Modern wheat is a result of hybridization that occurred starting in the 1940\u2019s. By 1980, all world production was using the new high-yield strains. It is a \u201cFaustian bargain\u201d of \u201ctrading abundance for health\u201d.1<\/sup> Modern strains of wheat have a higher quantity of genes, \u201cpurposeful modifications\u201d to \u201cconfer baking and aesthetic characteristics of flour\u201d, resulting in more gluten proteins.2<\/sup> Additionally, there are many other nongluten proteins and enzymes, which can potentially cause allergic reactions and trigger asthma and skin rashes.3<\/sup> Note that since 2003, international guidelines have been developed to subject this type of gene modification to food safety testing. As the author frankly writes, our modern wheat \u201cmade its way into the human food supply with nary a question surrounding its suitability for human consumption\u201d!4<\/sup><\/p>\n Conventional wisdom, as taught by the American Diabetes Association, dieticians and the USDA tells us to eat whole grains and complex carbohydrates instead of \u201csimple carbohydrates in the form of candy and soft drinks\u201d, but whole wheat is as bad or worse, than those! Wheat has a severe effect on our blood glucose levels. This modified complex carbohydrate is mainly composed of an enzyme that is rapidly converted to glucose, which results in increasing blood sugar rapidly.5<\/sup> The author tells us \u201cwhole wheat bread increases blood sugar to a higher level than sucrose\u201d6<\/sup>, or \u201cwheat products elevate blood sugar levels more than virtually any other carbohydrate, from beans to candy bars\u201d7<\/sup> as posed in an inquiring statement on the book\u2019s back jacket \u201cDid you know that eating two slices of whole wheat bread can increase blood sugar more than 2 tablespoons of pure sugar can?<\/u>\u201d (emphasis mine)<\/p>\n The traditional gauge on how the body responds to eating carbohydrates is called the \u2018Glycemic Index\u2019 (GI). It is a measure of how the blood sugar rises after eating carbs, and \u201cfew foods have as high a GI as foods made from wheat<\/em>\u201d8<\/sup>. This high rise in blood sugar results in rapid weight gain, (the author\u2019s term of) \u2018Wheat Belly\u2019 and obesity. This weight gain tends to be primarily around the abdomen, resulting in visceral fat. Visceral fat cells cause an inflammatory reaction in our bodies. This inflammatory cascade leads to wide array of health problems, especially diabetes and cardiovascular disease. (It is worth noting that in Chinese Medicine, it has long been said that grains cause inflammation also.) Besides inflammation, a process called glycation also occurs.9<\/sup> Glycation especially damages the cartilage in joints but also causes many health conditions associated with diabetes, or in effect, aging. There is a way to measure the level of glycation in the body. It is by a simple blood test used to measure how well the blood glucose has been controlled in the past two to three months (all diabetics should already be familiar with it): Hemoglobin A1C or HbA1C. The higher your HbA1C, the more glycation is occurring to damage your body (see \u2018accelerated aging\u2019 list in summary below) – this is then basically a way to measure of how fast you are aging.10<\/sup><\/p>\n A summary of the consequences of inflammation and glycation resulting from the consumption of wheat: Another important concept to understand is that the gluten in wheat also has an addictive effect<\/u>! This occurs because gluten is broken down by the digestive process into certain amino acids that cross the blood-brain barrier. These cause the release of \u2018exogenous morphine-like compounds\u2019, called exorphins, in the brain. Because of this additive effect, consuming wheat makes us crave it more, therefore it is a appetite stimulant<\/u>! Note that other grains that do not contain gluten do not have these same neurological effects of addictive behavior or appetite stimulation.<\/p>\n Another new concept discussed in this book that is \u201cbeginning to gain ground in the medical community\u201d is that diabetes is a disease of \u2018carbohydrate intolerance\u201919<\/sup>. Research has shown repeatedly, in both humans and animals, that sharply reducing carbohydrates \u201creverses<\/u> insulin resistance, \u2026 and visceral fat\u201d (emphasis mine).20<\/sup> The author summarizes this by saying:<\/p>\n Now that it is more clear why the consumption of wheat is not healthy and that consumption of it causes a \u2018wheat belly\u2019, it can be recognized that elimination of eating it is the key to weight loss and will also help a myriad of health problems. Weight loss is immediate once wheat is removed from the diet, especially when it is not replaced with other carbohydrates! But be aware to not replace wheat with other carbohydrates including gluten-free substitutes though, since they are made from various starches that are just more high glycemic index carbs.<\/p>\n Where to go from here?<\/u> To eat healthy consuming primarily whole, unprocessed foods, whether one follows the advice here and eliminates wheat or not, one must mainly prepare and cook foods at home anyhow. One way I recommend to incorporate more vegetables into the diet is to do stir-frys using olive oil. One can use Asian-based spices like ginger, seaweeds or tamari (wheat-free soy sauce) and rice wine, and\/or typical garlic, onions, peppers (spicy or bell, or both) and mushrooms as a base. The next step is to use dark, green leafy veggies such as spinach, chard, kale, mustard greens or bok choy. From there, add the vegetables and spices you like. Add green beans, snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower, etc., etc. in any combination you prefer. One can make it more Italian flavored by using oregano, rosemary and basil, for example. Adding raw seeds and nuts gives one even more options: sunflower, sesame, hemp, and flax seeds, or slivered almonds, walnuts, cashews, etc. In winter, many options for vegetable-based soups are possible also. In warmer months or climates, one can make all kinds of veggie-based salads. (Raw veggies and salad greens have the general energetic property of being cold as taught in Chinese Medicine, and are therefore generally better suited for consumption in the hot seasons, like summer.) And egg scrambles or omelets are another great way to incorporate vegetables in your diet. Additionally, keep in mind that we now have access to foods from all different cultures, even if one lives where ethnic foods are not available, every food item imaginable is now available via the internet to give one even more possibilities to eat healthy if one opens their mind to it! Of course, snacking foods without wheat still abound: healthy chips or veggies and dips, cheese and wheat-free crackers, tempeh or tofu options, etc. \u2013 just eat them in moderation. Note also that one will get plenty of fiber eating a diet rich in vegetables and nuts also.23<\/sup><\/p>\n SUMMARY \u2013 WHAT TO EAT<\/u> (as outlined by Dr. Davis)<\/p>\n 1. Consume unlimited quantities of:<\/p>\n \u221a Vegetables (except high-carb ones like potatoes and corn) 2. Consume limited quantities of:<\/p>\n \u2022 Dairy products as milk, cottage cheese, yogurt and butter (since these tend to increase the release of insulin) Dr. Davis ends his book with a few yummy-sounding recipes (including desserts) such as: Hot Coconut Flaxseed Cereal, Flaxseed Wrap, Crab Cakes, Wheat-Free Pizza (with a cauliflower-based \u201cdough\u201d), and Carrot Cake (uses coconut flour).<\/p>\n In summary, to be very clear, consistent elevated blood sugar levels caused by the consumption of any processed foods such as sodas, candy and other sugar-loaded simple carbohydrates, including complex carbohydrates like other whole grains, will also cause the list of health problems shown here to be caused by wheat due to the same result of inflammation, glycation and visceral fat. Clearly, a diet needs to consist of a very low amount of these \u2018food\u2019 items. But the main point here is that we have been convinced that eating a certain whole grain is healthy, when in fact, it is definitely NOT! Additionally, \u201cremember that the need for \u2018healthy whole grains\u2019 is pure fiction\u201d and \u201cforget everything you learned about \u2018healthy whole grains<\/u>\u2019\u201d!25<\/sup> These statements are both strong and succinct, yet still strange to some even given the information here \u2013 so read the book to get more of the details, and maybe you will realize that this MD knows what he is talking about, and eventually, the ADA and dieticians will too!<\/p>\n Links: Wheat Belly By William Davis, M.D.Rodale, Inc., 292 pp., $25.99 Published August, 2011 This book should convince us all to eliminate wheat from our diet. It is an UNHEALTHY WHOLE GRAIN! Although the author is guilty of a little hyperbole here and there, the cardiologist author makes an excellent case that consumption of wheat is […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[104,35,62,32,27],"tags":[310,176,123,151,122,73,174,120,148,142,177,175],"class_list":["post-674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-cd_gluten","category-diabetes","category-gidx","category-foodtherapy","tag-books-recommended","tag-cardiovascular-disease","tag-celiac","tag-celiac-disease","tag-diabetes-2","tag-diet","tag-gluten","tag-gluten-intolerance","tag-gluten-sensitivity","tag-obesity","tag-skin-disorders","tag-wheat","category-104-id","category-35-id","category-62-id","category-32-id","category-27-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcQuRZ-aS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paradiseacupuncture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paradiseacupuncture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paradiseacupuncture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paradiseacupuncture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paradiseacupuncture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/paradiseacupuncture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4310,"href":"https:\/\/paradiseacupuncture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions\/4310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paradiseacupuncture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paradiseacupuncture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paradiseacupuncture.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 Accelerated aging \u2013 cataracts, wrinkles, kidney disease, dementia, arthritis, atherosclerosis11<\/sup>
\n\u2022 Diabetes \u2013 both Type 1 (especially associated with Celiac Disease) and Type 2 \u2013 insulin resistance12<\/sup>
\n\u2022 Cardiovascular disease \u2013 hypertension from excess visceral fat, \u2018high cholesterol\u2019 (hyperlipidemia), atherosclerosis13<\/sup>
\n\u2022 Osteoarthritis and osteoporosis \u2013 destruction of bone and cartilage tissue14<\/sup>
\n\u2022 Rheumatoid arthritis \u2013 aggravation of joint inflammation in this autoimmune disorder (i.e., probably not causative of onset of disease)15<\/sup>
\n\u2022 Skin diseases \u2013 acne, eczema, psoriasis, vitiligo, oral ulcers and many others16<\/sup>
\n\u2022 Gastrointestinal diseases \u2013 IBS, acid reflex17<\/sup> (causative effect not proven in research, but anecdotal evidence suggests possibly curative for some)
\n\u2022 Asthma \u2013 exacerbation of symptoms18<\/sup> (anecdotal evidence also)
\n\u2022 (Last but not least) Celiac Disease \u2013 an autoimmune reaction from eating gluten that causes intestinal damage and a very wide range of health conditions<\/p>\n“Virtual elimination<\/em> of carbohydrates, including the \u2018dominant\u2019 carbohydrate of \u2018healthy\u2019 diets, wheat, not only improves blood sugar control, but can erase the need for insulin and diabetes medications in adult (Type 2) diabetics \u2013 otherwise known as a cure”.21<\/sup><\/ul>\n
\nWheat elimination may initially seem to be burdensome, but as the author comments, and I concur, it does makes life easier in the long run22<\/sup>. As someone who eliminated wheat over 3 years ago for my own health challenges (I am far from being a purist \u2013 I still eat wheat very occasionally), I can attest to the ease of which one can eliminate wheat when doing so helps one feel better, and having a \u2018side effect\u2019 of losing weight even without that being a top priority, and also being given the possibility to even reverse a health problem! When focused with this agenda, it is easier to narrow down your accepted food choices to wheat-free foods, and generally speaking, eliminate the types of processed foods that we shouldn\u2019t be consuming much of anyhow!! But yes, it is a bit of a challenge initially, I admit. But again, eliminating wheat immediately helps one eliminate many poor food choices! When one goes out to eat \u2013 all those deep-fried, breaded entrees in both American and Chinese restaurants (from chicken-fried steak to sweet-and-sour pork), all the sandwiches made of bread and cured \u2018lunchmeats\u2019 (which also shouldn\u2019t be consumed anyhow), and all the bread options for breakfast (bagels, pastries, \u2018healthy\u2019 muffins, etc.) aren\u2019t even choices one desires any longer. And grocery shopping actually is easier also \u2013 heading only to the aisles on the sides of the market \u2013 purchasing meats and fish, dairy and produce.<\/p>\n
\n\u221a Raw nuts
\n\u221a Use oils such as extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil
\n\u221a Small amounts of animal proteins, preferably grass-fed (and avoid cured meats entirely)24<\/sup>
\n\u221a Eat dairy items such as eggs and cheese (fermentation slows glycemic response compared to unfermented dairy)<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Soy, limited quantities and preferably fermented (since all soy is possibly genetically modified)
\n\u2022 Fruit, limited quantities<\/p>\n
\nMy original blog posting about this book<\/a>
\nWheat Belly: Book Excerpt<\/a>
\n_______________
\n1<\/sup>p. 226.
\n2<\/sup>p. 38.
\n3<\/sup>p. 40.
\n4<\/sup>p. 30.
\n5<\/sup>p. 32.
\n6<\/sup>p. 32-33.
\n7<\/sup>p. 35.
\n8<\/sup>p. 63.
\n9<\/sup>p. 125.
\n10<\/sup>p. 145.
\n11<\/sup>p. 139, 145.
\n12<\/sup>p. 95-115.
\n13<\/sup>p. 146-158.
\n14<\/sup>p. 125, 127.
\n15<\/sup>p. 128.
\n16<\/sup>p 183-184.
\n17<\/sup>p. 92-3.
\n18<\/sup>p. 9.
\n19<\/sup>p. 111.
\n20<\/sup>Ibid.
\n21<\/sup>Ibid.
\n22<\/sup>p. 199.
\n23<\/sup>p. 195.
\n24<\/sup>Consumption of animal proteins also results in glycation, especially from fried and cured meats.
\n25<\/sup>p. 192.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"