Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 12:15AM
The Argument Against Cereal Grains - part 1
Archevore - Archevore Blog - The Argument Against Cereal GrainsWhat is a cereal grain?
Cereal grains are seeds of monocot grasses that have been artificially selected by humans to serve as food. The ones that cause the most trouble, and constitute the biggest part of European and North American diets, are the gluten grains Wheat, Barley and Rye. I use the term gluten grains to signify primarily wheat barley and rye, but spelt, triticale and other less common grains, and some argue, oats are also gluten containing. One factor complicating gluten grain avoidance is the fact that non- gluten grains can often be contaminated by being processed on the same equipment as gluten grains.
How about other grains? Corn, rice and other non-gluten grains are carbohydrate heavy have antinutrients that interfere with mineral absorption and offer no nutritional advantages over animal products and non-seed vegetables in a food-abundant (non-subsistence) environment. As these non-gluten grains were also not consumed in important amounts in the Paleolithic period, the healthiest strategy is just complete grain avoidance.
That’s what I do generally. I have a little corn or white rice now and then, but no wheat, barley or rye if I can help it.
Here is the argument against gluten grains. [etc]
