Top 10 Surprising Facts About Wheat/Grains

By Tim Lochhead

#4 Goodness Gracious Great Gallstones of Fire

Continuing our countdown of the Top 10 Surprising Facts about Wheat/Grains.

So far we’ve learned the concept that all living things, plant or animal, have defensive or offensive mechanisms for survival.

Grains and wheat have several offensive ones that work to disrupt predators (anyone who would eat the grains). We’ve looked at a variety of substances found in wheat and grains and how they wreak havoc on our digestive system, from causing intestinal damage to blocking nutrient absorption.

Here’s another digestive disturbance that impacts our gallbladders.

I know, I know – “another digestive issue!” Well we are dealing with food after all; and upcoming countdown items get to other ‘effects’.

Bear with me; this one is pretty intriguing.

The gallbladder holds bile produced from the liver. The bile is released to support digestion when food passes from the stomach to the small intestines. When we eat fat a chemical messenger (CCK – cholecystokin) is activated and signals the gallbladder to release its bile.

Recall how lectins (from post #1 here) damage the gut lining? Well the function of CCK is impaired and it isn’t properly released, so it doesn’t get to call upon bile. The result? We don’t digest our fat. Incomplete digestion isn’t good, and we aren’t getting the benefits of our fat (especially if we’re eating lots of good fats like I know YML readers are, such as Omega-3s).

Plus, bile backs up in the gallbladder and can lead to gallstones.

Gallstones are a signal something is wrong; removing this doesn’t get to the cause.

Know someone who has had their gallbladder removed? And they were told this is a “useless organ”, because you can ‘live’ without it? As Poliquin says, “just ask John Wayne Bobbitt if something is a useless organ because you can live without it.” (FYI: JWB’s now ex-wife cut half his penis off).  

Have you ever heard of “fat soluble vitamins”? Either way, these are vitamins that can only be absorbed with fat. If your fat digestion is impaired…..what to you think happens to vitamins A, D, E, and K. Remember our saying: you are what you eat is really “you are what you absorb”.

Further (yes, just one more thing), without properly digesting food and impaired CCK (as well as other digestion hormones) our hunger signals are impaired and we always feel hungry. What do you reach for with cravings? I know a lot times the answer tends to be wheat and grain containing foods.

Are you the type normally in control, but with your eating you aren’t? Want to Take the Power Back? Substitute the wheat for we’ve been exposed to for more than a few thousand years (like steak, part of our diet for a few 100,000 years).  (FYI: countdown #7 outlines several pathways grains and wheat become addictive, also causing a major loss of control).

Helping you Take the Power Back and coaching/supporting/guiding through the proper steps is a huge part of what Your Missing Link is about.

 

Check back soon as we uncover the hidden story behind wheat & grains and the countdown continues.