If you are reading this, you are concerned of your health and may already know that carbohydrates promote a myriad of ill effects such as weight gain, insulin production, fat storage, cell destruction and tumor growth. They are notorious for creating disease and illness in the human body. But how? And to what mechanism is this possible?

GreenMedInfo.com offers this great piece.

Lectins, though found in all grains, seeds, legumes, dairy and our beloved nightshades: the tomato and potato, are rarely discussed in connection with health or illness, even when their presence in our diet may greatly reduce both the quality and length of our lives.

In this post, I would like to give you a clear view of how carbohydrates (particularly grains) destroy the linings of the gastrointestinal tract to create diseases like diverticulitis, Crohn's disease, autoimmune disease, and wheat and gluten allergies.  Though you may not suffer from those diseases, it is likely that you experience some of the symptoms associated with those or other digestive disorders.

Let's take a closer look at wheat germ, the very item most folks believe they can not live without even though it was recently made for consumption a mere 200 years ago.
 

What is unique about the WGA (wheat germ agglutinin) glycoprotein is that it can do direct damage to the majority of tissues in the human body without requiring a specific set of genetic susceptibilities and/or immune-mediated articulations. This may explain why chronic inflammatory and degenerative conditions are endemic to wheat-consuming populations even when overt allergies or intolerances to wheat gluten appear exceedingly rare. The future fate of wheat consumption, and by implication our health, may depend largely on whether or not the toxic qualities of WGA come to light in the general population.

All species have a protective quality about them to ensure the survival of it's kind. This is true for animals and plants as well, such as poison ivy, cactus, and the stinging nettle which all cause pain and discomfort.

Nature engineers, within all species, a set of defenses against predation, though not all are as obvious as the thorns on a rose or the horns on a rhinoceros. Plants do not have the cell-mediated immunity of higher life forms, like ants, nor do they have the antibody driven, secondary immune systems of vertebrates with jaws. They must rely on a much simpler, innate immunity. It is for this reason that seeds of the grass family, e.g. rice, wheat, spelt, rye, have exceptionally high levels of defensive glycoproteins known as lectins. Cooking, sprouting, fermentation and digestion are the traditional ways in which man, for instance, deals with the various anti-nutrients found within this family of plants, but lectins are, by design, particularly resistant to degradation through a wide range of pH and temperatures. 

Nature has designed WGA perfectly to attach to, disrupt, and gain entry through these mucosal surfaces.

What do you think? Sounds nightmarish right? Well, this is all true science and the effects are seen everywhere. In ourselves, our friends and family members, folks at work,  the mall, and everywhere we go we see these ill effects and TV ads promoting drugs to buffer symptoms.

The common consumption of both wheat and NSAIDs may suggest the frequency of the WGA vicious cycle. Anti-inflammatory medications, such as ibuprofen and aspirin, increase intestinal permeabilty and may cause absorption of even larger than normal quantities of pro-inflammatory WGA. Conversely, the inflammation caused by the absorption of WGA lectin is the very reason there is a great need for the inflammation-reducing effects of NSAIDs.
 
Also, "WGA may be Pro-inflammatory, Immunotoxic, Neurotoxic, Cytotoxic, and it interfers with Gene expression and Endocrine function. WGA may also be Cardiotoxic, adversely effect Gastrointestinal Function, and may share pathogenic similarities with certain Viruses."  

So, NSAIDS are widely used to calm the inflammation caused by these grains, yet NSAIDS aggravate the problem even more. Do you see a trend here?

Give the entire article a read and see what you think. Meanwhile, I am going to hit the gym for some challenging deadlifts and come home to a primal meal of bacon and eggs with a pear on the side.