Wheat is one of the most nutritious grains available for human consumption globally. One serving of wheat, equivalent to 100 gram, can provide the body with approximately 330 calories and 33% of daily protein needs.
Despite the obvious benefits, wheat has been blamed for many health conditions including excessive weight gain, digestive health problems, type II diabetes, cancer and poor prognosis amongst cancer patients.
Gluten, a protein in wheat that gives it the characteristic elasticity and extensibility is blamed for all these troubles. People choose to go wheat free to avoid gluten forgetting that gluten is also found in other grains like rye, barley and is also a key ingredient in most processed foods.
Studies show that there is no connection between gluten and risk of most cancers. However, they show increased risk of intestinal cancer in people with celiac diseases and true gluten intolerance. For people with celiac disease and true gluten intolerance, gluten must be completely avoided because they can cause devastating health effects.
Studies done on wheat show that it isn’t a lot different from what it was 50 years ago, however, mode of preparation has drastically changed over time and could be the reason why some people experience discomfort after consuming wheat products.
The wheat grain has three parts namely bran, endosperm and germ. The bran is rich in fiber and B complex vitamins. The endosperm contains protein, carbohydrate, iron, and B1 and B2 vitamins while the germ contains unsaturated fats, vitamins and minerals.
During processing, the bran and the germ are removed to improve shelf life. More than half of the total nutrients and almost all the fiber is lost during processing. In early days, wheat was processed differently. Food was made with whole wheat without removing the bran and the germ, the grain was soaked, sprouted, fermented and baked foods used slow rise yeast. This improved the amino acid content of the food, reduced anti nutrients and disabled enzyme inhibitors which reduced most of the digestive health issues people experience today after consuming wheat products.
After removing the germ and bran, the flour is bleached using chemicals like nitrogen dioxide to remove any pigmentation and give whiter, finer grain flour. In the past, flour whitening was done naturally by exposing the flour to oxygen for about two months.
There are people who suffer minor wheat intolerances. Such intolerance can cause digestive health issues like bloating, acidity and irritable bowel; constant headaches, fatigue and other health issues. Most of the time, such symptoms are alleviated when one reduces consumption of wheat based products.
Most wheat based foods are prepared with a lot of sugar, fat and salt. Together with the way wheat flour is processed this could be the main reason you develop discomfort after their consuming. Instead, chose product made from whole wheat grains and avoid or moderate intake of those made from processed wheat.
Most of the people following a wheat free diet do not have celiac disease or true gluten intolerance. They just do so because it is trending. These conditions affect only 1% of the population. This means such a person is needlessly avoiding a healthy food.
If you feel wheat products are the reason you are having health problems, there are test that can be done to confirm if you have celiac disease or have some form of intolerant. However, if you don’t have these conditions but still experience discomfort after consuming wheat products, moderate your intake or cut it out of your diet.
This article was published by Standard Media group on 10th March 2019. Written by Faith Biongo, our lead health blogger. https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sunday-magazine/article/2001315955/no-need-to-worry-about-eating-wheat