Anyone read Grain Damage?

[Myka]

Hi Guys,
Has anyone read the book Grain Damage by Douglas Graham? He advocates the elimination of all grains from the diet. One of many arguments is that if you are left in a wheat field you could not sustain yourself. Is corn a vegetable or a grain? Online it's mostly classified as a grain but corn is the only grain that tastes great raw so I'm wondering.

[VeggieMel]

I haven't read the book, Grain Damage, but I do know that most grains are not easily digestible, and that a lot of people are allergic to them, except when they have been sprouted. Grains have an enzyme inhibitor which is what causes the poor digestion and allergies. When the grains have been soaked and sprouted, the enzyme inhibitor is no longer present.

[Pink_Berry]

grains really help with my digestion... in a HUGE way...

weird.

[RawTruth]

Corn isn't a grain; it's a vegetable.

And ... I don't eat any grains at all.

Pink_Berry -- are you saying that raw sprouted grains help your digestion?

[Shona]

Corn isn't a grain; it's a vegetable.

People tend to use corn as a vegetable, but it is actually a grain.

Shona :)

[pizda]

Corn by itself is a practically useless vegetable. Very little nutritional value and starchy (high GI). I eat saoked buckwheat kasha. It considered a grain, but in essence it is a seed of flower. It is loaded with nutritiotions and has GI - 50.
The problem with grain - is glutten. The most valuable part of grain - is bran.
Sprouted grain is better, but it is still a grain.
Geoff Bond has interesting chapter on this subject.

[Helen Of Tennessee]

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761559467/Corn.html

Corn or Maize, common name for the cereal grass widely grown for food and livestock fodder. Corn ranks with wheat and rice as one of the world’s chief grain crops, and it is the largest crop of the United States

[Punky]

I do much better off of grains although I do eat them occassionally
because they are addicting! Whenever I stop eating them for a while
my stomach doesn't look bloated. I function better.
My oldest son has been on a gluten- free diet for 4 years now.
Gluten is found in wheat, oats, rye and barley.
He only eats corn occassionally since he is food sensitive to it.
He does still eat rice.
I have "Grain Damage" but haven't read it all yet; but I truely
believe we do not need grains in our diet to be healthy at all.
I lean towards the theories that they do more harm than good.
Celiac disease is more common than people realize...

[Pink_Berry]

no i dont eat any sprouted grains.


i re-introduced cooked qunioa and oats back into my what once was 100% raw for over a year diet!

my digestion is working fabulously.. not that it was " bad " before.. its just better now.
my stomach is flat, my abs are showing.. and i have such endurance and power!
quinoa is a gluten free grain, so is rice.
oats are not, but i seem to do very well with those as well, even tho i dont eat them on a regular basis.
cooked quinoa is the only thing " cooked " right now in my diet.

but after a year of being 100% and a year before that basically being 99%... i feel much better now not stressing over my food! mentally and physically.
if i eat a couple of roasted salted cashews, i dont lose sleep over it.. know what i mean? :)

gluten free grains seem to do me real well! i have no intention of introducing any other type of grain into my diet.. besides maybe millet, which is also gluten free! but even way back in the day... grains have never done me harm.
i think everyone is different. just like some are allergic to nuts, others arent.
ive got a freind whos volently allergic to kiwi and pears. so does that make them harmful to everyone? no.

[Pink_Berry]

and i believe most everyone is right, that corn is indeed a grain!



its been considered a grain in my family for hundreds of years! .. shouldnt say hundreds ;) LOL!... but long ways down my family.. from my moms side.. it was always a " grain " subsitute for noodles or rice.. ect. it was never a " vegetable " side dish.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I've read Grain Damage, very educational and well written.

Corn might depend on it's ripeness. If it's fresh, it could be a vegetable. When it's hard, it's more like a seed. I'm sure a botanist would know.

[rawpriestess]

Sorry, I haven't read grain damage,

and I do believe that corn is a grass/grain it grows much in the same way as millet.

On a stalk, and the "seeds" drop into the leaf cavities, and they produce a pod, or ear as it were.

I've grown corn, and we now have black millet, and it looks alot like corn, only tiny.

So, although I am not positive, I do belive it is a grass/grain, and I reserve the right to change my mind, based on outside testimony. LOL
*****************
but I did see a cool archeological show once (back in the old days, when I had TV) and it talked about when maize (corn) was brought into the North Americas from Mexico, all of a sudden, the natives had tooth decay, broken bones, and were dieing off at early ages. They didn't have these ailments until corn was presented to them.

Before, they did have ground flat teeth, from all the chewing they did, and the other grains they ate, but with corn, it made their bones brittle, gave them cavities (none were found before) and they died off at early ages.

The archeologists could tell this from the skeletons, and they could tell it was when corn was introduced, because of the debris piles outside of the villages, and there were lots of corn debris at this site during this time frame, but not before. It was around the Mississippi delta area, and it was a few hundred of years ago.

Pesonally, I love corn, raw with a little salt and olive oil, but that is me, and I enjoy it, so I eat it, I love Alissa's enchiladas too, so I do eat them occasionally as well. Corn and all.

[Punky]

my digestion is working fabulously.. not that it was " bad " before.. its just

.... grains have never done me harm.
i think everyone is different. just like some are allergic to nuts, others arent.
ive got a freind whos volently allergic to kiwi and pears. so does that make them harmful to everyone? no.

Absolutely-- I agree that not everyone is sensitive to grains....
but a lot of people are to gluten or Whole Foods wouldn't carry such an
extensive array of gluten free products. ***Always go with your intuition
and experiment with your diet and see how you function.*** Funny thing is
I thought my son had reactions to certain foods behaviourial and when
he was officially allergy tested I was right on with several foods.
I do not have to medicate my son (not that I am against it or judge others--just our walk) because I have worked so hard
on his diet...people that meet him now at age 8 would never guess
he had lots of autistic and ADHD traits...my uncle saw him for the 1st
time in 5 years this weekend and was very surprised and commented " he communicates so well"...my son is mainstreamed in public school for the
last year and I never told the school of his past difficulties.
I think he expected that he didn't change and the diet was bull...
Of course behavioural issues is just one type of manisfestation of
food sensitivities...it can be the cause of many other types of health
issues...
Go with your intuition if these foods agree with you.
When I mentioned I was sensitive I should of been more exact with gluten
type grains; i do ok with sprouted grains and non gluten grains in moderation.
Oats is interesting...it's classified as containing gluten, BUT that's because
of cross contamination. The celiac association has approved some oat type
products now depending on the source.
Sorry so long....just passionate about diet and the changes it can make
in ones life! My life has evolved around my son's strict diet for
4 years; I am a little passionate and obsessive on this topic.
I am sure alot of you can relate!

If anyone thinks they may be gluten sensitive here's a good website to read thru in your spare time:

Dr. Fine is a raw foodest as well.
He's the one that planted that seed of raw food; I use to belong
to his organic food coop years ago.

http://www.finerhealth.com/Educational_Info/Gluten_Sensitivity/

he also runs a lab that tests for gluten sensitivity; yes I have
been tested and I am sensitive. fyi--I had no outword signs though like typical celiac disease (diarrea, weightloss, bowel issues). Mine showed up
with tiredness and malabsorption of nutrients in the intestines.

Peace and good health! :)

[Punky]

http://www.celiac.com/celiacdisease.html

Celiac Disease Information

Celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance, is a genetic disorder that affects 1 in 133 Americans. Symptoms of celiac disease can range from the classic features, such as diarrhea, weight loss, and malnutrition, to latent symptoms such as isolated nutrient deficiencies but no gastrointestinal symptoms. The disease mostly affects people of European (especially Northern European) descent, but recent studies show that it also affects Hispanic, Black and Asian populations as well1. Those affected suffer damage to the villi (shortening and villous flattening) in the lamina propria and crypt regions of their intestines when they eat specific food-grain antigens (toxic amino acid sequences) that are found in wheat, rye, and barley3. Oats have traditionally been considered to be toxic to celiacs, but recent scientific studies have shown otherwise. This research is ongoing, however, and it may be too early to draw solid conclusions.

Because of the broad range of symptoms celiac disease presents, it can be difficult to diagnose. The symptoms can range from "mild weakness, bone pain, and aphthous stomatitis to chronic diarrhea, abdominal bloating, and progressive weight loss.3" If a person with the disorder continues to eat gluten, studies have shown that he or she will increase their chances of gastrointestinal cancer by a factor of 40 to 100 times that of the normal population4. Further, "gastrointestinal carcinoma or lymphoma develops in up to 15 percent of patients with untreated or refractory celiac disease3." It is therefore imperative that the disease is quickly and properly diagnosed so it can be treated as soon as possible.

[Punky]

Myka, I will dig out my Grain Damage book and report back to you on my opinion of it...hope I didn't hyjack your thread too much with all this gluten
sensitivity info! As for corn, I always thought it was a starchy vegetable
like potatoes; but it being a grain would make sense to me totally since
it grows so much like a grain and is used like a grain in animal feed and baked goods too.
Either way in moderation and if not sensitive/allergic to it I think
it's fine. Raw foods is already restrictive enough; if you enjoy and feel
fine after eating it let that be your guide. I love corn but don't know how
nutritious it is?!?! Don't eat enough to care ;-)


ok, my last post on gluten sensitivity...this is copied from Dr. Fine, M.D. site:


My research has shown that up to 35% of individuals are immunologically sensitive to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and oats. This has been linked to almost every autoimmune disease known including asthma, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, psoriasis, autoimmune liver disease, to name just a few. With such a high percentage of this sensitivity in the general population, and since the need to avoid gluten (if present) has such a major impact on dietary choices, I recommend gluten sensitivity testing for everyone. However, there are particular groups of people (mostly patients with specific diseases) who are at particularly high risk for gluten sensitivity. These diseases include:

* Microscopic colitis
* Relatives of gluten-sensitive individuals
* Gluten-sensitive individuals 1 year after treatment
* Chronic diarrhea of unknown origin
* Hepatitis C
* Autoimmune liver disease
* Other causes of chronic liver disease
* Dermatitis herpetiformis
* Diabetes mellitus, type 1
* Rheumatoid arthritis
* Sjogren's syndrome
* Lupus
* Autoimmune thyroid disease
* Any autoimmune syndrome
* Asthma
* AIDS
* Osteoporosis
* Iron deficiency
* Short stature in children
* Down's syndrome
* Mothers of kids with neural tube defects
* Female infertility
* Peripheral neuropathy
* Seizure disorders
* Irritable bowel syndrome
* Inflammatory bowel disease
* Gastroesophageal reflux disease
* Autism

Some nutritionists recommend avoiding grains all altogether because they are immunogenic, possess very little natural nutrients, and bind other essential minerals and elements in the intestine, thereby preventing their absorption.

[sean lee]

Hello, I used to eat rolled oats as the media and lots of other people say they are healthy but afterwards I did not feel too well. Then I tried steel cut oats, same problem.
Then thankfully I meet someone who told me about the raw-vegan lifestyle.
If I ate any cooked food it would not be oats, my body usually feels sick afterwards.

[ebonysea7]

I love oats. They're one of the few grains I still eat along with bulghur (tabouli). I soak the raw oats in almond milk and add a little sweetner. I find it very soothing. But, just like so many other things in life, different strokes for different folks. What's good for the goose may not be good for the gander. We each march to a different drummer. Shall I go on? :rolleyes:

/gfj