In a recent article in the Star Tribune, the author provided some interesting facts on U.S. wheat.

Robin Asbell, a Minneapolis-based chef, teacher, cookbook author and culinary adviser to the Whole Grains Council, wrote an article in a question and answer format. Her article gave me the opportunity to check my knowledge about the grain and surrounding current issues. I hope, too, it was eye-opening for those who blame wheat for everything from obesity to autism.

Here is an edited version of the article. I encourage you to read the entire article at http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/289337601.html

-Gluten is a protein present in certain grains.

Wheat, barley, rye and triticale are all grains that contain two forms of protein — glutenin and gliadin — which, when mixed with water, form gluten protein. When a leavening agent, such as yeast or baking powder or soda, is mixed into a dough that contains gluten, it creates gas bubbles. The springy strands of gluten stretch to contain the bubbles, then harden in the heat of the oven to hold an open crumb.

-The number of people with celiac disease has gone up very little.

In the past 35 years, nationwide celiac diagnoses have risen from 0.21 percent in 1975 to 0.91 percent in 2000. This is less than 1 percent of the population, or about 3 million people. This rise parallels similar increases in all immunological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, Type 1 diabetes and asthma. There are many theories regarding the increase. One possibility may be the bacterial balance of the gut. Having and maintaining a healthy balance of good bacteria in the gut may be protective against developing celiac disease. Once you have celiac, the only treatment is to stop eating gluten, and you remain celiac for life.

-A growing group of people are considered to have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, which has created some controversy.

According to the Center for Celiac Research, up to 6 percent of the population may have gluten sensitivity. These are people with symptoms similar to celiac disease, but who do not test positive for celiac. Experts are divided on this issue. There are currently not the same kind of widely approved diagnostic tools for this that there are for celiac. For people suffering from digestive problems, another culprit in wheat, called FODMAPS (Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols), may be causing the problem, not the gluten. A doctor's visit for tests needs to rule out celiac disease, not self-diagnosis.

-Many current ills, from heart disease to allergies, are made worse by chronic inflammation in the body.

Chronic inflammation is caused by the immune system responding to a perceived irritant or injury. For people who are celiac or allergic to wheat, eating wheat would trigger inflammation.

-None of U.S. wheat is genetically modified and the gluten is about the same as a century ago.

Wheat is an important export for American farmers and they have worked to keep wheat GMO-free so that other countries that ban GMOs will buy it. It’s true that any food labeled organic is not GMO. According to an Oklahoma State University professor, pre-1940s bread wheat ranged from 11.7 percent protein in the southern states and 13.4 percent protein in the north, and those levels have not changed. Today’s wheat has 98 percent of the same genes as ancient wheat. Plants can only express proteins that they have the DNA code to produce, so they can’t make gluten that is different from the gluten of their ancient predecessors.

-Wheat and obesity are not related. In fact, whole wheat is good for maintaining a healthy weight.

If you eat too many calories, you will gain weight. But there is no proof that calories from wheat are any more fattening than from any other food. White and whole-wheat breads, like all carbohydrate foods, do have an impact on blood sugar, but it is comparable or less than potatoes or white rice. In real life, you combine bread with high fiber vegetables and the fats from your meal, and the bread has less of an effect on blood sugar than it would alone.

-We do eat less wheat than in the past.

In the U.S., average wheat consumption in 1830 was about 170 pounds per year, and it grew to a peak of 230 pounds per year in the 1870s. Consumption dropped consistently after that, down to 110 pounds in the early 1970s, when it rose again to around 140 pounds. It’s dropped a bit since then. If wheat alone caused obesity, Americans in the 1870s would have had an obesity crisis, but that didn’t start until 1980.

Overall, a very good article, I thought. It contained a lot of solid facts.