A professor at the University of Saskatchewan says that the wheat we eat today has changed very little over the last hundred years and cannot be the cause of the sudden surge in gluten intolerance.
Excerpt: “The overall balance of protein and starch in a grain of wheat hasn’t changed since the days when crops were harvested by threshing crews. Even the starch component of wheat — a complex amalgam of many carbohydrates — is about the same level it has always been”.
About the Author: Rebecca Wong has a BA in English Literature from the University of Waterloo and has been working in the herbal business since 2000. She studied at the Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine under respected authorities Paul Des Rosiers and Vu Le, and graduated from the East West School of Planetary Herbology under Michael Tierra. She received training as a yoga teacher at The Branches in Kitchener/Waterloo, and therapeutic yoga teacher training from the School for Somatic Soulwork under Deniz Aydoslu. She now teaches yoga for anxiety, depression and burnout at Rebecca's Restful Yoga Studio in Toronto.
Bromide (Bromine?) is added to the processed wheat. It is a thyroid hormonal function inhibitor. (Other thyroid inhibitors that are added to our tap water are: fluoride, chlorine, chloramine.) These all screw up the way our thyroid should be functioning, it causes hormonal imbalances … which then causes all kinds of health problems.
This is true, and could certainly contribute to health problems. However, there are many websites which claim that the wheat grain itself has been genetically altered from what it was in the past. This is apparently not true.
About the addition of bromine – that’s done in the USA, from what I read, but not in Canada.
That’s correct. The use of potassium bromide in Canadian flour was banned in 1994.
So, does organic bread put bromine in it? I’ve read that sourdough bread is different and is very good for us. I read so much on the war on bread, it’s frustrating and confusing. I am a label reader, so I stay away from the regular HFCS breads, and the ones with soybean oil, PHSO, too. We eat bread…but man, it’s hard to eat it and not feel guilty or unhealthy!
Organic breads often do not have additives like potassium bromide, but you have to read the label. Not all organic breads are the same, and some are more strict about additives to their flour than others.
It looks to me like he found that they have changed. He just offers his opinion that it isn’t enough to make a difference. Strange that people would accept that as proof of anything. I’m not anti wheat, and I doubt very much that modern wheat is the cause of increased incidence of gluten intolerance, but it seems inappropriate to come to that conclusion based on that limited information, which is just laying a foundation for further study. Blaming modern wheat for increased gluten intolerance (and everything else that ails us to hear some tell it) doesn’t explain the increased sensitvity and allergies to many other foods which are also on the rise.
Even with a University background, studies are bought off by special interest, anti-wheat book sellers need to make money (insert fear), and we know one thing for sure, obesity is a big problem these days. I have adverse intestinal reactions from gluten, so I stay away, and it keeps my eating habits cleaner, thus I’m healthier. Everybody is different. I’m a low carb gal, or my 5′ body would be 5′ wide. Cabbage is my best friend.