Health&Wellness Magazine August 2014 | Page 10

10 & August 2014 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net | Like us @healthykentucky Modern Wheat By Angela S. Hoover, Staff Writer In his New York Times bestselling book, Dr. William Davis calls modern wheat a “perfect, chronic poison” that is not a health food, is making us fat and wreaks havoc on our digestive tracts. Grain has been a part of the human diet for 10,000 years. Some argue that grain is the foundation of civilization. Grains have been traditionally stored in whole kernel form and milled fresh until relatively recently. We used to eat several different types of grains but now only eat a variety of wheat that is high in gluten and wholly transformed from what it was in ancient times. What we grow, the way we grow, and the way we process and eat grains has changed dramatically since the Industrial Revolution. Two distinct technology revolutions have profoundly changed everything about modern grains: milling and farming. Industrial Milling Industrial milling gave birth to the processed food industry. In the 1870s, the invention of the modern steel roller mill transformed grain milling. Compared to old stone methods, it was fast, efficient, and gave fine control over various part of the kernel. Instead of just mashing it all together, the component parts of the kernel can be separated, allowing the purest and finest of white flour to be easily produced at low cost. Prior to this ability, white flour was known as “rich people’s flour.” This now cheap, popular and easy to mass produce flour shipped and stored better, allowing for a long distribution chain. Not only can it keep almost indefinitely, pests were no longer a problem. Now we know why white flour is mostly pest-free: it is stripped of all its vital nutrients. The wheat kernel contains bran, germ and endosperm that are the richest in proteins, vitamins, lipids and minerals but wheat milling methods used to produce white flour eliminates these portions of the wheat kernel. In just 10 years nearly all stone mills in the Western world were replaced with the new steel roller mill. This was the beginning of processed food and our industrial food system where vast quantities of shelf stable food products are produced in large factories many months and many miles from the point of sale and consumption. Cardinal Hill “Cardinal Hill Home Care is an extension of the quality care offered by Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital” Serving Fayette, Franklin, Jessamine, Madison and Woodford Counties (859) 367-7148 www.cardinalhill.org