In poor areas of the world where wheat is the primary crop people eat a whole lot more of it than they do in wealthy countries.
Americans don’t actually eat all that much wheat.
Thats where your wrong! Check out the website I posted before you judge. Do a little research. There is "hidden" wheat and gluten in so much food, you would never realize. Next time you are in a grocery, look at every label, and I mean carefully look. You'll be surprised what you find. Its an additive in many hidden forms. And by processed, I meant processed foods. Almost all processed food have a form of wheat/gluten in it. A large percentage of American diets come from processed foods.
Humans cannot eat "raw" wheat; it would kill them. It must be processed. In poorer countries, the grain of choice is rice (middle and far east) or corn (South America). It has to do with growing conditions. There is a "wheat belt" where wheat can grow. Those countries are the ones that eat more wheat and inheritantly have more of the health problems. Statistically the only two nations that consume more wheat are China and India (www.nationmaster.com). However, I am not sure of the studies in relationship to the rate of Celiac Disease in those countries.
The wheat in the wealthier countries like the US is genetically modified to have higher gluten levels, plus we add gluten to products, which is the offending part of the wheat. As a celiac and the parent of a celiac, I have done a lot of research into this.
Hidden sources of wheat/gluten in American Diets...
Cereal Binding
Edible Starch
Filler Hydrolyzed Plant Protein
The following items may or may not contain gluten depending on where and how they are made, and it is sometimes necessary to check with the manufacturer to find out:
Artificial Color
Artificial Flavoring
Caramel Color
Coloring
Flavoring
Food Starch
Maltodextrin
Modified Food Starch
Modified Starch
Mono and Diglycerides Monosodium Glutimate (MSG)
Mustard Powder
Natural Flavoring
Smoke Flavoring
Starch
Base food for yeast
So even if it doesn't say the word "wheat" or "gluten", it still can contain wheat/gluten! Even the glue on envelopes and the stuff that holds pills together has wheat gluten in it. You consume more wheat gluten than you realize.
Want to learn more...www.celiac.com
The "processing" of wheat to which you refer is also known as "cooking." You are correct. Wheat (and other grains) must generally be cooked to be eaten, although I've consumed quite a bit of raw wheat germ and bran.
You are correct that wheat is found in small amounts in almost all processed foods. (So is corn in its varioius forms, BTW.) What I'm having trouble with is your assumption that these small amounts add up to a large consumption of actual wheat.
BTW, wheat was the foundation of almost all the early civilizations: Sumer, China (north, where their civilization started), Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc. It's not some recent invention of modern civilization.
The "genetic modification" of wheat to which you refer is also I believe known as "selective breeding" of plants and is also many thousands of years old.
I'm perfectly willing to agree that there are perhaps quite a few people who shouldn't eat wheat, just as there are those who can't adequately digest dairy foods. To jump from this to a claim that wheat is bad for everyone doesn't seem warranted to me.
Wow.
I’ve been trying to avoid gluten, and I never realized it was so prevalent.
Thank you for find this.