Why wheat free?

[puca]

Unless you have a wheat intolerance, what other reasons are there to eschew wheat?

[steven1222]

Some other reasons are given in the first 8 posts of this thread: http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12562

I do not find any of them convincing.

[Sugar Plum Vegan]

maybe because it has been hybridized away from the original Kamut. Or you could say it is sticky in the body. or you could say that it makes one tired...
the real eschew reason would be to get more variation in your diet...
some people contend that all people are slightly intolerant to wheat...
and you may have "allergies" that would go away if you stopped.
You might not be intolerant...
and if it makes you feel good -
why stop?
But if you stop, you will know how it was making you feel, for sure.

Just a thought,
Khy'em Amri
the Sugar Plum Vegan Man.

[songlife]

I've noticed lots of difference in my health in the last while but I'm not sure if it's because I went vegan last year, or because most of everything is raw, or that I've gradually cut out the vast vast majority of the wheat I eat. I succumb to wheaty cravings generally once a week still, sometimes I go for a month without any though.

My health has improved in a number of ways, including not getting sick anymore like I used to (all the time!). But I don't know if it has to do with not eating gluten. I really like wheat but I also loooooooove good gluten-free baking, and even more, really top quality raw food (you know the type I'm talking about, rawlafel, cashew cheese, etc). I still would like to have wheat sometimes if it's not bad for me though, so I want to find this out once and for all... I keep getting mixed info from everywhere!

I'm going to do a little experiment. I'm going to eat no gluten whatsoever for a whole month. I'll journal how I feel (here) every week. Then I'll eat lots of gluten/wheat for a week, and I'll pay close unbiased attention to how I feel then.

When people say that some people are allergic to gluten but some aren't, it comes across as the whole "some people are lactose intolorant but others aren't" situation. Obvious dairy is bad for EVERYONE, but some people are more sensitive than others. It seems to be a parallel thing with gluten/wheat.

I think me doing this experiment will be pretty informative for us because I've never noticed myself being sensitive to gluten, so since I'm not incredibly sensitive or "allergic" to it, I'll be able to see if it also affects people like me who are not necessarily allergic to it but could still potentially benefit from not eating it. does that make sense?

[cedarblue]

perhaps you haven't found those suggestions convincing steven, if you haven't experienced these symptoms or effects?

just for me, and i don't know if it's the wheat product absolutely or a combi of reasons but it seems to sometimes give me bloating, a sluggish feeling and of course wheat products (bread etc) can sometimes exacerbate thrush/yeast infections.

[whalespace]

I think me doing this experiment will be pretty informative for us because I've never noticed myself being sensitive to gluten, so since I'm not incredibly sensitive or "allergic" to it, I'll be able to see if it also affects people like me who are not necessarily allergic to it but could still potentially benefit from not eating it. does that make sense?

Makes sense.

[Life_4_All]

I quit eating wheat, soy and corn because of an article I read about how many animals are killed during harvesting. It might just be meat-eater propaganda but better safe than sorry. Has anyone heard about this, or is there any truth to it, I do not want to hurt anyone if it can be helped.

[Korn]

Hi Life_4_All,
why would harvesting wheat, soy and corn cause more deaths than harvesting other types of plants/grains/beans?

It might just be meat-eater propaganda

Well, since animals eat grains and soy etc., it wouldn't be a convincing argument pro eating meat, would it...

[Life_4_All]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I mention wheat, soy, and corn because they are harvested with a combine, which from what the article said, "causes the deaths of more small field animals, then the total number of livestock killed to feed meat-eaters..." or some such nonsense. They went on to say that meat-eaters kill few animals than vegans...which is rubish, since the grains vegans eat are still harvested to feed the animals meat-eaters eat(hence the meat-eater prop.)...but I digress. My question is, "Is it true combines kill thousands of small animals during harvesting?" Since I don't have the answer, I choose to avoid cereal crops harvested with combines, until I find the answer. I have been a vegan for 3 years now and I just want to make sure I'm doing all I can to prevent harm to any creature. I apologize if this question struck a nerve, your reply seemed a bit curt.