Grains – are they really the evil?

One of the food group that should be avoided on a paleo diet are all kinds of grains (and legumes) because of their anti-nutrients and high GI. But are they really that bad? From my reading and experience with myself I have to say yes and no. In my opinion, most people would do themselves a favour if they avoided at least gluten grains alltogether, the evidence against them just seems too strong to ignore it (especially if one has some allergies, auto-immune type diseases or some kind of non injury related pain). Besides that, there are many healthy, traditional cultures that inculde(d) grains in their diet and do/did just fine. Examples would be the Japanese (especially the famous Okinawans, who also consume lots of tubers) and of course other Asian cultures too. But one should notice that their staple grains are the least offensive of the grain family, white rice, which is stripped of all the good AND bad nutrients. Also, the Kitavans are very famous for having excellent health while following a high carb diet, but their main carb source are tubers like sweet potatoes.
Since I’ve gone Paleo, I had grains a couple of times and every time the “outcome” wasn’t too nice ;) Even brown rice flakes, which would be one of THE holygrails for conventional diet wisdom left me bloated and gassy. So for me, grains on a regular basis are definitely out, same goes for legumes which result in an even worse reaction. I still think that this is not the case for everybody and many will do fine on certain types of grains. You really have to experiment with yourself and listen closely to the signals your body is giving you.
Personally, my main higher carb sources will be sweet potatoes and the occasional white rice.

For me, the most important takehome lesson is, eat real food with a tendency to the paleo approach. From there you can start adjusting things like macros, food groups and meal timing and notice how you feel.
Another tip would be to try to eat regional and seasonal. I think, besides modern, processed food and gluten, the huge variety of food from all over the world we have access to year around, can also play a role in why we suffer more and more from certain allergies.