| Answer: | Wheat is the number one culprit if you suffer from bloating and flatulence. This is because modern wheat has been hybridised over the last 2,000 years to contain more gluten, a sticky protein in wheat that produces a larger, fluffier loaf with less flour. The very high gluten content in modern wheat makes it hard to digest and can reduce the absorption of other nutrients in your intestines by turning into a sticky, gluey substance not unlike papier-maché which is, after all, just flour and water. But not all wheat is bad.
Spelt, the grain sometimes called ' Roman wheat' , is how wheat was before selective breeding. Spelt has a much lower gluten content, and is now widely available in healthfood shops as flour, bread, pasta and more. And kamut is an ancient Egyptian form of wheat, going back 3,000 years.
Studies in the Journal of Gastroenterology have shown that up to 20 per cent of dietary starch (such as wheat) escapes absorption in the small intestines. Thisis then completely digested by the bacteria living in your intestines, which produce various gases, causing bloating and flatulence. If you' re plagued by these problems, try cutting wheat out completely for 10 days, replacing it with other grains like rye, oats or rice. Then
reintroduce it (and have a lot), and see what happens.
If this shows you that wheat is causing bloating and flatulence for you, reduce it as much as possible, and in time (a few months, say) if you have it occasionally it shouldn' t cause you too much of a problem. |
