One thing that's being ignored here is most of the wheat we have today is not the same as your great grandparents ate. It's ben bred many times, and not for health. People may have a much different reaction to modern wheat vs. heirloom wheat.
When my gut - and my overall health - was at its worst, I responded badly to processed flour products. Take your pick.
I discovered quickly that Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat did not impact me negatively at all. It was a watershed moment I tried to share...to no avail.
Any honest person will concede that the markets have responded to the fad ‘diet’ craze for reasons unrelated to health but rather to profits.
My own wife will gripe about gaining weight and her other health problems while touting her GF products. I can’t even convince her. It’s insanity.
I have been able to tolerate regular processed flour products without negative impact for a number of years due to restored gut health, but do so rarely.
Wheat allergy is real and may be what many people who have “gluten sensitivity” actually have. Food allergies are common. Symptoms of an allergy to one food may be different than the alletgy symptoms of another food.
They altered the wheat to make it more productive, in order to feed the world. The stalks are top-heavy with kernels and bred to be short, so that they won’t break. This “dwarf wheat” is the stuff we eat nowadays. However, no attention was paid to the potential of other alterations accompanying the effort to make the stalks more productive. Thus, we now have all these medical problems tied by some to modern wheat.