is that the adrenal glands produce more than cortisol; they also produce hormones such as aldosterone (responsible for sodium and potassium status and blood pressure control); adrenaline (responsible for arousal, energy and metabolism); and adrenal androgens that overlap with the effects of testosterone. One or all adrenal hormones can be disrupted, though the dominant effect is usually determined by disruptions of cortisol.
Disruptions at the hypothalamic and pituitary levels that result in cortisol disruption can be caused by obesity (via the inflammatory phenomena of visceral fat), diabetes, depression, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other conditions.14 New neuroendocrine research is also uncovering potential glucocorticoid resistance, or impaired responsiveness to cortisol, in people showing normal or high cortisol blood levels.15 This may be related to issues with rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, asthma, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, depression, PTSD and chronic stress. Note that most of the conditions listed get their start with grain consumption.
While other endocrine glands are also capable of all degrees of dysfunction, from subtle to severe, conventionally minded endocrinologists deny this, arguing that the adrenal gland is the only endocrine gland that is either entirely normal or severely dysfunctional enough to threaten life, causing Addison’s disease when underactive and Cushing’s disease when overactive. They believe it’s all or nothing, with no grey area in between. I reject conventional ‘wisdom’ and follow common sense: adrenal dysfunction can occur to any degree and may involve one or more adrenal gland hormones, or it can occur at the hypothalamic or pituitary level. Besides, the emerging neuroendocrine scientific and clinical literature strongly argues that such disruptions short of life threatening are not only possible, but are common.
You can appreciate that the issues are complex and tangled, involving several hormones and organs. Thankfully, the majority of issues surrounding cortisol and adrenal dysfunction can be reduced to disrupted cortisol circadian patterns due to (1) damage to the adrenal gland from grain consumption, and (2) disruption of pituitary signalling to the adrenal gland due to inflammation and chronic stress, exaggerated by the presence of visceral fat. Later in the book we consider ways to identify, then correct, cortisol disruptions, which can help you feel more energetic, provide relief from depression, restore the normal day-night cycle of energy and sleep, and help break a weight-loss plateau.
Matter Over Mind
The effects of grains on the human brain and nervous system, like those in the gastrointestinal tract, are varied and destructive. Neurologist Dr David Perlmutter has written a book called Grain Brain, which is devoted to the effects of grains on brain health (particularly dementia). It’s recommended reading for anyone interested in an extensive discussion of brain health impairment developing due to grain consumption.
In the film The Matrix, Morpheus explains to Neo that, ‘The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth,’ when describing the computer-simulated world injected into the minds of people to keep them from knowing that machines control everything. While the world of grains is hardly as visually arresting or imaginative as the one in this film, both worlds are all about mind control. In the film, human minds are controlled by computers; in the world we live in, our minds have been under the influence of the mind-active components of grains.
The effects of the gliadin and related prolamin proteins on the human brain fall into two categories: (1) reversible effects exerted on the mind via gliadin-derived opiates and (2) autoimmune inflammatory effects, sometimes reversible, sometimes irreversible, on brain and nervous system tissue. The mind and brain effects of grains are largely due to wheat, rye and barley, which share the same gliadin protein. Other non-wheat grains also have brain health implications, but they only work through high blood sugars that lead to dementia.
It’s Not Your Imagination: Reversible Mind and Brain Effects of Grains
Reversible mind effects begin with the gliadin proteins of wheat, rye and barley that undergo digestion to smaller 4- or 5-amino-acid-long peptides, which are small enough to penetrate the brain and bind to opiate receptors.16 The effects of these peptides, dubbed exorphins, or exogenously derived morphine-like compounds, vary depending on individual susceptibility. In some conditions, a reversible autoimmune process has also been documented (positive gliadin antibody). Because structural damage has not been associated with these phenomena, these conditions, despite their potential severity and destructiveness, are reversible with grain elimination. There are several conditions that fall into this category.
APPETITE STIMULATION. Grain-derived exorphins trigger the grain consumer to take in 400 more calories per day, every day. This is an average value; some people consume more, others less. At worst, it can cause calorie intake to be 1,000 or more calories per day and higher, and trigger food obsessions or other addictive food behaviours. With grain consumption, your appetite is specifically stimulated for carbohydrates, such as pretzels, corn chips and biscuits, and it’s stimulated to a lesser degree for fat. The effect tends to be addictive, with cyclic and recurring desire for such foods driving dietary habits and even dominating thoughts and fantasies. Rid yourself of gliadin-derived opiates and calorie intake drops by 400 calories per day. Food obsessions and addictive food relationships are also typically reduced or completely eliminated.17
BINGE EATING DISORDER AND BULIMIA. People with binge eating disorder tend to eat in large binges well beyond their need. They are unresponsive to signals that turn off appetite and feel ashamed at their lack of restraint. Bulimia is a similar condition, with binges typically followed by ‘purging’ the excessive quantity of food by vomiting. People with these eating disorders describe intrusive, 24-hour-a-day food obsessions that occur even after finishing a large meal or during the night, triggering nighttime binges. Both conditions are socially incapacitating, ruin relationships and are associated with low self-esteem. Additionally, the bulimic sufferer who puts a finger in the back of her throat to bring up food exposes her tooth enamel to corrosive stomach acid, rotting her teeth over time. Both conditions represent exaggerated appetite-stimulating responses to gliadin-derived opiates.
MIND FOG. Disrupted concentration, inability to focus, impaired learning, impaired decision-making ability and sleepiness are exceptionally common after consuming wheat, rye and barley. Gliadin-derived opiates are the most likely culprits behind these effects, given their known ability to affect the mind. It’s also likely that the blood sugar fluctuations caused by all grains contribute, especially the low blood sugar of hypoglycaemia.
ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER and autistic spectrum disorder. While these disorders are unrelated, they share a similar response to gliadin-derived opiates. Children and adults with these conditions experience behavioural outbursts, such as temper tantrums or emotional ‘storms’ without reason, and they have an impaired capacity to sustain attention. Kids with these conditions already have an impaired ability to learn and pay attention for more than a few seconds or minutes; grain-derived opiates just make it worse.18 A recent analysis demonstrated that kids with autism lack the markers for coeliac disease (such as transglutaminase antibody), but they do have increased levels of antibodies to gliadin, especially if gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhoea are present.19
PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA. The worsening of paranoia, auditory hallucinations (hearing voices and receiving warnings or commands) and social disengagement were among the first observations made when researchers started studying the effects of wheat consumption on brain health, attributable to the gliadin protein-derived opiates.20 This effect may be confined to schizophrenics who express an autoimmune response to the gliadin protein, the group most likely to improve with wheat, rye and barley avoidance.21
BIPOLAR ILLNESS. We know that people with bipolar illness express higher levels of antibodies in response to the gliadin protein, similar to the phenomenon observed in schizophrenics.22 Gliadin-derived opiate peptides likely also
