If there is one area of nutrition that has everyone confused, it’s which fats and oils are truly healthy.

Widespread use of canola oil is a prime example of this confusion run amuck.

Just Google “Canola Oil”, and you’ll find advice ranging from “It’s poison! Don’t ever consume it!” to, “It’s the world’s healthiest cooking oil”.

Or take a trip to your local natural foods store, and you will be greeted with a variety of organic foods containing canola oil…and a select variety boasting a “canola-oil-free” label.

So, is canola oil healthy…or not?

To the contrary. In fact, next to soy fake foods and artificial sweeteners, it’s the biggest fake-health-food to ever infiltrate our food supply.

Read on to find out the history and science behind why canola oil became so popular, how to avoid it, and what to use instead.

What is Canola Oil is Made From?

Canola oil gets its name from the two words: “Canadian” and “oil”.

In the 1970s, Canadian scientists used genetic manipulation to turn rapeseed oil (a popular pesticide at the time) from a dangerous, inedible product, into the ‘heart healthy, omega-3-rich” canola oil we know today.

The oil was made edible by removing two key compounds known as: erucic acid (a fatty acid known to cause heart lesions) and Glucosinolates (which gave the oil an unpleasant bitter flavor).

What’s wrong with this picture? Three Key Things…

#1: The extraction process used to make most canola oil requires high heat. This renders the omega-3 fatty acids rancid, and therefore incredibly bad for your heart and cell health. Heat it again for cooking, and you double your dose of rancid fats.

#2: Highly toxic chemical solvents, such as hexane and bleaches, also used in the extraction process remain in the end-product in trace amounts.

Trace amounts may seem safe, but if you cook with canola oil every day, 365 days a year, you wind up consuming a lot more than a “trace amount” of these chemicals.

#3: Despite its engineering, canola oils still contains trace amounts of heart-damaging erucic acid. More on this to come…

Why the labels “Organic”, “Non-GMO”, and “Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil” Don’t Matter…

Though it is estimated over 90% of canola oil crops in the United States and Canada are genetically-modified¹, you can find organic, non-GMO, expeller-pressed-canola oil.

But that doesn’t make it better.

You are still consuming a genetically-manipulated, highly-processed oil that contains low-levels of erucic acid (the compound mentioned above that causes heart lesions).

Now, our friends at “Big Agriculture” would have you believe these trace amounts are nothing to worry about.

Yet, there have been no human studies done to demonstrate the cumulative effects of canola oil consumption.

Conversely, animal studies have shown that regular consumption of canola oil creates vitamin E deficiency, which causes an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and shortened lifespan.².

Another study showed that even in low amounts, the erucic acid found in canola can cause heart lesions³.

Plus, if you’re using expeller-pressed canola oil for cooking, that heat will cause oxidation of those omega-3s resulting in a rancid product.

How to Avoid Canola Oil in Your Favorite Natural Foods

Avoiding canola oil in any food requires paying serious attention to labels.

Just recently, I ordered what appeared to be an olive-oil-based mayonnaise from an online natural food store. It had a picture of olives and a notation implying the olive oil was significant. I have been an avid label reader since I was a teen (nerd alert, I know), however I let my guard down on this one.

Imagine my dismay when I opened the box, read the label, and found it was loaded with canola oil!

The lesson: read labels thoroughly, including your favorite organic, natural foods brands.

The Best (and worst) Canola-oil Alternatives for Cooking

Neutral-tasting canola oil is advertised to be wonderful for everything—from deep frying to salad dressings.

However, choosing an alternative isn’t as simple as switching to another neutral-tasting vegetable oil, like safflower or soybean oil.

Why not?

Because many vegetable oils are produced using that same high-heat, chemical solvent extraction process.

This creates a highly rancid, pro-inflammatory, free-radical producing nightmare of a fake food you want to steer clear of.

Instead, choose healthy fats and oils that fall under these three guidelines:

• Are high in anti-inflammatory fatty acids (omega-3s)
• Are stable and not rancid
• Minimally processed or cold-pressed
• Organic

The Best Fats Oils for Cooking:

• Virgin coconut oil (for low-to-medium heat cooking and baking)
• Refined Coconut oil (for high heat cooking and baking)
• Extra virgin olive oil (for salads, and low-to-medium heat cooking)
• Pasture-raised butter (for low-to-medium heat cooking and baking)
• Clarified butter or ghee (for medium to medium-high heat cooking)
• Avocado oil (for salads, low heat cooking)

In addition, a high-quality fish oil, cod liver oil, or plant-based EFA oil like evening primrose or borage, can go a long way in helping supply those much-needed anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids.

There is much more to say on the topic of healthy fat vs. unhealthy fat, omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratios, and why vegetable oils should be avoided (despite what we’ve been told).

However, if you can start by just replacing canola oil with one of the healthy oils or fats listed above, you are taking significant steps towards better health and nutrition.

And if enough of us start doing this—just like GMOs—the food companies will notice and start taking canola oil out of our favorite products.

Until then, read labels carefully and enjoy in good health!

-Dr. Patricia.

One of the most frequent questions I receive from patients is: “Do I have to give up sugar to get well and stay healthy?”

The issue of sugar is a huge area of concern for most people when it comes to their health and happiness.

In fact, many of my patients delayed seeking the health advice they needed, for fear of being told they had to give up their sweet treats for all eternity.

And I’ll admit, the integrative health field does have a reputation for vilifying sugar to the extreme.

Fortunately, times and opinions have changed a lot. And the truth is, most people need not sacrifice all types of sugar and sweeteners to resolve health issues, prevent disease and maintain their well-being. The key is to eat a variety of delicious and healthy proteins, vegetables and good fats throughout the day, and let the sweet stuff be an occasional treat.

One thing hasn’t changed though: white sugar and artificial sweeteners are still undesirable choices for those wishing to overcome disease and maintain their health long-term… 

So, what are some of the best natural sugars and sweeteners to support your health in the 21st century? Let’s take a look at 5 considerations:

#1: Coconut  Sugar

This relatively new-kid-on-the-block comes from the sap of coconut blossoms, and is an excellent choice for those with stable blood sugar for 3 reasons:

1. Unlike white sugar, which is completely stripped of its nutrients, coconut sugar contains beneficial trace elements like iron, potassium, and zinc, antioxidants and polyphenols.
2. You can use it 1:1 in place of sugar in baking, coffee, etc. Just keep in mind, it has a dark color and brown-sugar flavor.
3. It’s affordable. A bag of organic coconut sugar will set you back about $3.00-$4.00.

While coconut sugar is not appropriate for diabetics, if you do have other blood sugar issues like metabolic syndrome or Type 2 diabetes, check with your healthcare professional to see if you can enjoy small amounts of coconut sugar.

For the rest of us, enjoy in moderation. Even though it’s a natural sugar, you can overdo it.

#2: Stevia

While it’s been around for years as a supplement, stevia is still my #1 choice when used sparingly.

Stevia comes from the stevia plant, which is native to South America, where it has used by native peoples for centuries as a natural sweetener and blood sugar balancer.

Despite its very good purity and safety record, it was banned as a sweetener (but allowed to be sold as a dietary supplement) in the United States until very recently. Now, stevia has earned GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status from the FDA for use as a sweetener¹.

Stevia advocates argue this decades-old ban had nothing to do with Stevia’s safety, but is believed to have been the result of influence from the artificial sweetener industry—since Stevia presented a serious threat to their market share.

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusion about that, but it does make one wonder: if it was safe enough to be sold as a dietary supplement, why was it held back as a sweetener for so long?

These days, we can buy stevia and stevia blend sweeteners in nearly any supermarket…and they vary in quality.

When choosing quality stevia, I suggest looking for 100% pure organic stevia.

A couple brands to consider are:

• Stevita Simply Stevia—organic stevia powder with no fillers grown within a sustainable cooperative of small Brazilian farms
• SweetLeaf stevia packets—stevia powder with inulin, a natural prebiotic fiber

Both of these brands also carry liquid stevia products (which are helpful for making natural sodas and sweetening your coffee and tea) and stevia blends.

#3: Raw Honey

I truly believe we’ve only begun to understand the far-reaching health benefits of raw honey.

Loaded with enzymes, minerals, antioxidants, and disease-fighting/allergy-reducing properties, raw honey is an incredible choice for non-diabetics.

Look for 100%, sustainability raised raw honey from a trusted source.

While most raw-honey producers follow humane practices, due to the rise in popularity and demand, it pays to know your bee keeper.

If you want the allergy-reducing benefits of raw honey, be sure to choose local honey from a trusted source.

#4: Maple Syrup and Maple Sugar

Maple syrup and sugar are my #3 choice for non-diabetics.

Derived from the pure sap of maple trees, this amber elixir is loaded with trace minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants.

It’s also lower on the glycemic index than white sugar², which is a bonus for your energy and insulin levels.

A couple things to note when buying maple syrup:

#1: There have been rumors circulating that maple syrups could contain formaldehyde. This was due to paraformaldehyde pellets which were traditionally used to plug the tap holes in trees.

As it turns out, those pellets cause irreparable damage to the trees, and thus were made illegal. So, you don’t need to worry about formaldehyde.

#2: Look for 100% pure maple syrup—some companies dilute-down pure maple syrup with sugar water or corn syrup to make a cheaper, inferior product.

#3: Maple syrup labeling has changed since 2015. While you used to be able to find “Grade A”, “Grade B” or even “Grade C” varieties, now all maple syrup is “Grade A”.

If you want the B or C grades, which are touted as having higher nutritional value and often used in cleansing tonics, look for the label:

• “Grade A Very Dark Color/Strong Taste” which is formerly “Grade B”

Or contact the company to get their recommendation.

One final note: while the price tag of maple syrup may seem high, you will use a lot less than regular table syrup. You can also save big by buying in bulk or at your local price club.

#5: Dates and Date Sugar

Despite their incredible flavor, nutritional profile, and natural sweetness, dates don’t get a lot of love in the natural sweetener space.

However, date paste and date sugar make excellent natural sweeteners for baking, coffee, and a variety of other sweets.

And, for some people with blood sugar issues, whole dates can usually be enjoyed in moderation.

You can buy date paste ready-made or whip up a batch yourself and use it in select cakes, cookies, tarts, etc.

As for date sugar, you can use it 1:1 in place of sugar in baked goods, but keep in mind it will have a dark color and date flavor making it unsuitable for some desserts and palates.

We’ve come a long way since the days of no-sugar diets and hard-to-find stevia extract supplements.

But remember, just because a sugar is “natural” doesn’t mean you can’t overdo it. The key is to use sweeteners sparingly and enjoy sweets as a treat, not a daily indulgence.

Note: Sugar alcohols are another category of sweeteners; we will cover that in a future post.

If you find yourself craving any and all types of sugar frequently, there may be other underlying causes at play, it is wise to seek assistance from a health care professional. We will cover this topic in a future post.

My wish for you going forward, is that this information will help you find the appropriate natural sweeteners to maintain your health and happiness for the long-term.

In health and happiness,

-Dr. Patricia

Imagine yourself strolling through the natural food section of your local grocery store looking for some dinnertime inspiration, when suddenly you find yourself in the chip aisle.

There you are, surrounded by a plethora of colorful organic, salty, yummy, crunchy goodies.

Your mouth starts to water as your eyes dart from sweet potato chips to wild rice chips to organic multigrain chips…and you think to yourself, “Does it really matter which one I pick? As long as it says “organic” or “all natural” it’s pretty healthy right?”

Given the wholesome reputation of organic products, one would think so. But the answer is, those chips are probably NOT healthy.

The somewhat unfortunate truth is the organic/natural food industry has gone mainstream.

This is wonderful for raising awareness about eating well and increasing availability of healthful foods. BUT, when the big food players start buying up small companies and appealing to the masses, the integrity and quality of the products often suffer.

For many, if not most big brands, garnering mass appeal means making a beloved natural or organic snack food just a teeny bit less processed than its mainstream cousin.

Perhaps they use organic flour instead of conventional, add a little brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup, or toss in a few organic ingredients.

While the differences are subtle, the labeling can be misleading.

We’ll get to our 5 easy steps to outsmart pseudo-healthy snack foods in just a moment, but before we do here’s what you need to know about labeling to help protect yourself (and your wallet) from fake snack foods:

A crash course in organic/all-natural food labeling

• A product labeled: “made with organic ingredients” must be made with 70% organic ingredients and 100% non-GMO ingredients.

This is a good thing…but that does NOT mean the product is free from unhealthy fats, emulsifiers, or thickening agents like carrageenan, unsavory non-organic ingredients, or “natural” flavors (we will get into more about natural flavors below).

• Products that bear the USDA Certified Organic label must be made up of 95% organic ingredients.

BUT that means up to 5% of the product may be made up of non-organic, questionable ingredients. Also, I must point out that an unhealthy food, such as white flour or sugar, is still unhealthy whether it’s organic or not.

• Perhaps the most misleading label of all reads, “all natural”. According to the FDA, “all natural” products cannot contain artificial preservatives or additives

So, that is some good news. However, “all natural” also pertains to any substance, adulterated or not, that originates in nature.

For example, corn is “natural”, therefore so is GMO corn or high fructose corn syrup.

Same goes for the sawdust—marketed as “cellulose”—added to foods as an anticaking agent. It comes from trees, therefore is considered “natural”, and MSG—an allergen and known excitotoxin—also falls under this category.

With all these labeling loop-holes and bizarre ingredients masquerading as “natural”, how does a health-conscious person chose quality, healthy snack foods?

It’s actually pretty easy when you follow these easy steps.

5 Easy Steps to Outsmart Pseudo-Healthy Snack Foods

Step 1: Be fastidious about fats.

Look for snacks made with coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, sesame oil, avocado oil, organic butter, ghee, and walnut oil.

Avoid snacks with highly processed oils such as canola (even GMO-free, organic canola is still bad news), cottonseed, corn, or soy. Slightly better options include peanut, sunflower, and safflower oil.

Palm oil, similar in composition to coconut oil, was once considered a healthful choice but it is no longer an ethical one.

The palm industry is responsible for the endangering of orangutans due to deforestation¹. So PLEASE just say no to palm oil products.

Insider labeling tip: often a snack food will advertise that it is made with a healthy fat, such as potato chips “made with extra virgin olive oil”, but that may mean it has been cut with a lesser oil…like canola. So be sure to read labels carefully.

Step 2: Scrutinize sweeteners.

Look for brown rice syrup, raw honey, tapioca syrup, stevia*, xylitol, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and monk fruit.

Avoid, sugar, evaporated cane juice, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, turbinado sugar, agave, and especially artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose aka Splenda®, Acesulfame K aka acesulfame potassium, neotame, and saccharin.

Insider labeling tip: Many stevia products are not pure stevia but a combination of stevia and erythritol.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol added to stevia products to make them cheaper for the manufacturer. It is generally well tolerated and safe for diabetics but can produce mild GI issues such as gas and bloating.

Erythritol is one of those ingredients that isn’t super healthy in that it is processed and devoid of nutrients, but is a lot better than its alternatives: refined GMO sugar and artificial sweeteners. For this reason, I tell my patients to enjoy it in moderation.

Bottom line on Stevia: Chose pure stevia products, like Sweet Leaf®, most the time. If it’s a choice between artificial sweeteners, white sugar, or a stevia/erythritol mix go for the stevia mix.

Step 3: Just say “no thanks” to natural flavors.

This is a BIG concern with both all-natural and organic snack foods.

The term “natural flavors”, as we touched on briefly above, covers a wide range of chemically-altered, addictive, and downright gross ingredients such as:

• Shellac made from bugs—to give snack foods that shiny finish.
• Excretion of beaver urine and anal gland—known as “castoreum” used as a flavor enhancer in vanilla, strawberry and raspberry ice cream, puddings, gums, etc.
• GMO-corn products—such as maltodextrin.

If it comes from “nature” it’s fair game under the “natural flavor” label.

Organic foods are not allowed to contain artificial preservatives, dyes, or chemicals, BUT natural flavors are allowed as long as they don’t make up more than 5% of the food product.

This gets tricky with organics. Ethical companies won’t use the term “natural flavors” on principle. and if they do they will usually disclose what the natural flavor actually is on their website or label.

However, with more and more natural food companies being bought up by big food it pays to be vigilant.

Step 4: Go no-GMO! Look for the Non-GMO Project Verified label. If there is no label, scan for any GMO hot-button ingredients.

According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association², approximately 80 percent of packaged foods contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Though controversial, studies have linked GMOs to a number of health concerns from gastrointestinal issues to cancer.

Ingredients to watch out for include corn, potatoes, sugar (approx. 95% of all sugar beets are GMO crops), pineapple, canola, tomatoes, arctic apples (newly released in 2017 to test markets, these GMO apples never brown), zucchini, cotton, papaya, alfalfa (think about cows eating this and how that translates to dairy products), and soy.

In 2013 the USDA approved voluntary labeling of non-GMO food products by the non-profit nongmoproject.org.

This was a huge victory for the natural food industry, and sent a message to big agriculture and big food. Thousands of food products from hundreds of companies have or are in the process of being verified for labeling…including Costco and WalMart!

There have been several victories for the non-GMO camp in the past year including Vermont being the first state in history to mandate GMO labeling, six counties in California (and counting) banned GMO crops, and the World Health Organization listing glyphosates (the leading pesticide used in GMO crops) as a probable human carcinogen of which the FDA is now investigating³.

Step 5: Finally, don’t forget about flour.

Organic or not, white flour or high-gluten flour should be avoided.

Whole spelt flour, einkorn flour, or sprouted flours containing shorter chains of gluten and less antinutrients would all be a better choice.

Gluten-free flours such as brown rice flour, non-GMO potato starch, almond flour, millet flour, quinoa flour, oat flour, coconut flour, or tapioca flour are preferable to whole wheat flour.

Now you’re ready to snack real-healthy

Don’t let misleading labeling take the fun or nutrition out of healthy snacking.

Follow these five steps, practice mindfulness and balance when eating, and you’ll be on the road to righteous snacking in no time.

Need more inspiration? Here are some of my favorite healthy snacks:

• Organic, fair-trade, 70% dark chocolate (need an excuse to enjoy chocolate once in awhile? Check out my post 7 Reasons to Enjoy Chocolate—Without the Guilt! on Huffington Post).
• Zevia cola (100% stevia-sweetened soda as an occasional cold, fizzy, pick-me-up).
• Mary’s Gone Crackers gluten-free crackers with guacamole.
• Kale chips, such as Brad’s Raw Chips (delicious!).
• Baby carrots or cucumbers with organic hummus.
• Raw almonds with dates…for some reason this combination is just delightful.

Here’s to happy, healthy, stress-free snacking!

-Dr. Patricia

Additional Reading and Watching:

For information on GMO labeling, including a list of verified companies and products, check out nongmoproject.org; and for an invaluable on-the-go reference, download The Institute of Responsible Technology’s free Non-GMO Shopping Guide.

For a good laugh about a particularly disturbing “natural flavor”, check out “FoodBabe TV’s Do you Eat Beaver Butt?”.

Get an eye-opening look at who really owns our natural food brands, by checking out this chart by The Cornucopia Institute.

References:

Have you been told, or suspect, you may have a gluten sensitivity?

The gluten-free diet, once reserved for those with celiac or the very progressively health-conscious to soothe digestive complaints, has become a wildly popular attempt to lose weight, increase energy, and help heal a variety of chronic diseases.

The reason is: gluten can contribute to inflammation, which leads to gut health issues and opens the door for chronic and autoimmune disease.

However, the idea that everyone should abstain from all gluten is controversial.

After all, there are many nourishing foods, such as barley, oats, and einkorn, that contain gluten.

Plus, humankind has consumed and thrived on glutenous foods since Biblical times: “give us this day our daily bread”…why all the fuss about gluten today?

There are many theories and opinions on why an estimated 5% of the population has become full-blown gluten intolerant, and why millions more suffer from gluten sensitivity.

But, for those without full-blown celiac disease, I always question whether gluten is the real culprit…or could it be wheat?

In today’s post, I will share with you the research on why I sense the majority of people without Celiac disease are actually suffering from a wheat intolerance due to the insidious pesticide (banned in 5 countries and counting): glyphosate.

Plus, we’ll cover exactly which type wheat I recommend everyone avoid to prevent chronic disease (and why) and what types of wheat you can eat instead.

How Glyphosate Has Made Wheat Toxic to Humans

Up until recently, I had been scratching my head trying to figure out why more and more patients could no longer tolerate whole grain bread.

A few years ago, patients without gluten sensitivities could typically switch from eating white flour products to whole wheat and see marked improvements in their health…but this is simply not the case anymore.

Based on feedback from countless patients who had traveled abroad and indulged in breads, pastas, and pastries without the digestive issues they experience here, I knew it couldn’t be a gluten issue. So, what the heck was going on?

Like many of my integrative doctor and nutritionist colleagues, I have suspected big agriculture may have been genetically-modifying wheat crops here in the United States.

But, after reading everything I could get my hands on about GMOs, I found that was (thankfully) not the case…or not exactly the case.

What my research did reveal was the real, little-known reason so many of us are allergic or sensitive to North American wheat: glyphosate pesticides…and lots of it.

The Glyphosate Wheat Harvest

As it turns out, it is standard practice for conventional wheat farmers to routinely desiccate their crops with huge amounts of glyphosate pesticides right before harvest (eeeek!).

The rationale for this practice is the glyphosate helps quickly ripen and dry out the wheat which makes it easier to harvest, increasing profits and reducing labor costs for farmers.

The obvious problem with this practice for consumers is glyphosate pesticides have been officially banned in 5 countries due to their negative health effects. In my own state of California, a judge recently ruled the state could apply a cancer-warning label to glyphosate products.

And thanks to research conducted by Dr. Stephanie Seneff, a senior research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), we now know glyphosate pesticides play a huge role in gluten and wheat intolerance (among other health issues)¹.

Which explains why so many people can enjoy wheat overseas in some countries where it is not used, but not here in American where glyphosate is approved for free use on crops.

Let’s take a look at how glyphosate contributes to wheat and gluten sensitivities.

How Glyphosate Pesticides Cause (or exacerbate) Gluten and Wheat Sensitivities

Without getting overly technical, here’s how the glyphosate-wheat-gluten-gut-health-allergy chain works.

According to Dr. Seneff’s research as published in the Interdisciplinary Toxicology journal²:

“Glyphosate, patented as an antimicrobial, has been shown to disrupt gut bacteria in animals, preferentially killing beneficial forms and causing an overgrowth of pathogens.”

That means glyphosates wipe out your beneficial gut bacteria, kind of like antibiotics except they specifically target the good bacteria.

As we’ve discussed in previous posts, a well-diversified gut microbiome is essential to strong immunity, digestion, and your body’s ability to keep inflammation in check.

If that gut bacteria is regularly targeted by things like glyphosates, antibiotics, NSAID drugs, etc., it leaves you vulnerable to conditions like leaky gut syndrome, which can easily progress to food sensitivities and even full-blown autoimmune conditions, if left unchecked.

So eating foods like wheat, which are dowsed with glyphosate pesticides and likely not cleaned very well before being milled into flour, is a surefire way to start degrading your gut health and open the doors to food sensitivities.

But that’s not all.

Dr. Seneff’s team also found glyphosates negatively affect our bodies in two other significant ways:

1. By chelating out essential minerals like iron and cobalt,
2. and interfering with cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes.

The implications of mineral deficiencies include digestion issues, among other things, and by inhibiting the cytochrome P450 enzymes, glyphosates essentially interfere with your body’s ability to detoxify³. This means every other toxin you consume or are exposed to becomes that much harder for your body to get rid of.

And what does toxicity lead to in the human body over time? Inflammation, disease, and food intolerance.

As you can see, the amount of antimicrobial glyphosate in wheat products is a big deal when it comes to digestive health and your gut microbiome.

And, in Traditional Chinese Medicine and other disciplines, your digestive health is seen as a reflection of your overall well-being.

I often wonder, based on this convincing research: how many people would have been spared a full-blown gluten-allergy or Celiac diagnosis, had they known to stop eating North American wheat products early on?

Thankfully, unless you have full-blown celiac or need to refrain from gluten per doctor recommendations, there are specific wheat products you can enjoy without exposing yourself to the detriments of glyphosates.

Healthier Glyphosate-Free Wheat Alternatives for Non-Celiac Individuals and Families

First off, you can try eating organic whole wheat and see how you fare, but it’s not my first recommendation.

My concern with organic wheat in this country is it is still a highly-hybridized product with a lot more gluten and starch than it had several hundred years ago.

So, while you won’t get the negative effects of glyphosate by eating organic wheat, there are healthier, more nutritious choices available such as:

• Einkorn—if you haven’t tried Einkorn flour yet, you’re in for a treat. This is the oldest, unhybridized wheat in the world, and was recently re-discovered in Italy and brought to the United States. It’s much lower in gluten than traditional wheat, super-nutritious, and can even be enjoyed by those with certain autoimmune conditions when prepared as a sourdough (but check with your practitioner). It is considered the “purest” form of ancient wheat.
• Spelt—spelt has been around for centuries and, though not typically unhybridized, it does have shorter chains of gluten, is rich in nutrients, and easier to digest than conventional wheat. It’s also typically a bit more affordable than Einkorn, and easy to cook and bake with.
• Kamut—kamut is a lot like spelt, rich in minerals, easier to digest, and easy to bake with.

There are other gluten-containing and non-gluten-containing flours you can try like red wheat, amaranth, millet flour, coconut flour, gluten-free flours, and teff, but the above are my top 3 favorites in terms of flavor, nutrition, and ease of use.

You can find these flours and their products in natural food stores or online.

In closing, I would encourage you to check out Dr. Seneff’s research on glyphosates (which you can read about in this link or Google her as she has some good YouTube footage), as she is one of the most progressive researchers and champions when it comes to exposing the health detriments of these toxic pesticides.

I hope this post has shed some light on the cause behind the rapid rise in gluten and wheat sensitivities in our culture, and given you some food-for-thought when it comes to choosing the best types of wheat products to prevent disease and support good health.

Who knows…perhaps after reading this post and consulting with your practitioner you can once again enjoy a slice of nourishing daily bread (einkorn, spelt, or kamut respectively).

In health,

-Dr. Patricia