by Raine Saunders

Created on: August 15, 2009

Everyone loves bread, right? You would be hard-pressed to find someone who says they don't like it. But for many people in the 21st century, living without wheat has become a reality. In their desperate quest to keep eating bread and bread products, they have found their savior - gluten-free foods. But did you know that many gluten-free philosophies, which espouse that the sufferer merely switch from wheat to some other grain or carbohydrate food can be equally as harmful and damaging to health? It's true. Let's take a look at wheat and then we'll discuss why alternatives may be causing identical problems in people who consume it.

The history of wheat

Wheat is a crop that has been used pervasively for food by humans for thousands of years. Its origin dates back approximately 11,000 years ago in the Middle East. When people discovered they could grow this crop and harvest it to feed many people, and transport it to far away places, its use became more common and widespread. People discovered that they could grind the grain into flour for bread, and foods made of flour were born.

As time went on, farmers selected the best kernels from their harvest to use for continuance of planting each successive year. By the time of the Industrial Revolution, we were already starting to see processed and packaged wheat products. The appealing qualities of wheat were gradually bred more and more into the plant - namely, its gliadin content (where the protein gluten resides). Gluten is the elastic, water-insoluable component in wheat, spelt, kamut, oats, rye, and barley that allows flour to rise during baking. Many other products contain gluten as well such soups, sauces, artificial cheeses, soy sauce, candy, pharmaceutical drugs and over-the counter medications. It can even be found in the glue used on envelopes and stamps.

Gluten makes bread wonderfully soft and pliable, but it also is difficult to digest. When problems occur in the digestive tract, it affects health. During digestion of grains, (particularly wheat) gluten irritates intestinal lining and eventually penetrates, getting absorbed into the bloodstream. This causes over-response by the immune system, leading to allergies and many other health problems.

Do flour products really deliver the nutrition shown on the label?

Nutritional content is compromised when grain is ground into flour. The longer flour sits after being ground, the more it becomes rancid. Many flours are enriched with synthetic nutrients to

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