BREAD, AND WHY AVOID IT

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

© August 2016, L.D. Wilson Consultants, Inc.

I. INTRODUCTION
We suggest avoiding all bread. We know that wheat is called “the staff of life” in the
Bible, and that bread is eaten throughout the world. However, bread today is not a
healthful product. This article details why, and what to eat instead of bread.

II. PROBLEMS WITH ALL BREAD

PROBLEMS WITH ALL WHEAT

Most bread is made with wheat. The gluten in wheat makes the flour sticky so that it
rises and forms bread easily. Unfortunately, wheat has become an irritating food that is
best avoided. This is due to the hybridization of wheat.
Even organic, whole wheat is greatly hybridized and is not healthful. This is due to the
“green revolution” and the advent of superphosphate fertilizers, also called N-P-K
fertilizers. They are used on both commercial and organic wheat fields.
Wheat tends to inflame the intestines due to its high glutamine content today. It is also
much lower in protein and in many essential minerals than it was 100 years ago.
This fact is well-documented by the US Department of Agriculture and by many
scientists as well. It is truly a shame, because wheat was a fine food. It is still used in
hundreds of prepared food items, but I would avoid them all. Wheat is not only used in
breads, but also as a thickener, a way to keep ingredients together, and in other ways,
as well.

What about spelt, emmer, kamut and einkorn? These are older grains that are related to
wheat. They may be somewhat better, but I don’t recommend them, either. All of them
contain some gluten, and they are similar to wheat.

What if one soaks, sours or sprouts these grains? Are they then okay? The answer is
no. Soaking and souring makes grain more yin, which is not helpful today. Sprouts are
slightly toxic.

What grains can one eat instead? Grains that are better are blue corn, organic yellow
corn, amaranth, millet, oatmeal, quinoa and a little rice. Rice is somewhat contaminated
with arsenic, unfortunately, so don’t eat it more than once or twice per week.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH WHITE, BLEACHED FLOUR?

First, it is wheat, which has become an irritating food. However, refining of wheat to
make white flour involves removing the best part of the wheat - the wheat germ and
wheat bran. Milling of wheat also removes half or more of most of the trace minerals in
the wheat.
This leaves a product that has almost no fiber, almost no vitamins and minerals, and is
mostly just starch. It is sometimes called ‘empty calories’ for this reason. It is basically
just calories that put on weight, without providing any micronutrients such as minerals at
all. It is truly an “empty food”. The cardboard box of a wheat cereal may contains as
much nutrition as the cereal itself, if not more. This is how bad white flour is.
Enriched flour. Do not be fooled because the label says the flour is “enriched”. The
reason it is enriched with 3 or 4 vitamins and iron is that around 1945, scientists realized
how gravely deficient white flour was, and a law was passed forcing the baking
companies to at least add back a few of the vitamins that are stripped away when whole
wheat flour is refined into white flour.
However, the enrichment is paltry and not nearly enough. It is as though someone just
robbed you of $1000.00 dollars, and then decides to “enrich you” by giving you back one
or two dollars.

CHLORINE TOXICITY

Almost all white flour is bleached with a highly toxic chlorine bleach. This is another
horrible insult to the basic wheat grain. The same agent is used to bleach wheat flour as
is used to bleach clothing. It is then baked and the concoction creates extremely toxic
chemicals in the bread that irritate the intestines.
The bleaching of wheat flour is purely cosmetic and never needed for any other
reason. One or two bread companies, such as Pepperidge Farm, use unbleached
wheat flour, which is somewhat better, although all the other problems with flour are still
present.

IRON TOXICITY

One of the worst problems of enriched white bread is the addition of iron to the bread.
Not only is too much iron put back into the bread. The form of the iron is also not very
available to the body, and this is another insult.
The iron can build up in the body in a toxic form that is extremely irritating and
inflammatory. It can contribute to every possible disease from diabetes and arthritis to
cancer.

BROMINE TOXICITY

In the past, iodine was sometimes added to bread to help the dough to be more flexible.
This is called a dough conditioner. This was a good idea for another reason – we need
more iodine (though not a chemical form of it).
Today, however, adding iodine to bread is outlawed. Instead, some commercial breads
and rolls contain sodium bromate as a dough conditioner. This is a poison that disrupts
the thyroid gland and replaces iodine in the thyroid.

OTHER CHEMICAL ADDITIVES

Almost all commercial bread contains a number of other food additives. The most
common is refined sugar or some other sweetener such as honey, maple syrup, fruit
juice, fruit, molasses or agave syrup. It not only gives the bread a sweet taste, but acts
as food for the yeast as well. Sugars are all very yin and horrible for one’s health in any
form.
Other common chemical additives in breads include dough conditioners, yeast food,
preservatives, flavors, coloring and others that may or may not be listed on the label.

HIGH TEMPERATURE COOKING

Another problem with most breads is they must be cooked at high temperatures, often
for an hour or more. In general, the higher the temperature at which a food is cooked,
the more damage is done to certain nutrients.
Bread is often baked at 300 degree F. or higher. This does a lot more damage than
steaming, boiling, stir-frying or pressure-cooking your food.

WHAT ABOUT ORGANIC WHOLE WHEAT BREAD OR MULTI-GRAIN BREADS?

These are not much better. All wheat is imbalanced today and causes intestinal
irritation. Even whole wheat is best avoided completely for optimum health.
The only wheat product I suggest consuming is a little wheat grass juice, up to 2 ounces
and only twice a week.
WHAT ABOUT WHEAT-FREE BREADS SUCH AS 100% WHOLE RYE BREAD OR
SPROUTED GRAIN BREADS?

Wheat-free breads are generally a little better. However, I still do not recommend them.
They are still cooked at very high temperatures, and they are not fresh. It is much better
to eat whole grains as cereals, or as tortillas or chapatis.
In addition, some non-wheat breads still contain sugar, sweeteners, or toxic chemical
additives. Some people are also allergic to all gluten-containing grains, which includes
rye, barley and oats in any form whatsoever.

Sprouted breads. Sprouted breads are more yin and somewhat toxic because sprouts
contain chemicals that keep animals and birds from eating them. We suggest avoiding
sprouted breads.
The Surprisingly Painful Side Effects of Quinoa—And How To
Avoid Them January 6, 2016
by Annalise Mantz for Thrive Market
The Surprisingly Painful Side Effects of Quinoa—And How To Avoid Them
Gluten, nuts, fish, dairy, eggs, soy—name almost any food, and you're almost
guaranteed to find someone who has developed an allergy to it.
Even superfoods. Take quinoa, for example: Though this psuedocereal has skyrocketed
to superfood status in recent years, a small subset of people report intense stomach
pain after eating quinoa.
To understand why quinoa might cause some problems, you first have to understand
what it is. Quinoa is actually a seed, albeit a gluten-free one with an incredible nutritional
content. Because of its very mild flavor, quinoa is easy to incorporate into almost any
dish—from breakfast porridge to a classic Korean bowl.
But it can lead to some serious stomach problems. Just google "quinoa stomachache"
and you'll find tons of complaints—from intolerable stomach pain to severe indigestion to
much more nasty issues. (Some that this writer can unfortunately attest to from personal
experience.)
One possible reason behind this digestive distress? Quinoa has nearly double the fiber
of most grains. If your body isn't used to consuming a ton of fiber, and suddenly you
double down on a quinoa salad, it could definitely throw you for a loop ... and lead to
diarrhea, bloating, and discomfort.
And then there's the issue of saponin, a soapy, naturally occurring chemical that coats
quinoa grains. In nature, saponins discourage birds from eating the seeds, as they're
bitter and slightly toxic. Though little research has been done on the topic, some people
speculate that these compounds could cause stomachaches and digestive troubles in
especially sensitive people. Some even suggest that saponins could puncture tiny holes
in your digestive tract.
That's why many cooks recommend washing your quinoa thoroughly before cooking it.
Beyond upsetting your stomach, saponins also taste really bad—some describe their
flavor as bitter, and even soapy. Before preparing quinoa, rinse it thoroughly in a fine
mesh sieve to remove saponins. Some quinoa manufacturers have begun pre-washing
the seeds, but to be on the safe side, give it a rinse anyway.
If that doesn't do the trick, you might want to pass on the quinoa all together. Since not
much research has been done on the topic, there's no foolproof way to prevent reactions
to quinoa. Just listen to your body—any food it doesn't tolerate, nutrient-dense
superfoods included, probably isn't worth it.