Are Aphthous Ulcers caused by Cereal Grains?

This I have ventured into the unexplored lands of nutrition and disease, I have had almost no more aphthous ulcers. I the last year I had maybe three times:

• In December 2012, when I ate cookies containing grains and egg
• In April 2013, after eating dairy and bread
• Now (August 2013) after eating bread

So the common theme seems to be cereal grains causing my mouth ulcers – not eggs, and not dairy. Finding out what causes my ulcers is more difficult than the cause of my acne: In the case of acne, I get an reaction within 6 to 12 hours, and this happened almost every time. But with ulcers, it is a bit different: when I ate bread and dairy daily, I would go one month, two month, maybe three month between an ulcer outbreak. I have seen a clear reduction after going to eat "low carb" Atkins, but nutrition is so much than just "carbs", so much more I did not know to look out.

Anecdote: Even Gluten-Free Bread Does Cause Unwanted Symptoms

Yesterday evening, my mother made some gluten-free bread. I had not eaten any form of cereal grains in a long time and wanted to try it out. After I had eaten a nice (but not excessive) portion of this gluten-free bread, I started to get some unwanted symptoms:

• First of all within maybe 15 to 20 minutes I started to get (mildly) sweaty, without any apparent cause – it wasn't particularly warm, and I did not do any unusually demanding physical activity which would explain this
• On the same evening, I noticed a very very slight case of heartburn
• Then now, at 4 in the morning I awake (something I had not done in a long time; Now in summer I usually awake at around 7), slightly sweaty, and with a slightly stronger case of heartburn than yesterday

Needless to say, I feel – after that little sleep – more awful than usually.

So this is my interpretation:

1. Whatever the cause, it is not caused by gluten – as the bread was gluten free
2. Whatever the cause, it is not caused by carbs (or starch) – as I have been eating (lots) of potatoes and glucose in the last weeks
3. I have to assume, that the symptoms are the direct result of eating this piece of gluten-free bread

The "Whole Grains are Healthy" Myth

Fat Head:

Every time I tracked down a study purporting to prove the benefits of whole grains, the comparison was between people consuming whole grains and people consuming white flour. All we can determine from those studies is that whole grains aren’t as bad for us as white flour. To prove whole grains have real benefits, we’d have to compare people who eat whole grains to people who eat no grains.

… Well, here’s one study that actually measured changes in heart-disease risk factors after feeding subjects whole grains (WG):

A total of 316 participants … were randomly assigned to three groups: control (no dietary change), intervention 1 (60 g WG/d for 16 weeks) and intervention 2 (60 g WG/d for 8 weeks followed by 120 g WG/d for 8 weeks). Markers of CVD risk … were: BMI, percentage body fat, waist circumference; fasting plasma lipid profile, glucose and insulin; and indicators of inflammatory, coagulation, and endothelial function. …

120 grams of whole grains … that’s a lot of hearthealthywholegrain goodness. Now let’s look at the results:

Although reported WG intake was significantly increased among intervention groups, and demonstrated good participant compliance, there were no significant differences in any markers of CVD risk between groups. A period of 4 months may be insufficient to change the lifelong disease trajectory associated with CVD. The lack of impact of increasing WG consumption on CVD risk markers implies that public health messages may need to be clarified to consider the source of WG and/or other diet and lifestyle factors linked to the benefits of whole-grain consumption seen in observational studies.

Yes, I’d say the public-health messages regarding whole grains need to be clarified. Here’s my version of the clarification:

Sorry … turns out we were wrong about the whole-grain thing.

Type 1 Diabetes – Dairy and Gluten to blame?

Environmental agents and type 1 diabetes
…
The most investigated dietary component associated with type 1 diabetes is cow-milk protein. Exposure to cow milk in early life (e.g. because of lack of breast feeding) has been linked with type 1 diabetes in humans and diabetes-prone BB rats. However, there is inconsistency in the studies, perhaps due to the variable composition of milk, with genetic variation in cow proteins. The findings are also consistent with the existence of a subset of milk-sensitive diabetes-prone individuals. Immune tolerance to insulin might also be compromised by early exposure to cow milk, which contains much less insulin than does human milk.

Wheat gluten is a potent diabetogen in BioBreeding (BB) rats and NOD mice, animal models of type 1 diabetes. Between 5% and 10% of type 1 diabetic patients have gluten-sensitive enteropathy (coeliac disease) and many more have antibodies to transglutaminase, a circulating marker of coeliac disease. Wheat may therefore be involved in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes, possibly inducing subclinical gut inflammation.
…

Or how about this:

An abrupt change in the incidence of type 1 diabetes after the migration of Polynesians to New Zealand was suggested most likely to result from the early introduction of dairy products into the infant diet, accompanied by an earlier weaning in New Zealand (Elliott 1992). A positive correlation has been reported between per capita consumption of unfermented milk proteins in populations worldwide (Scott 1990) or fluid cow milk consumption in children aged 0 to 14 years and incidence of type 1 diabetes (Dahl-Jørgensen et al 1991, Fava et al 1994). In addition, countries with the lowest prevalence of breast feeding at 3 months of age had the highest incidence of the disease (Scott 1990).

What’s Wrong With Wheat?

The Problems with Modern Wheat from Mark's Daily Apple (Mark Sisson):

… Wheat avoidance tends to be the rule in our circle. Still, though, haven’t you had that moment where someone asks “What’s wrong with wheat?” and you mutter something about gluten and the advent of agriculture that doesn’t really sound convincing, even to you? Consider today’s post a crash course in exactly why modern wheat in particular is a problem. To borrow a horrible concept that has helped politicians and their cronies obfuscate the truth for decades, these are “talking points” to which you can always refer when asked. The only difference is that these talking points are based on actual research.
…

It’s less nutritious.
…
Between 1843 and the mid 1960s, the mineral content, including zinc, magnesium, iron, and copper, of harvested wheat grain in the experiment stayed constant. But after that point, zinc, magnesium, iron, and copper concentrations began to decrease – a shift that “coincided with the introduction of semi-dwarf, high-yielding cultivars” into the Broadbalk experiment.
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It’s more damaging to celiacs and gluten-sensitives.
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So what’s the deal with modern wheat? Well, celiac disease is on the rise, and some researchers have suggested that this is caused by the prevalence of certain gluten proteins that predominate in the new varieties of wheat.
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It’s prepared differently.

Consider how bread is made today:

With refined, old (often rancid) white flour instead of freshly ground wheat.

Using quick rise commercial yeast instead of slowly fermenting with proven sourdough cultures.

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