Skip the disease and tell the truth about wheat.

By Mary Duggan

Everyone is all a-buzz, or should I say all a-blog today about the Oslo study. Yep, it looks like folks who don’t have celiacs disease can suffer from gluten sensitivity so they want to come up with a new disease. Feeding the victim mentality when it comes to our health. I think we have to shift the paradigm. Instead of trying to find a disease category for the catastrophe of wheat in the human body, let’s tell the truth about the history of wheat and the consequences of GMOs and the Frankengrain that has been created. I do not test positive for gluten sensitivity. But I can read. Knowing what wheat has been proven to do as it penetrates the sacred blood brain barrier was enough for me. I treasure my brain function, especially after sustaining a traumatic brain injury more than a decade ago. Recently, after fourteen months meticulously gluten free I ingested some wheat inadvertently. Four days of GI and neurological hell followed.

Bad science has to be rooted out of our food supply or none of us will be well. I know I keep harping on folks reading “Wheat Belly” by Dr. Wm Davis. But I’ve plowed through enough peer reviewed journal talk on glutens to appreciate what he has accomplished with this wonderful little book. Finally, it’s in the vernacular – wheat is no longer the Biblical staff of life. We can’t wait to be told about the dangers of wheat from our doctors. We have to take them by the hand and lead the way, as is so often the case. Let’s stop being wheat victims and celebrate our freedom from this monstrous Frankengrain.

POSTSCRIPT: This post was originally shared on Facebook but we wanted to expand and continue the conversation with all of you. Be sure to follow the comments and join in the conversation below.

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4 Responses to “Skip the disease and tell the truth about wheat.”

  1. Sharon says:

    Sadly, I have this problem. It began in Oct 2010, was quite severe, had full G I workup and was told to stop eating gluten. It helped. Slowly my gut is healing. Through it all I lost 35 pounds, which I needed to lose. I also go to a Chinese M. D. She gives me herbs, probiotics nutrition counseling and acupuncture. I also now have lactose intolerance. I had to give up lots of my favorite foods.

    It seems to me that the scientists who changed the wheat were only trying to help feed the world. They tried to produce a strain of wheat that would grow well in areas of the world with harsher conditions. It was years ago and possibly the problems we are seeing now were not anticipated. I wish we had enough biodiversity that we could grow and buy the kind of wheat that was here before the changes. I miss it.

    • Mary says:

      Wish I could agree with the good scientist paradigm; but alas I think greed and politics were more the determinant. To not test altered DNA on human beings before altering the world food source is just really bad science – usually the kind driven by profit.

      The good news is that word is out there more and more about the GI problems inherent in this frankengrain. I think what is lacking is repeated reminders of the brain gut connection. We have a population of folks who are sick in the brain with learning disabilities and Alzheimers and depression and tendencies towards violence – the list goes on. Folks need to say no to wheat to restore their true personalities: more loving, more creative, more playful, more joyful. Pediatricians must lead the charge as our kids are soooo sick with behavioral disorders.

      It is not surprising to me that you are also now addressing the problems inherent in dairy – again, a food product destroyed with chemicals to increase profits. I see lots of super progressive Moms doing just fine on raw milk products that have not been tampered with. I for one do not view foods I choose to no longer eat as items I miss. What I miss is all I could have accomplished with my life, particularly my education, if I had not been hampered with wheat and a lack of knowledge of what this and other GMOs were doing to destroy my health. I can remember being a young woman on a full scholarship to the University of Chicago so hampered with hidden and mysterious health issues that I could barely think straight, let alone withstand the rigors of the U of C.

      I hope that you will soon no longer view your “gluten problems” with sadness. You are one of the lucky ones who has begun the long process of healing the damages done. So many folks have no idea what is wrong with their life, their career, their kids, their marriage. They would be flabbergasted, I am sure, to see how much all of those situations could change, improve, heal, etc. with first the elimination of wheat and then the gut healing needed to repair the damages done.

      And how wonderful is TCM. Today, Dawn Turner Trice of the Tribune did a sweet piece on Dr. Lisa Lau, a brilliant doctor of Chinese Medicine who clearly has to position herself as an herbalist to stave off AMA interference. Dr. Pak Lau, her father, was my TCM for years and pulled me through some crazy sick times with hearing loss. God bless him, he kept me from hearing aids and sign language in my early thirties by healing my very sick kidneys. I think I might just go in and have a check-up with Dr. Lisa one day soon. Get out those herb teapots and prepare for the big stink, sisters, I’m looking to cook up some Big Chinese Medicine.

  2. Kim says:

    Thank you, Mary for continuing to fan the flames of glutinous fires! Knowledge is indeed power!

    Did you know you actually diagnosed me with non-celiac gluten sensitivity?

    It was years ago — back before the Rose Cottage had come to fruition. You were the Soul Sisters then. Prayer, integrity and willingness to share healing lessons with all who were open. What wonderful memories!

    I digress.

    Circa 2003. I had arrived at Casa de Duggan to work on Seamus (!!). As we sat round the table, carefully noting Seamus’ health status, I had no idea that I , too, was slated for treatment that day. As we chatted Seamus chat, Annie popped in to join us. Not one to mince words, Annie promptly told me that I looked like crap (with love).

    BENADRYL for an annoying rash, I confessed, on the advice of an internist. After a single dose, I required no less than 3 days to return to normal functionality. I had still weeks to wait before my appointment with an allergist, so I suffered with the side effects — and held out hope that the allergist could put a label on my woes. Perhaps then my natural self-treatment methods might become effective.

    Carrying on with my sad tale, I shared that these horrible symptoms began a few short weeks before. I had recently shifted the scope of my work to include hours at an area hospital. With this change, I had less time to pack and prepare proper lunches, so fast food had become a common addition to my diet. A few days before that fateful visit to your home, i had begun to notice an odd pattern. Each time I would consume a sandwich, any kind of sandwich, my rash would return or progress.

    And there it was. The answer. So obvious, yet I didn’t see it.

    The word GLUTEN became an immediate and permanent addition to my vocabulary as Mary began to explain its common food sources and less than common signs of hypersensitivity. I was familiar with celiac disease and how wheat affected its sufferers. But digestively, I felt fine. I never dreamed that gluten, or my “beloved” wheat could cause my skin to rage!

    I put my trust in the Soul Sisters advice that day. As I painstakingly removed all known sources of gluten from my diet, my rash quickly cleared. If ever I doubted the source of my skin trouble, I needed only nibble on a bit of gluten-filled contraband. My symptoms would return within 20 minutes. And still will to this day. Classic sign of hypersensitivity.

    When I finally made it in to the allergist, my skin was totally normal. Still I explained my symptoms, reaction times and dramatic improvement with removal of gluten from my diet. The allergist explained that there was no such thing as non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

    After confirming that I was not a celiac sufferer, the allergist concluded that I must be developing rashes from some other (food?) source. Naturally she advised that I should begin eating gluten containing foods immediately. Why wait? Stop for a sandwich on the way home! Oh – and that I should stick with non-drowsy anti-histamines in the future. Gee thanks, doc.

    But seriously, thank you to Mary, Annie and Seamus. Each in your own way, brought me great awareness and healing that day!

    • Mary says:

      OMG, Dr. Kim! Can you believe I just found your wonderful reply? Clare is trying to bring me up-to-speed on the fallout from blogging…in your case a sentimental journey to our first meeting. Was Annie really that mean? You look like crap? Even with love. I can’t apologize for her; but sheesh, as you would say.

      You have been such an inspiration and companion on the gluten free and even better completely RAW journey. Thank God we don’t have to depend completely on under-informed allopathic physicians. Taking what they have to say and filtering it through the wider net of all the other traditions (homeopathic, naturopathic,ect.) is the only thing that works for me.

      The poor allopathic dears, they are so slow to catch up. We have to be loving and patient AND INSTRUCTIVE with them, as they are always tragically decades behind.

      Thanks again for your reading of my blog and your patience in getting a reply. I hope to find the emotional wherewithal to blog about our beloved Seamus soon. XOOXOX Mary

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