Replacing the grains in your diet with nutritious whole foods helps to promote healthy weight loss and improved health. Grains contain anti-nutrients and gluten that can cause adverse health effects. Weight loss is a challenge for those who are sensitive to carbohydrates, so removing carb-rich grains can help take off the excess pounds.
Grains Make Weight Loss Difficult for Those Who Are Carbohydrate Sensitive
Those who are insulin resistant have a greater sensitivity to carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are converted into glucose, which elevates blood sugar levels. Pancreatic beta cells produce insulin to bring blood sugar levels back down to normal range. Beta cells diminish over time in those who develop insulin resistance.
Wheat and starches boost blood sugar to high levels. This increases the demand for insulin, which taxes your beta cells. The elimination of refined carbohydrates helps to slow this process.
But those who are insulin resistant may be hypersensitive to all carbohydrates, making it difficult to lose weight and keep it off with high carbohydrate foods of all types. This is why low carbohydrate diets have proven to be effective in reversing type 2 diabetes.
Grains Contain Anti-Nutrients That Cause Deficiencies
Grain, especially wheat, contains a high amount of phytic acid. This anti-nutrient reduces your body’s ability to absorb the essential minerals: calcium, magnesium, zinc, and iron. As a result, the grain-heavy diets that most Americans adhere to often lead to low bone density and dental caries.
Concern over missing nutrients in a grain-free diet are unfounded. Removing this significant source of anti-nutrients improves the absorption of minerals. It also provides more room for other, more nutrient-dense, foods.
Glutenous Grains Promote Autoimmunity
Wheat is a gluten-containing grain that is included in virtually all processed foods. It is hidden among the ingredients in many products from snack foods to salad dressings.
Many who do not have celiac disease still find relief from health issues when glutenous grains are removed from the diet. Chronic migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune thyroid disease are a few examples of conditions that may be caused by gluten intolerance.
Gluten is made up of two proteins, one of which is the toxin gliadin. Experts in gluten sensitivity estimate that up to 60 percent of the population may be gluten sensitive, allergic, or intolerant. New strains of wheat that have become ubiquitous in the food supply contribute to this increase.
When gliadin enters the intestinal tract, it causes damage to the protective lining of the intestine. This damage leads to holes that allow pathogens and food particles to release into the bloodstream.
The body responds by producing antibodies. Antibodies seek to attack anything that contains a certain sequence of amino acids. Body tissues–for example, thyroid, brain, or joint tissue–that contain the same amino acid sequence as gliadin become damaged by these antibodies when they are mistaken for foreign invaders.
Cutting grains out of the diet can be beneficial for everyone, but especially if you struggle with weight issues or autoimmune disorders. Grains aren’t an essential part of the human diet, so replacing them with nutritious whole foods improves health without depriving you of necessary nutrients.
