The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy" Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain

by Steven R. Gundry

CHANGE

wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). Just to be clear, WGA is not associated with gluten; rather, it is found in bran. This means that white bread contains gluten but not WGA, while whole wheat bread contains the double whammy! Wheat germ agglutinin is an especially

1. Behaves like insulin, disrupting normal endocrine function by pumping sugar into fat cells, where the sugar soon turns to fat, resulting in weight gain and the development of insulin resistance. 2. Blocks sugar from getting into muscle cells, creating still more body fat, and starving muscles of nourishment. 3. Interferes with the digestion of protein. 4. Promotes inflammation by releasing free radicals, which can thin the mucosal lining of the gut. 5. Cross-reacts with other proteins, creating antibodies that can induce autoimmune responses. These antibodies are distinct from those formed by a reaction to gluten. 6. Crosses the blood-brain barrier, taking with it other substances to which it has bonded, and causing neurological problems. 7. Kills cells, without distinguishing between normal and cancerous cells. 8. Interferes with the replication of DNA. 9. Causes atherosclerosis, the hardening of arteries from a buildup of plaque (which is never mentioned in conventional medicine). 10. Enables entry of influenza and other disease-causing viruses into the body from the gut by bonding to the sialic acid in the mucosal lining. 11. Contributes to the development of nephritis, or kidney inflammation.15 So how do you avoid WGA? Simply steer clear of whole-grain bread and other whole-grain

“Breaching the Gut Wall”, “A Clue Emerges” and “Who Let the Dogs Out?

Glucosamine occurs naturally in your body and is found in the fluid that surrounds and cushions joints, where it serves its role as one of the building blocks of cartilage. Glucosamine binds to WGA, relieving or eliminating the inflammation and therefore the pain. Taking glucosamine sulfate in supplement form has a salutary effect for many, but not all people. The reason it is effective is not because it magically relieves joint pain, but because it binds WGA and other lectins in the gut, which are then eliminated before they can enter your body. To break the vicious circle of

That’s because yeast ferments and destroys the lectins in wheat, taming their effects. And guess what? In France and Italy, where bread is produced by traditional yeast-rising techniques, almost all the bread is white, not whole wheat. It contains gluten, which has been digested by the yeast, but no WGA.

Finally, when whole grains are used in processed foods, including bread and breakfast cereals, it is necessary to add dangerous preservatives such as butyl hydroxytoluene (BHT) to block the oxidation of the polyunsaturated oils in those whole grains. I’ll get to BHT and its cousins soon, but for now, let’s just say that you might as well be spiking your bread or cereal with estrogen. These oils reside in the germ of the grain. Unlike a saturated fat such as coconut oil, polyunsaturated fats are always on the lookout for oxygen atoms with which to bond, and when they

do, the fat can become rancid. Rancid

There are many reasons you want to avoid BHT—among them the fact that it is a major endocrine disruptor, acting like estrogen. This is the last thing in the world you want your kids to be consuming, because estrogen prompts fat storage; it also promotes early puberty in girls and “boobs”

“restorative medicine” refers to medical practices that enable the body to heal itself rather than just treat the symptoms of disease.

I had modified from the one in my earlier book, Dr. Gundry’s Diet Evolution, and advised them to remove