Alloxan: a Compound in Bleached Bread that Causes Diabetes
White Bread Contributes to Diabetes for Many Reasons
Aside from lacking fiber, nutrients, and protein, white bread contains small amounts of a chemical that is used to induce diabetes in laboratory rats and mice.
How does white bread become so white? The outer layers of the wheat seeds are removed and the flour is bleached, usually with chlorine gas. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines chlorine gas as a flour-bleaching, aging and oxidizing agent that is a powerful irritant, dangerous to inhale, and lethal. Other agents also used include oxides of nitrogen, nitrosyl, and benzoyl peroxide mixed with various chemical salts.
Similar to disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in water, alloxan is formed when the chlorine reacts with certain proteins remaining in the white flour after the bran and germ have been removed. Alloxan has not been added to the flour, but the manufacturing facility processes the wheat with chemical treatments that result in the formation of alloxan in the flour.
Alloxan, or C4 H2O4N2, is a product of the decomposition of uric acid. It is used in the research field to produce diabetes in healthy experimental animals (primarily rats and mice), so that researchers can then study diabetes treatments. Alloxan is structurally similar to glucose, which might explain why the pancreatic beta cells selectively take it up. According to Dr. Hari Sharma’s Freedom from Disease, this chemical causes diabetes because it creates high amounts of free radical damage in the pancreas. The free radicals damage the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin, the beta cells. Without insulin production, the animal cannot take glucose out of the blood stream and into the cells where it is needed.
Even though the toxic effect of alloxan is common scientific knowledge in the research community, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still allows companies to use chemical processes in which the end result is toxic food.
The important point to take away is, beware of any processed food because chemicals are always used. And we simply don’t know what the long-term effects will be of ingesting chemicals, on top of chemicals, on top of more chemicals. Strive to stick to whole unprocessed foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. If you’re going to eat grains, make sure they are unbleached, whole, and organic.
Resources:
- Tyrberg, B.; Andersson, A.; Borg, L. A. (2001). “Species Differences in Susceptibility of Transplanted and Cultured Pancreatic Islets to the β-Cell Toxin Alloxan”.General and Comparative Endocrinology 122 (3): 238–251. doi:1006/gcen.2001.7638. PMID 11356036.
- Holmgren, A. V.; Wenner, W. (1952). “Alloxan monohydrate”. Org. Synth. 32: 6.; Coll. Vol. 4, p. 23
Tags: alloxan, blood sugar regulation, diabetes, food toxins, glucose control, insulin, weight management, white bread, whole foods
