Wheat

The widespread adoption of hybridized wheat is a more significant and recent dietary change than increased sugar consumption in explaining the diabetes epidemic. After thousands of hybridization crosses, modern wheat's protein profile has virtually nothing in common with the ancient grains that human digestive systems evolved alongside. Wheat creates temporary chemical highs that follow the same high-low cycle as sugar. Modern wheat's protein content dropped from approximately 28% in ancient varieties like Einkorn to approximately 12%. Wheat's blood sugar response from amylopectin differs from the response produced by legumes, despite both containing amylopectin. The relationship between wheat and blood sugar response is documented in scientific literature but not universally known. One study found 14 new gluten protein types introduced by a single hybridization event. The hybridized wheat variety spread globally throughout the 1970s and became the world standard for food production. The wheat consumed today is not the same wheat that previous generations ate. Wheat underwent deliberate hybridization in the 1950s, a process that earned Dr. Norman Borlaug the Nobel Prize in 1969. M…