Dwarf mutant wheat

31. October 2010 William Davis (13)
Here's my 12-year old standing next to dwarf wheat grown near my house. The wheat is full-grown, harvested about 2 weeks after I took this photo.

Wheat is no longer the 4-foot tall "amber waves of grain" of the 20th century. Over 99% of all wheat grown worldwide is now the 18- to 24-inch tall dwarf. New size, new biochemistry, new effects on humans. I call it dwarf "mutant" wheat despite its lack of extra limbs or eyes because of the dramatic transformation required to breed this unique synthetic plant. 

Short-stature means less stalk, faster growing. The stockier stalk also means that the heavy seed head won't cause the plant to "buckle," as 4-foot tall wheat used to. 





The thousand-plus proteins of wheat that have been transformed to generate this dwarf mutant also changed wheat's relationship to consuming humans.
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Comments (13) -

  • Anonymous

    10/31/2010 2:18:44 PM |

    same neurotoxic effects?

  • Marc

    10/31/2010 3:54:29 PM |

    Wheat consumes humans?

  • Anna

    10/31/2010 4:07:28 PM |

    Very funny, Marc.  Now that I think about it, a lot of modern humans do look quite engulfed by doughy wheat.

  • Hans Keer

    11/1/2010 5:32:31 PM |

    And these dwarfs are just like their taller ancestors trying to kill us and prevent us from consuming them: http://bit.ly/cyKHre

  • Dr. William Davis

    11/2/2010 1:38:54 AM |

    Great comments.

    If I were to design an ideal Frankengrain that exerted every conceivable adverse effect imaginable, it would be dwarf wheat.

    Yes, the very same wheat endorsed and encouraged by the USDA, American Heart Association, American Dietetic Association, and others.

  • Anonymous

    11/2/2010 6:05:31 AM |

    Love your son's Justin Bieber hair!

  • Anne

    11/2/2010 3:46:29 PM |

    I am glad I don't live next to a field of Dwarf mutant wheat. I am very gluten sensitive and I have heard of other gluten sensitive people having problems when the wheat is harvested. I have had problems with the dust from wild bird seed that contained wheat.

  • Anonymous

    11/3/2010 2:27:08 PM |

    Another problem of using grains as a feed source for us and animals is the potential for the growth of mould in stored grains.  This can result in contamination from mycotoxins like aflatoxin in wheat and corn.

  • Anonymous

    11/3/2010 9:08:49 PM |

    I am fascinated and grateful I found your blog completely by chance when researching things to do with my supplements, but....

    I'm also at a bit of a loss (LOL).  I have been eating whole grains and rarely whole wheat at the advice of my doctors for a well rounded diet for sometime now.  I finally brought my triglycerides (astronomically high before) down to the low mid level (in prefect range), my glucose to normal levels (I was borderline type 2 diabetic), and my liver enzymes (6 times to high before) down to normal levels for the first time in two or so years since my very early menopause happened.  I have fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome.  Though I have not been able to lose the weight (I've had 7 failed back surgeries, where I can finally gratefully walk again (I am still unable to exercise or walk for any length of time due to nerve and back pain-I do not take pain meds any longer) and my blood tests are healthy and awesome.  

    I also have been taking many supplements which include the Lovaza (yes, I know how you feel about it LOL), trans-resveratrol, milk thistle, L-Carnosine, Alpha Lipoic Acid (menopause brain fog), Flax Seeds, B-12, Acidophillus, Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, Calcium, Magnesium, and a Multi, so I am sure they also caused the dramatic change in my blood tests along with my diet rich in fruit, soy, leafy vegetables and whole grains, too.  

    I'm primarily a vegetarian now (except for the Lovaza and an extremely rare piece of chicken or sashimi/fish), but I still have the fat around my stomach from the metabolic syndrome (very early menopause-2 years post menopausal) and the muffin top you speak of.  I again just attributed it to not being able to exercise (which I LOVE especially Karate) due to my disability, but now I read your blog, so I was wondering what should I do?  Should I now cut out the whole grains too?

    My cholesterol is still 54 points too high, but it is 100 pts. lower than it was.  Due to the liver, my doctor wants me to keep doing it with diet, which I am also happy to do.  I don't really consider Lovaza a statin, but I do take it as I explained.  My mom and brother take Lipitor (my brother is in perfect condition and works out 4 days a week, high cholesterol and heart attack/stroke just run in our family), but they still don't want me taking it again because of my liver.

    There is more (quit smoking a year and a half ago and some other now under control health problems), but really I want to know what you think I should do about the whole grains and rare whole wheat in my diet.  I also want to know what you think about me adding CoQ10 and how to finally get my bad cholesterol in perfect range as I did so well with my other blood tests. Do you agree on the supplements I am taking too?

  • Anonymous

    11/3/2010 9:10:35 PM |

    I am fascinated and grateful I found your blog completely by chance when researching things to do with my supplements, but....

    I'm also at a bit of a loss (LOL).  I have been eating whole grains and rarely whole wheat at the advice of my doctors for a well rounded diet for sometime now.  I finally brought my triglycerides (astronomically high before) down to the low mid level (in prefect range), my glucose to normal levels (I was borderline type 2 diabetic), and my liver enzymes (6 times to high before) down to normal levels for the first time in two or so years since my very early menopause happened.  I have fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome.  Though I have not been able to lose the weight (I've had 7 failed back surgeries, where I can finally gratefully walk again (I am still unable to exercise or walk for any length of time due to nerve and back pain-I do not take pain meds any longer) and my blood tests are healthy and awesome.

  • Anonymous

    11/3/2010 9:11:35 PM |

    Sorry, it said my comment was too long, so I am putting it in two comments.  Please forgive the length.  

    I also have been taking many supplements which include the Lovaza (yes, I know how you feel about it LOL), trans-resveratrol, milk thistle, L-Carnosine, Alpha Lipoic Acid (menopause brain fog), Flax Seeds, B-12, Acidophillus, Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, Calcium, Magnesium, and a Multi, so I am sure they also caused the dramatic change in my blood tests along with my diet rich in fruit, soy, leafy vegetables and whole grains, too.  

    I'm primarily a vegetarian now (except for the Lovaza and an extremely rare piece of chicken or sashimi/fish), but I still have the fat around my stomach from the metabolic syndrome (very early menopause-2 years post menopausal) and the muffin top you speak of.  I again just attributed it to not being able to exercise (which I LOVE especially Karate) due to my disability, but now I read your blog, so I was wondering what should I do?  Should I now cut out the whole grains too?

    My cholesterol is still 54 points too high, but it is 100 pts. lower than it was.  Due to the liver, my doctor wants me to keep doing it with diet, which I am also happy to do.  I don't really consider Lovaza a statin, but I do take it as I explained.  My mom and brother take Lipitor (my brother is in perfect condition and works out 4 days a week, high cholesterol and heart attack/stroke just run in our family), but they still don't want me taking it again because of my liver.

    There is more (quit smoking a year and a half ago and some other now under control health problems), but really I want to know what you think I should do about the whole grains and rare whole wheat in my diet.  I also want to know what you think about me adding CoQ10 and how to finally get my bad cholesterol in perfect range as I did so well with my other blood tests. Do you agree on the supplements I am taking too?

  • Wheat Belly – Here It Comes | Critical MAS

    4/18/2012 1:10:17 AM |

    [...] I only had two issues with this book. The first is something that could easily be fixed in a 2nd printing. I think having photos of wheat today side by side with wheat from pre-GMO days would be instructive. Many of the readers in the book are too young to know what wheat looked like prior to the current dwarf mutant wheat. [...]

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Lipoprotein(a)--neglected and unappreciated

Lipoprotein(a)--neglected and unappreciated

16. February 2008 William Davis (2)

Lipoprotein(a), or just Lp(a) to its close friends and neighbors, is among the most underappreciated and neglected of causes of coronary plaque. It's the Rodney Dangerfield of lipoproteins.

Lp(a) rarely gets diagnosed before people come to my office. They've often been through the ringer: doctors have thrown their hands up in frustration because of poor response to "standard" treatment (AKA statin drugs); the patient doesn't understand why they might be thin and active yet have the high blood pressure of someone 70 lbs heavier; they have heart disease despite wonderful cholesterol values.

One blood test and the answer becomes clear: They have Lp(a). It explains all these phenomena.

They why don't more physicians order this simple test? Why don't we hear more about this prevalent (1 in 5 people with coronary plaque have it) genetic pattern that accelerates risk for heart disease?

There are a number of reasons. But I believe the most powerful reason is simply that there is no big revenue-generating drug to treat it. Statins reduce LDL cholesterol to the tune of $27 billion dollars a year (2007 revenue). There's no such blockbuster for Lp(a). Of course, Niaspan represents the relatively anemic attempt to commercialize a pharmaceutical treatment for Lp(a), but side-effects and the lack of FDA trials for the Lp(a)-reducing indication have stalled its commercial success. (Efforts to block the flush with various products, by the way, may re-invigorate niacin as a pharmaceutical agent. The drug companies smell money here.)

Another reason for Lp(a)'s unpopularity: Though there are mounds of data that document--without question--that Lp(a) is an important risk for coronary disease and other forms of atherosclerotic disease, we lack treatment trials. For instance, niacin vs. placebo for 5 years, then count the number of heart attacks and deaths. We have numerous, repetitive, overlapping, redundant trials with statins adhering to this design. We have none for niacin and the treatment of Lp(a).

Niacin is also a pain in the neck for your doctor. He/she rapidly tires of the calls about the crazy and disconcerting flushing with niacin. Most are unaware that proper hydration reduces or eliminates the flush for the majority of people. It takes too much time and energy to educate people. (By the way, prescription Niaspan makes no mention of purposeful hydration. They only suggest the nonsensical "Take with a low-fat snack," i.e., snacks that actually counter the therpaeutic effects of niacin. What they should be saying is "take with a high-fat snack" like raw almonds, foods that facilatate the benefits of niacin.)

Should someone concoct a successful pharmaceutical treatment for Lp(a), it will make the news, headlines in health magazines and health sections of the newspaper will blare about how important Lp(a) is. Yet it has been there all along, frustrating people and their physicians.

In the Track Your Plaque experience, Lp(a) clearly 1) correlates with heart scan scores, 2) correlates with progression of heart scan scores without treatment, and 3) poses special challenges for treatment. Interestingly, some of our biggest failures have been with Lp(a), as well as some of our biggest successes. (Our current record holder for the largest percentage reduction in heart scan score has Lp(a).)

If you have coronary plaque, or if there is family risk of heart disease, then Lp(a), in my view, is an absolutely essential factor to test for. Yes, treatment poses challenges. But once you know who your enemy is, then you can focus your efforts on it. Not knowing whether or not you have it leaves your efforts unfocused and generally flawed.

Track Your Plaque Members, be sure to read our in-depth Special Report, Unique Treatments for Lipoprotein(a) Reduction.



Copyright 2008 William Davvis, MD
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Comments (2) -

  • Anonymous

    3/9/2008 6:36:00 PM |

    Alka-Seltzer [325 ASA, aqeous] after applesauce [3 TBS].
    High-Fiber snack plus an ASA that won`t be forgotten: It`s in the water you need to wash down the niacin, and the funny taste helps remind you:
    90% compliance if adhered to.
    Not usually required chronically,.. most flushing is "tachyphylactic".
    castelli et al An Interview with the Editor, Am J Cardiol 2005

  • buy jeans

    11/2/2010 8:53:49 PM |

    Should someone concoct a successful pharmaceutical treatment for Lp(a), it will make the news, headlines in health magazines and health sections of the newspaper will blare about how important Lp(a) is. Yet it has been there all along, frustrating people and their physicians.

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