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

I read widely in the scientific literature.  Of course, it is in areas that interest me.
I try to be careful that I discern good science from bad.  That is why I pay particular attention
to the thoughts of good scientists who exhaustively review literature with an effort to avoid personal bias.  I have been enjoying a recent book, Perfect Health Diet, by two Ph.D’s that were stimulated to investigate why they had health problems.  Neither is directly involved with healthcare, one being an astrophysicist and the other a molecular biologist.  They came to the conclusion. based on 5 years of sifting through both good and bad science, that essentially the so called “paleolithic diet” is the correct approach.  I must admit that I had come to that belief as well based on much less science and more on observation of myself and my patients.  Essentially, limiting grains, simple sugars, and dairy products have made a big difference for me, my family, and other people that I know.  It took me a very long time, over 30 years, to do that.
I am enjoying the information gathered in this book.  Yes, it does agree with my bias.  But, if someone else agrees with my opinion, it must be correct.  (wink)

--Dave



“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”
― Hippocrates