Is wheat really THAT bad?

Because it has become such a frequent item in everyday meals, suggesting that something so commonplace must be fine, people often ask: Is wheat really that bad?

Let’s therefore catalog the health conditions that are associated with wheat consumption.

Health conditions we know with 100% certainty are caused by consumption of wheat and related grains:
Celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, cerebellar ataxia, “idiopathic” peripheral neuropathy, temporal lobe seizures, gluten encephalopathy, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune hepatitis, autoimmune pancreatitis, tooth decay

Health conditions worsened by consumption of wheat and related grains:
Many if not most autoimmune conditions, type 2 diabetes, overweight/obesity, cataracts, fatty liver, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, Alzheimer’s dementia, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine headaches, osteoarthritis, eczema, eating disorders, asthma, eosinophilic esophagitis, autoimmune gastritis, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, microscopic colitis, polycystic ovary syndrome, infertility, multiple miscarriages, reflux esophagitis, esophageal spasm, Barrett’s esophagus

Health conditions suspected to be caused or worsened by wheat and related grains:
Plantar fasciitis, calcium oxalate kidney stones, IgA nephropathy, gallstones, intestinal fungal overgrowth, gastrointestinal cancers, chronic sinusitis, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, male gynecomastia, hypogonadism, erectile dysfunction, infertility

There’s another long list of health conditions that are indirectly caused by wheat and grains via such processes as dysbiosis, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, endogenous glycation, and other processes set in motion by grains but require other factors to be fully expressed as disease.

Step back for a moment. Are there any other foods that have similar lists of health problems associated with them? Well, sugar (and related products such as high-fructose corn syrup or agave nectar) is a close second with an impressive list of health problems associated with its consumption, too, but still smaller than the health problems associated with wheat and grains. (There are less strong connections, for example, with autoimmune conditions and no dermatitis herpetiformis or temporal lobe seizures.) But pork, hamburger, kale, pistachios, and oranges pale in comparison. Each may have a health imperfection or two (e.g., high sugar content of oranges, high-temperature byproducts in meats from cooking), but are relatively harmless when held up against the long list of health problems associated with wheat and related grains.

What makes this all the more astounding, of course, is that wheat and grains are touted as THE most healthy foods that should be included in every meal, every day, every snack by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the USDA, the American Heart Association, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Diabetes Association, a required item in every school lunch for children. In other words, foods that are associated with a long list of health problems are held up as ideal and necessary while your doctor stands by, useless and ignorant in health but ready and willing to prescribe a drug or procedure for every grain-associated ailment.

Do you appreciate the enormity of this insight that you have in your possession?

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