Many people seeking out the Paleo diet are dealing with inflammation, elevated blood sugar, or are struggling with weight loss…
Grains are seen as the culprit of these issues because when people cut grains out of their diet they tend to improve…
… but that doesn’t mean that all grains shouldn’t be on the Paleo Diet…
Not all grains are created equal…
The basis of a Paleo Diet is all about eating the way our ancestors ate…
Our ancestors did in fact consume grains… but the grains that they consumed were different…
Ancient grains and modern day grains are not the same…
Ancient grains are also known as heirloom grains… the original wheat variety is called Einkorn…
What makes it different is that this grain has never been hybridized or modified genetically in any way shape or form… the type of gluten found in this grain is easy to digest compared to the gluten that is found in modern day varieties of wheat…
So the question you should be asking is, what is this new wheat variety, and why is it so bad that makes people say “no grains should be included in the Paleo Diet”…
Modern day wheat varieties were bred so that they would yield more crops… from a business standpoint, it makes sense that a farmer would want to grow 10X the amount of wheat in the same plot of land… in order to do so, they hybridized and modified grain genetically so it produced more…
Modern day grains have changed so much that in his book Wheat Belly, William Davis, MD says that Einkorn wheat has only 14 chromosomes compared to 46 chromosomes found in modern day wheat…
Modern day grains are called frankenfoods for this reason… this is why it’s best to cut out grains from your diet… our ancestors did not eat these type of grains…
People were not allergic to gluten until recent years, and this is part of the reason why…
I don’t know many people who don’t like to eat bread… bread has been a staple in the human diet and the good news is that you don’t have to cut it out… but you do have to learn the Paleo way of consuming grains…
How to Eat Paleo Friendly Grains
Finding products made with heirloom grains is not easy… you definitely won’t find them if you eat out at restaurants… that’s one of the drawbacks of the Paleo Diet, which makes it hard to eat out…
… but you can definitely look up ancient grains and learn about them… more importantly, learn how our ancestors prepared these foods and why they must be prepared using traditional cooking methods…
Grains are known to have “anti-nutrients”, which are part of the plant’s self defense mechanism… anti-nutrients work in different ways to deter predators from eating them…
Lectins for example are hard to digest proteins… so you will hear that lectins cause inflammation and they can…
Phytic acid is another known anti-nutrient. It halts digestion by binding to minerals. If you eat grains with phytic acid or lectins, your body will have a hard time digesting them…
Our ancestors did not eat grains with phytic acid, lectins or other anti-nutrients…
They removed these anti-nutrients by soaking, sprouting, or fermenting grains…
This is why sourdough bread (made through fermentation) is much easier to digest than regular bread…
This is what I mean when I say that the source of food matters (heirloom foods), but also the preparation method (fermentation)… your ability to digest food depends on your gut flora… the health of your gut flora depends on the food you eat…
If you choose the right foods, then your gut flora will be strong…
If you can’t find heirloom grains and prepare them the way our ancestors did, then it’s best to cut out grains from your diet…
The Paleo Diet isn’t about cutting out grains or other foods for that matter… it’s about learning how to tell real food from fake food… eating real food is what makes the Paleo Diet work…
