Can wheat ruin your gains?

By Presser

February 15, 2022

6 min read

Can wheat ruin your gains?

Bread! Glorious glorious bread. Burger (buns), pizzas, sandwiches, pastries, cakes, pretty much what cheat days are made of, but these goodies all contain one key common ingredient – and that is wheat. But is wheat ruining your gains? Let’s take a closer look.

Firstly what is wheat?

Wheat is one of the oldest and most cultivated and consumed crops around, and is literally found in everything that you eat, this ranges from bread, pasta, cakes, crackers, cookies, pastes, alcohol to even products that contain dextrose.

Nutritionist Cyndi O’Meara who wrote and stars in the documentary ‘What’s with Wheat’, states that, over the last 100 years ‘wheat had become refined, the germ and bran had started to become replaced with synthetic vitamins and mined minerals’

‘We used to ferment it and long cook it’ and ‘’we were growing a lot of it, it is in every meal, and it’s in 75% of packaged foods.’

Going back to the actual crop, the wheat kernel contains 8-15% of protein, from which 10-15% is albumin/ globulin and 85-90% is gluten.

So what is gluten?

So gluten is a protein that is found in grains, and helps maintain their shape but more importantly gluten is comprised of two proteins called, gliadin and glutenin, and gliadin is responsible for the health issues that come with gluten.

Gliadin breakdown:

So gliadin is a glycoprotein (that is when a protein and carbohydrate are combined), and, as already mentioned, it is present in wheat, and other grains such as millet, rye, barley and oats

Gliadin is resistant to pancreatic, gastric, and intestinal digestion in the gastrointestinal tract.

The reason for this is that gladin is very high in amino acids proline and glutamine, which are very hard to digest, and this is what makes gluten so hard to break down.

The ironic aspect here is that the word gluten derives from the word glue, and glue is meant to be strong and sticky and hard to break down as it contains strong adhesive properties. (Which is essentially what is happening here).

So another element in bread is dough which is made by adding flour and water, the glue-like consistency in the dough allows the bread to rise, and also gives it its texture.

So each time you consume this, you are essentially adding this glue like substance into your digestive system.

Health issues related to gluten

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease where eating gluten damages the small intestine, and creates issues with nutrients being absorbed. The disease is associated with abdominal bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, pain and weight loss, thyroid disease, cancer and even kidney disease. There is also an increased risk to infertility and is hereditary

Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS), symptoms include severe digestive issues, headaches, joint pain,weaker bones, numbness in limbs, iron deficiency like anemia and even depression, and symptoms appear hours or even days after gluten has been consumed. A 2018 study found that ‘the diagnosis of NCGS remains elusive because of poor knowledge of the mechanisms underlying symptom experience and the lack of reliable biomarkers’. The same study goes on to conclude that to identify NCGS ‘the identification of reliable tests that be used in clinical practice would enormormously improve the recognition, legitimization, and treatment of this disorder.’

Wheat Allergy, similar to celiac disease symptoms include: headaches, problems breathing, swelling, itching, irritation, rashes/ hives, diarrhoea and vomiting. Wheat allergies are estimated to affect up to 1% of the population.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), as the name suggests is when the bowel becomes irritable and the toilet becomes your best friend. Symptoms include diarrhoea, abdominal pain, bloating and constipation. But according to a study published in 2019, ‘providing (a) gluten-free diet could be improved patient treatment’s symptoms.’ And that the duration of said treatment ‘can lead to better therapeutic outcomes’.

Why has wheat become an issue

Cyndi O’Meara, nutritionist and creator of ‘What’s with Wheat’, goes on to state that ‘the practice that has been the most of impact to wheat has been the drying of the crop a couple of weeks before harvest, and it’s done using a chemical.’

She goes on to say that the chemical in question is glyphosate (which can be found in the herbicide Roundup).

Research from 2013 seemed to suggest a correlation between the use of glyphosate (the herbicide in roundup which was used on crops), and the growing rise in celiac disease.

Jeffrey M Smith of Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT), who produced the report, was quoted as saying that ‘it is relevant that the same conditions identified in lab animals fed GMOs or exposed to glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) are on the rise in the US population since GMO’s were introduced.’

A 2017 study stated that ‘a causative link between glyphosate and gut microbiome associated intestinal disorders remain hypothetical but nonetheless and important area to be investigated’, so the link between glyphosate and the rise in celiac disease cannot be ruled out.

So can wheat ruin your gains, well not necessarily, but it could hinder your performance levels. And maybe wheat, gluten, or even the pesky gliadin isn’t actually the issue here, maybe we are all actually glyphosate intolerant…