A huge contingent in the grain-hating world claim these plants contribute to low-level inflammation, an ongoing immune response in which your body attacks its own tissue, causing cell damage. They use a few studies to prove their point.
One study had people add 19 grams of wheat bran — the equivalent of about three cups of bran flakes — to their daily intake. Three months later, the subjects had slightly increased levels of oxidized LDL cholesterol, a possible marker of increased inflammation. Cue the grains-cause-inflammation rumors.
The problem? By the end of the experiment, 44 of the 67 subjects had dropped out! This makes the final data sketchy at best.
What's more, several large epidemiological studies have actually linked whole grain intake to lower levels of inflammation. Of course, these are just links. You need controlled trials to prove any causal relationship.
Overall, controlled trials are neutral or supporting of the epidemiological studies here, finding that whole grains either have no effect on inflammation or indeed result in a decrease. Not one single controlled trial has shown that grains increase inflammation.
There's an idea in the fitness industry that inflammation is the root of all health problems, and, therefore, that all health problems can be traced back to the diet and your gut. This is a false premise.
Yes, food sensitivities may cause inflammation and, eventually, after a long cascade of events, may lead to disease elsewhere in the body. But the more likely scenario in most cases is that inflammation is a result of disease, and that it exacerbates other conditions or disease states that have already been set into motion.
There are lots of research papers on all of this. And lots of inflammatory markers we can now test.
No one — I repeat, no one — is really sure what it all means.
But inflammation probably does not cause most diseases, even those with an inflammatory component.
