What’s The Deal With Grains?

Good summary on the problems with grain consumption and nutrition at Everyday Paleo, "What's the Deal with Grains?" Several good questions answered clearly.

But we NEED grains!  Grains are good for you!

On the contrary, grains are good for birds, but not us.  Mammals like you and I can’t quite stomach them (pun intended).  Here is the short story in highly oversimplified form.  Grains contain gut irritating lectins that damage the microvilli, or brush border, in our intestines, which then leads to the widening of tight junctions, a condition also known as leaky gut.  Leaky gut is the situation in which bigger particles than planned are allowed through the gut wall and into your body.  Some of these particles, especially the lectins themselves and gram negative bacteria, can be very problematic.  When your immune system discovers these interlopers it destroys them and creates an antibody to go hunting for more.  Unfortunately, the interlopers can sometimes resemble various tissues in your body and you become “autoimmune”.  Autoimmune diseases are situations in which your immune system has waged war against one or more of your own tissues.  Rheumatoid arthritis, cataracts, ankylosing spondylitis, Hashimoto’s disease, eczema, and celiac disease are just a few examples from a long list of autoimmune diseases that plague western society....

Be sure to check out the linked article by Dr. Loren Cordain on their site.