High-yield, semi-dwarf strains of wheat, genetically altered by geneticists and agribusiness, were embraced enthusiastically by farmers between 1980 and 1985. By 1985, all wheat products originated with these genetically altered wheats, complete with new gliadin proteins that stimulate appetite. These drove the desire for more food. By the late 1980s, average calorie intake increased by 400 calories per person per day, mostly from snacks and sugary drinks.39
3. High-fructose corn syrup, another product of grains, began appearing in processed foods, including many low-fat products.
4. Supermarkets, rather than small neighbourhood shops, became the prime retailers of food, particularly products with national brand recognition. Supermarkets stocked shelves with processed foods made with low-cost, commoditized ingredients: wheat flour, cornflour, high-fructose corn syrup and sugar. The number of products carried on supermarket shelves in the US ballooned from less than 10,000 before 1980 to 60,000 today.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, delivered to us as the USDA MyPyramid and now as MyPlate, tell us that whole grains should comprise a substantial part of our diet, replacing at least half of the processed grains we eat.40 Based on the flawed notion that replacing something bad (processed white flour products) with something less bad (whole grains) must be good, the essence of their advice is to replace at least some white flour products with whole grains. Of course, not factored into this equation are the high glycaemic indexes of both white and whole grain products, the changes introduced by agribusiness, and the many people who suffer brain, psychological and health effects from grain consumption.
When I was in 2nd grade, I started gaining weight.
It wasn’t very long before I was the fattest girl in my class. As I got older, I gained more weight. I soon began to hide my eating. I would gulp down big spoonfuls of food out of the pan after I had already eaten the food on my plate. It was a vicious cycle of shame and guilt.
As I reached adulthood, I tried to lose weight. Low-fat, Nutrisystem, a weight-loss clinic: nothing worked for me because I was starving all the time. I was addicted to wheat- and sugar-based products. Nothing gave me joy like biting into banana nut bread or a doughnut. But then the guilt of not being able to stick with the diet set in. That only made me want to eat more.
Fast-forward to December of 2010. I was 38 years old and I weighed 23 stones. I had been diabetic since at least 2006. I had the early symptoms of neuropathy. I had hypothyroidism (later diagnosed as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis). I had high blood pressure. My face was beet red. People would actually ask me if I was sunburnt. I knew that if I didn’t do something to fix me I would be dead before I turned 40. Every time I felt a shooting pain in my head or neck, I thought to myself, ‘Am I getting ready to stroke out? Is this it?’ I knew it was coming.
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