I read an interesting article on Mercola.com today called The Critical Role of Wheat in Human Disease about another potential problem with wheat consumption. The danger in this case comes, not from gluten, but from lectin, which is found in all seeds of the grass family (rice, wheat, spelt, rye, etc.):
Lectin is a type of ‘wheat germ agglutinin’ (WGA) and glycoprotein. Through thousands of years of selectively breeding wheat for increasingly larger quantities of protein, the concentration of WGA lectin has increased proportionately.
WGA is largely responsible for many of wheat’s pervasive ill effects.
What’s more, WGA is found in highest concentrations in “whole wheat,” including its supposedly superior sprouted form.
What is unique about the WGA glycoprotein is that it can do direct damage to the majority of tissues in your body without requiring a specific set of genetic susceptibilities or immune-mediated articulations.
As Mercola says:
Lectin is a defense mechanism for the wheat plant, designed to ward of its natural enemies such as fungi and insects. Unfortunately, this protein is also very resistant to breakdown by living systems, and it easily accumulates in tissues where it interferes with normal biological processes and acts as an anti-nutrient.
Typically, sprouting, fermenting or digestion can help to negate some of the harmful effects of such anti-nutrients (as in the case of fermenting soy, which removes many of its anti-nutrient properties). However, lectins are resistant to these types of processes.
For this reason, lectins exist even in “healthy” sprouted breads and may be in their highest concentrations in whole-wheat varieties.
Mercola notes some of lectin’s dangerous qualities in his commentary, saying that lectin is, among other things:
- Pro-Inflammatory: WGA lectin stimulates the synthesis of pro-inflammatory chemical messangers, even at very small concentrations.
- Immunotoxic: WGA lectin may bind to and activate white blood cells.
- Neurotoxic: WGA lectin can pass through your blood-brain barrier and may attach to the protective coating on your nerves known as the myelin sheath. It is also capable of inhibiting nerve growth factor, which is important for the growth, maintenance, and survival of certain target neurons.
- Cytotoxic (Toxic to cells): WGA lectin may induce programmed cell death.
Mercola goes on to say that WGA lectin may even:
- Interfere with gene expression
- Disrupt endocrine function
- Adversely affect gastrointestinal function
- Share similarities with certain viruses
The article on Mercola’s site was sourced from an article on GreenMedInfo.com called Opening Pandora’s Bread Box: The Critical Role of Wheat Lectin in Human Disease.
You can read Mercola’s article in its entirety here.
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