Why no grains?
Damage to your gut lining
Robb Wolf warns we’re all impacted by grains. Perhaps not to the same extent as say someone with full blown celiac, but affected nonetheless. Damage to gut lining means we won’t absorb nutrients properly. To add insult to injury, the gut is now ‘leaky’ and can allow unwanted materials into our systems. So even if we are eating the right nutrients, our bodies won’t be able to use them.
Deficiency
Grains contain phytates that bind to minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium, and magnesium. So even if these minerals are present in the body, we aren’t able to use them! Concerned about bone health or iron deficiency anemia? Ditch the grains!
Diseases Autoimmune & cancer
Remember that leaky gut? Once damaged it can allow little nasties known as ‘immunoreactive proteins’ to pass through. That puts us at risk for autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, autism, RA, MS, lupus (and more, the list is staggering) and particular types of cancer such as pancreatic cancer.
The most infamous grain protein is Gluten (found in wheat, rye, and barley) which most folks now associate with the autoimmune disease Celiac.
However, all grains contain similar proteins;
- Corn: Zein
- Oats: Avenin
- Rice: Orzenin
Need another reason to drop the grains? They all contain Proline. Proline is an amino acid which makes it difficult for the body to digest these proteins. It also has adverse effects on the gut lining.
All of these little (and not so little) insults add up and cause unnecessary inflammation.
If you’re trying to improve your body composition, that added stress on your system is going to make it much harder to achieve your goals.
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