sentence.
Sooooo, someone named Korn doesn't like wheat. Isn't that special?
Is there a beer ping list out there?
Check out the so-called paleo diet concept. There are a lot of websites about it; it's not a packaged and promoted kind of diet.
Basically, I'd say it's more of a modified Atkins approach. Unfortunately, as anyone who's tried a high protein, low carbohydrate diet will tell you, natural protein in all it's forms is a lot more expensive than processed foods.
New Age? More a throw back to human pre agricultural diets.
Oh, bull. This sounds like a woman who had a sick kid so she became a busybody crusader on a mission to get everybody else to quit eating wheat so her child wouldn't feel weird because he can't eat it.
Good thing it wasn't a daughter ... she'd join the fringe movement to make men pee sitting down.
Wheat = Flatulence
A sign in my local Trader Joe's says:
"We don't need no stinkin' gluten"
Amen. I'm working nights at a computer workstation and it's really taken it's toll in the last few years.
Well that is real specific. It has the same symptoms as every other mystery ailment.
The average life span 11,000 years ago was probably about 25 years compared to today's 70 - 75. I think I'll take my chances with wheat.
If you have Celiac disease, you will have symptoms. My husband nearly died in January from this disease He stopped eating anything with wheat and is a well man today. You cannot even lick a stamp or envelope as the paste is made with wheat.
Grains were given to mankind so that he may brew.
But that doesn't mean anyone should make a cause out of it for all the people who don't have that particular sensitivity. Lots of folk have lots of problems with particular foods -- that's as common as the cold. If you can't eat it, stay away from it. It's stupid to make a cause celebre out of it. But that's how people make money these days...
Beer? Beer! No Beer!
NO WAY!
And not only that, but it should only be killed with a spear or a club. There may be gluten in the gunpowder used to fire bullets, or in the strings used on a compound bow!
And not only that, your meat should be eaten raw, or lightly cooked over and open fire! Gluten is found is heating elements on ovens, and research shows it may be the main ingredient in microwaves as well!
And not only that, but you should only dress in clothing made of the animals you killed. Woolly Mammoth coats are IN this year!
And not only that, but... wait, where was I? Oh yeah! Not only that, but you should... uh... did I mention not cooking meat? I did? Dang.
I'm sorry her child has celiac disease. I'm just as sorry that she feels the need to tell me what to eat. Thanks, but not thanks. I've come to this amazing conclusion that no matter what I eat, I'm going to die someday anyway. Therefore, I'll risk checking out a year or two earlier just to be certain I die with a stomach full of food I enjoyed eating.
I'm getting iron by IV infusion for the next few months.
It needs publicity. 1 in 100 is a lot of people, most of them walking around undiagnosed while their small intestine is being destroyed.
Also they like to call it a "pre-malignant" disease. Some cancers follow closely on the heels of it.
In Italy all children are routinely screened for it. Here, the physicians are just figuring it out.
Did somebody ring? That's me. Actually, I have a wheat intolerance. I've speculated that the reason many people feel so much better on an Atkins diet is not because they eliminated carbs, but because they eliminated wheat. They may react poorly to gluten. I figured this out when I discovered that I could eat potatos and still feel ok. Potatos are high glycemic. It was cutting out wheat that made me feel better.
Wheat is not food. Look at a stalk and tell me that it was meant to be eaten. You have to pulverize it, add butter, stick it in the oven, etc. to get it close tasting half way decent. You can do that to a rock and get the same results.
Thanks for the link.
I guess the Atkins proponents will get richer due to this 'information'...
I actually think that humans evolved as carrion eaters. This explains both why we like our meat cooked and our steaks aged.
True carnivores like their meat fresh & raw.
Ah, go over to the alt.support.diet.low-carb newsgroup & say that. You'll get an earful from all the celiac sufferers there. :-)
Here are some more good links on this topic:
Severe Wheat Intolerance Fifty Times More Common Than Previously Thought
Wheat Can Cause Severe Headaches
Wheat Sensitivity (Subclinical Gluten Intolerance) Linked To Repeated Miscarriages
Severe Wheat Intolerance Fifty Times More Common Than Previously Thought
Avoiding Wheat and Gluten May Reverse Liver Failure and Hepatitis
Not crapola for the one in a hundred this affects. They are pretty miserable until they find out why and take steps to avoid it. Some folks have no reaction to poison ivy, but that does not mean it is not a problem for the rest of us.
Thanks for the links. In my recent discoveries I have been amazed to find gluten intolerance causing everything under the sun, including osteoporosis, epilepsy, and cerebral calcification.
I was hoping you would ping it.
yah, but thats because you were likely to be eaten by a saber tooth tiger...
But, the point was a good one. People on Atkins who are gluten intolerant would feel better, having eliminated a lot of carbs, most of which have gluten in them.
Well that's probably my fault. I wanted to post about this after a physician told me today there are probably millions of Americans walking around undiagnosed. I was just diagnosed last week, and have probably had this some ten or more years, with the silent form of the disease. No symptoms until I became seriously iron-deficient.
I searched the news for a more provocative title so that it would get more exposure.
I know a nutrition expert who says that the food pyramid is about the worst thing for you. It's funny that all this is coming out now.
Somehow I wouldn't doubt that the food pyramid was influence either by corporate factions.
LOL!
First off you don't eat the stalk but the berries or seed and it tastes good in its raw form. If you have an intolerance then fine don't eat wheat based products. Shall we all make a list of what we are allergic to and ban these items for everyone?
See it?
Can't make this stuff up.
And if you think this babe's weird, check out the behavior of her brother/cousin/uncle David Korn.
...appears lunacy runs through every branch of the Korn tree.
The link between this disease and depression and chronic fatigue is very interesting.
http://alternative-medicine-and-health.com/conditions/celiac.htm
Also, finding out your mother-in-law is coming to visit and planning to stay a month ;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.