Have you come across this article on social media that claims to know the real reason wheat is “toxic” to us and causing gastrointestinal problems? (Here is the story in a handy “do not link” address so it doesn’t help her show up in search results: The Real Reason Wheat is Toxic it’s not the gluten | The Healthy Home Economist.
First and foremost, my friend Sarah, who is a wheat farmer in Canada with her husband Jay, has tackled and produced an awesome response to this absurd article. You can find it here. I have decided not to write my own article, because Sarah’s is so nicely done.
That being said, I would like to point out a few other things about the blog where the original story came from and comment on the sources of her information.
The author is this woman that calls herself the Healthy Home Economist is called Sarah Pope. Unfortunately, like some “mommy bloggers,” the woman holds about as much scientific credibility as Food Babe. Like many of them, she holds an irrational fear of things she deems are “toxic” and any credible scientific information. She’s also a proponent of making your own home medicines (in one article, she explains that if you treat Eczema with the routine medicines, it will somehow push the condition deeper inside your body and create bigger problems…what?!).
The point is, she has some credibility issues right out of the box.
I also want to point out that the only source Pope has for story is Stephanie Seneff. Like Pope and Food Babe, Seneff likes to rely on shoddy scientific work and create stories to support her theories rejecting modern agriculture. You can find my post on her here.
Remember, science it quantifiable and there are certain indicators we can look at in any study to determine whether the study or claims are reliable. It should be peer-reviewed and published. It should have a control group. It should give you enough information that you could reproduce the study if you had the time/money/resources. You can also check out my former article on keeping your guard up against pseduoscience.
Again, I highly recommend reading Sarah’s article about in response to Pope’s fear-mongering in its entirety (which, again, you can find here).
