Food that Numb your Brain

Our brains have opioid receptors, and when activated cause a opium type of effect. Chemicals that activate it range from Morphine, Heroin, Dopamine and more[1]. This causes a reduction in your perception of pain, in your response to pain and increases your ability to withstand pain. Side effects are relaxation, depression of breathing, constipation, strong feeling of euphoria and dependance[2].

It appears that certain food we consume form small chains of proteins when digested in the gut, that have opioid properties. Wheat, Milk and Sugar.

All three of these staple foods are recently new in our human body's diet. As a species, we have a 2.5 million years of nutritional evolution through natural selection. Only 10,000-12,000 years ago we began agricultural practices that advocate consumption of cereal grains and legumes, domesticating livestock for milk and extracting refined sugar. These were in our diet for less then 1% of our evolution, and moreover, vegetable oils and processed foods are even more recent additions spanning only 100 years.

About Wheat

Gluten is a known issue, correlated with formation of Celiac disease. However, many don't know about gluten's constituent, gliadin (a prolamin), that breaks down in the gut into a 7 amino acid chain called Gliadorphin or Gluteomorphin. It has opioid properties and has been shown to activate 3 areas in the brain associated with reward center and opium sensation[3]. 

About Milk

Beta-casein is a hidden issue from the public, and has been correlated with the formation of Autism, Schizophrenia[4] and Child Diabetes[5]. 

About 5,000 years ago there was a mutation in livestock breeds, especially Holstein cows, that changed the Beta-casein amino chain slightly. A change in one amino acid had made the protein weaker in a section of its chain, that consequently while digesting in the gut it breaks down into a 7 amino acid peptide called β-casomorphin-7 (BCM7). This has opioid properties as well, but compared to Gliadorphin, BCM7 has been shown to activate 45 areas in the brain associated with opium[3].

That is 15 times more potent then the Opiate compound derived from wheat!

About Sugar

Sugar has been shown to be toxic in the blood stream, that is why Insulin is secreted, to mitigate the toxic effect by opening cells to receive the sugar (like glucose) or convert it into fat for storage in fat cells. Glucose has been shown to accelerate LDL oxidation[6].

Glucose has been shown to to activate opioid receptors in the brain when taken in excess[7]. It has been observed that animals can become sugar-dependent with withdrawal symptoms[8][9] as well as humans[10]. 

Refined sugar, like table sugar (i.e. sucrose), is easily taken up by the gut as it is a simple sugar. However, complex carbohydrates found in grains are also sugars, but require the work of digestion to break them down into simple sugars. Only then can they be absorbed into the blood stream. That is why bread and pasta can cause an insulin response. Whole grains slow the absorption of the sugars because of the fiber that the digestive enzymes have to break down as well.

What to make for all this?

Our brains has opioid receptors that are triggered by certain foods, which we're not adapted to handle. Excessive consumption of these foods cause a narcotic withdrawal, just like heroin and cocaine.

This has harmed our children early on in life and is harming adults still today. It numbs your brain, reduces your capacity to care and get involved. It keeps you sedated and slows your attention to detail. 

Adopting agriculture has hurt our body's capabilities, by introducing chemicals that reduces our sensation to our own body's messages (e.g. pain). We run better on an ancestral diet, a paleolithic diet, which gives us high amounts of fat and protein. Fat being the preferred fuel of your brain and heart, as well as a major building block of your brain and nerve cells. 

If wheat, milk and sugar activate opioid receptors and are associated with withdrawal symptoms and dependency, I would like to classify them as a potent drug source. Would you?

Your responsibility

I researched this and came to the conclusion of eliminating them from my diet, for the exact reasons I shared with you above. It is your responsibility to take action for yourself, as no one else experiences your life but you. I see through my eyes, and so they are my eyes to take care of.

Be aware, that you might neglect to take responsibility for your brain cells and organ cells because you are drugged up on grains, milk and sugar.

Inflammation promoting food

Abstract:
Grains, Legumes, Milk, Refined Sugar, Vegetable Oils and processed food are relatively new on our human diets. 99% of our evolution consists of a hunter/gatherer type of diet, we call today the Paleolithic Diet. Grains and legumes have toxins in them that inhibit digestive enzymes, so we have problems digesting them. Grains cause a leaky gut, which is a gap or "hole" between cells. This opens up the filtration system of the body and allows toxins, pathogens, heavy metals and undigested food into our blood stream. Milk also opens our guts and has been found to stimulate 45 area in the brain associated with opium receptors. Sugar is toxic in the blood, causes LDL oxidation and promotes the plaque formation associated with heart disease. It also helps feed pathogenic bacteria. Vegetable oils are high in an unstable fatty acid, a polyunsaturated fatty acid Omega 6, which competes for room in the cell membrane and high amounts in diet causes high amounts of it to uptake into the cell, which in turn weakens the membrane structure. Omega fatty acids are sensitive to oxidation, and will drive your inflammatory response. Overall, these foods are incorporated into processed foods and create malnutrition. Real nourishment comes from Grassfed meat, fish, egg yolks, vegetables, fruits and nuts. We run better on fat and protein, which helped our brains evolve, rather on carbohydrates that are prevalent in the agricultural diet.

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The advent of agriculture heralded the beginning of monoculture practices, when the earth had a polyculture life. Big civilizations were erected at the time, 12,000 years ago, but were long abandoned as civilization could not be sustained under such practices for too long. The soil would erode, dry up and loose it's bacterial ecosystem, that helped it thrive. Bacteria are essential for the soil, as they break down the contents into minerals, which increases the bioavailability for plants to grow big and strong. What the advent of agriculture brought with it is a complete overhaul of the human diet, the addition of cereal grains and legumes.

Research has shown that all cereal grains contain storage proteins called Prolamins, which stimulate in the gut the release of a regulatory protein called Zonulin. This regulatory protein has been observed as to weaken the tight junctions between cells, thus forming a gap or "hole" between them. The gut has specialized cells called Enterocytes, that absorb and filter constituents of matter. They will absorb minerals, vitamins, amino acids, fatty acids and simple sugars, but will filter or prevent uptake of heavy metals, viruses, pathogenic bacteria, toxins and partially digested food. 

A known storage protein in wheat, i.e. gliadin from gluten, has been found to do just that. Not only, it has been observed clinically to partially break down into a 7 amino acid protein called Gliadorphin, that has opioid properties. In a study it has been found to stimulate 3 opium receptors in the brain. Zonulin is secreted also in the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB), where it makes this barrier permeable to toxins and foreign substances. The lose of substance trafficking control increases the effect a drug or food has on all the organs and systems of the body.

A storage protein in Milk, called Casein, has been found to do the same. It appears that about 5,000 years ago, this milk storage protein underwent a mutation. Now you can find in scientific literature two types of beta-casein, A1 and A2, which differ by one amino acid. What happened to the structure of the protein was that A1 breaks down to a 7 amino acid protein called beta-caso-morphin-7 (BCM7) in digestion by the gut. This mutational derivative has been found to promote schizophrenia and autism in children. Here is an abstract of a study that can be found here.

"In a previous study we showed that β-casomorphin-7 (β-CM7) is taken up by brain regions relevant to schizophrenia and autism. The present experiment was designed to find whether β-CM7 has any behavioral or analgesic effects in rats. About 65 seconds after treatment with different doses of β-CM7, rats became restless and ran violently, with teeth chattering and with rapid respiration. Seven minutes later, the rats became inactive with less walking, distancing themselves from the other rat in the same cage, and sitting in, or putting their head against, the corner of the cage. The sound response was reduced and social interaction was absent. One hour later, the rats showed hyperdefensiveness. The above behavioral effects of β-CM7 did not occur when rats were pretreated with naloxone (2 mg/kg, IP). The rats receiving saline did not show any behavioral changes throughout the 2 hour period of observation. β-CM7 also demonstrated analgesic effects, which could be blocked by naloxone. The results suggest that β-CM7 may play a role in behavioral disorders such as autism and schizophrenia."

 A Peptide Found in Schizophrenia and Autism Causes Behavioral Changes in Rats | Zhongjie Sun | University of Florida, USA

Autism March 1999 vol. 3 no. 1 85-95

Milk is a super-food. Babies require a source of food in their early stages due to their digestive tract being unequipped and not fully developed to digest solid food. They also depend heavily on their mother to strengthen their probiotic composition in their gut, which affects the child's abilities to derive nutrients from the solid food. Compared to Gliadorphin from wheat, BCM7 is 15 times more potent. It stimulates 45 opioid receptors in the brain. There aren't any conclusive studies demonstrating casein's abilities to secrete Zonulin, but if it makes sense that it will. Because babies digestive tract is ill-equipped, milk might just come with a mechanism that opens the gut for a easier access into the blood stream. 

Here is the study about milk stimulating 45 opium receptors in the brain:

"This paper discusses the effects of gliadorphin-7 (GD-7) infusion in rats and contrasts them with those of β-casomorphin-7 (βC-7). Both induce FLI in a dose related fashion. Very strong expression in both geniculate nuclei (GN) and the alveus hippocampus follow GD-7 400 μg and βC-7 30 μg/kg BW. GD-7 affects only these three regions while βC-7affects 45. FLI is prevented by Naloxone 2 mg/kg BW in all regions except the GN where it is diminished 60%. βC-7 causes bizarre behavior beginning 60 s after infusion is started. GD-7 causes no behavioral change. These findings suggest GD-7 gains access to brain cells by diffusion through circumventricular organs while βC-7 passes the BBB by carrier facilitation."

 Findings in normal rats following administration of gliadorphin-7 (GD-7)      Zhongjie Sun,     Robert CadeCorresponding author contact information, E-mail the corresponding author      Departments of Medicine and Physiology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100204, HSC, Gainesville, FL 32610-0204, USA

So, both grains and milk are problematic, milk being problematic from an A1 source cow (dominantly the Holstein, but also found in other species). It might be a consequence of human engineering interventions, as they have been known to cross breed plants and animals to create a species that would produce the most (Holsteins are known as the cows that produce the most milk, but the least in quality).

Vegetable Oils are derived from grains, legumes and seeds. Oils like Corn, Soy, Sunflower and Safflower are high in Omega 6 fatty acids. This fatty acid, like Omega 3, is highly sensitive to oxidation. Heating it or placing it in direct sunlight will cause the formation of free radicals and the fatty acids will cause inflammation in contact with the digestive tract. This can deplete the antioxidant storage's in the cells lining the gut and make them vulnerable to mutation, aging and death.

Due to the fatty acids being so very unstable, having a diet dominant in them will cause the cells to be unstable. Fatty acids compete for space in the cells membrane, which is composed of fatty acids, and then if you consume lots of Vegetable Oils from cooking or processed foods you end up shaping your cells in that same substance. If the fatty acids are unstable by themselves, imagine how would a cell's membrane quality be if all it gets from your diet is these unstable fatty acids. It would set off inflammations all the time. Saturated fat is just that, saturated, meaning stable. We need relatively less Omega 6 and 3 fatty acids in our diets, more Saturated Fat and Monounsaturated fats.

Cholesterol is essential for membranes. It is also essential for the creation of a specialized protein called Coenzyme Q10, that helps the mitochondria (the power house of the cell) in creating huge amounts of cellular energy (called ATP). This means that Cholesterol is essential for the health of this organelle in every cell in the body, without it the breathing of the cells will slow down and thus also the multicellular organism (you). Cholesterol is also essential in creating Vitamin D, which is important for calcium metabolism. 

When it comes to diseases of the blood vessels, like Atherosclerosis, Cholesterol has been found to clog up the arteries causing a heart attack. However, Cholesterol is not the culprit, but oxidation of Cholesterol is. Specialized Fat Proteins, called Lipoprotein, carry Cholestrol from the Liver to the blood stream and back to the Liver. LDL (Low density Lipoprotein) is responsible to transport Cholesterol through the blood stream to patch up cell membranes. Cholesterol is transported as a bandage in the healing process of the cells across the body. 

However, sugar and Homocysteine oxidize LDL, causing it to form plaques in the arteries. Sugar is toxic in the blood stream, and Homocysteine irritates the blood vessels surface. Sugars toxicity is taken care of by Insulin, which drives it into cells or converts it into fat for storage. In the blood, sugars can form AGEs - Advanced Glycation End-products, that have been observed to cause LDL oxidation. You can read more about sugar here. Also, Sugar feeds pathogenic bacteria. This gives them a substrate to thrive on, which they reach a momentum and launch an attack on the host.

Homocysteine is a transition substance between two amino acid synthesis. It's levels can rise due to deficiencies in vitamin B9 and B12. It has been a known marker for heart disease of any kind, and can only be reduced through nutrition. The interesting thing is that nutritional yeast, the most studied yeast out there, has been found to produce many B vitamins, inculding B9, but also Coenzyme Q6 and others that are precursors to CoQ10 production, or at least help in it's synthesis in the mitochondria.

Finally, many drugs can harm the gut and disrupt natural processes in the body. I'm not talking about Canabis, but mainstream's medicines that are created to mimic hormones or proteins in the body. NSAIDs are one example of drugs that promote inflammation in the gut. Contraceptive pills disrupt the composition of bacteria in and out of the body, which means that pathogenic bacteria populations develop and cause inflammation. Statin drugs inhibit release of Cholesterol, which harms the mitochondria's health.

To conclude, our bodies developed over millions of years on a diet that kept inflammation at bay. The advent of agriculture has caused the shift of humans to eat foods and create foods that harm the body and it's cells health. To reduce inflammation and let the cells rest and rebuild their structures, you are advised to eat a diet that predates agriculture - a Paleolithic Diet. Not being able to eat grains, legumes, milk, vegetable oils and sugars might seem to leave you with no other choice but to eat more fruits and vegetables if you are vegetarian or vegan, but meat products and animal products have always been a staple food of the human being on planet Earth.

Now, because we feed our meat grains, that is our livestock, the meat's quality is bad and if we consume it we end up with low quality bodies. Cows eat grass. They should be grass-fed, because they evolutionarily developed on a diet reach in grass. The only animal on the plant that can fully digest grains are birds. Fix your diet by buying grass-fed meat, which will strengthen the farmers who figured out the best way to raise cattle.

The responsibility is in your hands.

To your health,

Joel Jacobson