Opioid Peptides in Wheat Products

Plants use different tactics to scare off attackers. Some plants contain poison, others just anaesthetize their attackers, like wheat does with opioid peptides.

Because wheat contains opioid peptides, priests in ancient Egypt used wheat to hallucinate, and in bandages, to ease the pain of a wound. All wheat-products, like bread, pasta, pizza, cookies, cake and pastries contain opioid peptides. The roman rulers already new that the people wouldn't rise against them as long as they were entertained and fed bread.


Food Science

One single wheat-gluten protein-molecule contains 15 samples of one particular opioid peptide. (10) Wheat-gluten also contains a number of extremely powerful opioid peptides (11). Some of these molecules are even 100 times more powerful than a morphine-molecule. (12)

Opioid peptides in wheat-gluten are:

Glycine-Tyrosine-Tyrosine-Proline (11)
Tyrosine-Glycine-Glycine-Tryptophane (11)
Tyrosine-Proline-Isoleucine-Serine-Leucine (11)
Tyrosine-Glycine-Glycine-Tryptophane-Leucine (13) ,which is the most powerful one.

Tyrosine-Glycine-Glycine- is also the sequence of the first three amino acids in endorphins ; opioid peptides produced by the body, influencing the same receptors in the brain.

Therefore, wheat-opioid peptides can 'sedate' the bowels so much that constipation is caused. (13) Because some wheat-opioids are extremely powerful, some schizophrenics can even be cured by not eating any wheat-products anymore. (14)

To compensate the analgesic effect of the opioid peptides, wheat-products very often contain rosemarin-extract, which is a powerful 'upper'.

Read more: Zombie Food

Sources from the article:
(10) Fukudome, S. et al, Release of opioid peptides, gluten exorphins by the action of pancreatic elastase. FEBS Lett. 1997 / 412 (3) / 475-479.
(11) Fukudome, S. et al, Gluten exorphin C : a novel opioid peptide derived from wheat gluten. FEBS Lett. 1993 / 316 (1) / 17-19.
(12) Max ,B., This and that : an artefactual alkaloid and its peptide analogs. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 1992 / 13 (9) / 341-345.
(13) Fukodome, S. et al, Opioid peptides derived from wheat gluten : their isolation and characterization. FEBS lett. 1992 / 296 (1) / 107-111.
(14) Dohan, F.C. ,Genetics and idiopathic schizophrenia. Am. J. Psychiatry 1989 / 146 (11) / 1522-1523. , Dohan, F.C. ,Genetic hypothesis of idiopathic schizophrenia : its exorphin connection. Schizophr. Bull. 1988 / 14 (4) / 489-494. , Paroli, E. et al, Opioid peptides from food (the exorphins). World Rev. Nutr. Diet. 1988 / 55 / 58-97. , Morley, J.E., Food peptides. A new class of hormones ? J. Am. Med. Assoc. 1982 / 247 (17) / 2379-2380 , Ross-Smith, P. et al, Diet (gluten) and Schizophrenia. J. Hum. Nutr. 1980 / 34 (2) / 107-112