An Examination of the Impact of Flour on Health

Guthrie surfaces many actualities of Grain in this article. Many revelations arise out of this article, amongst these is the fact that grain has the same effects as sugar. This can cause many issues with high consumption such as inflammation and blood-sugar imbalances. Flour is creating from crushing of grains, and most of our diets are depended on flour based things. Since flower is in nearly everything, such as bread, pizza, and even crackers, monitoring use or decreasing can be very difficult. Even in older times, flour consumption was part of the diet. Although, flour was not easy to obtain back in such times, grass seed was abundant claimed Guthrie. Grass seed, however, is contained in a very tough outer shell, but stones were used to extract the seed; giving us the original whole-grain flour. Flour should be restricted within our diets to help eliminate health issues (Guthrie,2012).

Whole kernel foods are much better for one’s body opposed to flour. Although, flour is much faster in the digestion process. This speed time causes several problems in one’s body, such as converting this flour into sugar, which inevitably causes insulin related issues. As we know, agriculture has changed increasingly throughout the years. Genetic modification is the new norm, and little research has been done on the effects of such. Even though the FDA has approved such mechanisms, all consumers should be skeptical. According to Guthrie: “Agricultural geneticists never asked if these new strains of wheat were suitable for human consumption. Their safety has never been tested.” One of the biggest changes in modern wheat is that it contains a modified form of gliadin, a protein found in wheat gluten (Guthrie, p. 1, 2012).

As we can see from this quote, the way of creating grains has been significant altered. Consumers should certainly take heed and research about such additives in the food they are consuming. This gluten gliadin releases a feel-good effect after consumption, this is somewhat comparable to the way drugs work. Guthrie claims that such feelings can cause a person to crave such foods. This can help explain why we constantly want pizza, or other bread like foods. One may question why farmers would do this to our food, and the answer to that is quite simple. If humans become addicted to such products, the company will make a killing, because consumers can somewhat not avoid these foods. Their bodies start craving them, and won’t stop until the food is consumed. To me, this is highly unethical, because food should not be addictive, especially harmful foods that contain this flour (Guthrie,2012).

The author then goes on to describe many other health related issues associated to the consumption of flour. Some of which included: metabolic slowdown, inflammation, GI disorders, food allergies/intolerances, and acid -alkaline imbalances. This helps explain why gluten was never a problem throughout history, until more modern times. We all know at least one person who is gluten intolerant. This is caused by these products that are being deemed “safe” by large agriculture corporations. Not only was thins information provided, but the author breaks it down even more. Listing numerous areas of the body that are altered by the consumption of such products. Body systems that were included are: pancreases, brain, blood, waistline, gut, and colon (Guthrie,2012). Although, such information is kept secret to consumers, by doing simple searches, one can find several articles discussing these issues. Since these large companies deny us the information, we cannot be ignorant to these issues. We must conduct our own research to save our health from these greedy industries. Industries that don’t care if we have health issues, as long as their companies prosper.

The author’s purpose of creating this article is to bring awareness to consumers. The author is very passionate about exploiting these big-time companies that care more about their pockets than the health of those who purchase their products. Many companies are like this, and greed seems to be the fuel force behind it. Although, the author claimed no research has been done on the new way of agriculture, a lot has been done since 2012. I remember watching Food Inc. which is a short documentary available on Netflix. This documentary briefs upon the food industry and genetically modified foods as well. Nearly everything we consume, contains some form of corn, mostly high fructose corn syrup. This is found in products ranging from ketchup to Twinkies. It is nearly in everything we consume, making it somewhat unavoidable. That is, unless we eat an organic diet. Because even fruit and vegetables are genetically modified in modern times. This documentary revealed how expensive it can be to avoid these new modified products. After reading this article, I am going to be more cautious towards what I eat. Even though these foods are delicious, they are addictive and very dangerous to our bodies. All people should familiarize themselves with ideas presented in this article.