Weeding out Wheat Review

Are you concerned that wheat might be causing some of your stomach upset, acne and even depression? Food is a sacred gift, but what do we do when our food is making us sick? Maybe Weeding Out Wheat can help you answer those questions.

Personal Lessons Learned

I have struggled with various health problems associated with grain for several years without understanding the source of the problem. I’ve struggled and read and cleansed and there are so many things I’ve learned. Some of those lessons include:

• the value of ancient grains over modern hybrid-GMO ridden ones
• the importance of soaking and sprouting the grains we eat
• the benefit to be had by reducing our grain consumption overall

The Benefit of Weeding Out Wheat

Weeding out Wheat by the Gilkersons will help anyone learn more about the topic of wheat and how it relates to the many health problems that plague our society. Some of those wheat-based problems can include:

• anxiety
• depression
• acne
• acid reflux
• arthritis
• immune disorders

Why stop there when there are so many other problems that may have their root in a wheat intolerance or, at the outside, be exacerbated by how much wheat we eat. Weeding out Wheat will give you the lowdown on all the things you may have been wondering about with wheat.

What’s Wrong With Wheat?

Weeding out Wheat educates the reader on the three typical “problem children” in wheat: gluten, lectin and phytates. In their own way, each of these can play a role in the aggravation of a system sensitive to wheat. This aggravation can lead to an unhappy gut system that becomes victim to several problems, including yeast overgrowth. To read more on yeast overgrowth, click here.

Think You Don’t Have a Problem With Wheat?

I truly hope that you don’t have a problem with wheat and are among those that can eat it, properly prepared, with no ill effects. However, the symptoms of wheat intolerance don’t always present in ways you pick up on easily. Weeding out Wheat will help you identify some symptoms that might indicate you have a problem.

The Gilkersons don’t just bag on wheat and then leave you without information on what to do about it.

1. They cover the various foods you should be eating in order to maintain health and well being.
2. They explain the many wonderful whole foods options that can and should fill your plate.
3. They also discuss how to properly prepare grain when you do choose to eat it.

Health in the Navel

There are also a meaningful discussion for the Christians or Bible-believers among us regarding wheat/bread consumption and whether or not abstaining from wheat is a righteous thing to do.

Does provision of wheat mean we are under a spiritual obligation to eat it?

This whole dialog was fascinating to me because, being LDS, I’m used to connecting my health and well being with my spirituality. Part of the doctrine I believe in is a law of health called the Word of Wisdom, which I accept as scripture. This law gives us a list of things we should and shouldn’t eat. It promises great treasures of knowledge and health as we obey it.

Some people are called upon to learn through physical trial, it’s true. But I believe that God wants us to be healthy and many of us are struggling with health problems needlessly. If we’d only connect our diet to our health and our spirits to our happiness, we’d be so much better off. We’d stop living beneath our privileges in matters of health and well-being.

Overall Impressions of Wedding Out Wheat

I think the information in Weeding out Wheat is presented in a balanced way  I also think that the basic message is valid:

• you and I are responsible for our health
• we need to be proactive about how we maintain it
• and honestly look at wheat as a possible problem.

I believe that there’s no one right way to eat for every person since we’re all so different. But I also think that wheat consumption, especially improperly prepared wheat, is plaguing more people than consider it a possibility.

I don’t feel that all grains and legumes should be eliminated unless you feel led to try that for a time. However, I do believe we certainly need to consume less wheat as a people. For some of us, complete abstinence may need to be adopted, at least until healing is achieved. It isn’t all or nothing for everyone – try a little of this, and a little of that. Plus, not all the members of even the same family will react the same way to wheat.

What Wheat Looks Like at Our House

I really can’t eat wheat right now. I can do a little if it’s soaked, sprouted or sourdoughed, but I still have to be careful not to eat too much. Our family has drastically reduced our wheat consumption overall, too.

For a kefir-fermented bread dough recipe, click here.

To learn about soaking grains, read this book. Or, this one.

For a fantastic beginner’s sourdough recipe (it is NOT bread), click here.

For a great no-knead sourdough bread recipe, click here.

Amen to the reminder that Weeding out Wheat gives us about traditional grains preparation methods. As well as the counsel to eat an increasingly varied, whole foods diet in order to absorb more nutrients from our food overall.

No one thing works for all people and that’s why personal prayer/reflection is so important for each person. We need to be more responsible with our health and stop assuming that our doctor will find that answers. It’s my body and my responsibility to take care of myself.

I didn’t necessarily agree with everything, 100% of the time while reading Weeding Out Wheat, but I think the authors’ points were well presented and I can see how they reached their conclusions. So can you because there are NINE pages of references for you to do further reading, if you like!

On their website, Intoxicated on Life, the Gilkersons have set up a resources page for the book, too. It has cookbook recommendations, recipes, blogs and other sources for more information.

Trisha from Intoxicated on Life sent me this copy for review and I’m so happy she did and equally happy to tell you about it!