With sales of foods labeled gluten free now reaching over 6 billion dollars a year, something truly profound is happening to the way in which Americans are perceiving the role of wheat in their diets. Once celebrated as the very poster-child of the health food movement, folks are increasingly rejecting this “king of grains,” and are now identifying it as being at the very root of their health problems.
Detractors claim that the movement is just a fad, or worse, that those who have embarked upon it without an official diagnosis are a bit crazy. After all, simply “feeling better” following gluten elimination is not considered to be proof of anything within the conventional medical system. Biopsies, antibody, and genetic tests later, if nothing is found, and you still think gluten – this ‘sacred,’ omnipresent grain – is a problem, you might just get referred to a psychiatrist.
But anecdotes and “subjective experience” aside, the type of clinical research that constitutes “Truth,” with a capital T, from the perspective of the dominant medical establishment, can be found on the National Library of Medicine’s biomedical database known as MEDLINE. This vast bibliographic archive contains over 21 million citation entries, which as of time of this writing, contains 9,776 references to gluten.
There has been a sharp increase in interest and research on the topic of “gluten intolerance” – although we prefer to label the subject “gluten toxicity,” in order to shift the focus away from the “victim” back to the “aggressor,” the gluten itself. In 1971, there were 71 studies listed on MEDLINE which referenced gluten. Last year in 2011, there were 514.
One of our many interests here at GreenMedInfo.com is to identify “Problem Substances,” which is why we have created an index by that name with 698 subjects listed from A-Z. If you navigate to WHEAT under the “W’s” you will find a list under “Advanced Topics” with 205 health conditions and/or adverse health effects associated with wheat consumption, all of which were determined solely through research in peer-reviewed and published medical journals indexed on MEDLINE.
You will also find, below the listed diseases, a “pharmacological actions” field set which lists 20 distinct ways in which wheat harms the body, e.g. nerve-damaging (neurotoxic), immune-damaging (immunoreactive), inflammatory, etc.
At present, the conventional medical establishment only identifies a handful of disorders likely to be caused by wheat consumption, such as:
Wheat Allergy
Celiac Disease
Dermatitis Herpetiformis
Exercise-Induced Wheat Anaphylaxis
These conditions, however, are but the tip of a massive “celiac” iceberg. In a previous essay, The Dark Side of Wheat, we discussed the problem from a more philosophical perspective. There is now, however, a huge dataset firmly establishing the likelihood that wheat intolerance, or better yet, wheat toxicity, is a universal, human species-specific problem, occurring only in differing degrees, and mostly sub-clinically, at least through the optic of conventional screenings and technologies.
One must also account for the “invisible thorn,” which is wheat lectin – known more technically as Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) — and which can cause a broad range of adverse health effects, even while being undetected through conventional screenings. Learn more about this topic in our essay Opening Pandora’s Bread Box: The Critical Role of Wheat Lectin in Human Disease.
In order to fully appreciate the extent of damage wheat and/or gluten consumption can have on the body, included “sprouted wheat” (since WGA is still present), view the screenshot from our Wheat page below:
Quick Summary: 205 associated Diseases
Name
Cumulative Knowledge
Article Count
Focus Articles
Celiac Disease
1395
150
Wheat Intolerance
402
29
Gluten Sensitivity
380
35
Gluten Intolerance
336
27
Autoimmune Diseases
136
12
Schizophrenia
111
7
Food Allergies: Wheat
106
11
Food Allergies
97
10
Psoriasis
82
5
Down Syndrome
80
5
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 1
73
12
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
71
4
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 1: Prevention
70
8
Celiac Disease: Diagnostic Considerations
63
7
Autism Spectrum Disorders
61
5
Sjogren’s Syndrome
60
3
Cerebellar Ataxia
53
4
Dermatitis Herpetiformis
50
4
Epilepsy
50
6
Graves Disease
50
3
Liver Disease
50
2
Multiple Myeloma
50
3
Multiple Sclerosis
50
3
Migraine Disorders
44
5
Atopic Dermatitis
40
4
Casein Intolerance
40
2
Gastroesophageal Reflux
40
2
Hyperthyroidism
40
2
Anaphylaxis: Exercise-Induced
37
5
IgA Nephropathy
36
3
Gastrointestinal Inflammation
34
5
Infertility
31
2
Autoimmune Thyroiditis
30
2
Cirrhosis: Liver
30
1
Diarrhea: IBS associated
30
1
Hypothyroidism
30
3
IgA rheumatoid factor: elevated
30
2
Infertility: Female
30
1
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
30
3
Polyarthritis
30
1
Psychoses
30
1
Eosinophilic esophagitis
26
4
Epilepsy: With Cerebral Calcifications
25
3
Cerebral Calcifications
23
2
Diarrhea
23
3
Celiac Disease: Prevention
22
2
Abortion: Spontaneous
21
2
Ataxia: Cerebellar
21
3
Miscarriage: Recurrent
21
2
Thyroid Nodule
21
2
Atherosclerosis
20
1
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity
20
2
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
20
1
Autism
20
1
Cardiomyopathy
20
1
Cholestasis
20
1
Cholestasis: Autoimmune
20
1
Coronary Artery Disease
20
1
End-Stage Autoimmune Liver Disease (ESALD)
20
1
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
20
1
IgE-Mediated Hypersensitivity
20
2
Infant Nutrition
20
1
Meniere’s Disease
20
1
Organ Transplantation: Liver
20
1
Palmoplantar Pustulosis
20
1
Peripheral Neuropathies
20
1
Restless Legs Syndrome
20
2
Rett Syndrome
20
1
Sensory Neuropathies
20
1
Macroamylasemia
19
4
Intestinal Permeability
17
6
Asthma
15
4
Ataxia
14
3
Headache
13
2
Pancreatitis
13
2
Lymphoma
12
2
Psychiatric Disorders
12
2
Cancers: All
11
2
Rheumatoid Arthritis
11
2
Thyroid Cancer
11
2
Acquired hypogammaglobulinemia
10
1
Allergy: Cow’s Milk
10
1
Anaphylaxis
10
1
Aphthous Ulcer
10
1
Ataxia: Dominant
10
1
Ataxia: Sporadic
10
1
Atopic Dermatitis: Infant & Childhood
10
1
Attention Deficit Disorder
10
1
Brain Injury: Hippocampal Damage
10
1
CNS White Matter Abnormalities
10
1
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
10
1
Celiac Disease: Early Onset
10
1
Child Mortality
10
1
Children: Impaired Growth
10
1
Chronic Constipation, Children
10
1
Colitis: Collagenous
10
1
Constipation
10
1
Depression: Unipolar
10
1
Diarrhea: in Children
10
1
Enamel Defects
10
1
Epithelium Damage: Lymphocytic infiltration
10
1
Food Allergies/Intolerances: Cereals/Grains
10
1
Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage
10
1
Gluten Ataxia
10
1
Hepatitis: Autoimmune
10
1
Hippocampal Sclerosis
10
1
Hypertransaminasemia
10
1
Hypogammaglobulinemia
10
1
Kidney Cancer
10
1
Liver Fibrosis
10
1
Mania: Acute
10
1
Microscopic Colitis Syndrome
10
1
Mortality: All-Cause
10
1
Mucosa: Flattened
10
1
Myocarditis: Autoimmune
10
1
Myopathies
10
1
Myopathies: Inflammatory
10
1
Nervous System Diseases
10
1
Neurological Illness: GAD antibody-associated
10
1
Nightshade Foods Intolerance
10
1
Pregnancy: Prevention of Problems
10
1
Small-for-gestational-age infant
10
1
Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2
10
1
Stiff-Person Syndrome
10
1
Stomatitis: Aphthous
10
1
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE)
10
1
Thyroid Neoplasms
10
1
Turner Syndrome
10
1
Urinary Stone Disease
10
1
Kidney Diseases
9
2
Prolactin: Inappropriate Secretion
8
2
Anemia
7
2
Conjunctival Tumor
6
1
Ectopic Calcification
6
1
Encephalopathies
6
1
Glomerulonephritis
6
1
Hypocalcemia
6
1
Neuromyelitis Optica
6
2
Pituitary Diseases
6
1
Polyneuropathies
6
1
Prolactin Hypersecretion Syndrome
6
2
Seizures
6
1
Splenic Calcifications
6
1
Splenic Diseases
6
1
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
6
1
Urticaria
6
2
Immune Disorders: Low Immune Function
5
1
Malabsorption Syndrome
5
2
Enteropathy
4
2
Insulin: Elevated
4
2
Male Hormone Imbalances
4
1
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 2
3
1
Facial Palsy
3
1
Folic Acid/Folate Deficiency
3
1
Food Allergy: Immunoglobulin E-mediated
3
1
Gastrointestinal Diseases
3
2
Hydronephrosis
3
1
Hyperamylasemia
3
1
Inflammation
3
2
Insulin Disorders
3
2
Kidney Stones
3
1
Opiate Addiction/Withdrawal
3
1
Osteogenesis Imperfecta
3
1
Osteomalacia
3
1
Osteopenia
3
1
Osteoporosis
3
1
Parathyroid Diseases
3
1
Parathyroid adenoma
3
1
Stroke
3
1
Thrombosis
3
1
Tremor
3
1
Urolithiasis
3
1
Uveitis
3
1
A1C
2
1
Allergies
2
1
Blood-Brain-Barrier Disorders
2
2
Demyelinating Diseases
2
1
Diabetes: Glycation/A1C
2
1
Drug Toxicity: Methotrexate
2
1
Glucagon: Excess Secretion
2
1
Gynecomastia
2
1
HPA Axis Dysregulation
2
1
Insulinitis
2
1
Low Immune Function: Thymus Dysfunction
2
1
Serotonin Disorders
2
1
Thymus Atrophy
2
1
Ataxia: Idiopathic
1
1
Brain: Microglial Activation
1
1
Breast Cancer
1
1
Chorea
1
1
Clotting
1
1
Dementia
1
1
Food Poisoning
1
1
Guillain-Barre Syndrome
1
1
Huntington Disease
1
1
Hyperinsulinism
1
1
Insulin Resistance
1
1
Lane-Hamilton syndrome
1
1
Lectin-Induced Toxicity
1
1
Miscarriage
1
1
Myelopathy
1
1
Neurologic Disorders
1
1
Neuropathy
1
1
Osteoarthritis
1
1
Oxidative Stress
1
1
Quick Summary: 20 associated Adverse Pharmacological Actions
Name
Cumulative Knowledge
Article Count
Focus Articles
Neurotoxic
287
23
Immunoreactive
128
13
Immunotoxic
99
9
Teratogenic
91
4
Inflammatory
40
6
Interleukin-15 downregulation
22
2
Proliferative
20
1
Nephrotoxic
13
2
Diabetogenic
12
4
Allergenic
11
2
Cardiotoxic
10
1
Endocrine Disruptor
6
2
Immunosuppressive
5
1
Cytotoxic
4
4
Endocrine Disruptor: Insulin Resistance
2
1
Endocrine Disruptor: Pancreas
2
1
Serotonin Down-Regulation
2
1
Interleukin-4 Up-Regulation
1
1
Oxidant
1
1
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C Up-Regulation
1
1
Sayer Ji is an author, researcher, lecturer, and advisory board member of the National Health Federation. He founded Greenmedinfo.com in 2008 in order to provide the world an open access, evidence-based resource supporting natural and integrative modalities. It is internationally recognized as the largest and most widely referenced health resource of its kind.
The article Wheat: 200 Clinically Confirmed Reasons Not To Eat It published by TheSleuthJournal - Real News Without Synthetics