Wellness and Wheat

Anyone concerned with wellness is now concerned with wheat

There are many ways that wheat affects wellness - from weight gain, to raised blood sugar and many other adverse health effects including heart disease.

One-third of my family are celiac, or disturbed by eating gluten, or allergic to wheat - that's 6 out of a group of 18 counting my mother, my three sisters, my two brothers, and our combined 11 children.

But none of us were remotely affected by wheat over thirty years ago when we used to gather at family celebrations and eat a wheat-based delicacy called "kutia". Most of our family's symptoms have since included stomach problems and breathing problems (kind of like hay fever).


Ways that wheat affect wellness are:

• increased appetite
• formation of small LDL particles, which combined with increased appetite, creates belly fat
• belly fat causes inflammation, higher blood sugar/higher blood pressure = risk of heart disease
• mood swings
• depression
• joint pain and swelling
• acid reflux
• irritated bowel
• peripheral neuropathy (numbness in hands and legs)

Eating fresh food, or real food that has not been processed in any way, is the best way to stay healthy. But for those days when I feel like making dough, I have a good supply of brown rice flour and soy flour. Home-made pizza was a hit at our house when I made this gluten-free home-made pizza.