Science Says...

1. Gluten protein triggers many disease processes.
2. Gliadin protein breaks down to opium like compounds that stimulate hunger and craving.
3. Wheat germ agglutinin contains a lectin that can damage intestines.
4. Amylopectin A is the complex carbohydrate wheat responsible for the very high insulin response.
5. Omega 6 is proportionally high and that promotes inflammation.
6. Consumption of wheat promotes visceral fat that is associated with diabetes, heart disease, and inflammation.  Inflammation is the underlying process to nearly all disease.

"Think, think, think. "  -- Winnie the Pooh

This is a powerfully destructive combination.  Even if you aren’t sensitive to gluten.

What do I do?

What does this mean for me and my family?  We don’t eat wheat or wheat products since August of 2010.  We avoid most grain. Rice is our most common compromise and that is much less than ever before.  We eat some “gluten free” products but we have come to realize that those products are full of carbohydrates we don’t need.  They can make us fat and unhealthy too.  We have gotten much thinner and feel better without dieting or changing our exercise habits.  We didn't feel bad before, we just feel better now.

What do you do? 

That is up to you.  I like to teach, not to preach.

For additional information I recommend Wheat Belly, by William Davis, MD,
The Diabetes Solution by Richard Bernstein, MD and The Perfect Health Diet by
Paul Jaminet, Ph.D.  and Shou-Ching Shih Jaminet, Ph.D.  All have good  bibiliographies for reference to research materials.  I recommend reading the papers, source material, but most people just can’t do that.  The above authors have distilled the science into something more understandable.

--Dave

Photo by Dave Carsten

Gluten Sensitivity

Not everyone that is sensitive to wheat is sensitive to gluten.  Not everyone gets the intestinal damage related to a celiac disease diagnosis.  A recent Italian study showed that  of the people that were sensitive but non-celiac, 56.4% were sensitive to gliadin.  And 43.6% were sensitive to something else in wheat. 

Neurological Damage

In my own practice, intestinal problems were not the only problems.  Neurological damage such as multiple sclerosis (my patient), peripheral neuropathy, and movement disorders can be results.  There was a study that showed that 57% of people with unexplained neurologic impairment were positive for antibodies to gliadin versus only 5% with neurologic impairment of known origin.  Not causal proof but certainly raises suspicions.

Diabetes

I can also say from experience with my patients and from the scientific literature, many skin conditions can be caused or at least exacerbated by wheat consumption. Itchy, ugly, inflamed skin from eating toast??  I also am very disturbed by the correlation of wheat consumption and diabetes type II and the fact that children with type I diabetes are ten to twenty times more likely to develop celiac disease.

--Dave

Photo by Dave Carsten

Obesity and diabetes are becoming increasingly common. The rates of both are exploding.  Obesity is becoming the new “normal”. The consequences are grave. Both conditions involve the regulation of sugars and fats in the body by means of insulin.  I will try to simplify for the sake of understanding the principles.

Insulin
Insulin allows cells to take up sugar.  Fat cells and muscle cells are big users.  
Brain cells and liver cells don’t use insulin so they take sugar out of the blood stream if it is available.  Insulin stimulates the liver to produce fats from available sugar.  First glycogen is stored, then as that rises to a maximum, fat is produced.  The fat is sent into the blood.Insulin also suppresses the breakdown of fat.  Fat cells are stimulated to produce glycerol from sugar molecules which combine with the circulating fatty acids to produce triglycerides.  Triglycerides are stored, swelling the fat cells.  Insulin encourages the body to burn sugar and keep fat.  Fat that is consumed and circulating can also be stored.


Diabetes
Type I diabetes involve the destruction of insulin producing cells, usually by an autoimmune process.  It is treated by insulin replacement.  Uncontrolled Type I diabetics can become painfully thin if their disease gradually reduces insulin production.

Insulin and Obesity
Type II diabetes is insulin resistant, involving a reduction of insulin receptors.  Insulin is often at a normal or high level.  This can be caused by a diet that is high in simple sugars which maintains a high blood sugar level.  Over time, the receptors decrease in response to excessive sugar.  Muscle and brain cells can only consume a limited amount of sugar.  Liver and fat cells are not so limited.  With abundant sugar and plenty of insulin, they breakdown the sugar into fat and store it.  Not  everyone develops diabetes from excessive sugar intake but many do.  Some people simply get fat.  Drugs that increase circulating insulin to decrease blood sugar can also stimulate the liver to create fat and stimulate fat cells to store it.  Excess insulin creates fat.  Excess consumed sugar creates fat.  Excess consumed fat in the presence of insulin causes fat cells to get bigger too.

Diet Choices
There can be imbalances in the control systems that lead people to become obese while consuming otherwise healthy diets. Bad choices are not the only reason. Rising levels of obesity and clinical experience would lead us to suspect that predominantly, fatness is caused by choices.

Our paleolithic ancestors ate perhaps 10 to 15 pounds of simple sugars per year.  Americans commonly exceed 150 pounds of sugar per year.  Our metabolisms weren’t built for this.

The question becomes, “Have people been lead to make the poor choices?”

--Dave

Photo by Dave Hutt, www.dmddigitalphoto.com

Diagnosis Diabetes

The diagnosis of diabetes can be very upsetting for anyone.  It is certainly inconvenient.  It can be deadly.  Diabetes can mean pills, injections, blood tests, doctor visits, big changes in diet, and big changes in lifestyle.  That assumes that the patient decides to address the disease.

Common Sense Medicine
A friend and colleague recently got that diagnosis.  As I have observed, my medical and dental friends are no less likely to be in denial than anyone else.  They do have a better idea of the consequences.  He asked me what he should do.  I have seen many patients that were suffering the effects of diabetes, my relatives included.  I know from the current science that it is not inevitable to go blind, have kidney failure, lose sensation, and lose limbs.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet
I told him what I knew.  Nothing I invented.  It is in the scientific literature.  It is almost common sense.  Avoid grains(high glycemic and contain high omega 6), eat high quality protein, avoid chemicals that have bad side-effects, eat food that decreases inflammation, eat fiber, eat only small amounts of simple sugars, and get a moderate amount of regular exercise. Test what you eat by checking blood sugar often.  Everyone is a little different.  He did exactly that.  In about three weeks, he lost 15 pounds.  His blood sugar readings have dropped into normal range.  He is excited to find out what his lipid tests and HbA1c will look like in a couple months.  

Empathetic Healthy Doctor
This experience will make him a better doctor and his health may well be better than if he maintained his habits and didn’t get the diagnosis of diabetes. He will certainly have greater empathy for his patients that have diabetes. A blessing in disguise.  Pray it is.

--Dave

Xylitol is a  good substitute for table sugar (sucrose), tasting good with little or no aftertaste.  The very low glycemic index (stimulates insulin production very little) makes it a very attractive sweetener for diabetics and people with metabolic syndrome.  It is not an artificial sweetener, having been derived from birch bark.  It interferes with tooth cavity bacteria activity and even seems to aid remineralization of teeth.  Besides tooth bacteria, it also inhibits other bacteria in the ears and respiratory tract. Studies have not shown toxicity in humans, even at very high consumption levels.  There may be a mild laxative effect in some people as shown in a study of children consuming more than 2 ounces per day.  Adults have consumed as much as a pound in a day with no ill effect.

If you decide to use xylitol, be aware that it is toxic to dogs.

--Dave

The Gallup Wellbeing Survey is an ongoing project tracking the health and wellbeing of Americans over time.  Part of what they track is self reported obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.  In summary, they are tracking metabolic syndrome.  It is very predictive for cardiovascular disease among other disease consequences.  The states with the highest rates of obesity were West Virginia and Mississippi with 33.5% and 32.2% respectively.  The lowest obesity rates were in Colorado and Massachusetts with 18.7% and 21.5% respectively.  The average rate is 26.2% for the US.  This is all self reported.  In general, the same high obesity states also had high rates of diabetes and hypertension.  Keep in mind that obesity, when self reported, is significantly underestimated.  

Obesity now surpasses smoking and alcohol abuse as a major health problem.  We are getting fatter and suffering the associated health consequences.

--Dave

http://www.gallup.com/poll/160892/coloradans-least-obese-west-virginians-third-year.aspx?utm_source=tagrss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syndication