Einkorn now in Whole Foods

I just saw this at Whole Foods: einkorn pasta.

In my einkorn bread experience (In search of wheat: We bake einkorn bread), I was spared the high blood glucose and neurologic and gastrointestinal effects of conventional whole wheat grain (dwarf Triticum aestivum). I shared the einkorn bread  with four other people with histories of acute wheat sensitivities, only one of whom experienced a mild diffuse joint reaction, the other three not experiencing any symptoms.

Anyone wishing to try einkorn can now obtain commercial pasta from Jovial, an Italy-based manufacturer. It comes in spaghetti, linguine, rigatoni, fusilli, and penne rigate shapes.

Eli Rogosa, founder of The Heritage Wheat Conservancy, tells me that, in her experience, celiac suffers seem to not experience immunologic phenomena triggered by conventional wheat.

However, we've got to be careful here. The so-called ("diploid") "A" genome of einkorn shares many of the same genes as the ("hexaploid") "ABD" genomes of modern wheat, including overlap in the sequences coding for the 50-or so different glutens and glutenins. Most of the genes that code for the glutens that cause celiac and related illnesses reside in the "D" genome that are absent in the einkorn "A" genome. However, the "A" genome still codes for glutens. So there is potential for activating celiac disease in some people. Insufficient research has been devoted to this question. It is a question of extreme importance to people with celiac and other immune-mediated conditions, since re-exposure to the wrong form of gluten can increase risk of intestinal lymphoma 77-fold, as well as risk of other gastrointestinal cancers.

So einkorn should not be viewed as a cure-all for all things wheat, but as something to consider for a carbohydrate indulgence. Yes, indeed: It is a carbohydrate, with 61 grams ("net") carbs per 4 oz (uncooked) serving.
Should anyone give it a try, please be sure to report back your experience, especially if you have a history of wheat intolerance. If you have a glucose meter, pre- and 1-hour post values are the ones to measure to gauge the blood sugar effects of consumption. Because pasta tends to cause long sustained blood sugar rises, another value at 2-4 hours might be interesting.

Comments (19) -

  • Rob

    10/15/2010 8:14:19 PM |

    This is great!  I'm eager to hear of a commercially-available ground Einkorn wheat flour.  I don't have the means or know-how to mill my own flour but I'd really like to try baking with Einkorn.

  • DogwoodTree05

    10/15/2010 10:15:02 PM |

    Pasta is one non-Primal carb I do not miss at all.

  • Anonymous

    10/16/2010 3:42:29 AM |

    -why try to simulate neolithic foods with paleolithic-type ingredients?

    -why try to eat pasta at all?

    -is it really that hard to give up?

  • Anonymous

    10/16/2010 8:04:57 AM |

    Pasta dates back 4,000 years and has a lower glycemic index than bread, so I don't think it is such a bad thing.

  • Bonnie

    10/16/2010 11:34:16 PM |

    Here is  Einkorn flour:
    http://www.growseed.org/einkorn.html

    Expensive, but may be worth it.  I'd love to know if anyone gets it and has success baking with it.

  • Anonymous

    10/17/2010 1:16:50 AM |

    -4000 yrs is nothing for human evolution and nutrition

    -a snickers bar has a lower GI than pasta
    -but I wouldn't eat a snickers bar either
    -if something is bad, relative to something else that's "not so bad"....why eat it at all???

  • Anonymous

    10/18/2010 11:52:29 PM |

    Interesting recent discovery:


    Bread was around 30,000 years ago -study

    LONDON (Reuters Life!) – Starch grains found on 30,000-year-old grinding stones suggest that prehistoric man may have dined on an early form of flat bread, contrary to his popular image as primarily a meat-eater.

    The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal on Monday, indicate that Palaeolithic Europeans ground down plant roots similar to potatoes to make flour, which was later whisked into dough

    [edited]

    The researchers said their findings throw mankind's first known use of flour back some 10,000 years, the previously oldest evidence having been found in Israel on 20,000 year-old grinding stones.

    The findings may also upset fans of the Paleolithic diet, which follows earlier research that assumes early humans ate a meat-centered diet.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101018/india_nm/india522760

  • Einkorn Wheat Blog

    10/19/2010 3:49:50 AM |

    Einkorn is becoming popular all across the US.  Jovial Pasta is a great product and an easy way to try einkorn.

    I have been able to secure a supply of whole organic einkorn wheat berries and make them available for sale on the einkorn blog.  

    This einkorn really is fun to cook with too.

  • Anand Srivastava

    10/19/2010 1:49:39 PM |

    Regarding 300,000years ago eating grains.

    You need to read the following article, which shows that startling papers are easier to publish. Also Medical establishment is not very good at catching analytical errors.
    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/11/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science/8269/

    Evidence of grains on seeds doesn't imply that humans were eating grains. It does mean that they were using some grains. It could be for colors for painting. It could also be that sometimes they were starving and ate it.

    Just getting some thing published in a journal doesn't automatically mean that the abstract says what the paper says or the paper reports things factually, or the paper uses the evidence correctly, or the paper does the analysis correctly. There are so many ways of getting the desired results, and the peer review only works to throw out unpopular ideas. Eating wheat is not unpopular.

  • Anonymous

    10/19/2010 4:50:41 PM |

    I came across Jovial in WF a few weeks ago. I am not wheat sensitive, so I can't comment on the that difference, but I will say it is the best whole wheat past I have ever tried- hands down not even close.

  • Anonymous

    10/19/2010 7:04:34 PM |

    Thanks Anand for pointing out the lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science Atlantic article!

  • Fred Hahn

    10/19/2010 11:42:20 PM |

    Hmmm....sounds interesting. But I worry - just because we don't feel outward symptoms doesn't mean harm us not being done.

    Now, I sound like a hypocrite since I like my tequila and wine, but Einkorn won't give you a buzz. ;)

  • Anonymous

    10/20/2010 10:13:17 AM |

    I agree - stone age man probably had a very hard time collecting seeds and "grain". Add to that the grinding and the rest of the preparation and I very much doubt that is was anything like a staple. Grains may be a means of survival when nothing better can be obtained.

  • Rob

    10/20/2010 2:26:13 PM |

    To "Anonymous" who said: "...[Jovial] is the best whole wheat pasta I have ever tried - hands down..." I wonder how you'd say this compares to Dreamfields pasta.  I realize we're not exactly comparing apples to apples, but still some sort of practical comparison would be useful.

  • Anonymous

    10/20/2010 4:17:31 PM |

    @Anand Srivastava  

    So basically, we shouldn't believe anything we read on this board?

  • Dr. William Davis

    10/31/2010 2:24:14 PM |

    Hi, Bonnie--

    Judging from my single einkorn baking experience and from what GrowSeed.org's Eli Rogosa tells me, you can bake perfectly fine bread with einkorn. It will not rise like conventional wheat flour, rising only a little.

    However, I am not trying to paint einkorn as a problem-free grain. It is just an interesting indulgence and part of a fascinating broader conversation about this thing called "wheat.
    "

  • Kurt

    11/9/2010 3:31:37 PM |

    My girlfriend and I tried Jovial pasta last week, and the taste and texture were similar to regular whole wheat pasta, so we plan to substitute it in our recipes.

  • Salina

    4/15/2011 11:46:30 AM |

    Awesome post and Nice Information. I really enjoy This Information. thanks sharing this information and also comments Great... Now Foods

  • IllinoisLori

    3/12/2013 3:49:48 AM |

    Since no one has yet posted their baking-with-Einkorn results in detail, I will! Complete with step-by-step photos of my bread-baking experience. I think it's delicious!
    http://www.illinoislori.blogspot.com/2012/12/honest-food-trying-ancient-wheat.html

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Where do you find fructose?

Where do you find fructose?

Apple, 1 medium: Fructose 10.74 g




Honey: Fructose 17.19 grams per 2 tablespoons



Barbecue Sauce: HFCS number 1 ingredient
Ingredients: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Vinegar, Concentrated Tomato Juice (Water, Tomato Paste), Water, Modified Food Starch, Salt, Honey, Contains Less Than 2% of Molasses, Natural Flavor, Paprika, Spice, Mustard Flour, Guar Gum, Red 40.



A1 Steak Sauce: HFCS number 2 ingredient
Ingredients: Tomato puree (water, tomato paste), high fructose corn syrup, vinegar, salt, water dried onions, contains less than 2% of black pepper, modified food starch, citric acid, dried parsley, dried garlic, xanthan gum, caramel color, potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives, molasses, corn syrup, sugar, spices, tamarind, natural flavor

Comments (25) -

  • Gretchen

    7/15/2009 1:04:39 PM |

    You forgot agave syrup, which a lot of people are using as an "all natural" low-glycemic replacement for HFCS. In fact, it contains more fructose than HFCS.

    One manufacturer's products include “low glycemic monosacharide.” Gosh, I wonder what that is.

  • PERKDOUG

    7/15/2009 3:10:43 PM |

    It would be a service, if you (or someone) posted a "fructose" content list which includes all the common fruits and berries. I eat a lot of berries and have wondered if that is such a good idea. A list would help us define "good calories" regarding these possible fructose bombs.

  • Anonymous

    7/15/2009 4:23:16 PM |

    Thanks for the visuals and labels on fructose...I am very aware of fructose contents and fruit -- especially since I have experience with fruit and gout attacks that may or may not be supported in literature.  I will only add that every time you purchase a product DO NOT ASSUME CONTENTS ARE THE SAME as when you last purchased.  For example, Classico pasta sauces which I used as base for soups and stews (all LC) has started adding sugar.  CostCo Kirkland brand marinated artichoke hearts (again LC) started out using olive oil, now uses cannola oil. My experience as label-reading shopper is food producers are now adding sugars including fructose to just about everything because the buying public perceives sugar to be tastier...even the rotisserie chickens most grocery delis have now...be careful if you very LC to whether the spice rub has sugar in it.

  • Anonymous

    7/15/2009 4:38:34 PM |

    What don't you find it in?

  • Anonymous

    7/15/2009 5:11:25 PM |

    Finding it hard to believe that an apple wouldn't have some other redeeming value that counteracts or balances the fructose content: soluble fiber, fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.  Hopefully this is not an indictment of all fresh fruits?

  • GK

    7/15/2009 5:30:00 PM |

    It's all very well to measure fructose content, but it is meaningless unless we know what intake levels have to be before they become problematic.

    In my own case, when I went "paleo" a couple of years ago, I swore off sugar, grain, and processed foods.  I lost 15 lbs over six months without trying.  Now this was before I heard about the fructose issue, and I was eating fruit like I never had before in my life, 3 to 4 pieces a day, and the sweet ones, too:  apples, bananas, grapes, dates, etc.  Surely I was ingesting more fructose than I had been before with a blob of ketchup here, steak sauce there...

  • Anonymous

    7/15/2009 9:49:50 PM |

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but what you show as A.1. Steak Sauce is actually their marinade. Real A.1. Steak Sauce (at least my bottle) contains no HFCS, but does have 2g sugar per serving. Thank you for spending the time you do on this blog; you, along with some others, have given me the intellectual and scientific basis I needed to change my diet. The improvements, physical and mental, have been astounding.

  • Nameless

    7/16/2009 12:01:15 AM |

    The fructose info is interesting, but I agree with GK. We really need to know what is considered a safe level before condemning all fructose sources.

    Fruits do have certain health benefits, some more than others, especially berries. There is also the possibility that by becoming super fructose-phobic and avoiding all fruits/berries,  that one could decrease their chances of heart disease, just to succumb to cancer instead.

  • Laura in Arizona

    7/16/2009 2:19:25 AM |

    Perkdoug, I have found that the web site "nutrition data" has a breakdown of sugars for things. Go to nutritiondata.com and type in the food you are interested in. Choose the right food and quantity and then go down to the section on carbohydrate and click the see more details. When I did that for dates, 1 medjool has about 7.6 grams of fructose (eek!). Like many folks I am cutting down on my fructose consumption so use this table a lot.

  • Anonymous

    7/16/2009 3:01:42 PM |

    How about the king of HFCS--Soft drinks and candy.

  • pmpctek

    7/17/2009 3:22:57 AM |

    As someone else asked, "what don't you find it in?"

    Fructose can be found in many vegetables too.  One sweet onion has 6.69 grams, a half head of cabbage has 6.58 grams, a head of lettuce has 5 grams, a cup of chopped red peppers has 3.37 grams, a medium sized cucumber has 2.62 grams.  In fact nutritiondata.com lists 138 vegetables which have some amount of fructose in them (albeit many having very small amounts.)

    So, if one's goal is to avoid all sources of fructose and still maintain any semblance of good health, well good luck.

  • Anonymous

    7/17/2009 5:00:37 PM |

    @Nameless: Well put!

  • country mouse

    7/17/2009 6:56:16 PM |

    I think tossing fruit is a bit of the baby out with the bathwater.Fruit has the most wonderful spectrum of bright tastes and flavors of any food we have on the planet. "Healthy" vegetables encompassed the bitter, the flat, and the algae like part of the flavor spectrum. Me, is meet and nice in small to medium quantities but when eaten in low-carb volumes, it just becomes something you shovel in to make hunger go way.

    Fruit is a wonderful gift. Adding a little sugar and heating some berries produces this wonderful sauce you can pour over pancakes or creps (if my diabetes let me have crepes). Some fat, flour, and salt makes a wonderful crust that you wrap around sliced and spiced fruit. Cold cherries crunch between your teeth dribble juice around your tongue while you roll the stone around your mouth cleaning off the last of the fruit meat. Peaches with ginger, peach blackberry, blueberry pie. Sliced and cored apples cooked in red-hot cinnamon sauce on the stove and then chilled before serving on Christmas Eve. On a hot August day, wandering through an orchard and dodging Yellowjackets when picking a beautifully ripe peach off the tree.  Pulling a crisp apple out of winter store in November and tasting what will become cider.

    On a more practical level, I also need to make the decision on how much fruit versus how much bulk  laxative? If I eat one piece every days, I'm looking 8+ tablespoons of Metamucil.  bleck.  I'd rather starve myself in  other areas to make room for the delightful sweetness of fruit.

  • Dr. William Davis

    7/18/2009 2:50:28 AM |

    Who said throw fruit out?

    I believe you are reading things that aren't there.

  • country mouse

    7/18/2009 4:51:08 AM |

    I disagree.  without giving a threshold of "bad", your presentation implies that all fructose at any level is bad.  I read some comments as expressing fear or doubt that they were eating too much fruit.  others like me what to know the threshold of bad.

    just between you and me, I'd give up living before I gave up fruit.  no joke.  the flavours of fruit are that important to me.  I've already lost enough food ground with diabetes, I'm not giving up any more.

  • Anne

    7/18/2009 12:51:34 PM |

    According to Dr. Richard Bernstein, fruit does not have to be a part of a healthy diet. Here is what he says in his book, Diabetes Solution:

    "Although eliminating fruit and fruit juices from the diet can initially be a big sacrifice for many of my patients, they usually get use to this rapidly, and they appreciate the effect upon blood sugar control. I haven't eaten fruit in almost forty years and I haven't suffered in any respect. Some people fear that they will lose important nutrients by eliminating fruit, but that shouldn't be a worry. Nutrients found in fruits are also present in the vegetables you can safely eat."

    Dr. Bernstein has had T1DM for about 50 years and advocates a very low carb diet to help normalize blood sugars. http://www.diabetes-book.com/

    Because of blood sugar problems I have eliminated all sources of HFCS and have greatly limited my fruits. I find I can eat a few berries or a bite or two of other fruits without raising my blood glucose, but I mostly stick with colorful low carb veges.

  • Nameless

    7/18/2009 6:28:10 PM |

    Dr: Davis -- "Who said throw fruit out? I believe you are reading things that aren't there."

    Yet you start this post with a photo of an apple. Although perhaps it wasn't  your intention, it certainly implies that fruit is bad.

  • TedHutchinson

    7/19/2009 8:44:44 AM |

    National estimates of dietary fructose intake increased from 1977 to 2004 in the United States.
    high-fructose corn syrup percentage of sweeteners increased from 16% in 1978 to 42% in 1998
    Since 1978, mean daily intakes of added and total fructose increased in all gender and age groups, whereas naturally occurring fructose intake decreased or remained constant.
    If you can't get the full text at least read the abstract. The full text has some interesting charts presenting the data more clearly.
    It isn't eating naturally sourced fructose from whole fruit driving increased obesity. Increases in fruit consumption are dwarfed by greater increases in total daily energy and carbohydrate intakes.

  • Anonymous

    7/20/2009 9:20:21 PM |

    RE: Comment by Nameless (“Yet you start this post with a photo of an apple. Although perhaps it wasn't your intention, it certainly implies that fruit is bad”)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The good doctor is merely demonstrating in effective graphic terms that
    too much of a good thing is not good. The numbers (ie gms of fructose)
    are important guidelines. There’s no point in getting your nuts in wringer over it!

  • Anonymous

    8/4/2009 11:19:11 PM |

    Bernstein developed Diabetes at age 12. He was born in 1934, so at age 75, he has been diabetic for 63 years. No diabetic complications. Normal blood sugar for all!!

  • David Gillespie

    8/23/2009 10:35:41 PM |

    I think its more helpful to express sugar content (and fructose if known) as a percentage rather than an amount per (varying) serve.  It makes it easier to compare apples to apples (scuse pun).  I've prepared a few listings of various food groups (several hundred items in each) on this basis at www.howmuchsugar.com if you are interested.

  • Anonymous

    8/30/2009 8:58:49 PM |

    Some people suffer from fructose malabsorption. One source states that it is found in approximately 30-40% of the population of Central Europe. If one has that condition, then it would be prudent to avoid all fructose, even the fructose found in fruit. I love the taste of fruit, but it is destroying my health due to malabsorption issues. Fortunately, we know that some cultures lived very healthy lives without eating fruit (e.g. Eskimos).

  • John

    12/1/2009 7:17:24 PM |

    I don't get it. What am I not seeing?

    How much high fructose corn syrup is in a serving of the BBQ sauce? How much in a serving of the steak marinade?

    You state such figures for a serving of apple (1 medium), and for a serving of honey (2 Tablespoons).

  • Anonymous

    10/19/2010 10:53:28 PM |

    I had to give up fruit to prevent further beta cell damage (above 140 apparently for pre-diabetics, and maybe everyone, I don't know). Fruit and many veggies are toxic to people with glucose intolerance. I had to give up veggies for now, until I can find one that I can tolerate. Cabbage was too hard on my blood sugar. I am slowly trying to figure out what I can eat and how to minimize the glycemic impact. Unfortunately, I might have to damage my beta cells to find out what works. The system told me I was fine, even though I told them I had sugar problems. I gave up on doctors 10 years ago, since they were useless. I finally bought a meter and started testing, and the truth is painful.

  • buy jeans

    11/3/2010 6:47:15 PM |

    In addition, since I have been involved with cardiac CT for now nearly 24 years, the PLC also affords me an opportunity to develop a CT coronary angiography training program for cardiologists and radiologists (www.cardiaccta.us). Together, these new efforts are merely an extension of my interests in prevention, patient care, and teaching.

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You've come a long way, baby

You've come a long way, baby

In 1945, the room-sized ENIAC vacuum tube computer was first turned on, women began to smoke openly in public, and a US postal stamp cost three cents. And this was the US government's advice on healthy eating:



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green and yellow vegetables; oranges, tomatoes, grapefruit; potatoes and other vegetables and fruits; followed by milk and milk products; meat, poultry, fish, or eggs; bread, flour, and cereals, butter and fortified margarine.

In 2011, the computing power of the ENIAC can be performed by a microchip a few millimeters in width, smoking is now banned in public places, and a first class postage stamp has increased in price by 1466%. And this is the new USDA Food Plate for Americans:



 

 

 

 

 

Have we made any progress over the past 65 years? We certainly have in computing power and awareness of the adverse effects of smoking. But have US government agencies like the USDA kept up with nutritional advice? Compare the 2011 Food Plate with the dietary advice of 1945.

It looks to me like the USDA has not only failed to keep up with the evolution of nutritional thought, but has regressed to something close to advising Americans to go out and buy stocks on the eve of the 1929 depression. Most of us discuss issues like the genetic distortions introduced into wheat, corn, and soy; the dangers of fructose; exogenous glycoxidation and lipoxidation products yielded via high-temperature cooking; organic, free-range meats and the dangers of factory farming, etc. None of this, of course, fits the agenda of the USDA.

My advice: The USDA should stay out of the business of offering nutritional advice. They are very bad at it. They also have too many hidden motives to be a reliable source of unbiased information.

 

 

Comments (16) -

  • Tyson

    6/3/2011 1:52:03 AM |

    I dunno, just take the orange wedge out completely and shift the diary rec's to full fat instead of low fat and it would be a pretty good plan!  I notice that they recommend both eggs and beef in the protein section!!!

  • Glenn

    6/3/2011 2:02:51 PM |

    Hard to justify all those subsidies if you don't recommend eating the product you subsidize.

    Pharmacology depends on an unhealthy diet as well.

    Now excuse me while I polish my tin foil hat some more.

  • Bill

    6/3/2011 3:30:45 PM |

    The idea that we should get nutritional advice from the Department of Agriculture should tell everyone the purpose behind the advice is nothing but promoting the increased sell of agricultural products. Now there was a time when that might have been acceptable - say around the 1700's or so - but with the devolution of farming in the US and the bastardization of foods and farmin and farm animals alike - it is akin to buying in big on the eve of the Market Collapse of 1929.

    The clue to perpetuating sickness is to oversimplify, never provide details, supply conflicting information incessantly and encourage people to trust the "experts" - most of which haven't a nickels worth of common sense left in their brain account or haven't done a nickels worth of research on a topic.

  • Amy

    6/3/2011 4:41:34 PM |

    "The USDA should stay out of the business of offering nutritional advice. They are very bad at it. "

    I love it!  I wrote about this today too.  I do think the plate is an improvement over the pyramid.  But I did some tweaking and made my own plate that I like a lot better: http://knitfitter.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-usda-nutrition-plate-and-my.html

  • Joe Lindley

    6/4/2011 2:43:05 PM |

    "It looks to me like the USDA has not only failed to keep up with the evolution of nutritional thought, but has regressed to something close to advising Americans to go out and buy stocks on the eve of the 1929 depression. "

    I agree, this is like the fox guarding the hen house.  There's no way the government should be allowed to advise us on what to eat since the agricultural business segment has such a powerful lobby.   I actually liked this plate, only because it was far better than the food pyramid, which mistakenly emphasized more carbs and less fat.  At least now they have shifted the direction to fewer carbs and more fat.  I think of it as the lesser of evils - so the MyPlate isn't right but it's better than the food pyramid.  I wrote a post on it at http://cravingsugar.net/the-new-food-pyramid-myplate-usda-says-eat-less-carbs-more-fat.php.

  • Helen

    6/4/2011 4:06:01 PM |

    I agree that the USDA is bad at it, and that there are powerful interests influencing the message.  For instance, when the last food "pyramid" was unveiled,  advice to avoid sugar that was originally included had been taken out, thanks to the sugar lobby.

    On the other hand, there are some well-meaning people involved, trying to get a message out.  They may be misguided in some ways, but not everyone promoting this is corrupt.  With the current obesity epidemic, there's a lot of genuine public health interest in getting a good "message" out about nutrition.  Having worked somewhat in that field, I know the impulse in an earnest one.  

    Here's what Pee Wee Herman would call the "Big But": your readers, who can converse intelligently about AGEs and sdLDL are a world apart from *most Americans,* who first must get their hand out of the potato chip bag and their lips off the 64oz value-sized Dr. Pepper.  The USDA, whatever its faults, is trying convey a message that can be understood, and a goal that can be achieved.  

    I think messages like "eat a rainbow," "eat your colors," or "fill half your plate with vegetables" are better slogans - partly because I don't think grains and dairy are necessary*, and that improperly prepared grains and all gluten grains are problematic (I take a more nuanced position than Dr. Davis).  But I do think part of the reason the USDA's "plate" is so dumbed-down is that complex messages just don't work in public health.  

    (*Though I do feel dairy's necessary for me!)

  • Helen

    6/4/2011 6:16:58 PM |

    P.S.  I love how butter and fortified margarine used to be their own food group!

  • Paul Lee

    6/5/2011 9:53:19 AM |

    Was wondering if anyone had looked at the effect on farming if everyone switched from wheat and grains? Obviously the effect on the processors, Nabisco, Kellogg's would be disastrous which is why it probably won't happen, but would there be enough, beef, pork, chicken, egg, diary, production to go round?  Could wheat fields be switched over to cattle or rearing or should they produce bio-fuel instead? Arguably we all eat too much so we could just dump the grains portion and maintain existing meat/fish/dairy. But our diet has been somewhat determined by being able to produce enough food for a booming population on a small planet. "Food for thought" anyway.

  • Might-o'chondri-AL

    6/6/2011 1:57:39 AM |

    Hi Paul Lee,
    Maybe  global protein needs could be met 100% by converting the grain fields over to growing substrate feed stocks for poultry or iguana meat.  A diet of always only  protein  would  not be  great,  so you need to figure out what  you intend to complete human  nutritional needs with.  Cereal grains are just so convenient  for energy calories that most nations rely on them; they don't need refrigeration,  transport easily and have long storage.

  • Dr. William Davis

    6/6/2011 2:05:22 AM |

    Agribusiness has undoubtedly increased yield and thereby enhanced accessibility and reduced price. But I fear they have also created a house of cards that, in many ways, many be unsustainable or will yield unintended effects.

    The painfully familiar food recalls from E. coli or Salmonella contamination that result from factory farming and other mass production practices will inevitably catalyze a return to organic, old-fashioned farming methods with higher prices, a concentration on necessary foods and not "luxury" junk foods.

    That sounds like a good thing to me.

    Paul raises a crucial point: How do we make the switch to a world without modern high-yield wheat without a cataclysmic shift in economics? I don't know. But it will be much like the gradual shift from mass produced eggs to free-range, organic eggs, just on a much larger scale. It will be a process that won't occur next Tuesday, but hopefully over the next 50+ years. In the meantime, tens of millions of people will unknowingly suffer from consumption of this thing being sold to use called "wheat."

  • Paul Lee

    6/6/2011 11:23:29 PM |

    Interesting stuff, and Might-o'chondri-AL, I try and get at least 50% of total calories from fat. Without wanting to drift OT,  I don't know whether you have seen this news in the States there has been major problems with German grown (organic) vegatables (cucumbers, tomato's etc) with E.coli (Spanish veg was blamed at first). Literally thousands of tons of veg are being dumped. Salad is certainly off the menu in Europe this week!

  • Abhi

    6/7/2011 10:16:35 PM |

    "The painfully familiar food recalls from E. coli or Salmonella contamination that result from factory farming and other mass production practices will inevitably catalyze a return to organic, old-fashioned farming methods with higher prices, a concentration on necessary foods and not “luxury” junk foods."

    I am loving this! I hope this becomes the reality-- sooner the better.

  • Jennifer Bell

    6/8/2011 12:00:39 AM |

    It's bad that the government is wrong, but the media multiplies it many times over by parroting these guidelines to public. For example, the US News Diet Rankings:

    http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-overall-diets

    Some of my comments on my blog:

    http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-overall-diets

  • Curmujeon

    6/8/2011 12:54:32 PM |

    My advice: The USDA should stay out of the business of offering nutritional advice. They are very bad at it. They also have too many hidden motives to be a reliable source of unbiased information.

    I don't think they will stop offering advice since so many people seek guidance.
    Your advice should be:  Ignore the nutritional advace offered by the USDA.  It is very bad advice because they have too many hidden motives to be a reliable source of unbiased information.  Seek nutritional advice from more reliable sources.

    Unfortunately, how do we know which sources are reliable?  Vegetarianism makes sense.  What do they have to say?

  • Annie

    6/10/2011 7:17:50 PM |

    I think the grain section should be dumped entirely and fruit section should a sliver at best or there should be some mention that those with blood sugar issues may want to greatly reduce ALL fruit.  I find that the tolerance to fruit is highly individual.  Since I lowcarb and my fasting sugars are usually mid 80s unless I've had an unusually large late night meal in which case it can be mid 90s -- I was shocked to see what the allegedly lower sugar fruits such as raspberries and blackberries (both high fiber too) are really doing to my sugar since I started self testing.  I am beginning to think that with my genetics and age, even the so-called healthy berries can be the devil.

    I am 5'2.5" and weighed 107.5 this morning.  I'm in my late 40s and only medication is armour/cytomel for hypothyroid.  Both parents and only sibling are type 2s -- dad was a slender type 2.  Ex: This morning fasting sugar was 86.  I had a black coffee and skipped breakfast and went on a long brisk walk (1.25 hour) in the heat.  At brunch at 1:00PM consisting of 3 soft boiled pastured eggs; a few ounces (2 or so) of leftover grassfed ribeye; 6 olives (I sweated a lot outside and needed more salt despite salting eggs and steak-- I eat no processed food except canned sardines and find I need extra salt sweating in hot sun or I get extremely weak, very low blood pressure etc); and now for the grand mistake -- 1 cup of mixed blackberries/raspberries.  I took my sugar 15 minutes later and it was 128; 15 minutes later; 138; 15 minutes later 123; 15 minutes later 118 etc

    I have eaten similar to the above meal minus fruit but adding large amounts of raw freshly shelled hazelnuts and my blood sugar will not spike anywhere near 138 despite adding several hundred more calories.  I've even checked numerous hours later to see if there is a late spike and while the highest point does take longer with large meal containing big amounts of nuts (slow digestion) and no spike -- a slow steady rise generally never going over 115 and coming back down over the next few hours.  

    So fruit sugars can be the devil for some of us and given the diabetes epidemic -- I think the fruit wedge should be much much smaller or come with a caveat.  Or better yet, given the disasterous history of government dietary recommendations, perhaps the government should stay out of our kitchens entirely.

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Big heart scan scores drop

Big heart scan scores drop

High heart scan scores of, say, greater than 1000 are more difficult to reduce than lower scores.

I learned this lesson early in the experience of trying to drop scores. In the first few years of trying to drop scores, I saw relatively modest scores of 20, 50, or 100 drop readily, even when the usual targets were not fully achieved, and even before the incorporation of some of the more exciting recent additions to the Track Your Plaque program, like vitamin D.

But big scores of 1000, 2000, or 3000 are a tougher nut to crack. In the first few years, what I usually saw was a slowing , or "deceleration," of growth from the expected rate of annual score increase of 30% that would continue for a year or two, followed by zero change. In the first year of effort, for example, a score increase of 18% was common. 10% was common in year two, then finally zero change in year three. Somehow, the more plaque you begin with, the more "momentum" in growth is present and the longer it takes to stop it. Kind of like stopping a compact car versus stopping a freight train.

But more recently, I'm seeing faster drops. Today, Charlie came to the office to discuss his second heart scan. 18 months earlier, Charlie's first scan showed a score of 3,112, high by anybody's standard.

His repeat score: 3,048. While the drop is relatively small on a percentage basis and may even fall within the expected rate of error for heart scans (which tends to be <2% at this high a score), I told Charlie that it still represented a huge success. Not only did he not increase his score by the expected 30% per year, he also brought a charging locomotive to a rapid stop.

Next year, Charlie is targeting a big drop. Given the tools he now has available, I'm optimistic that he will succeed.

Watch for the Track Your Plaque May, 2007 Newsletter in which we will detail Charlie's story further.
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The two kinds of small LDL

The two kinds of small LDL

You won't find this in any publication nor description (at least ones that I've come across) about the ubiquitous small LDL particles. It's an observation I've made having obtained thousands of advanced lipoprotein panels of the sort that break lipoproteins down by size. I've discussed this issue previously here. But small LDL is so ubiquitous, not addressed by conventional strategies like statin drugs or fat restriction (it is made worse, in fact, by reducing fat in the diet), that it is worth keeping at the top of everyone's consciousness.

(Because most of the lipoprotein analyses performed in my office are done via NMR, I will discuss in terms relevant to NMR. This does not necessarily mean that similar observations cannot be made with centrifugation, i.e, VAP from Atherotech, or gel electropheresis from Berkeley, Boston Heart Lab, Spectracell, and others).

There are two basic varieties of small LDL particles:

1) Genetically-programmed--e.g., via cholesteryl-ester transfer protein (CETP) activity
2) Acquired--via carbohydrate consumption


It means that people with acquired small LDL from carbohydrate consumption can reduce small LDL to zero with reduction of carbohydrates, especially the most small LDL-provoking foods of all: wheat, cornstarch, and sucrose.

It also means that people who have small LDL for genetically-determined reasons can only minimize, not eliminate, small LDL. By NMR, we struggle to keep small LDL in the 300-600 nmol/L range when genetically-determined. (People typically start with 1400-3000 nmol/L small LDL particles prior to diet changes and other efforts.) We can only presumptively identify genetically-determined small LDL when all the appropriate efforts have been made, including reduction in weight to ideal, yet small LDL persists.

Here is where we need better tools: when you've done everything possible, yet small LDL persists.

While we break LDL particles (NOT LDL cholesterol, the crude and misleading way of viewing atherosclerosis causation) down by size, it's really about all the undesirable characteristics that accompany small size:

--Distortion of Apo B conformation--i.e., the primary protein that directs LDL particle fate is distorted, making it less likely to be cleared by the liver but more likely to be taken up by inflammatory (macrophages) in the artery wall, creating plaque. It means that small LDL particles linger for a longer time than larger particles.

--Small LDLs are more oxidation-prone. Oxidized LDL are more avidly taken up by inflammatory macrophages.

--Small LDLs are more glycation-prone.

--Small LDLs are more adherent to structural tissues, e.g., glycosaminoglycans, that reside in the artery wall.

You and I cannot measure such phenomena, so we resort to distinguishing LDL particles by size.

The drug industry believes it may have a solution to small LDL in the form of CETP-inhibiting drugs, like anacetrapib. In the way of nutritional solutions beyond carbohydrate reduction, weight loss/exercise, niacin, vitamin D normalization, and omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, there are exciting but very preliminary data surrounding the possibility that anthocyanins may inhibit CETP activity. Having toyed with this concept for the past 6 months, I remain uncertain how meaningful the effect truly is, but it is harmless, since we obtain anthocyanins from foods colored purple or purplish, such as blackberries, blueberries, cherries, red leaf lettuce, red cabbage, etc.

I welcome any unique observations on this issue.

Comments (17) -

  • Tommy

    12/27/2010 3:37:38 PM |

    "But small LDL is so ubiquitous, not addressed by conventional strategies like statin drugs or fat restriction (it is made worse, in fact, but reducing fat in the diet)"

    Just to be clear about the above quote. You say "it is made worse, in fact, but reducing fat." Did you mean "by" reducing fat?

    Also, if that is the case, is that because of the fat itself or because less fat means replacing it with carbs?

  • Jonathan Byron

    12/27/2010 4:50:45 PM |

    In addition to CETP inhibition, some other benefits of red/blue/purple foods (that also include polyphenols other than the anthocyanins - elligitanins, etc) include:

    1) inhibition of amylase - less of a blood sugar spike after eating starchy foods, less aberrant glycation and AGEs.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15796622

    2) Estrogenic activity - anthocyanin stimulates the beta-estrogen receptors in blood vessels and bone, not much activity in the alpha receptors in breast, uterus.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20049322

    3) Phosphodiesterase inhibition!
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15769121

  • Peter

    12/27/2010 5:09:05 PM |

    I was surprised that Ron Krauss, who did a lot of research on small particle LDL and recently published a mega-study supposedly showing saturated fat is unrelated to heart disease, made these comments in a recent interview:

    People should limit saturated fat to 10% of their diet, though some can get away with more.

    Optimal carbs intake: 35 to 40%.

    People used to get heart disease from high cholesterol, but now its mainly high carbs.

    The interview is here, and those ideas are toward the end:

    http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2010/03/26/ldl-cholesterol-ron-krauss-md/

    I would love to know if you have any comment.

  • Geoffrey Levens

    12/27/2010 5:20:51 PM |

    This is worth knowing about! Low cost (relatively) lab tests without needing a doc visit/prescription

    https://summitcountymedicalsociety.prepaidlab.com/

    All tests performed by LabCorp

  • steve

    12/27/2010 9:35:35 PM |

    sometimes it comes down to our health being all about our genetics. As a result of the recomendations of this blog with regard to wheat and sugar elimination, normalizing vitamin D i have taken down my LDL from 1810, all small to 609 of which 346 are small; i can only lower my particles with statins- diet alone will not do it.  My understanding of the research is that at low levels, size does not matter. I will note that when my particles were sky high i thought i was follwoing a very healthy low fat, grain oriented diet.  Now, i eat now grains and have a fair amount of mono fats from avocado and olive oil, some sat fat from lean meats, poultry and eggs, and hope i have minimized the progression of artery plaque that shocked me when i found out i had it when i followed healthy heart diet, exercise and maintained a very lean body weight.  Gentics are tough to overcome, but the risks can be minimzed via diet and meds.

  • Might-o'chondri-AL

    12/28/2010 6:12:34 AM |

    Different segments of the same carotid artery can apparently be affected by a different gene. Each segment is itself susceptable to different pathological processes, like shear rate of the near inner arterial wall. Artherosclerosis at different arterial segments seem to predict if pathological event will be ischemic stroke or myocardial infarction.

    The North Manhattan Study tried to tweak 145 genes modulated by 702 single nucleotide polymorphisms. That study and the San Antonio, Erasmo Rucphen and Framingham have led to opinions that 30% to 60% of the thickness of the carotid artery's intima-media is geneticly inherited. Then for carotid plaque +/- 28% is passed on geneticly.

    Sex of the individual and racial ethnicity are other genetic variables. Doc Davis' clinical observation is telling us something equally important about small LDL's genetic variation.

  • Ryan

    12/28/2010 2:47:00 PM |

    Is small LDL the "VLDL" on blood results?

  • Dr. William Davis

    12/28/2010 2:55:38 PM |

    Hi, Tommy--

    Yes, indeed. Just a typo.

    Probably both.

  • Dr. William Davis

    12/28/2010 2:57:59 PM |

    Hi, Jonathan--

    Excellent! Yes, the conversation surrounding anthocyanins is becoming increasingly interesting.



    Hi, Peter--

    I don't personally know Ron Krauss, but I too have been puzzled by the fact that his public comments don't seem to reflect his research findings. If he were to echo the important findings of his research, he would indeed be a low-carb, high-fat advocate.

  • Dr. William Davis

    12/28/2010 2:59:31 PM |

    Steve--

    Wonderful results! The diet approach works, no doubt about it.


    Hi, Ryan--

    No, two different things.

  • Anonymous

    12/29/2010 5:50:28 AM |

    Hello Dr.Davis,
    Your comments sound very similar to Dr Ray Strand...do you read his work? If not, I think you would enjoy his thoughts. His website is www.drraystrand.com
    Cheers,
    Sue in BC Canada

  • Brent

    12/29/2010 4:02:25 PM |

    Question for all you Small Particle techies out there.  Always had "Good" lipid panels, even though overweight and borderline type 2 under control with a low carb diet.

    Numbers usually average:
    Total Cholesterol 125
    LDL  65
    HDL  45
    Tri  90  

    Just got first particle size test done, results in VAP format:  

    LDL-1Innocent 3
    LDL-2Innocent 0
    LDL-3(B) 36
    LDL-4(B) 34

    I know particle size goes down as the LDL- number goes up, but how do these numbers translate to the NMR numbers Dr. Davis listed as a target for those of us genetically pre-disposed to pattern B LDL?

  • Anonymous

    12/29/2010 9:22:31 PM |

    ^I'm interested in the same thing

  • David

    12/30/2010 8:30:59 PM |

    Brent,

    Your small LDL makes up 96% of your total LDL particles. This is a severe pattern.

    Also, your HDL is too low and your triglycerides are a tad too high. Dr. Davis' Track Your Plaque goal of 60-60-60 is a good rule of thumb. LDL down to 60, HDL up to 60, trigs down to 60.

    If you're currently following a low-carb diet and still have all of this small LDL, your small LDL pattern is probably the genetic type that Dr. Davis talks about here.

    David

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