Can Eating Wheat Affect Mental Health and Carrot Jam

Carrot Jam

Food Diary (August 25, 2011)

Breakfast: Rolled oats with nectarine, coconut, flax seeds and sunflower seeds

Lunch: Lutefisk in tomato sauce with pasta

Dinner: Muesli, sourdough toast with carrot jam

Baking/sweets: Carrot Jam

Carrot jam is not something I heard of previously. You have jam made from pretty much any fruit, some vegetables and even meat like bacon. Since I had plenty of carrots in the refrigerator I gave it a try and managed to find some recipes on the internet. It started with a good disaster, instead of jam I ended up with ‘carrot candy’ – bits of dried carrot coated with candy. It was really delicious to eat, though it was not what I was looking for. I managed to successfully rescue the failed carrot jam and ended up with a jam. It was a happy ending, just like it happens in most movies. Sorry about the quality of the picture. The recipe is available here.

Lutefisk in tomato sauce with pasta

Today's Favourite Photo

Source: Ang Sarap

Steak and Cheese Pie

Today’s Favourite Blog

Source: Care2

A rather shocking article titled “Can Eating Wheat Affect Mental Health?”

Whole grains are usually associated with good health. However there is a large body of evidence indicating that whole grains, and whole wheat in particular (including organic), can contribute to significant physical and mental health problems.

Gluten intolerance or celiac disease (CD) is well known. However excessive wheat consumption can be associated with depression and Alzheimer’s disease, just to name a few. 

Wheat contains high amounts of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), a glycoprotein classified as a lectin. Studies indicate that WGA has a number of health-harming characteristics and activities including Pro-inflammatory, Neurotoxicity, Immunotoxicity etc. I don’t know what these words mean but it does not sound like something I was to have! 

Most people fail to realize that your gut is quite literally your second brain, and actually has the ability to significantly influence your mind, mood and behavior. WGA can damage both your gut and your brain in various ways. Your gut and your brain are actually created out of the same type of tissue. During fetal development, one part turns into your central nervous system while the other develops into your enteric nervous system. These two systems are connected and work in tandem, each influencing the other. This is why your intestinal health can have such a profound influence on our mental health, and vice versa. No wonder when we are hungry we don’t think well!

A number of studies indicate that wheat can have a detrimental effect, promoting depression and even more serious mental health problems such as schizophrenia. Increased immune sensitivity to gluten has also been reported in schizophrenic patients, and the connection between gluten intolerance and schizophrenia has been established for over 20 years.

One mechanism that can help explain the mysterious connection between wheat and mental health problems is the fact that wheat inhibits production of serotonin. Therefore, it actually makes perfect sense to nourish your gut flora with probiotic foods and supplements to maintain optimal serotonin function, as it can have a profound impact on your mood, psychological health, and behavior.

Note that this is a short summary only. The source article is quite long and detailed, and I have excluded many important details. There were too many big words that I did not understand! What is my conclusion from reading this? The importance of maintaining a balanced diet, not too much grains, not too much of anything. So we can still have cakes and cookies, though not everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am not qualified to give you advice, I am not even qualified to give myself advice. This article is a summary of what I read and is not intended to be advice.

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