Health&Wellness Magazine August 2014 | Page 11

For advertising information visit www.samplerpublications.com or call 859.225.4466 | August 2014 Industrial Farming & The Green Revolution Advancements in farming and food production in the 20th century may have wrecked wheat. In the 1950s and 60s the Green Revolution led to the development of highyielding varieties of cereal grains, expanded irrigation infrastructure, modernized management techniques, and distributed hybridized seeds, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to farmers. Norman Borlaug, considered the father of the movement, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and credited with saving 1 billion lives. Borlaug pioneered new “improved” species of semi-dwarf wheat, that when combined with complimentary fertilizers and pesticides increased yields spectacularly. This amazing new farming technology was propagated around the worlds by companies like Dupont and Monsanto and most people in the mid-20th century anticipated the end of hunger. Plant breeders changed wheat in dramatic ways. Once more than 4 feet tall, the modern wheat grown in 99 percent of wheat fields around the world is now a stocky 18 inches (1.5 feet) tall with an unusually large seed head. Applying new technologies to improve efficiency and output to help eradicate hunger is an instinctually grand goal. Unfortunately, the processes in cultivation and milling have had unforeseen or unpredicted negative nutritional consequences. This intense crossbreeding created significant changes in the amino acids in wheat’s gluten proteins. The gliadin protein has also undergone changes through crossbreeding. Compared to its pre-1960s predecessor, modern gliadin is a potent appetite stimulant, per Dr. William Davis, preventative cardiologist and author of the 2011 book, Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health. He also believes the new gliadin proteins may be connected to the rise in inflammatory diseases. Scientists are now connecting modern wheat with nearly all chronic digestive and inflammatory illnesses. Early evidence suggests that modern wheat’s new biochemical code causes hormone disruption that is linked to diabetes and obesity. The Results & Understanding The Gluten-Free Craze Dr. Davis maintains “this thing… called wheat…ain’t wheat.” Instead, it’s a distant relative of wheat that is “genetically and biochemically lightyears removed from the wheat of just 40 years ago.” Dr. Davis and those in his camp assert we have mutant seeds grown in synthetic soil and bathed in chemicals that are deconstructed and pulverized into a fine dust, bleached