Would growing heirloom wheat solve some of our health problems?
An article from io9.com titled, "Why you should probably stop eating wheat" is interesting. My wife and I, in an attempt to loose a little excess weight, started culling refined carbohydrates from our diets a couple of years ago. No bread, pastries, and other yummy things. Sure enough we felt better, and lost the weight. Why is it our grandparents, and their parents didn't seem to have the problem with obesity and diabetes that our current society has?
Turns out, according to the article, "...today's wheat is a far cry from what it was 50 years ago." According to the post, "Back in the 1950s, scientists began cross-breeding wheat to make it hardier, shorter, and better-growing. This work, which was the basis for the Green Revolution — and one that won U.S. plant scientist Norman Borlaug the Nobel Prize — introduced some compounds to wheat that aren't entirely human friendly."
If the problem with wheat these days is hybridization, would "heirloom" wheat be an answer? I realize we hybridized wheat to resist disease and pests as well as create a more vigorous crop. It has fed the rapidly growing world. However, it would be interesting to see if using non-hybridized wheat made a difference in the taste, and most importantly our health. I wonder if non-hybrid or heirloom wheat is even available anymore?