However, you can easily and now cheaply check your blood sugar. Because blood sugar parallels small LDL, checking blood sugar can provide insight into how you respond to various foods and know whether glucose/small LDL have been triggered.

I've lost most of my wheat belly by eating as you suggest. But it seems like there is a last little bit that won't go away, plus I have "wheat breasts". Is there a reason these things don't go away quickly (especially the breasts), and is there something else I can do?

Everything sounds right on! except for the low-fat recommendations.  A body needs fat!

ok, but what is the mechanism?

Please explain why wheat is a problem food.  I am not looking for clinical trials, just a plausible theory that I can align with or not.

Although I don't impose the burden of data on you, here are a few references with ample data showing remarkable statistical evidence for benefits to vegetarianism:-

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/health2.html

http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/vegetarian_diets_health_benefits.php

As a Dr I am sure you would feel bad not presenting a balanced view.

Yes. Think I'd avoid the manufactured oils too and go for more animal fats. Just as nature intended.

It is so true, I have experienced it my self, I never used to eat sweets an cereals, but bread and pasta, have been my main diet, not any more!I used to think I had such a healthy diet as I never ate sweets and refind stuff!!

"Most people will report that a cloud has been lifted from their brains. Thinking is clearer, you have more energy, you don't poop out in the afternoon, you sleep more deeply, some rashes disappear. You will also notice that hunger ratchets down substantially. Most people lose the insatiable hunger pangs that occur 2-3 hours after a wheat-containing meal. Instead, hunger is a soft signal that gently prods you that it's time to consider eating again."

The above quote describes me so well, after eliminating wheat from my life!

Is Rye as bad as wheat?

I appreciate your point here, but...

I've been strictly wheat-free since the start of the year (I've slipped up a bit when I've forgotten to pack my own soy sauce for a sushi outing, and there's probably been some "stealth wheat" in infrequent restaurant meals...otherwise nada). I have some sort of wheat-related enteropathy that provides a strong incentive to be strict. I do eat some non-wheat grain products, but not every day. My sugar intake is also not perfect, but it's still much improved over any point in 2008.

So I should be looking pretty good about now, right? Well, no. My weight seems to have stabilized down about 5-7lb below my previous stable weight, but any changes from that baseline have been strictly upward (mostly water retention after weight lifting). My waist measurement is unchanged. If there's any legitimate loss (beyond water weight due to the lower carb diet) it hasn't come off there. I'm quite overweight, so this is really a tiny drop in the bucket.

This near-total lack of improvement has been achieved with a schedule of 4+ hours of intense exercise most weeks.

So, anyway. Not asking for help, just commenting that the picture is not necessarily as rosy as you depict.

brown rice, corn, quinoa, amaranth, whole barley, millet - there are a whole range of whole grain alternatives to wheat. wheat just seems to be more addictive that other grains.

thanks for another great post.

Sorry it I've missed this in your other posts... but besides wheat, are there, in your opinion, any safe cereals? I've been almost completely grain/cereal free for a year but am thinking about adding oatmeal to my diet. In your experience, how well do your patients tolerate this? Thanks.

I agree with what you say about wheat. I feel much better when I omit it from my diet.

However, I do have a question. Previous generations ate wheat without having the dire health consequences we have now. Was this due to
1. not eating nearly as much wheat as people do today? or
2. not eating transfats and/or tons of sugar, along with the wheat? or
3. performing hard, physical labor, something most of us don't do?
Or, perhaps a combination of those things, plus other factors I haven't even considered.

Before great grandpa went out to plow the fields, he probably had a breakfast of some kind of meat and/or eggs, biscuits, perhaps gravy, and then he worked really hard for hours. The kids walked to school, maybe several miles, and lunch might have been bread and butter and milk. And when they had recess, they played hard. That generation didn't have obesity and rampant heart disease. If we lived the same way our grandparents and great grandparents lived, might we be able to eat wheat products (not the super-refined junk, but what they had available), without the major health consequences?

Healthy oils and lean proteins? That idea is derived from the Mediterranean idea which is derived from the observations of Ancel Keys, the father of the lipid hypothesis. It's pure speculation.

It's rather contradictory. The lipid hypothesis says carbohydrate is good. Thus, we should eat wheat. Yet here you are telling us wheat is actually bad for us. Tell us to eat healthy oils, i.e. vegetable oils like olive oil and canola oil. But then tell us to eat lean meats, implying there's something bad about animal fat, i.e. saturated fat, and something good about vegetable oils, i.e. polyunsaturated fat omega 3/6/9 (without noting that vegetable oils contain many times the amount of omega 6 contained in animal fat). Ancel Keys' lipid hypothesis is based on those assumptions too.

To cut wheat, yes. But to cut animal fat, where's the justification?

@D: I do think exercise offsets a lot of metabolic derangement. It's part of how hockey players (the young serious ones, not slow moving middle-aged folks like me) can get away with eating shockingly poor diets.

Incidentally, my parents tell me my grandpa had very similar symptoms to mine, before I was old enough to be aware of it myself. I have some sort of intolerance or allergy, though.

reply to D:
One of the problems with modern bread is the speed it's produced at.
Starting in the early 1960's bread production was industrialised using "bread improvers". A loaf can now be turned out in just a couple of hours, whereas back in the past it was a long process. Earlier in the nineteenth century and before, bread had to 'prove' using naturally occurring wild yeasts. The time factor is important because of the somewhat indigestible properties of grain. Phytic acid and enzymes in the grain need to be neutralised with a long exposure to yeasts. This can be achieved also by soaking grains overnight or longer.
Traditional societies prepare their grains this way to make them digestible and to get the full nutritional benefit.
See 'Weston Price Foundation' for information for grain prep.

My experience supports giving wheat up completely, not just cutting down. My chronic joint pain went away--maybe an autoimmune-related phenomenon. Will be interested to see if it affects my serum C-reactive protein.

"You will also notice that hunger ratchets down substantially. Most people lose the insatiable hunger pangs that occur 2-3 hours after a wheat-containing meal. Instead, hunger is a soft signal that gently prods you that it's time to consider eating again."

My mother, and paternal grandmother were both diagnosed with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and were instructed to eat many small meals per day to avoid symptoms of hypoglycemia.

I started having the same symptoms during junior high, so my mother taught me to eat many small meals to avoid my shakes, headaches, and light-headedness that happened after 3-4 hours without food (except when I ate really large meals occasionally, then I could last longer without food).

I start following Dr. Davis' blog, and he was blogging about the benefits of fasting from some studies. I commented that I didn't think I could fast because of the hypoglycemia, and he replied to stick it out, and stop the wheat. Coincidentally, I had a borderline H1C at that time.

But instead of sticking it out, I forced myself to not eat until my hypoglycemic signs started, then I ate veggies, meat, or fruit, with a few nuts here and there. I'd eat as little as possible, then wait until the next episode of hypoglycemic symptoms. Oh, I did continue eating rice or potatoes, but smaller servings, and quit sugar during that time.

I started noticing I could go a little longer between meals without hypoglycemic symptoms after about 4 days, and I think it was about 7-10 days off wheat and sugar (but still eating a little rice or potatoes) when I went 16 hours without food, and no hypoglycemic symptoms.

My follow-up HA1C was in the normal range after stretching out my meals, and stopping wheat and sugar.

Does wheat reduction works as well (i.e. eating a slice of bread or 30 grams of pasta or breading your meat instead of eating two big bowls of pasta, a loaf of bread, a slice of pizza, several biscuits and pastries daily) or total removal of wheat from the diet is absolutely required?

I believe that wheat and refined carbs are responsible for the 'muffin-tops' and 'wheat bellies' so many folks are carrying around now.
I work with people who have gluten addiction all the time and when they eat a Whole foods diet free of gluten, dairy, soy, and sugar the weight falls off them quick. And onlike most other diets the weight falls off the belly first, which is an awesome motivator. Also, there aren't the constant cravings of the low fat diet. My dad went on the gluten, dairy, soy and sugar free diet plan and his blood sugar and blood pressure went from borderline diabetic/high blood pressure to optimal ranges in a few weeks. He is off all medications now and full of energy at 66 years old.

Now, if I were trying to sell you something, say, an alternative to wheat, then you should be skeptical. If I tell you that drug or nutritional supplement X is great and you should take it, only to follow it with a sales pitch, you should be skeptical.

I have been low carb for 5 years and cut out wheat from my diet completely. No pasta, no breads of any kind, no breading on my meat, no waffles/pancakes/donuts/etc or any grains at all. I also cut out potatoes and corn.

I dropped down from 190 to 135, a normal weight for my height, and I have kept it off for 4 years. I completely believe that the grains we eat now are so far removed from what they used to be  (due to refining processes, selective breeding to be more tasty, etc) that they have become a slow acting poison.

Thank you for this blog!

I wish there was a law that would prevent quackery such as this from being published and promoted.  "This food is evil".  "That food is evil".  Aside from junk food that is high in fat and/or sugar, specific foods or food groups are not the problem unless you have an allergy.

David says:
"I wish there was a law that would prevent quackery such as this from being published and promoted. “This food is evil”. “That food is evil”. Aside from junk food that is high in fat and/or sugar, specific foods or food groups are not the problem unless you have an allergy."

And I wish there was a law that would prevent the 'ignorant gene' from being passed down from parents to children...

Thank you Dr. Davis for bringing this to light.  It would seem plausible that genetically modified grains have contributed significantly to our modern illnesses...most notably, inflammation, diabetes and the dramatic rise in the incidence of celiac disease.  As grains have been "pushed" into our daily diets since the 1970's (think low fat, whole grain nonsense), T-2 diabetes has increased exponentially!  And while there is no 'one-size-fits-all' DIET, if the USDA Food Pyramid (the definitive guide on how to eat healthy!) was so great with its ongoing drumbeat of  "EAT MORE GRAINS!", then wouldn't we have LESS diabetes...LESS obesity...and wouldn't we all be slim and healthy?  I guess this is the reason why the standard American diet has the acronym: SAD...

Hi, Donna--

Well said!

The status quo has gotten us into a heap of misery, health-wise. I am not willing to accept it!

FYI:  There is no longer a USDA food pyramid with an emphasis on grains on the bottom of the pyramid.
It was replaced by "ChooseMyPlate" in August 2011.  It's not perfect.  One fourth of the plate is for grains.  But I am happy to see that half of the plate is for vegetables and fruits.
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

Are oats and oat and oat bran also bad for you?

We took all oat products out of the diet a while back, due to its extravagant blood sugar-increasing effect.

I hadn't used iodized salt in more than 15 years.  In recent years I have only purchased various sea salts, usually as unrefined as possible.  There are traces of iodine in unrefined sea salts, but probably not enough.

I've also heard that another cause of lowered iodine intake in recent years is a decline in the use of  iodine-based disinfectants when cleaning food manufacturing machines and equipment.  Traces of residual iodine would go into the food during processing, apparently.  Not sure what disinfectants are used instead now.

So I also have increasingly incorporated kelp into my cooking and seasoning.  I began with sprinkling kelp granules on our morning eggs with a bit of sea salt and ground black pepper, for instance, or adding kelp granules to homemade vinaigrettes, salad dressings, and sauces.  It sort of looks like medium grind black pepper, but without the spiciness.  

Additionally, I keep a jar of Ao Nori Flakes (natural sea vegetables) in my seasoning cupboard and I use it liberally like one might use finely chopped parsley or chives to add a bit of green garnish in soups, mashed cauliflower, etc.  No one even needs to know it's sea vegetables instead of minced parsley, if you catch my drift.

Toasted nori is a great snack, and can be cut or torn up to use as wrappers or platforms for other foods.   Kids often love nori, especially if introduced at a young age.  

Some specialty grocery stores (such as Whole Foods or ethnic markets) may stock fresh sea vegetables in the chill case (often stocked with fresh chilled pickles and raw sauerkraut).  The sea vegetables are packaged with salt crystals for longer storage, but the salt should be rinsed off before using.  Sea vegetables make a great salad accompaniment to seafood or sashimi, but if that's too exotic, try tossing just a small amount of chopped colorful sea vegetable into an ordinary tossed salad at first to get used to the soft-crunchy  texture (sort of like a good traditional raw sauerkraut's texture).  

Last, but not least, dried seaweed/sea vegetable kombu is very good for adding iodine to broths.  These larger dried sea leaves keep very well in a cupboard for a long time, and are easy to toss into simmering water to create a delicious, nutritious broth for seafood  recipes.  The kombu leaves are removed and discarded after the broth is made.

More information about how to use kelp, nori, sea vegetable, and kombu is easy to find online, too (the WAPF website www.westonaprice.org  is also a good resource).  Using these items regularly in your cooking adds a delicious slightly savory accent as well as iodine and other trace nutrients to your diet.  Strange as "seaweed" might seem at first, only the fresh sea vegetables and nori will even be noticed by your family members, and even nori isn't so exotic with the rise in familiarity with sushi and sushi-like rolls.   The kelp granules, flaked dried sea vegetable, and kombu can be your secret if necessary  .

Nori and kelp granules can be often be found with the Asian foods on the international or ethnic aisle of conventional grocery stores. Kelp granules are sometimes stocked with spices, herbs, and seasonings, too.  More variety of choices may be found at specialty grocers.  I like the Ohsawa brand (Japanese, family-owned, traditionally prepared foods, distributed in the US by Gold Mine Natural Food Co. of San Diego - no affiliation to either company-just a customer).

Kelp can also be taken in tablets or gelatin capsules for those who wish to take more or not use it in cooking.  That form of kelp is usually stocked in vitamin and supplement departments.

Wow!

Thanks for the great advice, Anna.

My mother was Japanese, so I can tell you that I, too, find it easy to add a variety of seaweed products to meals. I'm impressed with your seaweed enthusiasm!

Thank you Anna for all that information!  I have been trying to incorporate more kelp and sea vegetables into our family's diet - but for another reason.  Many autism-boards believe that algin found in seaweed chelates heavy metals, and it's also been suggested that kelp will battle the strep virus.  Although our family's experience is anecdotal, we are seeing tremendous grounds with our child.  She wouldn't eat the kelp tablets (in gelatin form), but readily makes her own dipping sauce for boiled eggs (mixing wheat-free soy sauce with kelp granules and Gomasio - sesame seeds mixed with sea vegetables).  There is also a liquid-kelp form I got when we were exposed to the strep virus; I put a dropper-ful into a shot of juice.

I am so excited that there are people like Anna who is living the life and willing to share, and Dr. Davis who is putting himself out there and sharing this information.  18 mos ago I didn't know that heart disease was reversible.  And I was exhausted caring for a child that was mildly on the the spectrum.  Now, through radically changing our diets (including supplementation), not only is my health on the up-and-up, but my child is recovered and says and does amazing things.

From the bottom of my heart I thank you.  - M

Great post on Iodine.

How much Iodine is safe and how much should be taken daily?

Thanks!!!

Big thanks to Anna from over here in the UK too. In Wales we have Laver bread made from seaweed and here on the east coast we get samphire (glasswort) which is like saline asparagus but has a short season (damn, I'm drooling now!)

Following your post I've discovered a source of different sea vegetables and (dried) seaweed with which I'm currently experimenting. Tasty stuff!

My doctor has me take it in liquid form, I buy it here in Australia from a compounding chemist and it contains important minerals for thyroid health each 5ml dose has 15mg zinc, 100mcg chromium, 100mcg
selenium, 150mcg molybdenum, 100mcg iodine, 2.5mg manganese, 2mg boron. Doesn't taste the nicest in juice though

Many thanks for your advice Anna, I am very interested in alternative health.

I was surprised to learn that food processors use plain salt without iodine.

Been eating sea veggies, cereal grains, vegggies, etc since the late 70's, along with occasional wild foods (I live in rural area). I began with the Macrobiotic way of life, and have morphed it to suit my needs, as well, that diet has made important evolutionary steps over the decades. I have recently incorporated fish oil, due to my medittranean heritage, i.e. hyperlipdemia, so my hdl's are 39, my ldl's 135, and tri's 80, cholesterol 198. I suspect fish oil (using Now foods Molecularly Distilled 4k-6k IU's) with intake of 5-6 days a week, ought to improve the next blood report stats.

Here is a site I use, for sea vegatbles.

http://www.seaveg.com

So iodine deficiency in early 20th century America was a big problem. How to solve this enormous public health problem in a large nation without television, few radios, no internet, with a largely rural and often illiterate population?