It's good that you explained how vitamin D3 is better than vitamin D2.

Your readers should also know that, depending on their skin type, just one or two sessions in a tanning bed will produce all the healthy vitamin D3 a human body can use.

Moderate tanning is healthy behavior.  Don't sunburn.

Dr. Davis, your blogs on vitamin D are terrific.  I am a colleague of Dr. John Cannell, and am presently coauthoring a book with him.  It will deal with the effect of vitamin D supplementation on athletic performance.  He has also endorsed my current book on the health benefits of sunlight and vitamin D.  If you would like a free copy of that book--Solar Power for Optimal Health--please contact me at megamarc1@aol.com or call me at 435-628-3102.  

Keep up the good work!

Marc Sorenson, EdD

Re vitamin D consumption, do you have any thoughts re this study?  I'd like to recommend to my parents that they take an oil-based Vit. D supplement (they're in their 70s), but that study gave me pause.

Unfortunately, the study was only in abstract form, meaning none of the full details were available.

Nonetheless, several uncertainties:

What was the calcium intake? What was the vitamin D intake and what blood level of 25-OH-vitamin D3 was obtained?

I suspect that few of the participants had even normal vitamin D blood levels. The majority of vitamin D preparations in calcium tablets barely work at all due to poor absorption.

However, I do worry that, with appropriate D supplementation, the doses of calcium many people take is excessive. The true need for calcium is likely far less when D is fully replenished.

I would not make any firm judgments based on this preliminary report. Interesting issue, however.

Hi Dr Davis,

I'd been persuaded, like you, that D3 is the form of Vitamin D to use for maximum effect.  Now comes this study:

"Vitamin d2 is as effective as vitamin d3 in maintaining circulating concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin d"

Holick MF, Biancuzzo RM, Chen TC, Klein EK, Young A, Bibuld D, Reitz R, Salameh W, Ameri A, Tannenbaum AD.

Boston University School of Medicine, 715 Albany Street, M-1013, Boston, Massachusetts 02118. mfholick@bu.edu.

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Mar;93(3):677-81. Epub 2007 Dec 18.

Dr Holick uses Vitamin d2 in treating his patients.

He was recently interviewed on the radio program the People's Pharmacy; the interview is available as a podcast.

Regards,
Dave

where can I buy vitamin D3 in Gel Caps?  Are they readily available?

http://www.vitacost.com/Carlson-Vitamin-D-Natural

http://www.vitacost.com/Jarrow-Formulas-Vitamin-D3-1000IU-100-Softgels

Google "vitamin d2 tablets".  Loog for softgels, or gelcaps.

Buy Vitamin D3 in softgels (oil based form from

http://www.abacohealth.com/index.php/prodid/NOW113
or

http://www.abacohealth.com/index.php/prodid/CAR017

So, if I am buying a supplement that is labeled as Vitamin-D (not D3), but the label says it is 1000 IU of Cholecalciferol, the supplement is really Vitamin D3?

I'm curious why you have no comment on the above story that refutes your entire theory.

Actually your post is very confusing because you say vitamin d3 is 25-oh-d3, actually it's a metabolite of d3, also you say ergocalciferol is inneficient because yields little conversion to 25-oh-d3, but d2 converts ONLY to 25-oh-d2 and very efficiently, and has similar activity to the d3 form(about 2/3 of the potency), the bad about d2 is also that has faster metabolism than d3.
All in all, d2 is efficient, not like d3, but it's not useless like you say, and d2 has metabolites with potent anticancer activity, similarly to tamoxifen in breast cancer, so d2 has it's own benefits over d3.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080102122306.htm

Vitamin D2 Is As Effective As Vitamin D3 In Maintaining Concentrations Of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, Study Suggests

Sorry blogger, but you have been proven wrong.

The difference as I've understood - there are actually 5 forms of Vitamin D (D1-D5). Vitamin D2 must be converted to be used, Vitamin D3 is used directly. Vitamin D2 is "relatively ineffective" because it is the  stored form and it's stored in the body's fat- which is why it has certain properties that D3 doesn't possess for fatty tissue health. Eventually D2 effectiveness would equal D3 because the body eventually converts what it needs. However, it has requirements for the conversion, and if taken for anti-inflammatory, anti-cytokine storm, immune modulation, then D3 is the much better form since it can be used immediately. When healthy I take D2 and D3 - D2 fills the body's stores while D3 is consumed. When the immune system is being challenged Vitamin D3 is the better form and will keep the D2 levels in the fat unaffected.

As far as calcium supplementation - I think it's ludicrous - I can't imagine anyone, other than people that cannot tolerate milk products, not getting enough dietary calcium. I think that's one of the biggest myths propagated today. Hypercalcemia, and even just excessive calcium intake, has been shown to cause brain lesions in elderly, and calcium creates issues when Vitamin D is supplemented.   Magnesium supplementation is MUCH more important for everything from healthful bones, heart rhythm and heart attack protection, to smooth muscle relaxation, and mental acuity. We need a MINIMUM of 400mg and should be taking more.  With everyone drinking bottled water that has next to no magnesium content, we are all susceptible to dangerously low "sudden heart attack" levels of magnesium.

Have you studied people who have had gastric bypass / weight loss surgery? They have completely different calcium citrate and vitamin D requirements than a regular person. Please see the web site www.obesityhelp.com  There are many professionals on this site with articles on supplementation.

I buy my supplements from http://www.vitalady.com

For vegetarians (where killing of an animal is prohibited) -
D3 made from lanlolin (sheeps wool) is the only choice, there is no pure plant based D3?

For Vegans (has to be plant based only)
Looks like D2 made from yeast is the only choice.
If any one know best form of D3/D2 suitable for vegetarians/vegans, please post where one can get (Please note, gel capsules are made from animal sources, they would not be suitable). Thank you

I'm taking a vegan calcium supplement, with vitamin D3. Its branded Vitamin Code, RAW CALCIUM, from Garden of Life, its fortified with Magnesium and other things. Its vegan, and RAW. I think the D3 source is algae.

Sorry Steve. The code RAW vitamins you're talking about aren't vegan. They get their D3 "primarily from lanolin" (=occasionally fish?). According to them, since they remove the traces of lanolin during processing, they felt that it was vegan.

After listening to them go on and on with their justifications of it and why it was vegan, it just felt like a giant marketing scheme. Needless to say, I'm now quite wary of all Garden of Life products.

Regardless, they're still in the process of changing labels, but in the meantime, nope, not vegan.

Thanks for providing the comparison
between Vitamin D2 and Vitamin D3.


Best Regards
Smith Alan

D2 or ergocalciferol is often included in the blood measures of vitamin D along with vitamin D3. The only reason it's checked with blood work is to ensure "compliance,", i.e., see whether or not you're taking a prescribed ergocalciferol. Beyond this, it has no usefulness.

Case study:  lab result shows Total Vit D, 25-OH 36; D3=6, D2=30.  Person supposedly taking 2000 IU D3 daily.   What is the significance of the D3=6 measurement.  I typically look at total and make recommendation from there but have been told that perhaps I should look at sub-classes. thoughts?

Wonderful site. Plenty of useful information here. I am sending it to a few pals ans additionally sharing in delicious. And of course, thank you on your effort!

Hi, I just found your blog. Very interesting

I'm curious...on average, what percent of your patients follow a vegan diet?

Cheers,
Kristen Suzanne

Interesting. Do you think the same applies to potatoes? I know that french fries are a major downfall for many people.

Dr Davis,

If your patient had a fasting blood sugar of 122 she was most certainly fully diabetic, and her post-meal blood sugars, with carbs were likely in the high 200s.

So the problem with that cracker might not have been that wheat is addictive but that in a person with diabetes the blood sugar spike caused by eating carbs causes relentless overwhelming physiological hunger.

If that is understood, it is much easier to stop the cycle. If people interpret the physiological hunger as emotional--a personal weakness--it is much harder to deal with.

But most importantly, this woman needed to be monitoring her post-meal blood sugar spikes no matter what she was eating. Had she seen the spike, she would have understood why she was so hungry, and if she was able to flatten that spike, she could have avoided the regain.

I do not believe wheat is addictive, and I also believe VERY strongly after ten years of dealing with a low carb diet that if a person does not learn how to deal with the occasional off-plan day, and the resulting physiological hunger, it is only a matter of time until they DO crash off the diet.

I've seen it far too often. People go two or three years on the diet and then, because they haven't learned how to go on and off it, they fail dramatically.

So rather than demonizing wheat or carbs, let's put some effort into teaching people how to deal with the inevitable hunger that results from creating a high blood sugar spike so that they can lose their fear of carby foods and maintain the diet for many years.

P.S. I learned this lesson the very hard way--three years of perfection, total regain, and now heading into year 6 of doing much better because I can go on and off the very low carb diet without regain.

--Jenny Ruhl

Hi, Jenny--

Thanks for your comments. I agree with your observations on her blood sugar.

However, I strong disagree with the "wheat is not addictive" idea. I would warn you that it is dangerous to extrapolate broad truths from your single, personal experience. I have witnessed this in over 500 patients now. It is not true for everybody, but it is very true for many. Wheat products are unique. They also exert peculiar and exaggerated effects on lipoproteins, particularly small LDL. Even without the addictive quality, if you watch lipoproteins, you will see large effects just with elimination of wheat, effects that extend far beyond blood sugar.  

I suspect that you do not have a wheat addiction. The comments from people who are spared this pattern are incomprehension or opposition. But, for some people, it is like a cloud lifted. And it is largely specific for wheat.

I have to second Dr Davis opinion on wheat. I have found that eating any type of wheat -  even the 100% Bran crackers suitable for diabetics gives me a insatiable hunger. I don't get the same effect from eating a comparable amount of carbs via starchy vegetables or oat bran cereal

Peace

Joe E O

I didn't think it was possible, but after seeing it, believe my mom is a wheataholic.  She has avoid wheat     a # of times, and each times she has done so she lost weight, and her blood pressure dropped nicely.  Unfortunately she has not been able to stick with the diet.  She goes  back to her old wheat eating ways and the weight came back.    

This morning I heard mom and dad got into a somewhat heated debate over a bran muffin mom was eying.  Never thought I would see the day a bran muffin caused an argument.

Totally agree with you doc. We see a major wheat addiction problem with several of our patients. Not all of them, but a substantial percentage really struggle giving it up. There's some info "out there" on gluten exorphins - have you ever looked into it?

Darcy

Wheat protein contains a number of opiod peptides which can be released during digestion. Some of these are thought to affect the central and peripheral nervous systems.

When I gave up gluten, I felt much worse for a few days. This is a very common reaction in those who stop eating gluten cold turkey.

Anne

I have low carbed since 03 and thought I was a master, no wheat passed these lips. Then one Christmas they did and since then, 06 I struggle to stay on my low carb clean program, I wish I had never 'fallen" off the wagon.

Eating wheat was the trigger as it triggered cravings for me............ that were worse than in my "fat" yrs.

I liken the addiction is same as drugs or booze, to me its no different. I come from a background of numerous alcoholics, diabetics and have nursing and psychology background.I am diabetic. I can see both things play a role with me, but have to say that to me wheat is like an addiction.

I believe these soft comfort foods  escalate the bg, also signal to our brain the soothing of any emotions and very quickly we become psychologically and physiologically addicted to higher carb foods like wheat.

Our first food is pablum, baby biscuits, the brain learns quickly this sweet soft food is soothing and quickly we become addicted to this.

When I am really stressed my "drug" of choice is wheat products, yet I am educated, I know the drill yet my body craves something with wheat.
Its an addiction to me, I have control of this addiction and craving if I keep my bg within normal so struggle with living with this insight.

Sometimes my bg goes up after bigger low carb meal but doesn't provoke cravings as much as having just a cracker or 2 while I am out..it makes me want to have more..I can identify 110% with Claire.

chick

Well, I had such a strong craving to wheat that I switched to rice products, thinking that anything would be better than wheat. But I became just as addicted to rice as wheat. In fact, I don't even miss wheat products because there are so many rice products. I imagine if more baked goods were made of corn, instead of wheat or rice, then I'd be addicted to that. I agree there is a wheat addition for many, but for me it's the sugar high or the temporary good feelings I derive simply from eating a flour product.

Vita

I just saw an interesting piece of research suggesting also that artificial sweeteners have an effect on the brain that triggers sugar/carb craving. This was in rodents; anyone aware of human studies? Certainly nothing the makers of splenda or nutrasweet are going to fund . . .

Dr. Davis,

I've been thinking about your response to my earlier comment, and wanted to raise a couple more issues.

Though I cited my own experiences in the comment, I've been active in online discussion groups for both low carb diets and diabetes for almost a decade now. And what I've observed over this period is that people who are low carbing who do NOT have diabetes or who have diabetes controlled only by a low carb diet are almost always the people who report "wheat addiction. "

But what is fascinating--and was a real "Aha!" for me, is that hundreds of people with diabetes active online who gauge what they can eat by measuring their blood sugar after meals and eliminating blood sugar spikes, even mild ones,  with a combination of diet, safe meds and insulin do NOT report this wheat addiction issue, and most interestingly, they do manage to eat small amounts of wheat without going off the rails.  Most of them do not eat more than 120 g of carbs a day and many eat far less.  

The only thing people with diabetes do report occasionally about wheat is that wheat ramps up heart burn.

But people with diabetes have access to drugs, including insulin, that can flatten blood sugar which people without it do not have. And many of us find that even though we did not think our blood sugar spikes were that bad while controlling on diet alone--I sure didn't--when we add appropriate drugs we realize that we were experiencing a lot of hunger and that with the right meds it abates dramatically.

This, not only my own experience, is why I believe that wheat addiction may really be pointing to blood sugar spiking and the related relentless hunger. Wheat is among the very fastest carbs--much faster than rice or most forms of cooked potatoes. This must not be underestimated.

You say people who haven't experienced wheat addiction cannot imagine it. But what I'm saying is that people who have not experienced blood sugar-related hunger can have NO idea how overwhelming it can be and how it can push a person into a binge that is very hard to end. The two may be more related than you think. When I was controlling with diet alone wheat always made me terribly hungry. Add a bit of meal-time insulin timed properly and suddenly  wheat is just another food.

Over my decade of watching people try to do the Low Carb WOE without blood sugar meds I have seen that very very few people are able to stick with the diet for more than 5 years and that the binge that gets out of control is all too frequent.

So I think anyone who is trying to help people with their carb issues HAS to address the problem of teaching people how to get back on plan when they go off and how to deal with the hunger that comes from unaccustomed blood sugar spiking. Even if wheat addiction turns out to be a true physiological problem, people ARE going to eat wheat eventually, and if they panic and believe that they are now helpless in the face of their addiction, which is the kind of thinking that the addiction model tends to encourage that isn't helpful!

So rather than build a fear of food  it is much more skillful to give people the tools they need to get back on track after they eat something that kicks up physiological hunger. This involves a combination of physiological and psychological tools.

The people who succeed long term on the low carb diet do appear to be hose who learn how to get back on after they go off.

And what I have learned in my years online is that the people with diabetes who have controlled carb intake very well for very long periods of time are those who take a more relaxed approach and have learned how to recover from overdoing it. That is why over my own decade of eating LC, I've moved from a very strict to a much more flexible approach that does not demonize any food on keeping a flat blood sugar no matter what is eaten.

I am hearing recently from quite a few medical professionals who have gotten religion about cutting carbs over the past few years, and I'm very glad they have, but I think there is a certain extremism that we all go through that is an obstacle to making it through the decades of tight control we need to preserve health.

I'm very glad that you do take the positions you take, my comments are mostly directed at making it possible for your current patients to continue their success a decade and two or three decades hence!

Isn't if possible that wheat can be addictive, raise blood glucose. cause antibody reactions, damage organs and syetems and worsen lipids? That does not mean that everyone who eats wheat will have all or any of these reactions. There are hundreds of complex proteins in wheat. It makes sense they could cause multiple effects.

I have an antibody reaction to wheat (gluten) and do have to watch out for the smallest crumb as it will make me ill.  Before I went gluten free, wheat was my favorite food. I craved it constantly. Perhaps this craving was related to increased blood glucose (BG) levels as I have found out that starches and sugars cause BG spikes. I have been able to  level them out with diet alone so far. I will never find out what wheat would do to my BG. As a person who is gluten sensitive, wheat is my enemy.

Approximately 1% of the population has celiac disease - this is an autoimmune disease cause by wheat and other related grains. A growing number of doctors are saying that non-celiac gluten sensitivity affects at least 10% of the population.

Jenny,
You say "people ARE going to eat wheat eventually".

Why do you think this is?  Why not just avoid wheat?  If a diabetic can eat wheat because they are medicated doesn't that mean without medication wheat causes too many cravings.  So for us un-medicated lot its probably better to avoid wheat.

(BTW I like your blog).

Dr. Davis,

  I share your feeling that wheat is unique.  My opinion comes from researching and comparing different pre-industrial populations throughout the world.  Many of them eat high-carb diets and do just fine, but as soon as you throw wheat and sugar into the mix, they become overweight and unhealthy.  The story has repeated itself over and over again throughout history, and I've posted about it on my blog several times.

I sometimes speculate on why this may be.  I have two ideas: first, the lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) has an affinity for the leptin receptor, and can be found in the serum of some people.  It competes with leptin for binding at the receptor.  Overweight people are typically leptin-resistant.  I think you can understand the implications!  This hasn't been demonstrated in vivo.

The second mechanism is through damage of the upper intestinal tract.  Gluten (and possibly other wheat toxins as well) is probably not good for anyone, and Celiac patients are probably just one end of the spectrum.  Innate immune responses are observed even in non-Celiac patient gut biopsies challenged with gliadin fragments.  The upper small intestine is intimately involved in regulating satiety and insulin release/sensitivity through hormone release and vagal signals to the brain/liver.  Thus, immune activation and/or frank damage could pervert these signals.

Jenny: "Even if wheat addiction turns out to be a true physiological problem, people ARE going to eat wheat eventually,"

This sounds like saying that people are going to drink alcohol, even if they know they are alcoholic. Smart people would eliminate a food if it caused them to suffer cravings and frequent binges. Many people should realize they are addicted to sugar, and milk. For example, anybody who routinely gobbles down a pint/quart of ice cream in a day or two. Those people should never eat milk/sugar. You are right that many of them do, or will, but this is self-delusion, like an alcoholic saying "just one" drink, then stopping at five.

"The people who succeed long term on the low carb diet do appear to be hose who learn how to get back on after they go off."

Change low-carb to alcohol-free and see if that theory still applies. I think if a food causes cravings and binges, it should be eliminated for ever. Some people can eat junk food in moderation, or they can binge on it and not become fat, because they have a fast metabolism. That should not imply that junk food is healthy or that people need to learn how to recover from a binge. They need to fortify their diet with nutritious, satisfying food, so they don't have any inclination to binge. Bingeing is caused by deficiencies, IMO. You don't binge or have any interest in bad food when you are eating right.

I have a carb addiction myself and I agree with Jenny.

The reason I say I have an "addiction" to carbs is because of my experience when I did a low-fat diet for a few years.  If I had a bad day, extra pasta seemed to make me feel better.  If I couldn't sleep, a bagel would knock me right out.  This is not a "normal" reaction to carbs; this is more how people use alcohol than carbs.  For *me*, carbs are like a drug.

Every time I go off low-carb, when I go back on, I have horrible cravings, headaches and feel sickly for a few days.  It's exactly like a withdrawal process.  The misery of going through induction again is often what keeps me *on* my diet, not wanting to feel that way.  It's not just that my bg will be high for a day or two if I cheat, but that I'll feel like crap for several days.

So I low-carb, but not *very* low-carb.  Around 60-80g/day most of the time, which lets me have small servings of fruit and my preferred grains, barely and buckwheat, and a low-carb tortilla now and then.  This is as low as I can go long-term which is why I don't do seriously strict low-carb ala Bernstein; this is what I can live with.

But I do cheat sometimes.  The longer the cheat, the longer I feel like hell when I go back on low-carb.  I can "afford" to cheat once a month for *one* meal and get back on low-carb with only a day of feeling minorly poorly, but if I "cheat" for a whole day, I feel badly for 2-3 days before being OK.

I also agree with Jenny about managing cheats.  This is the deal... I'm just not ever going to agree to never, ever eat a cracker again!  I don't even *like* crackers that much, but if I have to *never* eat them again, I'm going to be craving them immediately!  I'll be having dreams about Ritz and thinking about Saltines all day and start fantasizing about Sociables instead of sex!  

This is actually why I *do* plan to "cheat" once a month.  Psychologically, I can't deal with "never", but I can deal with postponing for a couple weeks.    Having cheated LOADS of times is how I *know* I can "afford" it for exactly *one* meal per month without going off the wagon or screwing my bg up too badly.  

It's not specifically about wheat for me.  I tolerate low-carb tortillas 2-3x/week in my normal diet just fine without falling off the wagon.  I can use a bit of wheat flour or cornstarch to thicken a dish without any problem - if it's little enough over a bunch of servings.  

Conversely, ANY type of carb can cause me to fall off the wagon - potatoes, sugar itself, even fruit.  Once the straw that broke the camel's back for me was tangerines, a normally healthy food, but not so much if you're diabetic and on your third one.  

For me, it's about insulin resistance (IR).  When bg is elevated, the pancreas keeps producing insulin in an attempt to reduce bg.  Meanwhile, the high bg itself increases IR, so in spite of the insulin, very little glucose enters the cells.  In short, you have both insulin-induced hunger *and* a cellular-level hunger occurring.

If you give in to your hunger and eat, bg rises, therefore increasing insulin and further reducing it's effectiveness.  

With your cells not getting fed, you're fatigued and weak too.  So you not only overeat and get fat, but are "lazy" also.  

It's a very, very vicious circle that you can only break by cutting the carbs and going through withdrawal until your bg is controlled again.  

For me, the type of hunger I feel on a high-carb diet is literally painful, it can wake me from sleep.  It takes a lot of willpower to ignore that, which is part of what makes reinducting so difficult (besides that it feels awful).  

On the other hand, on low-carb, hunger is a very minor feeling that I can easily ignore all day if I'm busy or distracted.  It's a whole other ballgame.  

I know some people have very specific wheat issues, such as gluten intolerance.  

But I don't see anything in your description of this lady's problem from the cracker that distinguishes it from problems I've seen other low-carb folks suffer from potato chips.  Like Jenny, I've been on low-carb forums and newsgroups for years.  I can't even tell you how many times someone comes back after being gone a few months or years and sheepishly admits they fell off the wagon and gained back 100 lbs.  It doesn't have to be wheat that kickstarted the binge, could be sugar, potatoes, corn - like I said, for me personally, once it was tangerines.  

Wheat is a very pervasive carb source due to baked products, so it's *often* wheat that causes the problem.  But I bet that lady could've had the same reaction from a chocolate candy bar.

There's an old saying: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Why eat foods that cause even a day of less health and quality of life? You say you can't deal with "never" eating another cracker, but do not really like crackers. I haven't eaten any crackers in years. If you have to eat grains, there are better foods like sprouted breads or yeast-free sourdough from a health store. Why not eat those instead of crackers? The foods you "can't live without" are probably the foods you need to avoid. If crackers disappeared from the face of the Earth, you wouldn't die the next day from stress. You'd simply eat other foods. Why's it so hard to do that? Pretend there's no such thing as crackers, cookies, or other baked goods. The world is not going to end if those foods go away forever. Neither are you.

Even at 167 lbs--still overweight--Claire looked great. She glowed. She'd already dropped nearly 2 1/2 inches from her waist. She felt lighter on her feet, discovered energy she thought she'd lost 10 years earlier. Her blood results matched, with dramatic shifts in each and every pattern.

I stopped eating wheat when I read Gary Taubes's book Good Calories, Bad Calories.  However, I haven't noticed any changes.  My blood sugar is still a little high, and my weight is about the same.  Could you cite a study that shows that blood sugar and weight often go down when you stop eating wheat.

Yes, yes!  Great post!  However, I think there is a huge mssing link here, and that is the source of wheat.  Sure, wheat (or gluten in many cases) causes problems.  I totally agree.  But my theory is that people who drop weight and improve their health by eliminating wheat were not eating the ocassional slice of home-made sourdough.  Nope.  I'd be willing to bet that most of the "wheat" elimination that leads to a better lipid profile and decreased body fat is from the elimination of packaged and processed foods like cereals, bars, crackers, store breads and buns, and other snack foods.

Avoiding wheat due to a sensitivity or allergy is one thing.  But gorging oneself on processed foods and so-called healthy whole grain products only to later marvel at the results of a "wheat" elimination diet is a bit ridiculous.

Eat from the earth.  And if for you that means no wheat, then great!  Just don't go eating all that "gluten free" stuff.  One can still eat a ton of junk without eating wheat.

I love that you're pursuing this matter.   It's not just wheat, though.  It's all the gluten grains related to wheat: barley, rye, spelt, kamut, etc.  In those of us sensitive to gluten, even the tiny bits of gluten in most processed foods cause problems.  So do oats, even gluten-free oats, in some Celiacs.

Keep up the anti-wheat campaign, but please add the other gluten grains to your target.

Dr. Davis,
I started the gluten-free diet 2 months ago after reading all your blogs. The one thing I did not think it would influence is thyroid. You stated so confidently that it influences Hashimotos, I wondered how you came to that knowledge---articles, research, personal observation?
For 8 years my TPO antibodies have been very high in 700-800 range even with meds and good T4, T3 numbers. All tests came back negative for celiac although with high IGA. I have never been able to get Hashimotos numbers down, so would love to know how/where you heard about this. I will report back if after being wheat free my IGA and TPO numbers go down.
Warmly,  Catherine

Fantastic post.


I have been looking into a lower wheat (or gluten?) diet for a bit now, and recently purchased The Paleo Diet for Athletes. As soon as a finish In Defense of Food, that is next on my list.

A quick question if you have a second. Maybe you can simply directly me to a page with the answer, as I have not been able to clearly find it.

Is the key avoiding grains as a group, or would eating gluten free products be partially sufficient?

Do you have any references you could post for those claims?

In answer to several questions to clarify what I mean by "wheat":

1) For celiac disease or marked wheat sensitivity, including "wheat addiction," all grains that immunologically cross-react with wheat should be eliminated--barley, spelt, oats.

2) For those with extreme carbohydrate sensitivity--meaning diabetics, pre-diabetics, or marked small LDL, then even spelt, bulghur, sorghum, quinoa, barley, etc. can present excessive carbohydrate loads.

For everyone else, I believe that these whole grains can play a role.

Re: references. Just go to Pubmed.gov and enter your relevant search terms. It's quite easy.

It's hard for me to separate out the effects of wheat, gluten, flour, grains, carbs.  

Probably, nobody really knows yet., which is what it's like in 2009: lots of clues but nothing definitve.

My wife has hashimoto's thyroiditis, and cutting out the gluten has led to tremendous improvements. Her T3 and T4 levels are back to normal, and her anti-thyroid antibodies dropped significantly, to nearly undetectable. And she feels normal, not cold and lethargic.

I am not convinced that all people with Hashimoto's benefit from cutting out gluten - some studies showed only about 30% to 50% of the group improved (but many people show amazing improvement). A change of diet should be the first thing tried IMO. It was not something the endocrinologist discussed. When my wife asked if there were any dietary or lifestyle changes that might help, she was told there were none.

Hi, Jonathan--

Yes, wheat exposure probably requires years to trigger the Hashimoto's reaction. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, the precise trigger and "dose" or duration required is not well sorted out.

I find the statement “don’t go eating all that ‘gluten free’ stuff” rather silly – the implication being that it’s full of junk.  Most of the gluten free food I’ve found is wonderfully free of the usual high-fructose corn syrup and the like.  It’s a real blessing, to be quite frank.  And by the way, all my food comes from Earth.

Dr. D, correct me if I am wrong but quinoa is not a grain (it's a seed) and should not be grouped with wheat, spelt, barley, etc.

My understanding is that its impact on the body is significantly more positive compared to grains.

I have both gluten sensitivity and insulin resistance. Gluten free means I avoid wheat(includes spelt, kamut and other related grains), barley and rye. Oats are available that are certified gluten free. Removing gluten eliminated my GERD, gas and bloating, improved my neuropathy, lifted my depression, stopped my joint pain and the list goes on.

When I discovered my blood sugar issues, I dropped all the gluten free grains that caused spikes in blood glucose. OK, I have not found a grain that does not spike my blood sugar so I am now grain free. The only problem I noticed when eating the GF grains was the blood sugar effect.

Gluten/wheat and carbs/sugar are two separate issues for me.

Is it full of soy?  That's junk.

Peter, you probably have to reduce your carbs to see improvement in your blood sugar levels.

To clarify: My point was that most products tha are labeled as "gluten free" are processed, and largely a part of the food industry's marketing tactics.  They are not there for your health, but rather to make profits.

You can buy gluten free cookies, cereal, and other snack foods.  These foods are far from being close to the earth, and IMHO, not to be a regular part of a healthful diet.

The sentiment is valuable, but I worry about hyperbole.  If an individual cuts out 1000 calories a day of wheat-related foods (a generous estimate), and doesn't replace those calories with any other foods, then they would lose about 2 pounds a weeks, not 10 or 15.

I agree with Anon., who on the 15th wrote it's about reducing calories.

1lb fat = 3,500 cals; hence 2lbs/week is practical weight loss. Getting fat does not happen overnight, or a week for that matter so why would anyone expect to loose weight magically within a week.

If by not eating wheat you get there, I say go for it. For me, I feel much better since doing mega-dose K2/D3/B3/C which I learned here on the Heatscanblog and I will be forever grateful for those who aid Dr Davis in sharing their knowledge such as Ted Hutchinson who takes the time to post links to scientific papers supporting the cause of improved heart health.

Question - how about rice? Is it just as bad?

I take wheat grass tablets from Pines.  I have stopped eating wheat and reduced all grain consumption dramatically.  However, I still take the wheat grass tablets.  Is wheat grass a problem, like wheat?

Well I acquiesce in but I contemplate the list inform should have more info then it has.

Again a gentle post. Thanks your also pen-friend

I think there is a huge missing link here, and that is the source of wheat.

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I study carried out in China proved conclusively that wheat was the major cause of heart attacks. I am quite sad to read these reports because I love bread. The question is that do I love it to death?

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I'm new here but looking for answers on systemic inflammation.
Can eliminating wheat or gluten reduce the inflammation in my system?

Hey Dr. Williams,
My mom stumbled across this article a year ago in attempt to help me explain some unusal blood work and severe contipation issues that the gastro doc called IBS after a negative celiac test. At the time my c-reactive protein was elevated, my T4 was elevated, I was chronically tired, cold intolerant, constant constipation, stabbing pain in my abdomen (hurt to touch my toes and put shoes on),had eczema, and mood swings. More then ten years ago I had thought I was a celiac and had gone wheat free, went to a gastro doc but was told it was just IBS and now looking back my symptoms were worse after I began to eat wheat again.
So, I have now been wheat free for a year now because of your article!.... my constipation has been reduced dramatically (no more miralax everyday) and my eczema only flares when I have accidently eaten something with wheat in it!
Here's my delima now.. I thought that being wheat free for a year would change the unusal blood work, but I just got results back and my c-reactive protein has elevated slightly more, my T4 has elevated more, but the strange thing is my TSH is on the higher end too. Hashimoto's usually has high T4 and low TSH, plus all my symptoms are that of someone with a hypothyroid.  I'm still chronically tired, cold, and getting more moody. Any ideas?