We normally include grains in our shopping lists while visiting the best online grocery store in Pakistan, thinking that our food supplies are incomplete without a portion of grains. But did you know consuming grains is associated with weighing down your digestive system and people with gut related conditions and autoimmune disease are told to eliminate them from their diet? We know for sure that humankind has been consuming grains for a long time now and we have managed to survive without giving up on them. If our ancestors were to suffer from autoimmune or degenerative conditions because of eating grains we would not have come about since for them grains were probably an even larger portion of the diet given the lack of choices.

The idea is well debated and we have all seen whole grains at the foundation of different food pyramids so let’s take a deeper look at why grains are so difficult to digest particularly if the person has a condition related to the gut. Grains are touted as being healthy for your heart but it is also true that they are the most difficult ones to break down. It is due to the same reason that they can damage the small intestine and lead to terrible outcomes for the immune systems, thereby causing degenerative disease.

As you sow so shall you reap?

One of the basic things to note about grains is that they are actually just seeds. If nature made something in a manner to stay intact in the soil and gradually blossom into plants with the right nutrients, water, etc. it really does not strike as something meant to be broken down by your digestive system. It is due to the same logic that in archaeological remains of old civilizations from thousands of years ago seeds, like of date plants and others, are often found intact because they need the necessary conditions to be able to grow. As a parallel, you can consider grains to be nature’s own prison or a stronghold that follows its own protocols and is protected against any breach from our digestive processes by design. Cows have four stomachs and even they can’t break down grains.

Absorbing nutrients through healthy digestion

By and large all grains contain phytic acid which is an anti-nutrient that blocks mineral absorption in the small intestine, our cells obviously need minerals and this can cause problems not just with the digestive system but also for the rest of the body. If we continue to consume incorrectly prepared grains it can result in cardiac issues, bone loss, etc. because of the minerals that got lost. Most of the items that we add while shopping for online grocery delivery in Karachi like rolls, sandwiches, crackers, breads, etc. are not produced in a manner that can be fully digested without some kind of fishy business. Same goes for whole grains and organic items prepared by contemporary techniques.

Another problem with grains in reference to digestion issues is that they generally contain enzyme inhibitors, which prevent enzymes from carrying out their regular functions. Enzymes catalyze digestion and jump start the processes of breaking down your food. Imagine them as the car’s ignition, if you remove it or if it becomes faulty the car won’t start. Same is the case with enzymes and digestion. The surge in cancer and pancreatic disease could also be somewhat linked to excessive consumption of ill-prepared grains. There are double sugars present in grains, also referred to as disaccharides. When the gut is compromised these disaccharides cannot be digested. This is because the cells on the wall of the gut called enterocytes produce an enzyme that is responsible for breaking down these double sugar molecules. When these cells are not nurtured properly they can also cause cancer or other disease.

Weak enterocytes are unable to absorb food or carry out proper digestion, so they are crucial in terms of the significance for overall health. Furthermore, there are also complex proteins found in grains while whole grains have them in a higher proportion. Gluten is also one such protein and the problem with them is that they need effort to be broken down. Our digestive tract keeps working on breaking them down but sometimes all the effort is an exercise in futility. A much easier solution for this problem is that they must be broken down in their preparation that is by soaking, sprouting or fermenting the grains. This helps digest the complex proteins in advance of cooking or consumption which takes the burden off your digestive system and keeps you healthy. Ancient cultures practiced similar methods of processing grains before cooking and you must also follow suit in case you are suffering from gut related conditions.