We already know that for most of us gluten is not a good thing, but did you know that besides the gluten aspect of wheat it also contains what some call a “Super-Carbohydrate,” or “Super-Starch?” Wheat is made up of chains of glucose (sugar), which are called polymers. These polymers are made mainly of chains of branching glucose units called amylopectin, and a smaller amount of linear chains called amylose. Both amylopectin and amylose can be digested by the salivary and stomach enzyme, amylase, but amylopectin is more readily digested and broken down into glucose during this process than in amylose. Amylose can make it’s way to the colon undigested much more often, thus having less effect on the body’s blood sugar levels. Since amylopectin is broken down easily into glucose it raises the blood sugar in the body. We also know that a lot has changed to the structure of grains over the last few years. Bread products have become more “fluffy.” Even bread labeled, “Whole Wheat,” is soft and gets stuck to the top of your mouth. So what has changed?
“We eat dwarf wheat, the product of genetic manipulation and hybridization that created short, stubby, hardy, high-yielding wheat plants with much higher amounts of starch and gluten and many more chromosomes coding for all sorts of new odd proteins. The man who engineered this modern wheat won the Nobel Prize -- it promised to feed millions of starving around the world. Well, it has, and it has made them fat and sick.” –Mark Hyman, MD
I came across a website created by Dr. Davis on the difference between the different forms of Amylopectin. Although I searched for more information and research on the different forms, I was unable to find a lot of information. To me what Dr. Davis is describing makes sense, but I guess my disclaimer is to take this information that I am presenting with a grain of salt.
According to what I learned on Dr. Davis’s website the starch that we now find in wheat is called amylopectin A. Amylopectin has various structures, which alter the amount of amylopectin that can be broken down by amylase, remember the more amylopectin that can be broken down affects the amount of glucose that the body will have to deal with. Amylopectin A, what is found in wheat, is the most digestible form of Amylopectin. Other forms such as Amylopectin C and B are less digestible. Amylopectin C is the lease digestible and is found in legumes. This is why many people experience gas or bloating after consumption of beans. The undigested amylopectin is able to make it’s way down to the colon, where bacteria loves to feast on the undigested starches generating lots of lovely gas. Amylopectin B is more digestible than the C form but less so than the A form, and is found in founds such as bananas and potatoes.
So the short, but not so sweet version of all this information is pretty much that wheat is making us fat. Regardless if it is white bread or whole wheat bread they are both raising out blood sugar. Two slices of whole wheat bread now raise your blood sugar more than two tablespoons of table sugar. Beware of labels advertising whole wheat or whole grain, many of those products are already loaded with sugar and they are trying to use those claims to mask that fact. Blood Sugar dysregulation is a huge issue that can lead to obesity, inflammation, diabetes, fatty liver, or other not so favorable things.
Pura Vida!
Alica Ryan, NTP
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