Foods in Review: Whole Grains

Before I begin with the meat of this post, there are some house keeping matters to which I need to attend:

In order to give myself some amount of structure to guide my blogging, I plan to start establishing certain themes for certain days - Mondays = Foods in Review, Tuesdays = Exercises in Review, Wednesdays = Supplements in Review, Thursdays = Diet/Muscle Building Research, Friday = Fun Facts (mostly having to do with fitness, but not always), Saturdays = General Philosophical Musings, Sunday = Recipes (mostly healthy ones, but not always).

Let me know in the comments section what you think, and if there's anything in particular about which you'd like me to do a post.

At any rate, on to the topic for today:  Whole Grains!

You've undoubtedly heard many news reports touting the benefits of whole grain foods, however, the intrinsic goodness of whole grain products is not so obvious when you look at the research.  In fact, for anyone familiar with the paleo diet and many of its permutations, you know grains are a hot button issue.

For those who aren't familiar with the paleo diet, one of its key characteristics is an abstention from any form or variety of grain containing food, including:  wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, &c.  While there are certainly some worthy justifications for holding animosity for such foods, I'm more a proponent of nuance.  I don't believe any one sort of food is bad in and of itself.  Context is what determines a food's value.

With that said though, for many people, eliminating, or at the very least limiting, whole grains can be the first step toward achieving better health.

Here's why in nutshell:

Grains have the potential to cause nutrient deficiencies*, autoimmune disease**, impaired digestion, & they contain opiate-like compounds which elicit an addictive response*** (1).

*Nutrient deficiency arises due to the high phytic acid and lectin content of wheat and other grain products.  In particular vitamin D, zinc, magnesium, and protein can be mal-absorbed in an environment rich in whole grains (2, 3, 4, & 5).

**Autoimmune disease is more or less an issue for those with celiacs (who make up a rather small % of the population).  Nevertheless, wheat sensitivity (which is something different from celiacs disease) seems to be on the rise, and it may effect nearly 30% of the population (6).  While you could try to tell yourself that you're one of the lucky ones, Mark Sisson (a major player in the paleo movement) suggests that most people have a sensitivity to wheat at some level.  The symptoms for wheat allergy are quite extensive (a comprehensive look at wheat allergies can be found here).

***If your trying to lose fat, wheat products can be a terrible option.  Wheat contains compounds which act like opiates in the brain (7), thus making wheat products quite addicting.  Moreover, this addictive quality can make overeating very easy since opioids have been linked to the regulation of food intake (8).  The effect of wheat is, in many respects, similar to the "marijuana munchies" (9).

Now for some nuance:

Given the aforementioned problems presented by chronic whole grain consumption, it would be very easy for me to make a blanket statement about how all grain based products are the Devil.  Albeit, I think most people would fair much better if they would avoid grain products for the most part; however, unless you are outright allergic or sensitive to the effects of grains, complete abstention from such foods may not be warranted.

Many of the anti-nutrient qualities of grain products can be mitigated with proper preparation methods (10), and, moreover, not all grains are created equal.  Some speculate that the more recently created (by recently I mean in the past 50+ years) dwarf wheat is the major source of all these dietary woes (11, 12, & 13).  This species of wheat is what comprises the majority of industrial wheat production, thus, it's rather hard to avoid it in lieu of "more nutritious" (read less toxic) varieties.  Furthermore, unless you have the means or the time to properly treat your grains, then to make your own bread, it can be impractical to make whole grains a mainstay in your diet.  Ezekiel Bread products can be a viable alternative to baking your own grain based goods, plus they also have a number of wheat-free products for those who are especially sensitive to wheat's effects; however, if you're on a budget, these products aren't necessarily cheap.

If the above options aren't doable for you in your particular situation, don't sweat it.  You're not going to miss out on important nutrients or anything of the sort.  Fruits and vegetables are a much better source of vital nutrients, minerals, and fiber (13), and, actually, dietary fiber isn't quite all it's been cracked up to be (14).

I guarantee that if you replace all the calories you get everyday from breads, pastas, and bagels with whole fruits and vegetables, you'll be much better for it****.

****I'm only stating my opinion here, but the scientific data lends a good deal of support for my case.

So what do you think about breads, should we toss 'em altogether, or keep them in our diets (doing so with things in the proper perspective)?