Wheat, Gluten and You - Are we eating the same grain? (Part 4)

As we do our weekend grocery shopping, it is obvious that much more gluten-free products are sold along the alley of the so called "organic or health foods section'. Apart from celiac patients, let's just assume the public have awareness of impact of gluten on health and the body. But, are all gluten-free food products healthy? How about other grains products which are 'non-gluten'? Is it safe to consume? 

Let's talk about grains in general. White rice, one of the most commonly consumed grains on the planet, especially amongst Asians. I'm talking about 'non-gluten' grain, apart from wheat. You must be thinking, rice is gluten free and should be safe for consumption right? Well, not exactly. Sorry to be the bad news bearer, and I grew up eating white rice almost my entire life till adulthood. For rice lovers, hold on to your horses and keep reading. For other grains addict, if you love eating oats, quinoa, millet, or most grains, the following truth will make you think twice. 

Gluten, is only one of the components found in wheat. The one component we are going to discuss today is lectins, primarily wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). Lectins, are found in all grains, including rice.Before we jump into non gluten components, let review why grains are toxic humans, mammals and also birds and insects, especially gluten containing ones. A common question asked by my clients and friends about why grains contain anti-nutrients. Well, we as humans, have the ability to fight off predators or enemy physically. But, for grains and also plants, it is an evolutionary strategy to protect them from predation by birds, fungus, insects, pathogens and also bacteria. Plants including grains don't the ability to scream or physically defend themselves as we humans do. Thorns, hard shells and physical barriers are used to protect the seeds of the plants. Fruit entices predators to  eat seeds, which pass through the predator's GI tract. Cereal grains and legumes have evolved toxic compounds that increase intestinal permeability, entering into the blood stream to produce effect or immune reaction.

I remembered being asked many times, "How about flour?". Bear in mind, flour can be made of almost any grains or legumes. Especially commercially made flour products, its highly toxic and laden with pesticides and chemicals during processing. You would be lucky if you could avoid non-GMO corn or wheat flour from supermarkets. It is close to easily 90% of wheat flour in the market sold everywhere. Wheat bran and germ are primarily discarded, and anti-nutrients are the highest in those compounds.

If you look at the photo illustration below, you will realize that there are a few components of gluten. Gliadin, which is a gluten protein, tend to affect some people more then others, in terms of sensitivity and severity. Majority of people might be aware of the 'evil' destruction of gluten, but another compound called WGA, has been discovered (not long ago) its 'fuller' damaging potential to humans and test subjects in clinical studies. Evidence in studies have shown that it may increase intestinal permeability through paracellular and transcellular pathways. The bad news is, it's found in almost all grains? I know most people are not going to be pleased to hear this piece of news.

It is now known that WGA got into the lymph, then into the blood. WGA binding cells in blood, such as erythrocytes, white blood cells and platelets. This toxic substance is transported into every cell in the body within only hours of ingesting! Some people might say, "So what?" Well, think of your thyroid for instance. Every cell in the body has thyroid receptor, meaning every cell can only produce energy if all if not most of your cells are getting the 'key in the right lock'. Metabolism, body temperature, energy expenditure, hormonal production, conception, body ability to lose weight and fat, all of these is determined by the state of every cell in the body, controlled by the health of your thyroid.

Bear in mind, eating wheat also impair Vitamin D metabolism. Just like being severely overweight or obese, the high level of inflammation in the body can affect the body inability to convert UV from the sun to usable Vitamin D. Low amount of cholesterol in the body may well play an important in converting UV to usable Vitamin D. Arguably the most important hormone, every cell in the body too has its receptor. Research have shown that more then 90% of people are deficient in Vitamin D levels. As Vitamin D is vital for health, it work through the nuclear pore, and WGA blocks and bind to the nuclear pore. This substance also has half-life of 4 hours in the cells. So, if one eat a typical western diet, every meal is wheat or grain based, nuclear pore binding is almost all day and night. 

One of the more disturbing findings about WGA, it can pass through blood-brain-barrier. Larger molecules can also get into the brain, activating glial cells. Thus, brain conditions or degradation may occur, and neurological disorders are becoming a diseased-trend in recent years. This is just part of the findings about WGA, as it can basically binds to almost everything in the body including bacteria, virus and LPS too.

Now, let's dive a little bit more into the findings from the studies about this toxic compound. Data and evidence suggest that this lectin molecule may be pro-inflammatory, immunotoxic, neurotoxic, cytotoxic, cardiotoxic, and also a potential endocrine disruptor. It could also interfere with gene expression, and who those who have entirely no clue of what that is, let's just say that it turn off a compilation of your good genes, and turn on some of your bad genes. Anti-WGA antibodies found in humans tests have been shown to cross-reactive with other proteins, that may have well trigger or contribute to autoimmunity. For those who is concern about aging or even cancer, this little substance can cause cell death and posses a cytotoxic capability.

WGA journals: (Partial list only..)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC440759/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19332085
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15465648
http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v80/n11/abs/6690593a.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2363124/
http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/22/1_MeetingAbstracts/898.3
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8955334
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1577348/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11732625
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2916907

Quick anti-inflammatory meal : No bloating guaranteed!

Today's post will be a quick one. Another easy, fast, mainly-raw, nutritious, anti-inflammatory meal. No grains, no wheat, no soy, basically no cooking skill needed. This preparation is ideal for whoever is busy but looking for a nutritious energy-packed whole foods meal. It's inexpensive, super easy to prepare, and loaded with digestive enzymes and anti-oxidants. 

Firstly, mix all the herbs and vegetables in the bowl. Chop the lemongrass, onions, cucumbers and throw in the cooked/steamed prawns and mix them all up. You can add some chilies if desired, and adding a tablespoon of organic grass-fed butter would just make the meal taste so much better. besides that, adding a small amount of organic fermented shoyu sauce may enable some of you enjoy the meal easier. 

Remember, there are tons of ways to prepare your meals. Eating organic whole foods, nutritious, clean and gluten free is the key here. If you spike your blood sugar level after a meal, you are in for a 'cytokines storm', wrecking your thyroid, adrenals, brain and gut too. Most people are having chronic inflammation in the body, with current stressed out lifestyle and pro-inflammatory diet. Well, no more excuses of no time preparing meals nor 'eating organic is expensive'. This entire meal cost you cheaper then a McDonalds' value meal, easily less then RM10. 

Ingredients:

- organic cucumber

- organic lemongrass

- peppermint leaves

- Onions 

- Cooked/Steamed prawns

- Organic Shoyu sauce/butter (optional, if you want to add into the ingredients). Only add a tiny amount of shoyu sauce, if you must. Ensure no wheat flour in shoyu sauce product. 

- Chillies (if you want it spicy)

How to choose high-quality palm oil product?

A friend of mine recently asked me about palm oil. Is it good or bad? He was obviously referring to the high saturated fats content in palm oil. I guess the 'saturated fat and cholesterol phobia' is still haunting and bothering most people who live on this planet earth at present day. Should I consume coconut oil or palm oil? Is it safe? Which brands to choose? 

Well, I won't mention any particular brand, as I don't have any financial tie with these companies. But I will explain the reasons why high quality palm oil are beneficial to the body and health, and both coconut and palm oil are primarily MCT (medium chain triglycerides). First of all, let me clear the confusion of saturated fats. It is NOT harmful nor does it store or accumulate body fat upon ingestion. Please remember and write it on a sticky pad and put it on your refrigerator or kitchen. 

Just like coconut oil, not all products are manufactured the same methods or level of processing. I've personally purchased products which has an unpleasant smell or taste (chemical smell?). I boycott those brands and never invest my money ever again for those manufacturers. Just the same with palm oil, you would want to look for below criteria to ensure high quality, and as minimal processing involved as possible, and of course, preferably organically grown. 

Some of you might wonder, how about the palm oil (olein) products sold in supermarkets or grocery stores? Is it safe to use for cooking with high temperature? Basically, a high quality palm oil product would be slightly more expensive then coconut oil. I have to admit that it would be a bit more difficult to find reliable high quality organic palm oil products (especially in my country). The commercial palm oil products sold in supermarkets and perhaps also in health foods stores are basically highly processed, low quality, refined and most likely oxidized. Selling at couple of dollars a bottle would explain why it is so cheap for a so called 'palm oil' product. Well, if you have tasted a real high quality unrefined red palm oil, you will know exactly what I'm saying here. So, avoid commercial 'palm oil' if you need to use it for cooking, it would be much better to use animal fats, ghee, organic butter or coconut oil for high smoke point meal preparation. 

What to look for in palm oil product?

- Organic

- Unrefined

- Red Palm Fruit

- Non-hydrogenated

- No Hexane

- Non-GMO

- Gluten-free

Wheat, Gluten and You - Are we eating the same grain? (Part 3)

Recently, I had a conversation with a client of mine. She was asking me what to eat for breakfast. For a skinny body type female adult, she appears to have high body fat. Guess what's her daily breakfast meals? Yes, it's wheat/grains based breakfast. Breads and cereals. The typical American breakfast, the foods which wreck havoc and shape the obesity and diabetes growth in United States and most industrialized countries. When I told her to lose the wheat, she said "Then what can I eat for breakfast?". It's not an uncommon question, but for decades, we have been hardwired by the grains and food industries to make us think that eating grains, breads and cereals is healthy and wholesome, and we should have it for breakfast and as many meals as possible. The USDA food pyramid tells the whole story about why we have become such a 'grains-dependant' homo sapien.

When our brains are so addicted to these opiate-stimulated and morphins-loaded foods, it is a huge challenge for most people to drop the wheat and exorphins and gluteomorphin containing grains. Most of us don't even realized why we can't stop eating breads, muffins, cakes, pizzas, fast foods and other wheat-based foods. The addiction is arguably more intense then drugs addiction, possibly slightly worst then sugars. Wheat is one of the most addictive substance on the planet. Thinking of above mentioned foods makes you swallow your saliva down your throat, and your leptin signals most likely no longer able to send proper message to the brain. You are always hungry all the time, most people crave for sugars or refined carbs after 

finished a meal. I call it the three hormonal musketeers, Leptin- Insulin - Cortisol. Once you abuse or dsyregulate one of these 3 vital hormones, the vicious cycle kicks off, and resistance will increase the longer you interfere with these pathways. 

In this post, I will discuss a little bit about antibodies and autoimmunity, and the relations with grains and gluten-containing foods. In terms of immune system, conventional testing primarily focus on IgE testing, but the fact that our immune system is beyond IgE mediated. Different 'arms forces' are specifically built and to defend our body from pathogens and foreign invaders. IgG, IgM, IgA play a crucial role in protecting our immune system. Although IgE reaction is usually immediate, but conventional testing methods could come back with false negative or positive. However, blood test is more accurate then skin prick test. To be safe, ask for both tests to be conducted by your physician.

Bear in mind, apart from immediate immune reaction, delayed immune response may have an 7-8 days delay before symptoms appear. In this case, IgE blood test may no longer be necessary, and IgG, IgM, and IgA come into the equation here. Due to such a delayed period before symptoms appear, it could be difficult to find out the foods or even additives caused the problem. Additives make foods become more antigenic, and some people could react to combination of foods such as protein + gluten + preservatives. The end product of the foods combined, increase the antigenic effect to the individual.

When we talk about testing for multiple immunoglobulins, it would be wise to include IgG, IgM, IgA together. The immune system sometimes make mistakes, and it create antibodies to foods as such. IgA is first secreted in saliva and also mucosal areas. The overflow enters blood, ready for future invasion. IgA is the major antibody responsible for mucosal immune reactions against food. It affect the tight junctions in the gut, resulting in possible leaky gut. The consequences could be from mild to severe, as unwanted antigens sneak through the barrier and causing all sorts of havoc as blood lymphocytes react against food antigens. Meanwhile, IgG and IgM is produced when food antigens get into circulation.

Now, let's do a quick review here. Musosa is where the outside environment meets the inside of the body, including the inside lining of the GI tract. IgA cells in the mucosa waiting to lock up problematic food particles. Locked up food particles should be eliminated. Bear in mind, inflammation opens up tight junctions, causing leaky gut. Thats bad news. IgG and IgM then produced when IgA can't cope with the scale of the problem. 

I understand that most people would wonder, "How would I test for accurate antibodies?" After reading this post, most of you may ask this question to yourself, "Does conventional laboratories or hospitals do these tests?". Well, it depends on your location, and your own research on finding the right practitioner or doctor to help you getting the proper test to be conducted. Again, different individual with different symptoms may be recommended for different tests all together.

One may wonder, is testing really matter? How important is testing these antibodies? What would my panel or family doctor says about these tests? Let's talk abit about various antibodies testing methods. In a study in 2011, it is found that almost 100% accuracy in identifying celiac disease in saliva testing.

Measures IgA plus IgM in saliva for early detection of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease would be highly recommended. It allows the patient to take preventive measures, rather then trying any means to suppress the symptoms or "fire fighting" situation. Also, IgA sometimes appear 5-10 years before onset of any noticeable symptoms in an individual.

Apart from that, testing for multiple gluten peptides would be a smarter approach, and thumbs up to your practitioner or doctor, if he or she include this test in diagnosing your condition. Bare in mind, only 50% of celiac patients have elevated antibodies to alpha gliadin, and many different components of gluten can trigger an immune response. Question is, why are we only checking one single component of gluten? Many people have been misdiagnosed because of only testing against one component of wheat. A sophisticated test can now test for an immune response to components such as alpha gliadin, gamma gliadin, omega gliadin, glutenin, gluteomorphins, and wheat germ agglutinin.

Please take note that although the immune system makes IgA or IgM antibodies at first encounter, but antibodies can be detected for up to 3 months in blood and saliva. Memory cells remember the exposure even after antibodies are gone. Second exposure triggers memory lymphocytes immediately. For instance, it takes only a few miligrams of wheat for first exposure, and subsequent exposures only need a few microgram. If your first exposure to wheat or gluten at age of 5 years old, any other exposures after that only requires less then a single bite of white bread or not even a teaspoon of cereals.

It is the same mechanism by which vaccinations work. If you receive a measure of the measles bug in a shot, the immune assembly line makes antibodies. When those bugs have been destroyed, we have memory B cells. Memory B cells are on the lookout for the re-entry of measles virus, and if it re-enters, the immune system then flips the switch. Remember, memory B cells stay with us forever, and the same mechanism occurs with food.

Stay tuned for next post. 

A healthy dessert - Energy boosting mini-meal

Many people came to me and said "I don't have time to cook or prepare my meals". Others said "I do not have any cooking skills and my place don't have fully equipped kitchen". Living in a hectic stressed out environment, the current society is struggling to prepare their meals, the essential routine to keep us alive and healthy. Especially living and working in a city, the working professionals are constantly bombarded with layers of stressors draining out their adrenals, both these glands are shot, more people are suffering from adrenal fatigue.

Present day, barely a handful of people still practice ancestral living, or holistic lifestyle and eating almost entirely real food diet. Kids these days are gulping down soft drinks and eating sweets and processed foods as their daily meal plan. From bakeries foods to candy bars, fast foods and toxins loaded meals have become a norm, for almost the entire children community, in industrialized countries. Who do we blame for ADHD, childhood obesity and diabetes? Of course a 4 years old child wouldn't know if eating lollipops and white breads are bad for them. It's easy and convenient for parents to feed their children 'instant' foods or breads and toxic laden commercial milk. Who's fault is it for making sick fat kids? 

Today, I will share with you my own prepared 'regular treat' or what I call mini-meal. You can prepare this meal for breakfast, lunch or even tea-time. It's clean, nutritious, mood-hormones-energy boosting, and it is cheaper then McDonalds meal. Best of all, it's a combination of super foods mixed together. Without spiking your blood sugar levels, this recipe is loaded with minerals, and healthy fats and anti-oxidants. Try it out, as it only require 5-10 mins preparation time. Enjoy it! 

Avocado Healthy Treat : Preparation

Step 1: You need organic raw honey, Organic Maca powder, Organic raw cacao powder, avocado

Step 2: Cut the avocado into half, ready all ingredients

Step 3: Mash the avocado in a bowl

Step 4: Mix quarter/half teaspoon of honey, one teaspoon of cacao and maca powder. Please take note that you do not want too much of honey due to high content of fructose. Now, mixed all ingredients together. It's close to 40g of healthy fats in a serving, with complete amino acids fueling vital neurotransmitters and hormones.

Step 5: Enjoy your treat, bring it with you to office or school, try to eat it within few hours to avoid oxidation and maintain its freshness in a sealed tight tupperware/container.