It may seem healthy, but I have serious reservations about eating processed grains in cereals. By the time it reaches you, it can be quite devoid of nutrition.
Be Kind to Your Grains and Your Grains Will Be Kind to You!
By Sally Fallon
The science of nutrition seems to take a step backwards for every two steps it takes forward. When the study of vitamins was in its infancy, researchers realised that white flour lacked the nutrients that nature put into whole grains. One of these researchers was Dr Weston Price who noted in his studies of isolated, so-called ‘primitive’, peoples that when white flour and other devitalised foods were introduced into these communities, rampant tooth decay and disease of every sort soon followed. But defenders of the new refining process argued that phosphorus in whole grains was ‘too acid’ and was the true cause of bone loss and tooth decay. Warnings against the use of white flour went largely ignored.
Only in recent decades has Dr Price been vindicated. Even orthodox nutritionists now recognise that white flour is an empty food, supplying calories for energy but none of the body-building materials that abound in the germ and the bran of whole grains. We’ve taken two important steps forward but, unfortunately, another step backwards because now whole grain and bran products are being promoted as health foods without adequate appreciation of their dangers. These show up not only as digestive problems, Crohn’sdisease and colitis, but also as the mental disorders associated with celiac disease. One school of thought claims that both refined and whole grains should be avoided, arguing that they were absent from the Paleolithic diet and citing the obvious association of grains with coeliac disease and studies linking grain consumption with heart disease. But many healthy societies consume products made from grains. In fact, it can be argued that the cultivation of grains made civilisation possible and opened the door for mankind to live long and comfortable lives. Problems occur when we are cruel to our grains: when we fractionate them into bran, germ and naked starch; when we mill them at high temperatures; when we extrude them to make crunchy breakfast cereals; and when we consume them without careful preparation.
Grains require careful preparation because they contain a number of antinutrients that can cause serious health problems. Phytic acid, for example, is an organic acid in which phosphorus is bound. It is mostly found in the bran or outer hull of seeds. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in improperly prepared whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss.
The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon
transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long-term, many other adverse effects.
Other antinutrients in whole grains include enzyme inhibitors, which can inhibit digestion and put stress on the pancreas; irritating tannins; complex sugars which the body cannot break down; and gluten and related hard-to-digest proteins which may cause allergies, digestive disorders and even mental illness.
Most of these antinutrients are part of the seed’s system of preservation – they prevent sprouting until the conditions are right. Plants need moisture, warmth, time and slight acidity in order to sprout. Proper preparation of grains is a kind and gentle process that imitates
the process that occurs in nature. It involves soaking for a period in warm, acidulated water in the preparation of porridge, or long, slow sourdough fermentation in the making of bread. Such processes neutralise phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. Vitamin content increases, particularly B vitamins. Tannins, complex sugars, gluten and other difficult-to-digest substances are partially broken down into simpler components that are more readily available for absorption. Animals that nourish themselves primarily on grain and other plant matter have as many as four stomachs. Their intestines are longer, as is the entire digestion transit time.
Man, on the other hand, has but one stomach and a much shorter intestine compared to herbivorous animals. These features of his anatomy allow him to pass animal products before they putrefy in the gut, but make him less well adapted to a diet high in grains unless, of course, he prepares them properly. When grains are properly prepared through soaking, sprouting or sour leavening, the friendly bacteria of the microscopic world do some of our digesting for us in a container, just as these same lactobacilli do their work in the first and second stomachs of the herbivores.
So, the well-meaning advice of many nutritionists to consume whole grains as our ancestors did, and not refined fl ours and polished rice, can be misleading and harmful in its consequences; for while our ancestors ate whole grains, they did not consume them as presented in our modern cookbooks in the form of quick-rise breads, granolas, bran preparations and other hastily prepared casseroles and concoctions. Our ancestors, andvirtually all preindustrialised peoples, soaked or fermented their grains before making them into porridge, breads, cakes and casseroles. A quick review of grain recipes from around the world will prove our point: in India, rice and lentils are fermented for at least two days before they are prepared as idli and dosas; in Africa the natives soak coarsely ground corn overnight before adding it to soups and stews and they ferment corn or millet for several days to produce a sour porridge called ogi; a similar dish made from oats was traditional among the Welsh; in some Oriental and Latin American countries, rice receives a long fermentation before it is prepared; Ethiopians make their distinctive injera bread by fermenting a grain called teff for several days; Mexican corn cakes, called pozol, are fermented for several days and for as long as two weeks in banana leaves; before the introduction of commercial brewer’s yeast, Europeans made slowrise breads from fermented starters; in America the pioneers were famous for their sourdough breads, pancakes and biscuits; and throughout Europe, grains were soaked overnight, and for as long as several days, in water or soured milk before they were cooked and served as porridge or gruel. Many of our senior citizens may remember that in earlier times the instructions on the oatmeal box called for an overnight soaking.)
Bread can be the staff of life, but modern technology has turned our bread – even our whole grain bread – into a poison. Grains are laced with pesticides during the growing season and in storage; they are milled at high temperatures so that their fatty acids turn rancid. Rancidity increases when milled flours are stored for long periods of time, particularly in open bins. The bran and germ are often removed and sold separately, when Mother Nature intended that they be eaten together with the carbohydrate portion; they’re baked as quick rise breads so that antinutrients remain; synthetic vitamins and an unabsorbable form of iron added to white fl our can cause numerous imbalances; dough conditioners, stabilisers, preservatives and other additives add insult to injury.
Altering the structure of grains in the making of breakfast cereals is intense. Slurries of grain are forced through tiny holes at high temperatures and pressures in giant extruders, a process that destroys nutrients and turns the proteins in grains into veritable poisons. Westerners pay a lot for expensive breakfast cereals that snap, crackle and pop, including the rising toll of poor health.
The final indignity to grains is that we treat them as loners, largely ignorant of other dietary factors needed for the nutrients they provide. Fat-soluble vitamins A and D found in animal fats like butter, lard and cream help us absorb calcium, phosphorus, iron, B vitamins and the many other vitamins that grains provide. Porridge eaten with cream will do us a thousand times more good than cold breakfast cereal consumed with skim milk; sourdough whole grain bread with butter or whole cheese is a combination that contributes to optimal health.
Be kind to your grains ... and your grains will deliver their promise of being the staff of life. Buy only organic whole grains and soak them overnight to make porridge or casseroles; or grind them into flour with a home grinder and make your own sourdough bread and baked goods. For those who lack the time for bread making, kindly-made whole grain breads are now available. Look for organic, stone ground, sprouted or sourdough whole grain breads and enjoy them with butter or cheese.
Why You Should Always Eat Grains with
Good Fat
There’s a reason we put butter or cream on our oatmeal, spread butter or put cheese on our bread, and prefer rice that has been tossed in butter or garnished with a cream sauce. (Middle Eastern cultures mix raw egg yolk into their rice.) Grains are high in carbohydrates and without the addition of fat, these carbohydrates rush into the bloodstream. The result is a letdown a couple of hours later – a drop in blood sugar called hypoglycaemia – that is accompanied by a variety of symptoms, from intense hunger to allergies to headaches. Fat slows down the release of sugar into the bloodstream and prevents the roller coaster effect of high blood sugar followed by low blood sugar. Fat has a moderating effect, lowers the glycaemic index and allows us to go longer between meals. There is another reason to use good fats on our grains. Animal fats from animals raised outdoors – such as the wonderful New Zealand butter – are our chief source of vitamins A and D. Traditional and primitive diets were extremely rich in these two nutrients, while our modern diets are woefully lacking in them. Vitamins A and D play many important roles in the body chemistry, including the vital role of strengthening the cells that line the digestive tract. In early experiments on phytic acid in grains, the addition of vitamins A and D served to protect against their mineral-blocking effects and also to neutralise other antinutrients in grains. So don’t hesitate to put plenty of butter on your oatmeal – it not only tastes delicious, but is also very nutritious.
Modern Breakfast Cereals
Modern breakfast cereals are made by a process called extrusion. The grains are mixed with water to make a slurry and then forced out a tiny hole at very high temperatures and pressures. The shape of the hole determines whether the final product will be a flake, a little O, a puffed grain or a shredded grain. Extrusion represents extreme ‘cruelty’ to our grains.
Two unpublished animal studies indicate that extruded grains are toxic, particularly to the nervous system. One study, found in the fi les of a cereal company he worked for and described by Paul Stitt in his book Fighting the Food Giants, was based on four sets of rats being given special diets. One group received plain whole wheat, water, vitamins and minerals. Another group received puffed wheat, water and the same nutrient solution. A third set was given water, white sugar and the chemical nutrients, and a fourth given nothing but water and sugar. The rats that received the whole wheat lived over a year on the diet. The rats who got nothing but water, sugar and vitamins lived for about eight weeks, and the animals on a white sugar and water diet lived for a month. But the company’s own laboratory study showed that rats given vitamins, water and all the puffed wheat they wanted died in two weeks. It wasn’t a matter of the rats dying of malnutrition; results like these suggested that there was something actually toxic about the puffed wheat itself. Proteins are very similar to certain toxins in molecular structure, and the puffing process of putting the grain under 1500 pounds per square inch of pressure and then releasing it, may produce chemical changes which turn a nutritious grain into a poisonous substance.
The other study was performed in 1960 by researchers at Ann Arbor University. Eighteen rats were divided into three groups. One group received cornflakes and water; a second group was given the cardboard box that the cornflakes came in and water; and the control group received rat chow and water. The rats in the control group remained in good health throughout the experiment. The rats receiving the box became lethargic and eventually died of malnutrition. But the rats receiving cornflakes and water died before the rats given the box – the last cornflake rat died on the day the first box rat died. Before death the cornflake rats developed schizophrenic behaviour, threw fits, bit each other and finally went into convulsions. Autopsy revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys, and degeneration of the nerves in the spine – all signs of ‘insulin shock’. The startling conclusion of this study is that there is more nourishment in the box that cold breakfast cereals come in than in the cereals themselves.
Scientists have looked at the effects of extrusion on the proteins in grains and found extrusion to disrupt and distort the precisely folded proteins in our grains, rendering them toxic, particularly to the nervous system. Millions of children begin their day with a bowl of extruded breakfast cereal. Do the toxic protein fragments in these cereals explain why so many of our children cannot concentrate at school?
Breakfast cereals purchased in a health food store are no better than those purchased at the grocery store. They may not contain sugar or artificial colourings, but these cereals are made by the same process, and often in the same factories as the cereals sold at the supermarket. Often these cereals are made with organic grains. Organic grains contain more protein than non-organic grains ... which means that these health food store cereals probably contain more toxic protein fragments than supermarket cereals.
