Modern wheat a "perfect, chronic poison," doctor says

[polly7]

(CBS News) Modern wheat is a "perfect, chronic poison," according to Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist who has published a book all about the world's most popular grain.

Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn't the wheat your grandma had: "It's an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the '60s and '70s," he said on "CBS This Morning." "This thing has many new features nobody told you about, such as there's a new protein in this thing called gliadin. It's not gluten. I'm not addressing people with gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. I'm talking about everybody else because everybody else is susceptible to the gliadin protein that is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite, such that we consume 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year."

Asked if the farming industry could change back to the grain it formerly produced, Davis said it could, but it would not be economically feasible because it yields less per acre. However, Davis said a movement has begun with people turning away from wheat - and dropping substantial weight.

"If three people lost eight pounds, big deal," he said. "But we're seeing hundreds of thousands of people losing 30, 80, 150 pounds. Diabetics become no longer diabetic; people with arthritis having dramatic relief. People losing leg swelling, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and on and on every day."

more... http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57505149/modern-wheat-a-perfect-chronic-poison-doctor-says/?tag=re1.channel


So many people in the last few years are being dx'd with celiac disease, including family and friends who've eaten wheat products all their lives with no previous problems. It does make you wonder just how bad all of our food is getting.

[pnwmom]

1. And the increase in Celiac diagnoses is real -- not a result of better testing.

There was a study conducted using samples of blood donated decades ago, compared to samples donated by the same people recently. They didn't have Celiac then but they do now.

[polly7]

4. Yes, I believe it.

My brother has always been slim and healthy as a horse and never one to complain about anything or miss a day of work. He started feeling really horrible about six months ago......... very sick, and was dx'd around the end of June. Now that his diet's changed, he's feeling fine again. A friend's 16 y/o daughter was dx'd in Jan., so many others I've heard about that live fairly close.

[tanyev]

2. I went slow carb about 3 months ago.

Haven't seen much weight loss, but I got bloodwork results yesterday and my LDL cholesterol has gone down 30 points.

[polly7]

6. That's awesome! nt.

[Speck Tater]

3. Yet another way in which the human race is contributing to it's own demise.

Pollution, global warming, GMO frankenfoods, exotic toxins in the water supply, super bugs from antibiotic misuse, inadequately tested pharmaceuticals, monoculture increasing the risk of catastrophic crop failure, leaking nuclear power reactors, ...

Every day we come up with some new way to endanger our own existence. Aren't we clever creatures?

[polly7]

5. Scary, isn't it.

I feel so bad for the younger generation, we knew / know, and really did nothing.

[LiberalEsto]

7. Poison wheat, GMO corn, arsenic in rice...

think I'll stick to potatoes, or are they messed up too?

[TlalocW]

8. So what can we substitute?

I'm not much of a cook, and sandwiches are a mainstay. Corn tortillas?

TlalocW

[lunasun]

9. non gmo corn tortillas

http://www.examiner.com/article/study-finds-gmo-corn-has-detrimental-side-effects

[watrwefitinfor]

10. Oatmeal? nt

[DLnyc]

11. Gluten- (and hence wheat-) free bread is becoming more common.

Tends to be expensive and not really the same texture as wheat bread, but okay when toasted, IMHO.

Corn tortillas make nice sandwiches (or wraps), can be warmed up in a tiny bit of canola oil.

I also eat a lot of quinoa (South American seed, not technically a grain), rice, sometimes potatoes.

[K8-EEE]

13. Gluten free bread sucks -- better to live without

I do eat corn tortillas and gluten-free waffles, in moderation.

[DLnyc]

16. I agree, in general, gluten free 'bread' is not exactly bread.

Glutino makes some that is okay toasted, but not really the same as wheat bread. But (toasted) it makes a not bad sandwich with extra sharp cheddar, tomato slices, some cucumber slices, thin red onion slices and a bit of mustard!

Also, I have found that rice crackers can be pretty good, and I eat a lot of those.

I do think it is important to find some kind of starch source (typically grain or maybe quinoa, which technically is not a grain).

My understanding is a basic healthy diet requires a reasonable balance of carbohydrate, protein and fat with fresh vegetables and fruits added for vitamins and minerals. I think cutting out carbohydrates and or fats is not a good idea because protein processed without the right mix of carbohydrates and fats creates dangerous byproducts, as I understand it.

But yes, in general, I agree that gluten free 'bread' tends to lack a certain something!

[cojoel]

19. there are some options around Boulder Colorado

I think the altitude may help, but there are some artisan loafs that are decent. Also, there are options with spelt, which while not gluten-free, is a more a much lower amount of a more digestible form a gluten. If you have celiac disease this may not be an option.

[u4ic]

25. Udi's is very good bread

The Millet Chia is my favourite. Some local GF bakeries may also be worth checking out. One here has a great sourdough.

La Tortilla Factory has a teff tortilla that is the best that I've tasted; a much better flavour and texture than corn ones.

There are more GF options every day. I've been GF for 12 years, and the market has exploded in the past 2-3 yrs, with far more better tasting options than ever before. Companies are coming out with more creative options, as are restaurants.

But I agree - I don't eat GF bread very much; same for the sweet baked goods. They're fairly cost-prohibitive when you're on a budget.

[marybourg]

30. There's some very good gluten-free breads now.

Last edited Wed Oct 3, 2012, 12:03 PM - Edit history (1)

My favorite is Canyon Bakehouse 7 grain. Udi's and Rudi's are very acceptable and available in regular supermakets now. Corn tortillas make me barf.

[Warpy]

17. Gluten free bread is out there

it's not the real thing but it will keep your hands clean when you're eating your tuna fish salad.

[MADem]

27. Find Ezekiel Bread (in your grocer's freezer). Really good stuff.

No preservatives.

If you make a sandwich out of two frozen pieces, it's defrosted by lunchtime and will keep your sandwich fresh.

I swear by the stuff.

It toasts up good, too.

http://www.foodforlife.com/

[marybourg]

28. NOT gluten free

[MADem]

29. Sprouted grains, though. nt

[K8-EEE]

12. I have been wheat-free since July 5 and I'm not going back

The difference in my overall energy is amazing - lost 14 lbs effortlessly without hunger. Anybody who is not happy with how their current diet is making them feel, really should try this. You don't need to buy anything fancy. Although the author also recommend cutting other grains, I do have small portions of brown rice, (including brown rice pasta) baked potatoes and even the occasional gluten free waffle or brownie. It's really not difficult at all after the first couple of weeks. I did not realize how much wheat I was consuming until I cut it out!

[Warpy]

18. I dumped wheat 3 years ago

and the rash I was trying to get rid of has largely resolved. I haven't lost much weight, Prednisone keeps me fat, but a lot of annoying health issues also resolved.

I would love to be able to eat wheat again. I love the flavor and most of all, I loved baking. Wheat free chemistry just isn't the same and the products just aren't as good.

However, my carcass is happier without it, so I continue to avoid it. I do get real cake on my birthday, though.

[nichomachus]

14. Sugar too -- I haven't eaten either sugar or wheat in two years

Not even artificial sweeteners.

Feel great, blood work excellent, and I've lost 65 pounds.

Here's a good video about the danger of sugar. It's an hour and a half long, but very good.

[Skink]

15. Is this going to effect wheat beer?

[DarleenMB]

20. I read Dr. Davis's book

Last September right after it was published. I went GRAIN free immediately. My husband finally read it in December and in January gave up wheat (and wheat beer, sorry ... it's just as bad). He also has given up fistfuls of antacids, the acid reflux he has been fighting for YEARS and he dropped 30 pounds.

I recommend this book and the good doc's websites to everyone ... http://www.wheatbellyblog.com

He's a cardiologist btw.

[hedgehog]

21. It may sound like woo-woo but when I read

The End of Overeating by Dr. Kessler, I didn't buy his arguments because he documented a measurable increase in obesity in the early 70's without showing that all the stimulus to overeat began at that point. But if wheat changed then ---(and corn?) things start to make sense.

[kdmorris]

22. Because I have Diabetes...wheat has almost been written out of my diet

I will occasionally have 100% whole wheat bread, but other than that, almost all of my carbs come from fruit, dairy or some other grain (oats mostly).

Thanks for posting this.

[Odin2005]

23. Sounds like a woo-woo hawking his book.

[postulater]

24. May sound like one because that's what woo-woo

sounds like to you.

But he isn't.

[villager]

26. What a considered, scientific response.

n/t

[longship]

31. What's left we can eat, then?

I prefer to eat food. In fact, with almost no exception I find food to be far preferable to any alternative.

I think the practical solution is to eat a balanced diet of a variety of vegetables, and (if you are so inclined) meat.

There are few food products I do not eat, some for health reasons (a life long tendency to both kidney stones and migraines), and others for ethical reasons.

But if you're worried about all these diverse foods which are putatively bad, you're probably going to end up eating insects (an excellent protein source). But then you might end up wringing your hands about insecticides.

I am not trying to be snarky here. But a diverse diet probably serves humanity best. (Pun intended.)



And I see nothing wrong with genetically modified crops, per se, since humans have been doing it for many, many millenia. Except for the ownership problem, and yes it should be highly regulated.

[ErikJ]

32. Wow, interesting. Modern wheat also a lot higher in gluten than ancient wheat.

Its a lot higher in gluten than when man first started eating it 10,000 years ago. They keep breeding more and more into it. I wonder if thats why the Jews made leavened bread forbidden. As the article alludes, I've had an easier time of maintaining my ideal weight by staying away from bread(s) , cookies and crackers for the past 10 years.

[SheilaT]

33. So why do you suppose that all of a sudden

so many people can't eat the food that their ancestors have been eating for thousands of years?

How or why did it suddenly change?

Why are so may people really invested in being sick, in having some kind of disorder that makes their lives difficult?

What I am constantly amazed by is how very invested so many people are in being sick or having an allergy or being unable to consume normal foods. Really? Why?

It's the investment in being ill that fascinates me. Connected to this is the tapping thing. Otherwise known as EFT. The people I have known who are utterly convinced that tapping is the answer to what ails them, all seem to remain as ill as they ever were before they discovered tapping. Hmmm.

[polly7]

34. It's not the same food.

"Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn't the wheat your grandma had: "It's an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the '60s and '70s," he said on "CBS This Morning." "This thing has many new features nobody told you about, such as there's a new protein in this thing called gliadin. It's not gluten. I'm not addressing people with gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. I'm talking about everybody else because everybody else is susceptible to the gliadin protein that is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite, such that we consume 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year."

[trotsky]

35. Please don't spread false information.

Gliadin isn't an opiate, and it isn't "new" to wheat.

http://www.blisstree.com/2012/09/04/eat/nutrition/doc-calls-wheat-a-perfect-chronic-poison-backs-it-up-with-lies-784/

Lie #1: Gliadin is a ”new protein” being engineered into wheat.

Actually, gliadin has always been in wheat. It’s one of two major proteins — the other is called glutenin — that bond together to form gluten. Gluten–as you well know unless you’ve spent the last decade in a cave– is intolerable to people with celiac’s disease, while others can have less severe gluten intolerance or sensitivity. In so far as gliadin is a vital part of gluten, then yes, gliadin is bad for those with celiac’s or other gluten issues. As for everybody else: If you can tolerate gluten, you can tolerate gliadin.

...

Lie #2: Gliadin is an appetite-expanding opiate.

Giadin is not actually an opiate. Gliadin polypeptides can bind to opiate receptors in the brain, but there’s no evidence that this stimulates appetite (look at the Wikipedia page for gliadin, for instance, and you’ll see the only citation for this fact is a link to the CBS interview with Davis from yesterday). And while not an outright lie, it’s patently absurd to suggest that Americans now consume “an extra 440-calories per day, 365 days per year” because of the (possibly mythical) appetite-stimulating properties of gliadin and not, say, anything else that’s changed in our diets in the past 60 years. According to most researchers, the biggest contributors to increased caloric intake are sugar and refined carbohydrates.

Whatever small bit of truth Davis has is completely lost in the the blatant lies he uses to embellish it.