An extremely common gut irritant is wheat, or more specifically gliadin, the name for wheat gluten, found in modern wheat. It triggers the release of zonulin in the digestive tract which makes the
digestive wall more permeable, allowing complex proteins through, which can trigger an inflammatory reaction.

In that sense wheat may not be so great for any of us, but only a small percentage of people react. Also, many less react to ancient, genetically simpler forms of wheat. Part of the problem may be that modern wheat and wheat products have been substantially changed.

Some researchers have also found that when modern wheat is digested, it produces substances called gluteomorphins—small protein fragments that can affect the brain in ways that make wheat particularly hard to resist. The presence of gluteomorphins in the body has been linked to behavioural and emotional changes in some children, suggesting that modern wheat might be more than just a food—it can actually act like a stimulant for repeated cravings.

The effect of these gluteomorphins, created when you digest modern wheat, is that you want more. Wheat literally becomes addictive. Combined with the sugar load created by yeast-activated bakery products, and the subsequent blood sugar low, which stimulates appetite, modern wheat is literally an appetite stimulant, making you want to eat more. This is great for sales but bad for health.
There’s a good book, Wheat Belly by William Davis, which makes the argument as to why our modern day obsession with wheat is driving abdominal weight gain, although he fails to differentiate between the effects of modern wheat and ancient wheat such as khorosan.

When a child starts to gain abdominal fat, known as visceral fat, it triggers, or is part of, the body’s inflammatory response mechanism. This in turn, makes them both more likely to become
intolerant or allergic, and to develop inflammatory symptoms, the classics being headaches, eczema or dermatitis, asthma, irritable bowel diseases such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, rhinitis, arthritis and just about any other ‘itis’.

While the general view is that ‘gluten’ is the culprit this simplistic opinion doesn’t take into account a series of experiments carried out on an ancient khorasan wheat sold in the US as Kamut and used in Italy to make the best pasta. Technically it does contain gluten proteins and, as such, should promote inflammation. However, it doesn’t. In numerous studies it does the opposite.
A randomised double-blind study was published on people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), carried out by researchers at the University of Florence in Italy. The participants were given foods (bread, pasta, biscuits, and crackers) made from either modern wheat or Kamut wheat. They didn’t know what kind of food they were eating. During the modern wheat weeks, they had no improvement and continued to suffer from abdominal pain, bloating, tiredness and irregular and unhealthy bowel movements. However, when they were unknowingly eating khorosan wheat, everything improved. They reported significantly less bloating, abdominal pain, irregularity and tiredness, with a much higher overall measure of quality of life.

Also convincingly, markers of inflammation in the blood, known as pro-inflammatory cytokines which are usually raised in people with IBS, all reduced. This is exactly the opposite of what one would expect with conventional wheat, high in gluten proteins. This effect as seen in blood markers has been found in every human trial using Kamut khorosan, including in people with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and fatty liver disease. No studies have been done specifically on children but they are unlikely to react differently.

How to Implement Change

Today’s Challenge: Have your child go wheat gluten-free, perhaps having oat cakes and whole rye bread, such as Scandivanian style vollkornbröd instead. If that makes a difference to how they feel, and you can get hold of some khorosan flour or bread, often sold under the Kamut brand, see how they feel on this ancient grain even though it contains gluten.

📌 Next email: Gut Irritants: What to Reduce or Avoid

Wishing you and your child the best of health and happiness,

The COGNITION for Smart Kids & Teens Team