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Healthy Handful: Reasons to avoid wheat

Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

wheatWhat? Avoid wheat? At first glance, this post doesn't seem to make any sense. Aren't we supposed to be eating a lot of whole grains?

If you choose to be a grain eater, there are plenty of ways to indulge in whole grain goodness -- quinoa, spelt berries, millet and buckwheat, just to name a few. But you may want to rethink wheat.

1. Wheat can cause nasty headaches. Try avoiding wheat and see if your migraines go away.

2. Wheat can be contaminated with myotoxins, a natural fungus that can cause health problems like diabetes, asthma, even cancer.

3. Intolerance to wheat can be connected to repeated miscarriages. If this is a problem for you and it is undiagnosed, you may have a problem with gluten.

4. The herbicides used on wheat may be linked to birth defects.

5. Eating wheat can increase your chances of dying of lymphoma if you have a hidden intolerance to wheat, and may also increase your risk of heart disease, arthritis and osteoporosis.

Yikes! You might try avoiding wheat for a month or so and then add it back, keeping track of your symptoms along the way. If you feel better avoiding wheat, then you probably should. There's always brown rice pasta and spelt bread.
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