by
Prof Dr Fred Brouns, Well on Wheat? Consortium.
How do ancient grains compare with modern grains, and can gluten and wheat lead to obesity and disease? Can we separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of “what is actually true?” In other words, what is based on scientific evidence and what is based on beliefs and assumptions?
In this context, following discussions in the Food and Health working group of the international Health Grain Forum, the universities of Maastricht and Wageningen, in collaboration with the Dutch Bakery Centre (Nederlands Bakkerij Centrum) and Leeds University and Rothamsted Research Institute in the UK, have embarked on a major study entitled Well on Wheat? (WoW?) In addition to donations from the cereals-processing chain, this project is financed by the Dutch government’s Top Sector Agri-food initiative. The question mark after the word ‘Wheat’ is there for a reason. The WoW research primarily focuses on which substances in wheat could cause health problems in some people. Who, when, how and why are key questions in this context.
If we know exactly which substances are involved, it may be possible to eliminate them in future using new technologies and targeted seed processing (for details of this project, see the website, HERE.
What should we believe?
Social media and popular books, such as Wheat Belly by William Davis and The Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, suggest that eating cereals, cereal products and bread, particularly wheat, makes many people ill. They claim that it leads to obesity and diabetes and to adverse effects on the brain, and that eating cereals containing gluten leads to ADHD, epilepsy, autism and even Alzheimer’s disease. All very alarming! BUT, is it true?
It is also pointed out that we have only been eating cereals for 10,000 years and that this is far too short a time to have become “genetically adapted to them”. They suggest also that today’s bread wheat is the result of genetic engineering, suggesting that it now contains many substances that are harmful to health. In this respect, there is widespread misinterpretation of scientific knowledge in this field. The above-mentioned books have therefore given rise to scientific publications in which the many inaccuracies are discussed. This has led to a great deal of confusion over what is true and what is not.
Nevertheless, these popular, readily accessible books have led to a trend for more and more people to believe that cereal products, particularly those containing wheat, are bad for their health.
Read the full article in the Milling and Grain magazine online, HERE.
How do ancient grains compare with modern grains, and can gluten and wheat lead to obesity and disease? Can we separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of “what is actually true?” In other words, what is based on scientific evidence and what is based on beliefs and assumptions?
In this context, following discussions in the Food and Health working group of the international Health Grain Forum, the universities of Maastricht and Wageningen, in collaboration with the Dutch Bakery Centre (Nederlands Bakkerij Centrum) and Leeds University and Rothamsted Research Institute in the UK, have embarked on a major study entitled Well on Wheat? (WoW?) In addition to donations from the cereals-processing chain, this project is financed by the Dutch government’s Top Sector Agri-food initiative. The question mark after the word ‘Wheat’ is there for a reason. The WoW research primarily focuses on which substances in wheat could cause health problems in some people. Who, when, how and why are key questions in this context.
If we know exactly which substances are involved, it may be possible to eliminate them in future using new technologies and targeted seed processing (for details of this project, see the website, HERE.
What should we believe?
Social media and popular books, such as Wheat Belly by William Davis and The Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, suggest that eating cereals, cereal products and bread, particularly wheat, makes many people ill. They claim that it leads to obesity and diabetes and to adverse effects on the brain, and that eating cereals containing gluten leads to ADHD, epilepsy, autism and even Alzheimer’s disease. All very alarming! BUT, is it true?
It is also pointed out that we have only been eating cereals for 10,000 years and that this is far too short a time to have become “genetically adapted to them”. They suggest also that today’s bread wheat is the result of genetic engineering, suggesting that it now contains many substances that are harmful to health. In this respect, there is widespread misinterpretation of scientific knowledge in this field. The above-mentioned books have therefore given rise to scientific publications in which the many inaccuracies are discussed. This has led to a great deal of confusion over what is true and what is not.
Nevertheless, these popular, readily accessible books have led to a trend for more and more people to believe that cereal products, particularly those containing wheat, are bad for their health.
Read the full article in the Milling and Grain magazine online, HERE.
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com
No comments:
Post a Comment