Weight gain in the American population 1960-2000

[Ruby the Liberal]

72. Another thing happened in the 1970's

And don't give me 'woo'. I have celiac sprue.

A scientist won a Nobel prize for his work to eradicate hunger and starvation by genetically modifying wheat. It went from 4' to 18" and the volume allowed for 10x the number of plants to grown in the same square footage. I can't recall the name off the top of my head - but he saved a LOT of lives.

For 90%+ of the population, this was/is a non issue. For those of us with leaky gut, crohns, celiac and others - it was toxic.

Funny thing happened though - a bunch of people found out that eliminating this new wheat allowed them to lose weight almost effortlessly, which led to the whole low carb, then paleo, now gluten-free diets. Not for health reasons, but because it allowed them to shed pounds they have been fighting for years.

HFCS, "low fat" (flavor replaced with carbs like HFCS), and modified wheat are all to blame IMO. Those beasts are insidious and practically in EVERYTHING we consume.

Oddly, while I will get incredibly ill for a few days after consuming a trace of gluten, about a year ago, I ate a homemade wheat bread made by a friend who had grown it from some heirloom seeds from the 1950s and it didn't bother me at all. Blew my mind. I only wish that these "safe" seeds were readily available.