Why has wheat become such a big problem? Some critics believe that wheat avoidance is simply the latest food craze. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Wheat conventionally grown in the US no longer resembles what our ancestors ate and what people referred to as the “staff of life.”

In my medical practice, I began to notice a steep rise in gut complaints and food allergies, beginning in the early 1990s. Around the same time, a growing number of patients reported that they felt better when they were off wheat, even when the celiac tests were negative. I was determined to find out why these conditions were suddenly escalating in the general population.

The wheat-related problems patients experienced were not confined to the gut. The symptoms were manifold and included headaches, muscle and joint pains, rashes, eczema, fatigue, “brain fog,” mood and behavior disorders, wheat-induced psychiatric conditions, and neuropathy. These patients had no evidence of celiac disease nor were they allergic to wheat. They were referred to as gluten intolerant.

So, what is the difference between celiac disease, wheat allergies and gluten intolerance, you might ask.

Celiac is an autoimmune disease in which the body makes antibodies to the gluten found in wheat, spelt, barley, and rye. Those antibodies cross react with the lining of the intestines and cause damage to the finger-like projections, called villi, that increase the absorptive surface of the intestines and also contain important enzymes, such as lactase which digests lactose. The treatment for celiac disease is complete avoidance of gluten-containing foods. Untreated celiac disease can lead to abdominal pain and chronic diarrhea or constipation, along with a constellation of symptoms, such as osteoporosis, resulting from severe malnutrition—directly related to malabsorption of vital nutrients.

A wheat allergy is an overreaction of the immune system to a component of the wheat, called gliadin, part of the gluten protein. The allergy involves production of anti-gliadin antibodies. Unlike celiac, a wheat allergy is not an auto-immune disease because the antibody reaction does not necessarily involve an attack on the lining of the intestines. A wheat allergy can result in a number of different symptoms, including runny nose, eczema, and hives.

People with wheat-related problems who test negative for celiac disease and negative for wheat allergies are referred to as gluten intolerant or gluten sensitive. The majority of people with wheat-related problems fall into this category. While testing for celiac disease and for classical wheat allergies is relatively simple, there is no accurate test available for determining gluten intolerance—except for trial and error. With this method, the food in question is eliminated for 4-6 weeks and then reintroduced to the diet to see if symptoms occur anywhere in the body within 24-48 hours.

Several of my gluten intolerant patients reported that they had no problems from eating wheat while on vacation in Europe, especially apparent in France. I was puzzled by these reports, wondering what the difference was between wheat grown in Europe and wheat from the US. I hypothesized that the difference was due to the hybridization of the wheat kernel, making it higher in protein for “feeding the masses.”

It is indeed possible that altering the protein made the wheat more allergenic. But, any concerns resulting from hybridization were soon dwarfed by certain conventional farming practices that have the potential to seriously endanger the health of our entire country.

That danger comes from the skyrocketing applications of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide known as Roundup, made by Monsanto. Farmers are saturating their fields of genetically modified, glyphosate-resistant wheat not only throughout the growing season to kill weeds, but also right before harvest, rendering the wheat heavily contaminated with glyphosate. The plants take up the glyphosate into their systems, making it impossible to simply wash off the poison.

After dozens of articles appeared, produced by vested interests proclaiming that glyphosate in Roundup is harmless, a group of brave scientists protested the false information. In March of 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer reported that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic in humans,” based on epidemiological studies, animal studies, and in vitro studies. Glyphosate is known through those same studies to cause DNA damage, neurological damage, endocrine disruption, and immune dysfunction.

Last October 2014, I went to Albuquerque for a conference on environmental medicine. At the conference I had the good fortune to hear Stephanie Seneff, PhD, senior scientist at MIT, talk about the harmful effects of glyphosate. She discussed her surprise at finding every sample of wheat she tested in her lab heavily contaminated with glyphosate. She co-authored a paper called “Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases.” The paper was published in a journal called Entropy, 2013.

In the paper, Dr. Seneff discusses how glyphosate harms our beneficial bacteria, suppressing the cytochrome P450 enzymes that play a major role in the detoxification pathway. Thus, glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of other environmental toxins by inhibiting their clearance from the body. The negative impact on the body is insidious and not immediately apparent. Over time, the inflammatory response can damage systems throughout the body.

It is estimated that 80% of our immune system lies in the gut. So, one could say that the gut is the foundation of good health. Glyphosate in Roundup significantly disrupts the functioning of the gut, including disruption of the beneficial bacteria. Friendly gut bacteria, also called probiotics, are essential to our health. These bacteria keep harmful bacteria and fungal overgrowth in check, aid in digestion, synthesize certain vitamins, and prevent permeability of the gut, also known as “leaky gut.” Permeability, occurring as a result of inflammation, allows substances to cross the gut wall into the blood stream before digestion occurs, potentially leading to allergies and auto-immune disease.

If you scroll through the article by Stephanie Seneff and Anthony Samsel you’ll find a graph showing a striking correlation between the rise in celiac disease and gluten intolerance and the rise in use of glyphosate since the 1990s. Although correlation with something does not automatically mean causation, in this case it’s highly suggestive, especially given the supportive evidence.

So, how can you protect your health—whether you have known wheat-related symptoms or not? At this point, eating wheat grown conventionally in the US is putting your health at risk. Here are some suggestions:

• Eat organically grown wheat, preferably grown far away from conventionally grown wheat fields where contamination is inevitable.

• Avoid wheat-containing products when eating at restaurants.

• Switch to breads made with ancient grains like farro, Kamut, teff, spelt, amaranth, quinoa and Einkorn. They can be a delicious substitute. In fact, you might end up preferring these wholesome breads.

• Make your own grain-free bread using a paleo recipe you can find online using homemade almond flour and ground seeds.

• You could also experiment with giving up grains and sugars altogether and see how you feel. You might be pleasantly surprised at the results.

We live in challenging times. Staying healthy these days requires being well informed and using critical thinking—without being fearful.

If you feel this opinion piece would be helpful to any of your friends or family, please feel free to pass it on.

Here’s to your good health.

Erica