while i believe in this strategy with improvement in my own situation,probably due to genetics i have not experience any change in particle size although there has been a reduction in small particles from 1805 to 1305according to NMR with size at 18.7  Since trigs were only 20 and HDL was 54 up from 41 VitD only 38. Working to raise it.  Taking Lipitor at Doc request due to strong family history.  Only male in family not to have a coronary event. Would like not to take statin,but not sure there is an alternative. Any thoughts?

I normally ead very little wheat anyway, but you've piqued my curiousity

you wrote this:
>>> eliminate the foods that trigger small LDL

the interesting word here is "trigger"  - does it mean that only a small amount of wheat will cause lots of small LDL particles - that is, wheat changes the way you create LDL, and so a small amount of wheat turns a lot of LDL into small particles?


OR

is there a dose dependent response?  A small amount of wheat leads to low levels of small LDL particles, and more wheat leads to higher levels, and lots of wheat creates high levels.

Sam in Toronto

Steve, how many carbs per day are you eating and what is your percentage and type of fat you are eating? Are you eating any PUFAs? Do you consume much fructose (i.e. honey, agave nectar, fructans from sorbitol, xylitol and any poly-ol)? Do you eat pre-packaged or pre-prepared foods? How much and what are your protein sources each day?

Just wondering because I don't know that Dr. Davis is always able to answer personal questions?

Also, what form of Vitamin D are you taking and how much of it? How long supplementing?

Given my travel etc, I have been able to reduce but not totally eliminate wheat from my diet.  Dr. Davis, I think I have eliminated about 70% of wheat.  Does that help?  Also, is whole grain wheat OK or is it all wheat?    Thanks!!!

Very impressive.  What is your opinion about the likely mechanism for the LDL improvement related to wheat?  Less carbs?  Removal of possible immune response to gluten?  Removal of gluten intolerance?  All of the above?  Which factor is most important in your mind?  Are there others?  Thanks.

Pooti: In response to your inquiry.

i eat no sugar except in greek yougurt(2%) or in fruit which is limited to an apple or some berries. Rest of diet is fish beef, turkey,chicken, eggs(sometimes whites only,sometimes the whole egg)  No grains except tsp of metamuciel(psylium). Only use olive oil for salad, and eat no fried food at all.  i take fish oil.  Kinda think it is genetics but open to advise.

pooti wrote:

>>> Just wondering because I don't know that Dr. Davis is always able to answer personal questions?

Dr. Davis always answers personal questions at the Track Your Plaque forum.  But given his patient load and responsibilities for the Track Your Plaque program, he is not able to answer questions often here at the Heart Scan Blog.

Doc
How do you know it was the wheat that did it? What about the sugar or starch. Don't you have to isolate your variables?

Steve K,

You may be extraordinarily insulin sensitive to grains and sugars.

Are you using the drink or wafer forms of Metamucil?

Just one tablespoon of the original drink form of Metamucil has 9 grams of sugar (sucrose).

The "sugar free" drink versions of Metamucil will still give you a good dose of aspartame and maltodextrin.  Small amounts of chronic doses may result in unfavorable insulin resistance/response with some people.

The wafer form of Metamucil is even worse.  Each serving contains 6 grams of sugar, corn starch, fructose, and wheat.

Try to get a brand that only contains psyllium husk, like Konsyl.  Each serving has only 0.5 grams of available complex carbohydrates. It can be found at Walmart.

Yes, Greek yogurt has less lactose (milk sugar) than regular yogurt.  But, even a modest eight ounce serving of plain Greek yogurt can contain as much as 9 grams of lactose.  And if you are consuming chronic amounts, it very well may be affecting your insulin.

IMHO, investing in a glucose meter for home monitoring is not a bad idea for anyone who think they may be genetically sensitive to carbohydrates.

xenolith_pm :


i am thin and fasting glucose last measured was 79 which i am told is lower end of normal.  Were i super sensitive this and trigs(20) would i suspect be higher.  Thanks for input from all.

I'm jealous! Dropping the carbs decimated my trigs (literally) and doubled HDL. Initially my LDL *increased* but adding more sat fats seems to have reduced this back again. I wish I could get a proper test for the particle size, I have to guestimate from the trigs/HDL ratio.

Maybe I should eliminate the small amount of wheat I still eat, see if there's a threshold effect.

I am posting this here because I cannot, at this time, afford to join the forum so would appreciate anyone who could answer me.  I have avoided wheat for years because of its disastrous gastric effects but reading Mary Enig and Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions have been thinking about trying some sprouted wheat bread (Sunnyvale Organic).  Any opinions on this as the phytic acid is neutralised and the vits and mins are more bioavailable?

Susie

I have asked for a proposed mechanism several times.  I do not dispute the reported results, it just helps if a mechanism is proposed so people can understand why wheat or any other food impacts the particle size of LDL.

Trevor

This study found that wheat was a problem compared to oats but they were unable to reach a conclusion as to why.

http://www.39kf.com/cooperate/qk/American-Society-for-Nutrition/027602/2008-12-28-550490.shtml


"The reason for these unfavorable lipoprotein changes in the wheat group is not readily apparent; however, the mechanism by which these alterations are produced does not occur with increased oat consumption."

The only grain I eat now is oats prepared using the Weston Price method.

I think its hard to answer in detail allot of questions that come here, which is why we started the board as there were several of us just like you with all these questions.

It was our idea for a small fee, not Dr D idea to make money, he makes nada off this and gives gives gives!

....and there had to be a small fee otherwise we would need advertisers like drug companies and we wanted it to remain free of that brain washing.

The board is about $20 a few times a year and it has saved my life.

Cheap investment.I think I am worth that.

There is so much information there you would know that these blog posts are 110% backed up with good medical documentation.

Or maybe go back to the beginning of this blog and read it all in detail and allot of your questions will be answered.

I used to hang onto this blog for info as found it the most effective and so personal. Then we started the board and I can go there and read and educate myself from Dr D and hundreds of well educated folks like you and me who want to live longer and know traditional medicine is not helping us as much as it could with reversing our plague.

Now I hardly ever come here as all the info is at my finger tips.

Dr D makes no money from the board, it is to pay for band widths, web seminars etc.

It is created by volunteers from this group and if approx.$5 a month isn't affordable let me know and I will help you find a way to raise some funds to take good care of yourself.

I believe its our right to good health care info and thats what Dr D provides here and on the board.

I am serious, don't let the small fee make you die younger.

Anonymous,

Sprouting the grains may eliminate the gastric issues you've experienced with wheat. However, those gastric issues may have been an indication of gluten intolerance and gastric issues may not be the only symptom, just the most obvious or visible one.

Before adding wheat back to your diet in a large way, please research non-celiac gluten sensitivity and gluten intolerance on the web and at the public library.

http://www.glutensensitivity.net/ and http://jccglutenfree.googlepages.com/ are good places to start.

If you have questions re: gluten intolerance, there are several forums discussing this topic such as glutenfreeandbeyond.org/forum
or forums.glutenfree.com

Thanks for that, I was just asking as the wheat issues raised in the blog and the main site probably refer to modern wheat refining and baking processes whereas sprouted grain bread is made to an ancient recipe and contains no dairy or yeast.  I will certainly check out all options before deciding.  Thanks again.

Susie

Some diabetics can eat Ezekiel or similar sprouted grain breads, or breads made with wheat gluten and non-wheat flours, and I can handle other grains (in sufficiently small quantities) without the BG and presumably insulin spikes specific to wheat, but that's only one of the possible issues.

hey thanks.  I don't have an issue with the fee, just and issue with putting my creditcarddetails into an unsecure webpage.  I wrote the TYP and pointed out they should use https.... when it is fixed, I will join. Even this blog is https

I think that the problem you are suffering through is insulin sensitivity. Well i am still researching on this topic but till now the point which has been cleared is this one only.

In other words, 100% of Lee's LDL particles had shifted to the more benign large LDL simply with elimination of these foods---NO statin drug. (In addition to wheat elimination, she was also taking vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids at our recommended doses.)

Dr. Davis.

What do you think of brachial artery reactivity testing (BART).  There's another study (here: http://www.adajournal.org/article/S0002-8223(08)02336-5/abstract) linking high-fat diets to decreases in flow-mediated vasodilation.  I was wondering your thoughts on the likelihood that BART is measuring a significant risk factor for CVD.  

This is definitely off-topic so apologies.

As you say, most common thermometers are calibrated to measure fever or elevated temps.

Look for basal thermometers, often sold for detecting ovulation, so they'll be with fertility and
"women's products" aisles, but may be used by anyone. Basal thermometers are calibrated low enough to detect the low temperatures of hypothyroidism.

When I was experiencing infertility 15 years ago, I handed over many months of early morning temperature charts to the specialists, with all my menstrual cycle details.  Routinely, I had temperatures in the 96°F range, unless I was sick or ovulating (98.6F was a fever for me back then).  A spike to 97 indicated ovulation.  No one ever questioned the low temps in terms of my lack of fertility, of course, but the nurses joked about how cold I was.  If I only knew then...

Dr.Davis

This is very informative.
What is the best base level of Iodine daily to promote thyroid health?

Thanks for you great blog!

Aaron

Using a thermometer to determine thyroid function may be worthwhile, but realistically... how useful is it really?

By this I mean, say it registers low. Okay, so now you go to your doctor and try to get your thyroid levels measured. A GOOD doctor who knows what they doing (which is rare) will measure Free T3, Free T4, TSH and antibodies.

Unless your TSH is in the >3 range, along with raised antibodies, the chances of getting treatment is close to nil, regardless of your temperature. And usually most doctors look for TSH >5.

Perhaps you can find the rare doctor who will treat based on antibodies alone, or the doctor who will consider a TSH >2.5 significant, but prepare to see a lot of doctors in order to find one who will treat.

And recommending iodine without checking antibodies first, probably is a bad idea. Iodine + Hashimoto's doesn't always work out so well.

Thanks so much for this information.  I measured waking temps for around 6 months for fertility reasons.  Usually I was in the low to mid 97 range.  Just measuring, evening, it's only 97.9 -- as measured with two different BBT thermometers.  I've lost about 15 pounds on a wheat-free, sugar-free diet, but I have about 20 lbs. more to lose and often wonder why I can't seem to shake the extra weight.  This post has encouraged me to get my thryoid checked.  my mom, grandma, and great-grandma all have/had hypothyroidism.

Monica,  based on my experience and of others I know, it might take some persistence on your part.  Learn as much as you can about thyroid function and various approaches to treatment; Mary Shomon's thyroid.about.com website and book are a good start.  Good thyroid function is critical for optimum fertility, healthy pregnancies, and healthy babies; several years after we gave up on trying, when hypothyroid symptoms became so pronounced, I read at least 5 books with different angles; if I hadn't I would have given up much too soon and settled for the wrong care.  Check with a few doctors (even out of network and out-of-pocket if you can) if you are told you are fine despite your symptoms or only need synthetic T4; it's worth it (esp if low thoyroid function might be affecting your fertility - I learned too late it probably was at least part of my infertility problem all along).  I got nowhere fast with my PCP of 10 years and the next physician I saw in my network and only a fraction better.  Even once I found better care out of network, it took a lot of tinkering with treatment and dose to finally feel and function closer to normal in the third year of treatment.  Don't get discouraged.

I know there's a fine line between doctor-shopping to neurotically get what you think you need vs. being a tenacious advocate for your health (I was constantly aware of this).  Despite the dismissal of concerns and frustration I often experienced early on,  I wouldn't accept the constant push to take other meds offered to manage the symptoms just because the doc or lab held to an outdated TSH threshold or couldn't/wouldn't figure it out.  

Good luck to you.

Temperature assessment should be a great way to detect the disease.Thanks for the informative article.

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