Grains - Friend or Foe? The topic of grain consumption is a hot one. There is a school that says we should eliminate them completely and another that says they should make up the backbone of our diet.
The no-grain school say’s that our bodies have not the machinery to process them as our bodies are still similar to Fred Flintstones, and their diets mainly consisted of meat and vegetables. What they fail to address is that wild grains and seeds have been found to have been consumed by early man (Nourishing Traditions, page 474).
But grains were not consumed to the extent we do today nor prepared the same as today. In our desire to produce grains as quickly as possible we failed to address their shortcoming as our ancestors did. Grains are known to contain anti-nutrients, which if not neutralised leech the body of essential nutrients from the bones and muscles.
How did our ancestors solve this problem?
They allowed the grains to sprout – soaking them overnight destroys many of the harmful anti-nutrients that cause havoc to the digestive system. This is the same as with legumes, which is still actually practised quite regularly for similar reasons.
One of the other problems with some grains is gluten.
Gluten and casein (milk protein) are two of the most difficult to digest.
How many people are affected with gluten or casein intolerance?