Wheat Contains Not One, But 23K
Potentially Harmful Proteins
Friday, October 12th 2012
Most folks don't realize that when we are talking about health problems
associated with wheat, or gluten, we are not talking about a monolithic entity,
a singular "bad guy," solely responsible for the havoc commonly experienced as a
consequence of consuming this grain. After all, how could just one villain cause
the 200+ different clinically observed adverse health effects now linked in the
biomedical literature to wheat consumption?
No, the problem is that "gluten" is an abstraction, and in its perceived
singularity profoundly misrepresents the true extent of the problem, much in the
way that the tip of an iceberg does not convey the massive threat submerged
below ...
Gluten is the Latin name for "glue," and signifies the doughy complex of
proteins within the wheat plant, further classified as either gliadins (alcohol
soluble), glutelins (dilute acid or alkalis soluble), or other. Because wheat is
a hexaploid species (doesn't that sound creepy?), the byproduct of three
ancestor plants becoming one, with no less than 6 sets of chromosomes and 6.5
times more genes than found in the human genome, it is capable of producing no
less than 23,788 different proteins - a fact as amazing as it is disturbing.[i]
Disturbing, how?
Well, any one of these proteins could elicit what is known as an antigenic
response, i.e. the immune system identifies a wheat protein as other, launches
either an innate or adaptive immune response, and attacks self-structures
accidentally, as a result.
So, if only one protein could incite an adverse reaction, what would 23,000
different proteins do when presented to the body for processing simultaneously?
And what if many of these wheat proteins were disulfide-bonded proteins, that
is, "glued" together (Remember, gluten is the Latin word for glue) with the
same, sturdy sulfur-based bonds found in human hair and vulcanized rubber –
(think bowling ball plastic tough!) – which is to say, impossible for our
digestive system to break down fully?*
What would happen is that many of these proteins would pass through our
intestinal tract, made more permeable by the dual effects of gliadin (zonulin
up-reguation) and wheat lectin (the invisible thorn), hence "opening pandora's
bread box" of autoimmunity and systemic inflammation.
Keep in mind that 23,788 proteins is a very large number. And given the
recombinatorial possibilities inherent in such a large number of distinct,
different proteins, some of them have emerged -- by sheer accident -- as nearly
identical (homologous) in structure and configuration to both narcotic drugs and
virulent components of immune-system activating microbes.
Narcotic Potential
Gliadin can be broken down into various amino acid lengths or peptides.
Gliadorphin is a 7 amino acid long peptide: Tyr-Pro-Gln-Pro-Gln-Pro-Ph
There have been a number of gluten exorphins identified: gluten exorphin A4, A5,
B4, B5 and C, and many of them have been hypothesized to play a role in autism,
schizophrenia, ADHD and related neurological conditions. In the same way that
the celiac iceberg illustrated the illusion that intolerance to wheat is rare,
it is possible, even probable, that wheat exerts pharmacological influences on
everyone. What distinguishes the schizophrenic or autistic individual from the
functional wheat consumer is the degree to which they are affected.
Immunotoxic Potential
The digestion of gliadin produces a peptide that is 33 amino acids long and
is known as 33-mer which has a remarkable homology to the internal sequence of
pertactin, the immunodominant sequence in the Bordetella pertussis bacteria
(whooping cough). Pertactin is considered a highly immunogenic virulence factor,
and is used in vaccines to amplify the adaptive immune response. It is possible
the immune system may confuse this 33-mer with a pathogen resulting in either or
both a cell-mediated and adaptive immune response against Self.
So, while acknowledging that "gluten" is a problem is a good, first step in the
acknowledgment of the dangers of wheat, it is just the beginning of a journey
into understanding the true nature, and extent of damage caused by this
debilitating food.
--------------------------
RESOURCES
[i] Exploring the Plant Transcriptome through Phylogenetic Profiling. Plant
Physiology Vol. 137, 2005; pg. 3
*Technically, bacteria that colonize our upper gastrointestinal tract are
capable of degrading harmful gluten peptides.
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