whole wheat is bad for you?

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  • 6Petite
    6Petite Posts: 41 Member
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    Wheat causes spikes in your blood sugar as much as table sugar and is turned to fat if not used. I would suggest reading "Wheat Belly". It just might make you look to veggies, nuts and fruit as your main sources of carbs.

    Anything you eat can be turned into fat if it's not used. That's what a calorie deficit is for...using up what is consumed.

    I read Wheat Belly. I saw some science mixed with scare tactics. Scare tactics sell books. Yes, you can do without wheat, but I don't for a second believe that everyone needs to give it up to be healthy.

    Someone on another post recommended "Sprouted" whole wheat bread. Wonder if that would make any difference.
  • rm7161
    rm7161 Posts: 505
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    i just watched a video linked from a Livestrong page and it said you should avoid whole grain bread and pasta. said your body just turns it into sugar or whatever. is this true? just when you think you're doing well on your diet you watch some video and it make you rethink your whole strategy....don't you hate that?

    Your body can make glucose out of anything, even fat (although that is more costly to the body than processing carbohydrates, it is the preferred energy storage for your body and well adapted to doing so). Whole wheat is better for you than white, due to fiber from the bran, and the vitamins and healthy fats in the wheat germ.

    Wheat is only really bad for people who have an intolerance or celiac disease. If this isn't your problem, just eat whole wheat sensibly under your calorie goals.
  • sa11yjane
    sa11yjane Posts: 491 Member
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    bump to read later
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
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    i just watched a video linked from a Livestrong page and it said you should avoid whole grain bread and pasta. said your body just turns it into sugar or whatever. is this true? just when you think you're doing well on your diet you watch some video and it make you rethink your whole strategy....don't you hate that?

    Your body can make glucose out of anything, even fat (although that is more costly to the body than processing carbohydrates, it is the preferred energy storage for your body and well adapted to doing so). Whole wheat is better for you than white, due to fiber from the bran, and the vitamins and healthy fats in the wheat germ.

    Wheat is only really bad for people who have an intolerance or celiac disease. If this isn't your problem, just eat whole wheat sensibly under your calorie goals.
    Gee, how sensible.
    That won't go over well.
  • rm7161
    rm7161 Posts: 505
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    Gee, how sensible.
    That won't go over well.

    Their problem... I have ten years of experience avoiding wheat, thanks to celiac disease. If I could go back to eating wheat, I would. I can't... and I won't advise others to avoid it either if it is not necessary to.
  • rm7161
    rm7161 Posts: 505
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    Our grains have been altered and are mostly genetically modified. They are not the grains of decades ago - they have been scientifically changed as to produce larger quantities...as usual, it's about money, and at the expense of the consumer and their health.

    Modern wheat is the result of tinkering over thousands of years, actually... thousands of years before we humans knew what DNA was in the mid 20th century. It's a hybrid and tetraploid, sure... but that's not very unusual in the plant kingdom with domesticated grains which have mutated and hybridized with related species over thousands of years of domesticated breeding. The important changes that affects celiacs, happened to wheat thousands of years before genetic modification via food science came onto the scene.

    What causes the problems for some people like myself, is that my immune system is just not picky enough to figure out what the difference is between wheat proteins and cells of the intestinal epithelium, and ends up attacking the villi of the small intestine as well. This is a problem of human evolution as much as it is wheat evolution :) as only people of a particular HLA immunological type can develop celiac disease. (this is roughly a third of the population, granted... but that means 2/3's of the population can not get it, ever.)
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Whole wheat has higher levels of anti nutrients then their more refined counterparts...
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    just when you think you're doing well on your diet you watch some video and it make you rethink your whole strategy....don't you hate that?

    that's what happens at the beginning when you're learning about something new. but over a small amount of time, you should be able to develop a decent enough understanding and intuition to know that statements like "whole wheat is bad for you" are absurd.
  • rm7161
    rm7161 Posts: 505
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    Whole wheat has higher levels of anti nutrients then their more refined counterparts...

    If this is a convoluted way of saying wheat has phytochemicals in it that may not be particularly healthy, this is not really news. Plants make them so that you don't eat them.

    But comparatively to more ancient forms of wheat, domestic modern wheat has less of these due to selective breeding. Cooking inactivates them.
  • hazelovesfood
    hazelovesfood Posts: 454 Member
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    i just watched a video linked from a Livestrong page and it said you should avoid whole grain bread and pasta. said your body just turns it into sugar or whatever. is this true? just when you think you're doing well on your diet you watch some video and it make you rethink your whole strategy....don't you hate that?
    all carbs turn to sugar in your blood,even good carbs. brown bread if far better for you than white, as it has been stripped off all the goodness and bleached, however all bread swells up in your stomach due to the yeast in it. I eat burgen now ans then when i want some bread.By the way you cannot avoid carbs altogether, your brain needs them!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
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    i just watched a video linked from a Livestrong page and it said you should avoid whole grain bread and pasta. said your body just turns it into sugar or whatever. is this true? just when you think you're doing well on your diet you watch some video and it make you rethink your whole strategy....don't you hate that?

    I checked back over your diary for a week and you ate 1 wheat biscuit at 180 calories all week...so yep it could be bad for you :tongue:
  • Rachaelluvszipped
    Rachaelluvszipped Posts: 768 Member
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    just when you think you're doing well on your diet you watch some video and it make you rethink your whole strategy....don't you hate that?

    that's what happens at the beginning when you're learning about something new. but over a small amount of time, you should be able to develop a decent enough understanding and intuition to know that statements like "whole wheat is bad for you" are absurd.

    ^^Exactly
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Whole wheat has higher levels of anti nutrients then their more refined counterparts...

    If this is a convoluted way of saying wheat has phytochemicals in it that may not be particularly healthy, this is not really news. Plants make them so that you don't eat them.

    But comparatively to more ancient forms of wheat, domestic modern wheat has less of these due to selective breeding. Cooking inactivates them.

    Just an example

    Phytic acid added to white-wheat bread inhibits fractional apparent magnesium absorption in humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2004

    www.idpas.org/pdf/2510PhyticAcidAdded.pdf
  • adambannon
    adambannon Posts: 52 Member
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    You are over thinking things. Unless you have diabetes and have to watch your carbohydrate intake and blood sugar, you don't need to worry about what type of pasta you eat. Calories are calories. Sure whole grain pasta may have more fibre then white but if you eat plenty of fruits and veggies you will get your fibre no problem. Eat what pasta you feel like and enjoy it.
  • rm7161
    rm7161 Posts: 505
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    Whole wheat has higher levels of anti nutrients then their more refined counterparts...

    If this is a convoluted way of saying wheat has phytochemicals in it that may not be particularly healthy, this is not really news. Plants make them so that you don't eat them.

    But comparatively to more ancient forms of wheat, domestic modern wheat has less of these due to selective breeding. Cooking inactivates them.

    Just an example

    Phytic acid added to white-wheat bread inhibits fractional apparent magnesium absorption in humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2004

    www.idpas.org/pdf/2510PhyticAcidAdded.pdf

    Well, everyone has their crosses to bear. Some people eat McDonalds, others consume a few more phytochemicals while getting the fiber intake required to avoid colon cancer. Sometimes the benefits outweigh the detriments.

    Neither here nor there... I don't eat wheat at all, but its not due to phytic acid, natch. I do eat corn (mainly products made with masa type corn meal), but nixtamalization gets rid of those phytochemical problems without compromising the fiber content :)
  • kennethmgreen
    kennethmgreen Posts: 1,759 Member
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    There is no such thing as good foods or bad foods. Some foods have attitude problems, but they aren't really bad.

    Part of the population has a sensitivity to wheat and/or gluten. It can cause bloating, and in some cases, make weight loss more difficult. Unfortunately, that little truth has exploded into OMG! WHEAT IS BAD FOR YOU books, videos, food products, and bumper stickers, applicable to everyone on the planet.

    Wheat and gluten has become the new carbs. Wheat and gluten are certainly "bad" for people with celiac or other health ailments. But they aren't inherently "bad foods."

    Expect to see the "wheat is bad" sentiment to spread steadily for awhile until the next thing comes along which strikes fear and panic in consumers. Then "X is bad" will be the new battle cry.
  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
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    Whole wheat is bad for ME, because I have allergies to grains and hypertriglycerinemia that responds unfavorably to them. Unless you have an underlying medical condition that makes them bad for you, then there probably isn't a major concern. If you are that concerned, try an elimination diet for a while then add them back in. which ever way you feel best is the way to go. Wheat is a rather common allergen/intolerance as is gluten. But it doesn't effect everyone, and of those it does effect, there are varying degrees.
  • NaurielR
    NaurielR Posts: 429 Member
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    Yes, your body turns whole wheat into sugars. It does this with every carb source, because all carbs are made up of sugars

    Simple carbs like white bead, fruit, and granulated sugar are simple carbs, whose molecules are made up of only one or two sugr molecules. Because they are so small, they are broken down quickly. This releases a sudden rush of sugar

    Complex carbs, such as whole grains, are made up of long complex chains of sugar. They take a long time to break down.

    Simple carbs can cause a spike in blood sugar, which can lead to a "crash" in blood sugar which sometimes makes people want to eat more sugary, not so good for you food.

    Complex carbs break down slowly, so you don't have that crash. They also have more fiber and nutrients.

    Bottom line is, your body turns all carbs into sugar, it just depends how quickly it happens.
  • dr3w_s
    dr3w_s Posts: 88 Member
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    Yes, your body turns whole wheat into sugars. It does this with every carb source, because all carbs are made up of sugars

    Simple carbs like white bead, fruit, and granulated sugar are simple carbs, whose molecules are made up of only one or two sugr molecules. Because they are so small, they are broken down quickly. This releases a sudden rush of sugar

    Complex carbs, such as whole grains, are made up of long complex chains of sugar. They take a long time to break down.

    Simple carbs can cause a spike in blood sugar, which can lead to a "crash" in blood sugar which sometimes makes people want to eat more sugary, not so good for you food.

    Complex carbs break down slowly, so you don't have that crash. They also have more fiber and nutrients.

    Bottom line is, your body turns all carbs into sugar, it just depends how quickly it happens.

    This thumb up, and also the fibre content in whole wheat products slows down the rate of it being converted into simple sugar. You can lower the GI of high GI food by eating it together with protein
  • charovnitza
    charovnitza Posts: 689
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    I read Wheat Belly and was very impressed by the reasoning. On Dec 26, I went back on my low carb diet (it works for me), but this time, I cut out all white flour, whole wheat flour, oat flour, etc. No low carb tortillas made from flour, no low carb pasta. Funny thing happened, because I'm not eating any wheat, I'm no longer craving it...and trust me, I could eat a loaf or two of French bread on my own without stopping, or 2 dozen or more cookies. I still bake, but with almond flour. One piece of Almond pound cake (4 carbs) satifies me, when something made from flour makes me ravenous. So whether the reasons not to eat grains is valid or not, I've seen a marked difference in the reduction of my cravings and my hunger, and I've lost 12 pounds.

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