Though the sixservings blog invites readers to "Join the Discussion" and add a comment, they have yet to publish any comments, including mine made two days ago,

Continuing my role as tepid devil's advocate...

"Wheat gliadin has been associated with ..."  -- "associated with" or "linked with" is the prototypical claim made when hard scientific evidence is lacking.  "Correlation is not causation" applies to all, not just to the other side of a debate.

"...died at their product’s hands."  "Product's hands" is an unfortunate metaphor.  Here I'm acting as English composition scold, not nutritional critic.

In my view the threat of legal liability serves no constructive purpose.  To hold the work of Norman Borlag (*), who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the development of high-yield wheat -- which arguably has saved millions from starvation -- as culpable is not credible, even if the health claims in Wheat Belly are true.

(*) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_borlag

Dr. Davis,
I need your clarification on a few things. I have been following your advice for a couple of years to better understand and control my cholesterol without medication: no wheat or grains,taking vit D, fish oil, correct blood tests, checking post-prandial glucose, etc. Things are going well.  

Recently watched "Forks over Knives" and reading Dr. Esselstyn's book on heart disease management with surprise and confusion. He recommends the bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, whole grain wheat bread and pasta, absolutely no oil, meat, eggs, dairy and then back to Dr. Ornish and the low fat mantras of the past.

What is your take on it? I'm trying to make sense of it all!

Thanks.  Jan

Nor have they published mine It's still in "moderation" LOL

Keep it up, Dr. Davis

I took your permission to publish your Open Letter to the Grain Foods Foundation on my guestdietblog. I thought it was well-written, although I agree with Mr. Brecher's assessment that the claim of legal liability (I agree that they really *are* culpable, but still...) is less than helpful.

On a related topic, I do not believe that eliminating wheat is the Holy Grail of weight loss. While necessary, it is *not* sufficient. I eliminated wheat (and all other grains) from my diet in 1999. I fairly quickly lost 100 lbs and greatly improved my health. Unfortunately, I needed to lose 150 lbs, and that last 50 lbs has stubbornly clung to my frame despite several "tweaks" to my low-carb diet over the last dozen years.

Modern wheat's  " juju" (a CathyN-ism) is it's  "antigenic profile".

Great open letter! As the Grain Foods Foundation targeted Dr. Davis' well documented book, and published demonstrable falsehoods regarding the references and sources, I feel this open letter is accurate and, if anything, subdued in its tone.

To be clear, Dr. Davis did not threaten legal action; he pointed out that the promotion of wheat as "healthy", combined with ignoring the scientific evidence against modern wheat positions the Foundation solidly in the same position as the tobacco companies. They do have legal liability, especially as they are engaging in the same type of public denials with incomplete information (read that: lies).  We may see, in our lifetimes, the same government assisting the wheat growers turn and sue them, just as the tobacco industry has experienced..

A medical doctor can combine his scientific training to evaluate claims and evidence with practical, real world experience with thousands of patients that no researcher can match. "Wheat Belly" shows both Dr. Davis' clinical experience and the depth of his research on the topic.

To Howard:
Does Dr. Davis say that eliminating wheat is the Holy Grail of weight loss, or are those your words? For what it's worth, no I don't think it is, but it's a very important facet of weight loss. If you're otherwise not controlling your carb intake, eating enough healthy fats, not exercising, not getting enough sleep, etc., those "last 50 pounds" may never come off.

Joe

Dr Davis:
"Wheat gliadin has been associated with cerebellar ataxia, peripheral neuropathy, gluten encephalopathy (dementia), behavioral outbursts in children with ADHD and autism, and paranoid delusions and auditory hallucinations in people with schizophrenia, severe and incapacitating effects for people suffering from these conditions.
.....
I propose that you and your organization, as well as the wheat industry and its supporters, are at risk for legal liability on a scale not seen since the tobacco industry was brought to task to pay for the countless millions who died at their product's hands."


I have multiple autoimmune diseases, a result of gluten intolerance. My mother became schizophrenic when she was 35, and I was 10. It wrecked our family for the rest of my parents' lives.

And we are only starting on cancer.

You can't even imagine how I feel about wheat.

Jan Jones?

Dr. Esselstyn's book relies heavily on his own non-controlled study. Esselstyn applied his brand of vegan diet to a number of his heart disease patient. Esselstyn claims that his diet arrested their deterioration, and attributes the results to veganism.

The problem? Dr. Esselstyn also told participants to stop eating baked goods, flour and vegetable oils. Also, Dr Esselstyn treated these participants with pharmaceutical drugs.

There's a significant difference between the protein in oats and the protein in wheat. I wouldn't eat either grain. If you must eat one, eat oats.

Eliminated grains--> lost 100 pounds

Seems pretty successful to me. There's a huge health risk difference  between carrying 50 extra and carrying 100 extra. I lost 118 and resolved my Metabolic Syndrome. Yes, I could lose another 40 to be NOT overweight anymore, but 118 made a huge difference.

Many formerly obese people have affected BMR (lower than non-obese would be at same height/weight/etc). We've damaged our bodies. Perhaps to get to normal weights, we have to be even more vigilant, exercise harder/smarter, tweak macronutrients. Of course, it's more important to keep OFF the lost ones than fight even the last pile of fat hanging on. If ditching grains made that much of a difference, I see it as vindicating their elimination.
But the fat fight goes on, regardless, as for some of us, it's just never gonna be easy....

Good morning doctor, I keep a daily page from Spain, gustría me know if your books are translated into Spanish. If not please do so, some people are interested in reading.

Hi, Marta--

Not yet. However, I will announce here and elsewhere when international editions are released.

Thanks for asking!

118 pounds?! Wow. That's fabulous, Princess!

If you could post your full details here, I will post your story as a wheat-free Success Story . . . a BIG success story.

Yes, Bob, I agree 100%. This thing being sold to us called "wheat" is so bad in so many ways. And we're told to eat more of it.

This will go down as the biggest dietary blunder ever made in the history of humans on earth. But therein lies the silver lining: Elimination of wheat is also the single most powerful health strategy I have ever witnessed.

Imagine what life would be like if we didn't come to recognize this! Makes me shudder.

Thanks, Frank.

Yes, indeed. I have not hired any attorneys. But I do believe we have an incredible wrong committed on an international scale with liability for deaths and illness in tens of millions.

Obviously, the whistle blowing will NOT come from within the system. Nobody in the USDA, FDA, or Surgeon General's office is sounding this alarm. They all agree, in fact: Eat more healthy whole grains. Reminds me of the old cigarette commercial: "More doctors recommend Chesterfields than any other cigarette!"

Excellent, Might!

Thanks, Howard.

I wouldn't pooh-pooh 100 pounds of weight loss eliminating wheat. That's an incredible result! People pay a lot of money and suffer deprivation and hunger to achieve a lot less.

Your experience highlights that the diet for weight loss should be 1) wheat-free, then 2) limited carbohydrate. But there are other issues that many people have to address. Thyroid dysfunction, for instance is rampant and can put a damper on weight loss. And don't accept the conventional "rules" for diagnosis of thyroid dysfunction; they are flat wrong and will impair both weight loss and increase risk for heart disease. (There are several thyroid discussions on this Heart Scan Blog, by the way.)

Thanks, Anthony. Between the blog comments, my open letter that I emailed to their representative, Ashley Reynolds, and all the comments I and others have posted on their Facebook page, I think we got their attention. We'll have to see what happens.

While I admire Dr. Esselstyn's motivations, having devoted his later career to the cause of preventing and reversing heart disease (changing course from his training as an ear-nose-and-throat surgeon), I believe he is wrong.

I did the diet he advocated 20 years ago: eliminated all meat and oils, extremely-low fat, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and lots of "healthy whole grains." I promptly gained 30 lbs, my HDL dropped to 27 mg/dl, my triglycerides shot up to 350 mg/dl, and I became a diabetic. This was while I was jogging 5 miles a day. (Ironically, I was living in Cleveland and Esselstyn was a neighbor.)

The vegetarian, low-fat approach Esselstyn advocates does indeed yield improvement, however, compared to a standard American diet, especially if the person is an apo E4 genetic type, which creates some fat sensitivity.

Points take, Steve. But I disagree.

When you read the scientific literature on gliadin, there is no question that it is causative. But let me clarify: It does not cause schizophrenia or ADHD; it just makes it much worse in a vulnerable mind.

And, just because the evil health effects of the high-yield semi-dwarf variant that led to Borlaug's Nobel Peace Prize were not recognized in 1970, that does not release anyone from culpability. It was wrong--pure and simple. DDT was hailed as a great breakthrough in pesticides, sprayed widely and indiscriminately in neighborhoods, forests, and directly on humans. It was then banned (due, in part, to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring) when its terrible health effects became widely recognized.

That makes about 9 of us at last count, Kurt. Their silence and censorship, however, speaks volumes!

Prior to the beginning of August, I was unemployed (for about 6 months), and the only healthcare I had access to was the VA Medical Center. Since my blood pressure goes up every time I have to sit through Dr. Ghory's lecture on how I should eat less fat and red meat, she insists that I should be taking blood pressure meds (last time I was there, it was 150/95, I have been keeping a log of bp for the last month, and it averages 130/75 without meds). She insists my thyroid is normal, and that I should just "eat a healthy low-fat diet." Nevermind that my fasting glucose is 95, and my tryglicerides are very low, she also wants me on statins for my "high" cholesterol (don't remember exactly what it was, but I think it was around 150, with 90 of that being HDL).

I now have health insurance (and a good income). It appears that in order to get any real medical help, I'm going to have to go outside of the VA "medical" system (unfortunately, thanks to obamacare, all healthcare will resemble the VA system before long). How would I go about locating a local private practicing doctor who has a clue about nutrition?

I put this on the six servings blog today:
"Fat, sick, obese America deserves the truth....is the current whole wheat product....the same grain people have been eating for centuries OR...was it re-engineered in the 1980's. Please let us know....America deserves the truth."

This is a copy of a post I placed on Fathead and Jimmy Moore's blogs today. I am curious about the apo E4 mentioned above and wonder if this at place in this dilemma?

After my long diatribe about my family and how we have all been
rescued from fates worse than death by low-carb diets, I have to admit
that there is one family member for whom low-carb does not seem to have
worked. I have mentioned before that my sister is not able to control
her blood sugar or lose weight in spite of careful low-carb dieting for
nearly 12 years. She is so desperate that she went to see Dr. Mary
Vernon, in spite of reading negative reviews about Dr. Vernon’s practice
and both Tom Naughton and Jimmy Moore enthusiastically endorsed that
plan. It has been about 6 weeks since she went to Lawrence, KS (not an
inconsiderable investment of time and money). She commented on my
Facebook posting of Gary Taubes latest blog with “Why doesn’t all of this
work for me?” I replied “What does Dr. Vernon say?” I am pasting in
Jane’s reply because I think it is important that everyone in the
low-carb community know about this. I also am desperately seeking an
answer to why my beautiful sister can’t find the relief of her health
problems that everyone else in my family has found through the low-carb
lifestyle. She is the only one of my generation to be officially
diagnosed as “Type II” and she spent years on low-fat, low-calorie,
high-carb diets (including the 3 months on Weight Watchers + walking 5
miles a day when she gained 10 pounds and received her official
diagnosis). Well, here is a direct quote:

Jane wrote: “Well basically nothing. She (Mary Vernon) is very hard to get ahold of
(never answers the phone or e-mails) and I’m not sure that she believes
me that I am following the diet and it just isn’t working for me. I had
all those expensive tests and I have heard nothing from her about the
results. I have only heard once from her nurse and she said that maybe
they would put me on Januvia which I already take and listed on the form
they had me fill out when I went there. I am not happy with the
situation at all.”
I am interested in your take on this and any input/ideas I can receive from the blogosphere. We are really desperate.

Dr. Davis,

Is the grain used in French bread, i.e., of the sort gotten, e.g., in Paris, somehow "different" from the genetically re-engineered variants here in the US? I notice that when we go to France, especially in Paris, I'm struck with it that the only FAT people I seem to notice are foreigners, i.e., US, Germans, Scandinavians, and the now and again, Asian.  Parisiennes, however, virtually invariably look great, and not only the 20, 30, 40 somethings. So is there something about the grain they consume that exempts them from "Wheat Belly?"

Genome of wheat  was estimated in 2002 to be +/- 16.5 gigabase and thus +/- 5 times the human genome.

These free full text papers may help doubters improve their understanding.
Evidence for gliadin antibodies as causative agents in schizophrenia.
http://precedings.nature.com/documents/5351/version/1/files/npre20105351-1.pdf

Presence of celiac disease epitopes in modern and old hexaploid wheat varieties: wheat breeding may have contributed to increased prevalence of celiac disease
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2963738/?tool=pubmed

Yes I looked into this a while ago.
There are a lot more "HOBBY" farmers in France so there are more smaller holdings where people tend to farm more traditionally and stick with the traditional heirloom varieties that they know grow well on their land.
http://notulaebotanicae.ro/nbha/article/viewFile/4731/4560
Diversity of Seven Glutenin and Secalin Loci within Triticale Cultivars Grown in France
I think they are more interested in breadmaking qualities than in pesticide resistance.

Hi Anthony,
Any idea why 10 years ago these European children aged 7 - 9  weight profiles are so different ?
France (data 2000):
boys overweight = 14% & obese = 3.9%
girls overweight = 14.7% & obese = 3.6%
Portugal data (2001- 2002):
boys overweight = 19.1 % & obese = 10.3%
girls overweight = 21.1% & obese = 12.3 %

Hey, Doc,
In your book, you recommend avoiding vegetable oils like canola completely.  Yet you recommend eating certain foods that have mayonnaise.  Do you know of any mayonnaise brands without those nasty oils in them?

I have to admit, Ari, that I purchase mayonnaise so infrequently that I don't have the names on the tip of my tongue. However, unless you are a mayonnaise aficionado, the small exposures to linoleic acid-rich oils or canola likely have little impact on health. Soybean oil is another frequent oil; not perfect, but not bad. Even if GMO, there are not going to be proteins that make it to the end-product.

Hi, Ted--

You're discovering exactly what I did: There is already an incredibly diverse literature documenting the adverse effects of wheat consumption. The rest of the world has been falsely lulled by the "whole grains are better than white processed flour" logic.

Wow, Might!

I can always count on you to tell me something I didn't know!

Hi, Anthony--

See Ted's helpful comments below.

I can only speculate that, in addition to some of the heirloom forms of wheat being consumed (e.g., einkorn from Provence and Languedoc), the higher fat intake of the French may blunt the wheat effect. There may be more to this "French paradox," such as more socially-friendly eating, as opposed to the eat-and-run style of American eating.

You know, I switched from regular mayonnaise, made with soybean oil, to one made with expeller  pressed canola oil after reading Michael Eades' recommendation in ' "Protein Power Life Plan".  I guess it's the lesser of two evils but I wonder if it's worth it?

Hi, Peggy--

I really depends on what you mean by "not responding." On the surface, it sounds like she is not apo E4, but apo E2, which causes postprandial (after-eating) abnormalities and creates incredible carb intolerance, such that half an apple triggers excessive responses. Alternatively, she might have suffered pancreatic damage in some form, wheat or otherwise, that now limits her own capacity to generate the expected changes in diet.

A lipoprotein panel that includes an apoprotein E and HbA1c would provide insight.

Hi, Linda--

I feel them blushing and stammering already!

Hi, Howard--

Sadly, I believe there are so few nutritionally-savvy physicians that it can be a real tough search. Word of mouth still, even in 2011, remains the best tool, though with obvious limitations.

Thanks, Dr. Davis. My sister was diagnosed as Type II in the fall of 1999 and has been following some form of a low-carb diet since 2000. Before that, she followed various versions of low-calorie, low-fat diets and I am sure that she did suffer metabolic damage, as so many of us have. I am simply passing on what she reports, but she says it is not so much post-prandial blood sugar readings that are high and of concern, but fasting blood sugars. She also has experienced readings over 200 whenever she has a cold or infection of any type, Her first morning readings can be quite high and are chronically around 150. She finds the readings drop through out the day and says it doesn't matter what she eats - nothing raises or lowers the numbers. Her HbA1C is usually around 6-7 because of her high morning readings. Since she still retains a good deal of abdominal fat (she is the proverbial apple type), I would assume she is still producing insulin. As I mentioned, the family history of insulin-resistance is pretty dramatic and she seems to have inherited an extreme degree of IR which was probably intensified by her years of low-fat eating.
I have a sense of what she has been eating for the past 12 years, and it is a reasonably restricted diet in terms of carbohydrates. She saw Dr. Vernon with the hopes of tweaking her diet to see if she could get the fasting readings lower, and she was basically given an Atkins induction diet. She has followed it for 6 weeks with no weight loss and no change in fasting blood sugar.  I have asked that she send me copies of her food diary (she has sent them to Dr. Vernon) and perhaps that would shed some light on this dilemma. However, there seems to be more this than just diet. Hormones? Stress?
I hope you will continue to correspond with us on this and see if there is an answer.

I make my own mayo with extra light olive oil (Eades recipe).

When I stpped eating wheat my small LDL went down 15% but my total particle number went up by more than that.  I can't tell if this is a good trade-off or a bad one.

Dr. Davis, I am a Plastic surgeon in Chicago, and I have read your book. As a doctor, I understand your line of reasoning and the science, and teh short of it is, Ithink you have written and excellent, informative, and important book. This one could be a game-changer, as I see it.

But the more important point, I wanted to make is that I have 2 kids with juvenile diabetes, and we have no family history. I want to know why. and  Ihave always wanted to know why. And what's worse, is that I feel, working as a doctor, that there are many vicious cycles and toxic partnerships in medicine that sell you food on one hand that causes ill health and sells us cures on the other.
I have come to the conclusion that the road to hell really is paved with good intentions, and frankly, I would prefer someone who I know is trying to take advantage of me than one who is trying to help me. Fighting world hunger is noble, but its also a rhetorical point as well. Who wants people to starve? Likewise, it is a moral sentiment, which in this case did not rationally consider its possible unintended consequences by asking the question: Is this high-yield wheat good for people?
Unfortunately, you see this pattern play out a lot: A moral sentiment gets popular and eventually gets ruled and polluted by profit motive.
And what irks me is when a person uses the argument that correlation doesn't prove causation for rhetorical purposes. Correlation is good observation, which is crucial to good science. You have to make good observations so you can create good hypothesis that can ultimately be tested. You can't also run a double-blind study on everything. And if you do, it doesn't mean that its results are accurate or that it was well designed. Cause is an important thing to determine--this is true--but to say you have not made good observations and reasonable arguments and hypotheses that warrant further investigation because you don't have a bunch of double blind studies, or the like is the definitition of--no pun intended--a straw man argument.

OT
Dr Davis...........................
As a glaucoma patient, I am always searching for possible solutions. Am now taking 5000 UI a day of Vit D and I am starting to notice minor changes. Do you agree with this post on FB?

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=136737770479

Thank you so much

I posted this today (9-6-11) @ six servings blog:
Attention six serving blog:
A lot of people that are being helped by the "Wheat Belly" book's position wonder why you don't leave our posts on or reply to them . I posted this yesterday and it's gone, Also I never received a response?

Posted 9/5/11 :
“Fat, sick, obese America deserves the truth….is the current whole wheat product….the same grain people have been eating for centuries OR…was it re-engineered in the 1980′s. Please let us know….America deserves the truth.”
Where are all the comments posted?

If you haven't already, add the bloodsuger101 blog to your reading.
http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/
Best wishes for your family

Thanks, Linda!

I don't envy them, getting barraged with all these comments!

Hi, Linda--

Sorry, but you're way out of my areas of confidence. I sure HOPE it's true, however.

I will say that, between vitamin D and elimination of wheat, these combined strategies tackle more abnormal conditions than I ever imagined.

Thank you, Dr. Ostric. I like changing the game!

Dr. Ostric--

I would compare the release of high-yield, semi-dwarf wheat into the human food supply to releasing an untested drug into the pharmaceutical armamentarium for widespread prescription. It might work, but chances are it will not. It might, in fact, have plenty of unintended ill-effects.

I believe this is what has happened. Among its potential effects: an increase in the incidence in type I diabetes in children.

Hi, Peter--

Disappointing results. Have you assessed apo E status? This can modify an individual's response to diet,

Excellent!

Oh, boy, Peggy. A bit too complicated to handle in a blog response.

It could indeed be that her pancreatic function has been exhausted and there is no return from diabetes at this point. Another alternative: hypothyroidism, as this is prevalent and powerful. I assume that she has already corrected vitamin D, which is crucial; we aim for a 25-hydroxy vitamin D level of 60-70 ng/ml.

I have been reading here for a year, and my health has improved as I've tried to implement your suggestions. The topic of glycation is new to me. Have you read the research that shows that Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine,  may help prevent glycation? The fat-soluble thiamine is more effective. I ran across references to this supplement while looking up neuropathy online. It might have a role especially for diabetics.
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2011/07/18/vitamin-reverses-nerve-pain/  (see especially comments from Dr. Charles.) I would be very interested to hear what Dr. Davis, Mito and others of you think about this.
for example:
"The effect of magnesium on peripheral neuropathy pain could be related to the effect of benfotiamine (fat soluble derivative of thiamine). Both magnesium and thiamine (in the form of thiamine pyrophosphate) are cofactors of a very important enzyme, Transketolase.
The Transketolase enzyme helps to regulate some key functions of small blood vessels. When the small blood vessels are dysfunctional there is less blood flow to nerves and tissues. This can be one basis for pain (decreased perfusion of blood) in peripheral neuropathies. It can also contribute to severe muscle cramps and to restless legs syndrome in my opinion.
What happens in small blood vessels (capillaries and venules) can be literally and figuratively out of sight to most all physicians. Benfotiamine treatment of peripheral neuropathy has been in the medical literature since 1994+. There is very little recognition by the medical community, even in Germany where benfotiamine was synthesized of its efficacy in treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy and other conditions."

Hi Dr. Davis,

I'm convinced that lectin proteins like wheat gluten are responsible for virtually all autoimmune diseases ......either via direct reaction, or via cytokine inflammation. I'm also convinced that these proteins are primary causes of cancer.

I've been reading how one of cancer's main metabolic pathways has cells importing free glutamine from the extracellular matrix. In an insulin resistant environment glutamine subverts the citric acid cycle, making it create mutated tissue instead of energy. Normally glutamine is held in the extracellular matrix by tissue transglutaminase (tTg). Glutamine becomes free when the immune system removes  tTg. This happens in people with wheat-caused autoimmunity.

Wheat is a prime cause of insulin resistance and of free glutamine. I'm convinced. Wheat causes cancer. There are important chemicals missing from this explanation, like mTOR, tyrosine, PKM2 and mRNA.

Just to be clear, back in 1999, I did eliminate wheat from my diet. But I also eliminated every other grain, along with anything containing added sugar. It wasn't until sometime around 2005 that I figured out that I needed to eliminate anything containing soy, along with vegetable oils. The wheat elimination resulted in the most immediate and remarkable results, as I wrote in a post entitled "A Story About Gluten" on my blog (guestdietblog.com), but the journey to my optimum health is not complete.

I am putting out "feelers" for a family practice physician with a clue, but so far, have come up empty. Your observation on the lack of whisteblowers in the industry, along with old cigarette commercials reminds me of an experience in my own childhood. Around the ripe old age of 6, I became dimly aware of the connection between my multiple allergies and my father's cigarette smoking. Our family doctor completely dismissed that connection, and told me I was allergic to "house dust," then took another drag on his cigarette (yes, in his office, in the presence of a young child). I endured another 10 years of completely useless allergy shots before getting up the gumption to tell the doctor where he could stick it next.

HI Might-o'chondri-AL. I'm very interested in getting my hands on the paper where you got that information. Do you think you could provide me the reference?
Thank you
Pedro

Dear Dr. Davis,

I and very interested in reading your book, but I'm still waiting for it to arrive from Amazon. Since I haven't read it yeat, I don't know if you have included in your book data from the DART Trial published in Lancet a long time ago.

We have recently pointed out that data in a review paper (and before our paper, Dr. Staffan Lindeberg had included it in his Food and Western Disease book and I believe Stephan Guyenet had also included it in his blog a few years ago), but unfortunately this data is forgotten by many nutrition researchers, who use epidemiology (which can't show cause and effect) and trials with soft end points to support whole grains.

The DART study was one of the very few human controlled dietary intervention trials with hard end-points, and it found a tendency towards increased cardiovascular mortality in the group advised to eat more fiber, the majority of which was derived from cereal grains [1]. Of relevance, this non-significant effect became statistically significant, after adjustment for possible confounding factors (such as medication and health state) [2].
There's also the Women's health Initiative trial.

Whenever someone throws epidemiology or trials with soft end points regarding whole grains and CVD, I would simply show the data from the DART study and the Women's health Initiative trial, because RCTs with hard end points are the best we have to draw significant conclusions and these seem to go against the grain, although I would like to see more RCTs where wheat or gluten grains in general is the only variable manipulated.

Pedro Bastos

I forgot the references regarding the DART study:

1.  Fish and the heart. Lancet. 1989 Dec 16;2(8677):1450-2

2.  Ness AR, Hughes J, Elwood PC, Whitley E, Smith GD, Burr ML. The long-term effect of dietary advice in men with coronary disease: follow-up of the Diet and Reinfarction trial (DART). Eur J Clin Nutr. 2002 Jun;56(6):512-8

On a final note, I too believe that wheat (and perhaps also other gluten grains) are the main problem with grains and the reason why the DART study found that increasing fiber from whole grains had a negative cardiovascular outcome. In western countries, increasing whole grains normally means increasing whole gluten grains. IN many countries in Asia, the main grain is rice and not wheat and that could be another explanation for the better health profile of Asians compared to westerns.

We are trying to conduct a pilot study with a gluten, alcohol, dairy, trans and isolated sugar free diet, high in fish, vegetables and low fructose fruits in RA patients here in Portugal and we will allow them to eat rice and tubers (to be able to do this properly we have to compromise).

Purely hearsay anecdotal story from my dad. Last year, at the age of 65, He cut all grains and sugars from his formerly bread/pasta dominated diet and dropped 25 lbs in just 3-4 months. His sinus problems cleared up, many of which were apparently due to grain sensitivity. I had mentioned anti-grain literature (Rob Wolff et al.) to him, so can't help but take a bit of credit. Of course my Pops must have struggled mightily to ditch some things that had dominated his diet.  I will follow up with him on his blood work and see if he even needs to keep taking the statins he was on.

Hi Bob. Interesting connections.
Do you think you could provide me with some references, as they would be very useful for my work.
Thank you!

Hi, Court--

Anecdotal, yes, but very consistent with what I've witnessed over and over and over again.

Hi, Pedro--

Wow! That particular interpretation of the bothersome DART outcome had never occurred to me!

Please keep me informed on how/when/where of your study. I'd be very interested in your investigators and outcomes.

Hi, Howard--

Incredible. And to think that was only around 40-50 years ago. I still remember ashtrays in the hallways of the hospital for the doctors to put their ashes!

I'm with you, Bob. I've had that same suspicion that wheat is an extravagant cause of cancer.

Unfortunately, if you just compare white flour to whole wheat, whole wheat comes out shining. But NO wheat, I think we'd both predict, would come out as an important and miserably underappreciated risk for cancers of all sorts from mouth to anus.

Hi, DC--

We will be planning to cover this issue extensively in future. Thanks for asking!

Most cases of LADA diabetes get mis-diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Some of these diagnoses get corrected. Most don't.

LADA diabetes is the adult equivalent of type 1 juvenile diabetes. Typically it progresses over two to ten years. This slow progression helps mask the disease from diagnosis. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance, constant insulin release and elevated blood sugar. LADA diabetes is an autoimmune attack against the pancreas.

Low carb dieting, especially curbing wheat and fructose consumption, can curb the progression of both diabetes types. In this limbo LADA sufferers can show symptoms of type 2. This is where I'm at.

Dear Dr. Davis,
I almost died of undiagnosed coeliac disease, after a lifetime's following medically-prescribed, high-carbohydrate, wholegrain, low-calorie diets. By the time I was diagnosed I was 100lb overweight (despite my long periods of disciplined near-starvation), unable to breathe, unable to walk unassisted, unable to keep my balance owing to ataxia, barely able to see through my double-vision, unable to feel any of my limbs owing to nerve damage, doubly-incontinent,  agoraphobic, claustrophobic, depressed, anxious, and paranoid. (I used to be a live broadcaster, sought after for my humour and quick-wittedness.)  I was fatigued to a degree I never thought possible. I once stared at my computer for an entire day, unable to remember how to open a document, having previously taught computing to university standards. I  couldn't even hold my baby. I missed his entire babyhood and toddlerhood, having desperately wanted him. I didn't even have the strength to lift a newborn. I began to  suffer regular episodes of shock, all requiring the attendance of doctors, none of whom recognised the shaking, cold-sweating and collapsing as being related to the wholewheat sandwich I was usually eating when it happened. My organs began to be affected, one by one. I underwent surgeries in an attempt to control abdominal pain. I developed gallstones; the agony's only being relieved when one grew so large it lodged in Hartmann's (sp?)  pouch. According to my surgeon, one ovary and one kidney had effectively rotted. Investigations had to stop when I was found to have suffered massive internal injuries from an unexplained, peritonitis-like acute illness.  I was sewn up, and told that nothing could be done. The internet saved my life. I Googled my symptoms, and soon suspected autoimmune problems. A biopsy confirmed my suspicions. In the wake of my diagnosis, my two sons were able to be diagnosed with wheat and gluten intolerances, too. (My elder son was twenty three and autistic. He was depressed, vomiting after his breakfasts (cereal), had a giant beer gut (despite never having tasted alcohol), and the swollen ankles of a seventy year old drunk. My younger son, then nine, was so unfocused that I was being called in to school to explain his daydreaming and falling asleep in class. His fatigue was nearly misinterpreted as child neglect on my part - this for a child who asked to go to bed so early that he sometimes could not keep awake for his evening meal at 5pm. He had so little strength that his arms could not support his own tiny bodyweight, so he was never able to do gym or games, which was stigmatising.) Both my boys have vastly improved health now. The day after removing grains and gluten from my own diet I was able to see properly, and could get out of bed by myself. It has been a slow recovery, and I now know it will not be complete. I have been left disabled. But compared to the nightmare I lived before, my low-carb life is fabulous. I am proof that you are right. Wheat and other cereals are deadly to many, and, I believe, damaging to all. Biology is biology, and science is science. Why do other doctors, the food industry, and governments pay no attention to it?  My own experience was dramatic. Others are probably dying slowly, and by degrees. Doctors don't do gluten testing when they sign death certificates. Perhaps if they were allowed to, we would see what role grains are really playing in the lives, and deaths, of long- suffering people. I view them as poison, not nutrition. My own reactions to wholegrain ranged from kidney damage to fertility problems, via a skin coated in open, running sores - not forgetting the arthritis. What is it doing to others? Please let me know if I can ever stand beside you as proof of your arguments. In denying that toast and tortilla wraps almost killed me, that is also to deny the evidence in my medical notes, my ultrasound scans, and my xrays. And, for anyone still unconvinced, perhaps I could demonstrate my persisting inability to walk a straight line when I am tired,  my failure to get through a whole day without soiling myself, and - for a finale - give a tour of the horrific, cruel scars carved into my body in the name of grains? Sending warm wishes.

Sorry, I meant coeliac testing, not gluten testing.

PS I've lost 30lb already this year, without dieting, or perhaps I should say without counting a single calorie.

Yes, indeed: Not dieting, but removing this perverse product of genetics research called modern "wheat"!

Thank you, Ali, for having the strength to relive and retell your long struggles.

You are a reminder of the gravity of these issues. This is not about some diarrhea and cramps; this can be about incapacitating, life-ruining diseases that doctors often fail to recognize.

I would like to post your story in my Success Stories area. I will indeed need articulate people with powerful stories to bring to the broader media. Please let me know if you are interested.

I think you're barking up the wrong tree with this letter.  Or wheatstalk, rather   Mullen is a huge advertising agency. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullen_Advertising http://mullen]  As you can see from their client list, The Grain Foundation is like pretty small potatoes.  

Ms. Reynolds is the Mullen account executive and a registered dietician.  I assume  you've seen this? http://www.bakingbusiness.com/News/News%20Home/Business/2011/9/Foundation%20sets%20strategy%20to%20deal%20with%20Wheat%20Belly.aspx

Better to target The Grain Foundation's higher-ups.  http://www.gowiththegrain.org/about/  This is like so many industry PR-based groups purporting to bring "information based on sound science".  But private exchanges are of limited value, this will be public and it won't have anything to do with sound science or rational debate.  Just look at the member companies.  They still remember the distinct pain the industry suffered during the short-lived low-carb "fad".

They are going to bring out the big guns, it's just a matter of time.  Their goal will be to turn you into, well, toast   The upside is that they are worried enough that your book is on their radar.The downside is that they are worried enough that your book in on their radar.  But as they say, bad publicity is still publicity.  

Your strongest argument to the book-buying public isn't even justifying the science or counting studies cited, you can simply say "Be your own one-rat science experiment and try it for yourself for a month, then make up your own mind."  Savings will pay for the book and then some.

Good luck!

P.S. On Mullen's client list: the ADA (American Diabetes Association).

Hello Dr. Davis,
I will email you my full name and address for your own records, and so that we can arrange this offline.  You probably guessed that I posted without my full name only so that I could retain a modicum of privacy - after all, I am talking about my bodily functions on the internet! Because of the length of the post, I omitted other symptoms and illnesses that you may feel important to include in any story.  For example, according to my gastroenterologist, the severe latex allergy I developed, twelve years before being diagnosed with wheat and gluten intolerances, was attributable to coeliac disease's beginning its final rampage. It was a clue my GP, and even my consultant immunologist, missed at the time. Even putting aside all the functional bowel problems I still have, and the fibromyalgia that dictates I live my life in the one, precious hour a day I have energy, the anaphylaxis is "the biggie". I had to change my career to avoid running into rubber in the environment. I've been hospitalised for anaphylactic shock. I've survived some terrifying near-misses (always in hospitals or doctors' surgeries), and live a very restricted life because of it. I carry an adrenaline shot, and must be accompanied  everywhere new that I go: All from coeliac disease... all from bread...  all from grains.

Glad I might be of some help.

Ali

HI, Michia--

This reminds me of the movie, Michael Clayton: Layers of intrigue, bad people in high places plotting evil doings.

I'm putting my ear to all packages to listen for any ticking!

Thank you Dr. Davis. I read here every day, and I'm learning as much as I can.

With Dr. Davis's indulgence.....
Recently Dr. Davis blogged, saying that low dose naltrexone (LDN) causes wheat eaters to lose
weight. This weight loss happens because LDN blocks nerve endorphin receptors.

http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/2010/11/why-do-morphine-blocking-drugs-make-you-lose-weight.html

Wheat protein is a cornucopia of exogenous opioids which mimic endorphins. These exorphins
plug into cells and organ transduction nerves all over the body ......including pancreas islet cells.
Using LDN to block interaction between wheat and nerves restores control of metabolism.

A curious side effect of LDN is that it severely curtails the growth and spread of cancer.
http://fourfoldhealing.com/2010/06/10/a-holistic-approach-to-cancer/

Massive population study shows increased correlation between wheat and cancer
http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/

Large scale study shows up to 5-fold increased cancer incidence among type 2 diabetics:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100521102629.htm

Beta endorphin in the human pancreas:
http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/49/4/649.abstract

Wheat causes insulin release:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7637543

Wheat causes insulin resistance:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=4510292&ordinalpos=7&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Cachexia is the underlying disease of cancer:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6145877

Cells become cancerous by fermenting sugar:
http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/warburg-effect-against-cancer.html

mTOR scouts for free glutamine:
http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674(08)01519-5

Afinitor chemotherapy works by inhibiting mTOR.
http://alberghi-portofino.info/page/49/

Glutaminolysis in tumor transformation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutaminolysis

tTg protects against cancer
http://www.molecular-cancer.com/content/4/1/33

Wheat induces autoimmune attack against tTg.  It goes back so far that it's hard to nail down.
Anti-tTg antibodies, both IgA and IgG, are part of every celiac test panel.

Dr Davis,
Recently you blogged, saying that low dose naltrexone (LDN) causes wheat eaters to lose weight. This weight loss happens because LDN blocks nerve endorphin receptors.

http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/2010/11/why-do-morphine-blocking-drugs-make-you-lose-weight.html

Wheat protein is a cornucopia of exogenous opioids which mimic endorphins. These exorphins plug into cells and organ transduction nerves all over the body ......including pancreas islet cells. Using LDN to block interaction between wheat opioids and nerves restores control of metabolism.

A curious side effect of LDN is that it severely curtails the growth and spread of cancer.
http://fourfoldhealing.com/2010/06/10/a-holistic-approach-to-cancer/

A massive population study shows increased correlation between wheat and cancer
http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/

A arge scale study shows up to 5-fold increased cancer incidence among type 2 diabetics:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100521102629.htm

Beta endorphin in the human pancreas:
http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/49/4/649.abstract

Wheat causes insulin release:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7637543

Wheat causes insulin resistance:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=4510292&ordinalpos=7&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Cachexia is the underlying disease of cancer:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6145877

Cells become cancerous by fermenting sugar:
http://www.thecancerblog.org/blogs/permalinks/11-2009/warburg-effect-against-cancer.html

mTOR scouts for free glutamine:
http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674(08)01519-5

Afinitor chemotherapy works by inhibiting mTOR.
http://alberghi-portofino.info/page/49/

Glutaminolysis in tumor transformation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutaminolysis

tTg protects against cancer
http://www.molecular-cancer.com/content/4/1/33

Wheat inducement of autoimmune attack against tTg goes back so far that it's hard to nail down. Anti-tTg antibodies, both IgA and IgG, are part of every celiac test panel.

I am 78 year old who has been on the Ornish reversal diet for 21 years, thinking that if it could reverse heart disease that it must be good for the long-term.  Boy from what I have learned in the last 3 months since my son put me on to limiting carbs shows just how wrong I was.  In the meantime, in the last 10 years I have developed a partially blocked artery, the rhymbus intermedius (which I may have misspelled).  (I have had two catheterizations, in 2000 and 2009, after suspicious stress tests. In neither case did the catheterization confirm the doctor's suspicion.  No blockage at all in 2000.)  I may not have been following the latest version of the diet, since I understand that Ornish said stay away from at least some wheat.  I was eating rolls and bread in great quantity.  Now two points:  Despite my diet, I was not overweight.  I am 72.5 inches tall and weighed about 158.  Nor do I have yet developed Type II diabetes, though my fasting glucose is around 100.  (In the 1960's I was diagnosed as a borderline diabetic and underwent numerous glucose tolerance testing, but after starting distance running my fasting glucose has always been OK.  I have no idea yet how high the glucose spike goes now or went before I starting limiting carbs.  My more normal weight may be because I have always been a heavy exerciser, once running up to 40 miles a week.  Now I get aerobic exercise virtually every day and lift weights three days a week.  I walk over 4 miles 4 days a week over hilly streets and use an aerobic machine at the gym for 20 to 30 minutes at a pretty high level, despite being on atenolol to control supra ventricular tachycardia (spelling?) and blood pressure.  My HR gets into the mid 120's.  Before the SVT, I routinely achieved a HR of 150.  Now since I started controlling carbs and eating meat for the first time since 1990 I have lost almost 10 pounds in about 6 weeks and I haven't felt hungry.  Of course, I stopped eating a big bowl of popcorn or a bowl of shredded wheat and grape nuts covered with raisins as an evening "snack".  Before, I really needed four high-carb meals a day to keep my weight up to 158 or so.   I have pretty much eliminated wheat, but fresh sweet corn on the cob is still in season, though I have cut back on that also.  No more oatmeal covered with shredded wheat grape nuts and raisins for breakfast either.  Obviously I must have cut my calories significantly.  Now I guess I am going to have to start counting calories and maybe add a much more calorie rich snack in the evening.  Any comments?

Hi, Sam--

It sounds like someone needs to help you conduct a metabolic analysis on your current status. It's really quite easy.

It should include measures like HbA1c, glucose, and lipoproteins. Also, strongly consider apo E. You will then know what the ideal balance of carbs/protein/fat is.

Hi, Bob-

Sherlock Holmes would have a field day with wheat, wouldn't he? Fingerprint, footprints, motive, opportunity . . . wheat sure looks guilty to me!

I thought you sounded awfully smart!

Thanks, DC.

I see my PCP October 3.  I don't think I reported that in February my cardiologist put me on simvastatin. After noticing pains in both calves and an inability to lift as much in the gym as before, I stopped simvastatin about July 15.  I told my cardiologist on August and he wasn't happy.  He obviously believes in statins and referred me to the Heart Protection Study (Lancet, 2002?), which I found unconvincing.  Because of the statin I have had two recent blood tests, but they did not include HbA1c (see below) or apo E.  The statin brought my total cholesterol from 187 to 133 and my Trig. from 130 to 83.  My fasting glucose was 94 mg/dl.  It was 102 on 08/11/2010 and 115 on 01/19/2010 which seems borderline high. Other values from the test about 3 weeks before I stopped the statin:  HDL 40 mg/dl (about as high as I have ever measured since the Ornish diet); LDL 131 to 76.2 mg/dl:ALT 23 U/L: AST 28 U/L; CK 62 U/L; Hemoglobin A1C 5.6% IIs this the same as HbAic?)    The previous numbers are from 02/09/2011 except for glucose.  From what I've read, total Cholesterol below 160 is associated with increased canser risk and also that the elderly love longer with higher cholesterol.  In any case I won't risk a statin also damaging my heart, which being a muslce also must be vunerable.  I also want to know what my small dense LDL is and I would like also to be able to monitor my glucose to see what I can eat without huge spikes in blood glucose.  I suspect I may have been spiking well above 150 and that over the years could have lead to my partial blockage.  I sent my PCP a letter with documention to tell him that I stopped simvastatin and that I have changed my diet to low carbohydrate, though I'm not quite there yet.  I referenced Ravnskov's book, but since have erad Su's and have ordered Wheat Belly which I shall have read before I see him.  I'll have them all with me in case he is interested.  I suspect he is pretty conventional not into low carb.  I am counting on him to at least cooperate with my experiment and prescribe the necessary blood tests.  I consulted with a Highmark dietician and it became clear that I know more about modern diet science than she did.  We are dominated here in Pittsburgh by big medical UPMC and Highmark.  I have read Dr. Ufe Ravnskov's and Dr. Su's books and now think that medical-diet science is just as corrupt as climate-change science, which I have been studying for 5 years.  After being a high-carb Ornish-diet guy for 21 years, I have now changed to at least restricted carb.  I just need to get my wife to read the books and other references to make things easier.  As I said above, I have to eat more meat to keep my weight around 150.  Today I enjoyed my first Big Mac (without the bun) for lunch in a long time! Thanks for your response.

Yup, Sam: You will find that YOU know more about nutrition than your doctors and dietitians . . . combined!

You are well on the right track. Your HbA1c of 5.6% tells all: You have been overexposed to carbohydrates that have led to high triglycerides, reduced HDL, and small LDL lurking beneath the surface.

Don't forget your vitamin D!

At least he has that right.  My PCP when I first transferred to him from my previous PCP (who was drinking erratic, and may now be out of practice, but otherwise a very knowledbable guy) he tested for D and I and my wife now take 2,000 units a day of D3.  What should HbA1c be?  5.6% is right in the middle of the "acceptable" range on the test report.

Thanks

I don't see how those people on the 6 servings website sleep at night in the face of such overwhelming evidence. And all they have is "appeal to authority" arguments.

I guess they sleep as well as the tobacco industry.

They want to ignore all the issues associated with wheat consumption by saying that there are nutrients in it? Wow. That's an intelligent rebuttal. lol.

Good for you for standing your ground here against the Grain Food Foundation.

Well played Doc.

-JK

Thanks, JK.

Yes, I found their arguments fairly silly. I've had better debates with 5-year olds.

Yes, indeed, Dave. They are scrambling to carry out damage control from attacks coming from several directions. Then, all of a sudden, this cinderblock hits them on the side of the head called "Wheat Belly."

I almost--almost--feel sorry for them.

How much of the wheat now eaten is GMO?  The hybrid "dwarf" high yielder - hybrid or GMO, both???

Hi, Anita--

Surprisingly, none. But let me qualify.

Genetic modification refers to the insertion or deletion of a gene or genes. Wheat has not been genetically-modified. But here's where the geneticsts start to play games. Wheat has been the recipient of "traditional breeding methods" that includes extensive hybridization (with other wheat strains and non-wheat grasses), back crossing to bring out specific genetic traits, chemical mutagenesis (using toxic chemicals to induce mutations), gamma irradiation, and high-dose x-ray. Ironically, these "traditional breeding methods" are WORSE than genetic-modification, but have been going on for 50 years and are still being used--but not questioned or scrutinized.

Dr. Davis,

Do you recommend eating other types of grains besides wheat? Like oats, quinoa, brown rice, etc? I am a vegan so I get a lot of my protein from things like quinoa in addition to beans and soy. I am also a medical student so I was very interested when I ran across your book. I have noticed that gluten-free foods have recently become very popular and I was wondering why all of these people suddenly realized that they had celiac disease. One other question, is it the gluten protein that is causing all of this trouble or other components of wheat? Thank you.

Taylor

Hi, Taylor--

A common point of confusion: It is NOT about celiac disease or gluten intolerance. It is about a variety of reactions to this corrupt and genetically-manipulated thing called wheat.

I would refer you to my Wheat Belly Blog, as well as the book, Wheat Belly, for further discussion.

Sometimes I think having celiac disease is one of the best things in my life; I have no more joint pain and enough energy to do sprint triathlons (started at age 42) and now CrossFit (at age 46).  Sadly, I wonder how much of this grain focussed diet contributed to my mother's dementia.

Strange stuff that Lp(a).  The TYP protocol worked well for me a dropped my Lp(a) from 21 to 3.  But, was the reduction due to fish oil alone or the combination of fish oil and other TYP strategies?  If you had to rank each of the following strategies in order of effectiveness (from 1 to 10) for reducing Lp(a) what would they be?  5,000 MG EPA + DHA, 5,000 IU D3, 1,000 MG Slo-Niacin, low carb/high fat/high protein diet, elimination of grain, sugar and starches?

Maybe PUFA's 2yr/life?

Post got lost again, said "error" ....
11 humans (rheumatoid arthritics) blocked their interleukin 6 (Il-6) signalling by regularly saturating the alpha chain of Il-6 receptors with  Tocilizumab reduced their Lp(a) as a side benefit;  relevant data:
* starting Lp(a) = 34.5 (+/- 12.8) mg/dL
* 1 month Lp(a) = 24.3 (+/- 7.6) mg/dL
* 3 month Lp(a) = 19.9 (+/- 6.3) mg/dL
EPA/DHA from anti-inflammatory fish oil also blocks Il-6;  so this may be operating mechanism where it too can lower Lp(a).

my cardiologist believes in many of your protocols, but forbids me to take large dose of omega 3 epa/dha. i am on plavix/aspirin since stents in two arteries one year ago. i have thrombocytopenia, lower than threshold platelet count and lower rbc and hgb levels. his thoughts are this addition could cause bleeding episodes that could cause even more trouble. i understand and agree with him. my supplement intake has been limited, even ubiquinol because of my situation. no chance of ending plavix because of recently diagnosed mitral valve regurgitation during echo. any thoughts on your part or the community thoughts. i feel as if i am losing control of my health as i hold distrust for most traditional medical community.

My research of lipids & Essential Fatty Acids has taught me that the "insightful lesson to be learned from the incredibly slow response" of fish oil in the treatment of CAD & CVD is that fish oil is:  1.) the wrong substance (there are BETTER ones!) and dosage levels,  and 2.) largely ineffective in the face of continued intake of high carb & TRANS fat containing processed junk, fast & restaurant "foods" and grocery store vegetable oils.   Failure to make changes to correct bad dietary habits and failure to stop the intake of TRANS fats is the single cause of re-stenosis in CVD patients, which guarantees further atherosclerosis, thrombosis, strokes & heart attacks.

Dr. Robert Rowen recently wrote about his re think of the whole fish oil thing in his June Second Opinion newsletter that somebody (not me) posted here: http://goo.gl/rPvRx  
which he based on this:  http://goo.gl/uAiv2  
and this:  http://goo.gl/j9MgY    
and mostly this:  http://goo.gl/ZdORy  

In regard to the drop in Lp(a) comment it should be noted that LDL, VLDL & their  fractions will correct in response to reducing carb intake alone, even without further dietary correction or supplementation.  There is also a nutritional supplement protocol known as the Linus Pauling therapy that is reported to lower Lp(a) by using vitamin C, L-lysine, and L-proline, but Joe Mercola advises the regimen "is ONLY for people with established CVD and/or elevated Lp(a) levels."

easybleeder:  Check with your doctor to see if you may be a candidate for the newer antiplatelet meds  Prasugrel or  Ticagrelor.  Both have been reported to have a lower risk profile and mortality rate than Clopidogrel.  Prasugrel is reported to be useful for those with high thrombotic risk.  Go to: http://www.escardio.org/communities/councils/ccp/e-journal/volume8/Pages/antiplatelet-agents-alegria-barrero.aspx

Oops, I posted the search for Rowen's article, it's the top hit, but here's the real link:  http://goo.gl/DDp8P

Atherosclerosis is a slow process, so I am not surprised that strategies to halt or reverse it are also slow (but powerful).

From "Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Inflammation and Autoimmune Diseases"

There have been a number of clinical trials assessing the benefits of dietary supplementation with fish oils in several inflammatory and autoimmune diseases in humans, including rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis and migraine headaches. Many of the placebo-controlled trials of fish oil in chronic inflammatory diseases reveal significant benefit, including decreased disease activity and a lowered use of anti-inflammatory drugs.

I wonder, what is exact reason that some doctors don't recommend large doses of fish oil (and 5g EPA/DHA is large dose, its around 25-50 ml of liquid fish oil equals 2 - 4 tbsps), because that is what I heard as doctors response from several people with cvd problems. I always thought its because of rancidity. I put extra 200 IU of mixed tocopherol in my 100 ml liquid fish oil and keep it in fridge just to be sure.

Thrombocytopenia and anemia - have you looked into a possible connection to gluten. Anemia is a very common problem in those with any kind of gluten sensitivity. If you do a PubMed search for "thrombocytopenia" and "gluten" you will bring up some references. There are also some references in The Gluten File - just scroll down to the bottom of this page

Have you stopped eating wheat as recommended by Dr. Davis. It may be important for you to go 100% gluten free. Gluten can damage any and all organs and systems and you don't have to have celiac disease for this to happen.

HI, Might-o--

As always, a fascinating suggestion. Sadly, there are no investigations that shed any light on precisely why. An anti-inflammatory mechanism is a very good possibility. I also wonder if there is an effect at the transcription level, given the modification of apo(a) tail length.

Hi, Easy--

It sounds like you need an explanation for your thrombocytopenia.

Putting the question of thrombocytopenia aside, I have never seen any excess bleeding when adding fish oil at any dose to aspirin and Plavix.

prasugrel, while having a better cvd profile, in studies, i believe, has  a worse profile in bleeding episodes. it is usually given to those who are non-responders to plavix as determined by genetic profile (ususally done at time of angioplasty and afterwards). ticagrelor, unfortuneatly, has yet to gain FDA approval. maybe soon though. drs. will be slow to adopt to a new drug.

Hi c-classes,
That tweaked edible oil is a  formulation from Brian Peskin not the link's Rowen, M.D. remarking on Peskin's product inducing  better elasticity of blood vessels in comparison to fish oil.  There are other effects of fish oil's  EPA/DHA that  are not related to vascular elasticity;  such as the benefit of reducing Lp(a) that Doc Davis reports.  If you have decided to personally set a limit on fish oil intake it would be interesting to hear your experience.

Hi Might-o,
Yeah,  that oops comment is a correction to a comment I submitted which has not yet passed the moderation.  You can find my original comment here:  http://goo.gl/fyVfH   and a related comment here: http://goo.gl/WrQKK

As I note in the related comment I started taking fish oils around 2002 for shoulder pain due to 30 years of heavy construction work.  They were effective, but after researching Peskin's & MANY others work re lipids I found something better & stopped taking the fish oils, moved higher up the metabolic pathway and now follow Peskin's protocol & take around 2 or 3 grams of organic O-6 in either evening primrose, sunflower, safflower or hemp seed oils & 1 gram of O-3 organic flax to maintain his recommended 2.5 or 3 to 1 O-6 to O-3 ratio.  

Haven't had a workup since my 45th b'day 9 years ago, but I have no health issues at all that I am aware of.   I occasionally check my bp with the free machine in drug stores, it's always within normal range between 117/77 to 121/81-82, no palpitations, angina or other symptoms at all.

Only problem I've noted since starting that regimen is I seem to always be clipping my hair & nails, growth seems to have accelerated.

Is it safe to presume that adding  Dr.Peskin's edible oil formulation to my intake along with 2.5 Gm of fish oil would be beneficial?  Does fish oil not affect the vascular elasticity as well?  BTW, what is the recommended amount of fish oil   one should take daily?  I too am afraid of the potential of oxidation.  Is there any way to measure the level of oxidative stress related to taking too much fish oil?

"Server Error" keeps eating my comments ... anybody else?

Hi Mary A,
Peskin is not a medical doctor, although some medical doctors use his protocols and products; Peskin thinks "parent"  omega 6 & omega 3 fatty acids are all that is needed for anybody to make enough "derivative" omega 6s & 3s (inc. EPA/DHA). His theory is taking fish oil is giving us the incomplete benefit of a "derivative" and incurs an excessive level over-loading in un-natural way  ;   claiming risks potential lower natural tumor cell killing, increased bacterial infection, worse  insulin resistance, less glucose tolerance, "resting" blood sugar rises, brain damage and discounts lower triglycerides as "irrelevant".  Doc Davis probably has heard of Peskin and still finds fish oil useful.

Does fish oil (or Borage oil)  to a regimen of Crestor (currently prescribed 20 mg/d) & Niancin ER (1g/d) make sense?   ...Have read that high doses of oils & statins taken together effectively cancel benefits of both.

Peskin did not invent the theory of the dangers of taking pharmacological overdose levels of omega 3 derivatives, it is a well known biochemical fact that has been thoroughly researched by many other groups.  Check any of his writings & you'll see he always cites the sources of his findings.  

Peskin himself has only been led to his conclusions by simply analyzing ALL the available literature from many research groups, separating the true wheat from the false chaff, then he simply republishes the results of his analysis of the literature to make it understandable to all, some of which has been known & available for decades but has been either suppressed, discredited, discounted, sidestepped, ignored or just not talked about or publicized by the mainstream media because it's contrary to the financial interests of the medical & pharmaceutical "sick care" industries.

A perfect example of that is M.D., Ph.D. biochemist Otto Warburg who was awarded the 1931 Nobel Prize for his work in defining the prime cause of cancer.  But who has ever heard of him & the prime cause?  It's staggering how few M.D.'s & oncologists have ever heard of him, or have ever been taught about Warburg in med school. And if the medical profession doesn't teach their students, it's a slam dunk guarantee that people will never hear about Warburg & the prime cause of cancer from their doctors.   I'm 53 years old & I had never heard of him or his work, & if I hadn't stumbled across Peskin I most likely would have lived my entire life, contracted some kind of cancer along the way, most likely prostate, then later would have died & STILL would never have known about Warburg.

Anyone that wants to do more in life than just parrot the opinions published in the popular & "peer reviewed" press can find the true facts.  I find it quite ironic that at our point in human history, when we have even freely available to us the most powerful information & truth gathering tool ever devised by man, science is DEvolving into the realm of belief, tradition & superstition, and people are being polarized into affinity groups based on those beliefs, traditions & superstitions instead of gathering together to honor real scientific truths.

Hi c-classes,
Warburg is famous enough for describing cancer cells proclivity for performing aerobic glycolysis as an edge to thrive; I think this is best described as a modality of function and modern research is showing the causes  of cancer are complex. You may be interested in this weeks published details of the molecular development promoting cancer  cells replication; see journal Molecular Cell, vol. 43, issue 1, 122-131 "Failure of Origin Adaptation in Response to FORK Stalling Leads to Chromosomal Instability at Fragile Site".

A synopsis : Kerem, et.all.,  give 1st details of how fragile sites of a single DNA molecule breaks in early cancer due to "perturbed" DNA replication; normally DNA copying slows and sometimes stalls at fragile sites so that the cell sometimes has to shift to use stress mechanisms in order to finish single molecules DNA copy. But, in the case of an incipient cancer cell which has already utilized the stress mechanics  that cell has no more stress mechanisms to call on that can do enough at a fragile site to keep proper replication going; then the DNA molecule actually breaks whereby normal protein expression suffers, functional changes occur and cancer defects particular to that type of cancer replicates.

I guess my question still remains does the edible oil formulations of Dr. Peskin hold any health benefits for a person and if so, then how much would a person take and with or without fish oil?  Are there any other blogs or websites that are dedicated  to his research?   BTW, great info Might-o'chondrl-AL and cancerclasses.

Forgive me for asking the previous question before I read Dr. Peskin's  website. I am not a scientist but the research he identifies seems to support his conclusions.  Cancerclasses, you seem to be a supporter of his.  Are you following his protocol and, if so, what have you experienced?  I would appreciate others opinions regarding Dr. Peskin and his protocol.  I think this is a very important area especially since many physicians and PhDs (i.e. Dr. Sears et al) encourage the use of fish oil in the dietary regime.

Hi Mary A:
I have submitted several replies to this article that have not passed moderation and have not been posted here, just click on my name at the top of my comments & it will take you to my Twitter channel where I have posted my comments. Click on the link at the comment that starts with "My study & research of..."  then also click on the one 2 posts down about  bursitis & arthritis.  You may also scan my posts for anything else that interests you, as I post info there from a wide variety of subjects & sources I find interesting & relevant while conducting my own research.

Hi Mary,
Peskin refers to 1988-1992 rodent studies showing brain "damage" from  extra EPA/DHA; maybe elsewhere he cites newer brain damage indications. The extrapolation to humans is not certain ; since we have +/- 1,100 million synapses per cubic mm. , while rodents have 1,397 million synapses per cubic mm.  Humans gain not only from having astrocytes 2.5 times wider than rodents, but also we function with 1 astrocyte for each 270,000 to 2,000,000 synapses in a neurological domain; while rodents must use 1 astrocyte for each 20,000 to 120,000 synapses in a neurological domain.

As for Peskin's assertion that lowering triglycerides is "irrelevant" Doc Davis elaborated for us why they are worth controlling; when more trigs going into circulation hitched to VLD Lipid  this morphs into trig rich LDL and small LDL particles increase in numbers. The same trig laden VLDL  contributes to formation of some HDL,  but the result is rapid degradation of that HDL; so the HDL circulating is small HDL particles and the net amount of HDL is also reduced.  Doc Davis has been seeing human clinical success using fish oil (EPA/DHA) to lower the VLDL and co-administering niacin to act on reducing the number of small LDL particles (to ideally maximum 10% of total LDL number of particles);  while the fish oil & niacin combination work synergisticly to keep down circulating  triglycerides  (to ideally 60 mg/dL). This is a synopsis of what I l learned here.

Peskin's PEO, "parent essential oils", are touted as offering measurably better vascular membrane flexibility in comparison to fish oil; this may not  (may be, I don't know) necessarily translate to reduction &/or protection from the circulating small LDL molecules that oxidize and foster plaque.  He quotes USDA that only 0.05 % of alpha linolenic acid we ingest is made into DHA and 0.20% made into EPA; extrapolating from there that supplementing EPA/DHA radically exceeds what we are designed to need.  The fact that age remodels many of our functions to me suggests that  taking extra EPA/DHA is akin to dosing one for  therapeutic purposes (ie:  reduce VLDL, trigs &  Lpa the theme of this thread) that are more critical to survival  from sudden death than vascular flexibility alone is.   If someone on Peskin's PEO protocol has before and after Lp(a) & NMR lipid profile data that would be interesting to see.

Peskin exclaims fish oil raises blood sugar and insulin resistance; my own experiment 4 months after adding large dose of EPA/DHA  (also started niacin) laboratory data show I did  elevate my fasting serum blood sugar an extra 5mg/dL,  with HbA1c going up 0.3; yet had fasting insulin measuring only 4.1.  Personally I was happy to trade that  blip in  glucose tolerance for the drop in number of small LDL particles from 1,021 nmol/L (out of  1,676 nmol/L total) down to small LDL particles numbering 96 nmol/L ; and triglycerides dropping from 90 mg/dL down to 42 mg/dL.  Blood sugar control seems ammenable to more dietary interventions to compensate  against  and  I'm relieved to see Doc Davis'  advice worked for my unruly small LDL.

Thank you Cclasses and Might-o for your responses.  Could something so simple be so valuable as PEO.
I did read Prof Peskin's Iowa study along with a couple of posted letters from physicians supporting the benefits of PEO found in their patients along with the results of an actual scan taken of Brian Peskin's heart  which showed NO plaque at all--.  Correct me if I am wrong but it is my understanding that if the intimal lining is healthy there is less /no inflammation. A healthy intimal lining prevents the events that cause a thrombus from occurring thereby preventing plaque build up and the adverse sequelae from developing. I know this is a simplistic understanding but, like I said, I'm no scientist.  It seems like it would be worth a good controlled study since Prof Peskin says positive results can be seen in as little as three months.   Hopefully, any study would include looking at various inflammatory markers as well as the total cholesterol profile.
Might-O..I have been reading lately about the effectiveness of delta and gamma tocotrienols in reducing LDL, Lpa as well as increasing insulin sensitivity.  There is some research to support this.  I don't know if Dr. Davis utilizes this in his Tx protocols.

Yes, fats ARE simple, but you don't have to be a scientist to know that fats are crucially important to have as a regular part of our diets.  I find most people are seriously deficient in knowledge (which is intentional & by design) of the critical physiological & biochemical importance of regular dietary intake of essential fatty acids & good saturated animal fats, and thus are seriously deficient in those EFA's & natural saturated animal fats.  

The medical & pharmaceutical "sick care" industries both perpetuate & exploit the public's fear of fats, cholesterols, protein, salt, etc, the very same substances that every one of our 100 trillion cells are made of, and this is why the average American is chronically sick & tired, diabetic, dehydrated, cancerous & cardiovascularly compromised.  As even you have learned & now know, there is NO omega 3 or derivatives in arterial intima & media, or even in human skin, it' all omega 6.  Yes it's true that a healthy arterial intima indicates less inflammation & vice versa, but EFA's & PEO's only facilitate healing & proper structural conformity, they won't PREVENT arterial damage if a person continues the high carb & TRANS fat intake that leads to the elevated serum glucose & LDL & VLDL levels that damage & alter the structure of endothelial cells & cholesterol.

The studies you would like to see have been done, they are out there, Peskin writes about & references them all the time.  His book The Hidden Story Of Cancer and his website are not just about cancer, he includes a large amount of information about heart disease, statins, nutrition & related issues. Go to brianpeskin dot com & see Reports & Publications, and in particular go to Reports - Medical Reports - New Look LDL

Thanks CClasses for your help.  You are so right....the public at large have been taught to be afraid of so many things regarding their health.  Some try to seek out valuable information and others don't.  Many people look to their physicians to tell them all they need to know and that is a mistake.  Maybe with this new crisis going on in health care, people will begin to take an even more active role in their health.

@ easybleeder:
Plavix CAUSES Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP).   From Wikipedia search Plavix,
"Clopidogrel is an oral, thienopyridine class antiplatelet agent used to inhibit blood clots in coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease. It is marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis under the trade name Plavix. The drug works by irreversibly inhibiting a receptor called P2Y12, an adenosine diphosphate ADP chemoreceptor. Adverse effects include hemorrhage, severe neutropenia, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP).

Also Google Brian Peskin, aspirin.   From the cover of his article "Aspirin Is Awful":   “...Low-dose aspirin, which enhances platelet adhesivity, increases thrombosis (clotting) when platelet adhesion dominates as the response to injury.” Buchanan, MR and Jejana, E, Journal of Clinical Investigation, 67503-508

So your doctor has you on Plavix which ostensibly prevents thrombosis, but also causes thrombosis, and also has you on aspirin which causes thrombosis?!?!  His theory must be that the effects of the two drugs cancel each other out, so theoretically you should be perfectly healthy.  No wonder you feel so out of control.

Hi Might-o,
Yeah, that oops comment is a correction to a comment I submitted which has not yet passed the moderation. You can find my original comment by clicking on my name at the top of my comment.

I started taking fish oils around 2002 for shoulder pain due to 30 years of heavy construction work. They were effective, but after researching Peskin’s & MANY others work re lipids I found something better & stopped taking the fish oils, moved higher up the metabolic pathway and now follow Peskin’s protocol & take around 2 or 3 grams of organic O-6 in either evening primrose, sunflower, safflower or hemp seed oils & 1 gram of O-3 organic flax to maintain the biochemically optimum recommended 2.5 or 3 to 1 O-6 to O-3 ratio.

Haven’t had a workup since my 45th b’day 9 years ago, but I have no health issues at all that I am aware of. I occasionally check my bp with the free machine in drug stores, it’s always within normal range between 117/77 to 121/81-82, no palpitations, angina or other symptoms at all.

Only problem I’ve noted since starting that regimen is I seem to always be clipping my hair & nails, growth seems to have accelerated.

Mary A:  Sorry I didn't reply to this sooner.  Taking fish oils along with Omega-6 & Omega 3 would be redundant & that much Omega-3's would negate the effect & benefit of the O-6 by dominating the desaturase & elongase enzymes the body uses to produce the derivative forms of the fats that are further down the metabolic pathway, as PhD lipid researcher Mary Enig explains in her article "Tripping Lightly Down the Prostaglandin Pathways."  Just google the title of the article & also study the metabolic pathway chart there, I can't include the links here or this comment won't pass moderation.

If you take a look at the O-6 & O-3 metabolic pathway chart in that article, it becomes readily apparent that by taking any single derivative form of O-6 or O-3 you are jumping into the pathway at the point of that particular derivative, creating an oversupply & IM-balance of that derivative, and you are also cheating your body & yourself out of ALL the other derivative forms your body needs & would otherwise use for the formation of the critical BALANCE of prostanoids, leukotrenes, lipoxins & thromboxins you'd have if you instead just took the parent base substrate Omega-6 & Omega-3 at the top of the pathway. People just don't understand the importance of supplying your body ALL and complete, natural organic forms of the materials it needs for ALL it's metabolic processes, and that's why people are sick & diseased.  

To be completely truthful, there is a list of diseases & conditions that deactivate the desat & elongase enzymes necessary for the breakdown & utilization of the base substrate oils, so some  persons with those conditions require & will only benefit by taking the derivative forms.  However, in analyzing that list of diseases it's also easy to deduce that many of them only exist because of a primary & earlier deficiency of essential fatty acids.

Hi,

DR Davis recommends taking fish oil for curing heart disease, but I also read somewhere that fish oil is also anti-inflammatory and inflammation is the real cause of heart disease, not high cholesterol.

What you think of that? Is inflammation more dangerous than high cholesterol?
Thank you!

I'm new to the site, and I just wanted to say how much I'm appreciating it.  I began taking krill oil capsules a month ago, and haven't had a single heart palpitation since.  In fact they stopped after only two days of taking it.

Hello there! This is my first visit to your blog!
We are a team of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community
in the same niche. Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on.
You have done a wonderful job!

I don't have a "re-exposure story", rather an avoidance story.

I used to have terrible cold weather, exercise induced asthma.  After nordic skiing I would be wheezing, coughing, sucking on albuterol and begging for low dose corticosteroids.  I also had terrible acid reflux.

Fast forward:Wheat free for over 6 months.  No more asthma, no reflux.  Period.  End of story.

Is it the wheat?  Can't say for sure, but it's awfully suspicious.

Reflux -- starts a day later and goes for up to a week.  And Bloat:2-5 inches on my waistline in a day, lasting up to three.  Miserable.  And why, having experienced this once, have I done it often enough to verify the connection with certainty?  I am working on that one.

Last year, I had a cookie after a few months' being wheat-free. It gave me a stomach ache, acid reflux for two days and sinus congestion for four. No more wheat for me.

Wheat increased hunger with even with only a small amount. Crackers in soup was enough to set it off.

Also, when I was trying to get off wheat, I noticed that 2eggs and 2bacon and I could go 5 hours before hunger, or 2eggs and 2bacon and toast was good for three hours before hunger. That was the final step to giving up wheat. Now three years and 59 Kg loss later, there is no doubt in my mind that wheat is evil, and I do not regard it as suitable for human food. I speculate that it increases ghrelin or cortisol.

For me, in the two years since I began eating Gluten-Free (Low Carb for 6 years), the few times I've had re-exposure to wheat, I've experienced fast onset and intense abdominal pain (known exposure during the daytime) and heartburn, indigestion, intense nausea, and disrupted sleep (exposures during evening meal not discovered until the next day).  

My husband wants to think he's fine with wheat (though I know that he has at least one gene that predisposes to celiac), but IMO, he isn't.  He eats no wheat at home because that's the default, and he's OK with that.  But if he goes out to dinner at a restaurant that serves "good" artisan bread, he  will indulge in a few bites (he does restrict his carb intake, so it's still a limited amount).  More often than not, he will sleep fitfully on those nights, snore more, and wake in the night with indigestion.  He wants to bury his head in the sand and will only acknowledge the discomfort being due to eating too many carbs, not the wheat itself.  I notice he sleeps fine if he eats a small amount of potato or rice.  Go figure.  

Our 12 yo son has been eating GF for two years also.  About 6 months into GF, he unknowingly ate wheat a number of times (licorice candy laces at a friend's house), which  resulted in outbreaks of canker sores in his mouth each time.   He also exhibits mood and behavior changes when he eats wheat, which is what prompted me to test him for gluten intolerance in the first place.

I need to be able to choose more than 1 option in the poll. The top 3 choices are me. If I just eat a little, I only get GI symptoms followed by sinus headache. If I eat more, then I get arthritis symptoms (first diagnosed when I was 13. Now that I avoid wheat, it's gone unless I re-expose myself).

I see now that I should have added two more choices: 1) More than one of the above, and 2) "other," i.e., effects not listed.

Anyway, we'll have to make do. I believe we can still get a useful non-scientific sense of what readers have experienced.

I eliminated wheat on your suggestion over a year ago. Occasional re-exposure (usually dining out) has no effect on me.

If I go for 3-4 days without wheat, grains or sugar and then go out and binge on a pizza and ice cream or something like that I become explosive within 20 minutes to an hour.  It's like a wheat and sugar rage.(I'm not saying this is an excuse for rage, I'm saying it has happened to me and I believe partly do to re-exposure)  It seems the combination of the wheat plus sugar can be the worst.  
I get red rashes around my neck sometimes right away and sometimes up to a day or later and sometimes get bad diarrhea.  
I think it can be almost dangerous to cut things like gluten and sugar suddenly out of the diet without being very serious about keeping them out. I have found it very hard to cut out wheat without binging on it later after 4 or 5 days. I don't believe that my symptoms are just psychological either.
I was also diagnosed with ADHD as a young kid and then rediagnosed with adult ADHD by 3 different doctors.  I also have bouts of mania at times too.  I am considering trying to go completely gluten/refined carbohydrate free to see if it helps with the symptoms and gives me some relief.
I have never been tested for celiac or gluten intolerance but I would like to be. I think it would help explain to my girlfriend, family and friends why I can't go out and eat pizza or have a beer or ice cream.  Right now they all think I'm a hypochondriac.

Braing fogm clogged nose and slower bowel movement.

Why i dont get diarrhea when eating wheat?

Would like to add at times I have experienced an intense fatigue the next day like I can't wake up and also sharp pains in my body and headaches.

I ditched wheat a year ago after my wife was diagnosed celiac. I immediately experienced a number of health improvements (blood lipids, sleep, allergies, etc.).

Fast forward: We all suffered some inadvertent wheat exposure yesterday via some chocolate covered Brazil nuts (of all things). This accidental A-B-A experimental design resulted in the following:

1. My celiac wife experienced what she calls "the flip" within an hour of exposure(i.e., intense GI distress).
2. My five-year-old son went to bed with some wicked reflux.
3. I woke up with some twinges in my lower back and an ache in my football-weary left shoulder. I was also complaining to my wife about fuzzy-headedness that refused to respond to caffeine or hydration. I could only describe it as "carb  flu"...

And then I read your post!

Depression, agitation and brain fog if I get glutened. Some times this comes with abdominal pain and a rash on my back - I think it is dose dependent. Cross contamination with wheat is a big issue when eating out. Needless to say, I eat out infrequently and then try to stick with the restaurants that are the most aware of gluten issues.

Several weeks ago, I started Robb Wolf's 30 day challenge.

The first two weeks were brutal - calling it a withdrawal flu was a massive understatement. So, I thought I would try some wheat and see what happened (could not be worse, I thought). Well, it was.

I still felt extremely crappy, but I was now MASSIVELY GASSY - AMAZINGLY GASSY, for about 48 hours - flatulence on wheels, in spades.  I did not go out at all in those 48 hours - when the gas came on, it went out, LONG, and QUICKLY and LOUDLY.

I am easing back into wheat and grain free. I am gluten free today and tomorrow (Sunday and Monday). I expect to try a small amount of wheat on Thursday, then maybe a little more the following Thursday.

After being wheat-free for almost a year, I have intestinal pain and inflammation after re-exposure to wheat. And higher blood glucose for a day or two (type 2 diabetic).

reading this makes me wonder- how many people with re-exposure symptoms actually have a problem with gluten versus just wheat?

It would be interesting to see if some of you are still symptom free if you ingest say barley, or rye, while remaining wheat free.  
Just a thought...I do agree with all Dr D says about wheat, but it does beg the question as to how many are truly GLUTEN intolerant.

I have limited wheat consumption severely over the last 8 months. I have lost 120 pounds, no longer have bouts of illness, asthma, depression, or low energy. I also take vitamin D and other supplements that have helped (many are from your blog recommendations).

Last week I ate a small piece of cake and dessert pizza. Shortly thereafter I started sneezing, had a scratchy throat, and runny nose. I called off sick the next day for fear of being contagious. My symptoms subsided quickly and I am now attributing them to the processed flour eaten at my work luncheon. I think it was an allergic reaction since I recall having much more severe symptoms fairly regularly in my wheat eating days. Those were attributed to an "allergy" of unknown origin back then.

The comments to this blog post and poll are incredible!

I should re-post them in a blog post to highlight all the varied versions of wheat re-exposure.

The range of benefits with wheat elimination and the effects of wheat re-exposure are truly incredible. Look at what commenter Donald Kjellberg had to say: 120 lbs lost!

Not everybody, of course, loses 120 lbs. But what other food, when eliminated, has the power to do this in select individuals? Then makes them sick on re-exposure?

I suffered from Ankylosing Spondylitis, Iritis, Plantar Fasciits, etc for a number of years. I restricted carbs, especially wheat and I've been symptom free for the past two years now.

The whole story on the KickAS forums here: http://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=427748#Post427748

Lot's of confounders to consider. Lest I be thought of as a wheat apologist troll my wheat and grain consumption is limited (rice less so).

Any food item we omit will shift our gut bacteria away from those that thrived on that food. Others will then pre-dominate;  and so, to re-expose after (say) 3 days some of us won't have the same % protein degrading bacteria to handle the wheat protein fragments and more gaseous fermentative bacteria.

Wheat preparation is another thing and ingredients consumed at the same time can also make a difference. I think of yogurt/kefir and white/brown sugar as modulators; rather than meats/vegetables, which can interact with digestion in their own way and alter the synergy. This is not to contradict individual testimonials of their reactions; nor contest an experiment where wheat all alone is eaten and neither to ignore genetic factors .

Then there is the doseage factor regarding how much at one time is ingested. Some are prone to inflammatory reactions; their threshold may be linked to excessively stimulating co-existant fungii colonizing their intestine.

The breeding of wheat is something this blog has helped me understand. Cutting it out entirely for health reasons is for many a simple strategy I hadn't seen clinicaly used. It won't make sense to third world poor however; largely since the "hygenic" hypothesis implicates our immune systems as part of the problem.


.

My nemesis is processed grains.  Have always tended toward obesity and have only been able to control my weight by minimizing processed foods and by doing a lot of exercise.  Low carb didn't work for me.

My other nemesis is my 92 yr-old mother's sweet tooth.  Don't have the will power to resist all the junk food she demands, yet I'm her caregiver, and don't have the heart to deny her her sweets.  Have gained about 25# since moving in with her.  She may outlive me.

Am now experimenting with substituting chia seed for my usual oat/barley porridge.

I found wheat to be one of the worst things for giving me gas bloating and acid reflux, and I'd had sinus and nasal congestion my whole life. When I ate that cookie, it just re-introduced old problems. I can occasionally eat a gluten-free, grainy goody at my party place without any side effects. I also have a little sprouted rice protein powder every day.

Another odd thing about wheat: it was hard for me to stop eating it once I started. I could go through a whole box of cookies in one sitting, even though I wasn't a binge eater. But I can have a couple of gluten-free cookies and stop.

Except for one slip up this recently past holiday season, I've been sugar-grain-starch free since July 2008.  Mental fog was the most noticable re-exposure symptom I had.

My mom has had the worst acid-reflux for 40-plus years.  It had become so bad that she was on three medications just to deal with the symptoms. After much training and coaxing, I finally got across to her how to totally get off wheat.  Not at all to my surprise, after being wheat free for a few weeks, she lost weight and her acid reflux was GONE!

But she had been addicted to wheat for so long, she relapsed, and the reflux fire soon returned.  Wheat must be akin to heroin with some people.  Even though they know it's very bad for them, they can't help themselves.

Re-exposure often leads to diarrhea for me, or such a heavy feeling of tiredness that all I can do is lay down and pass out. A local pizzeria makes a darn good pie, but since I started practicing wheat-avoidance, I can't keep my eyes open after eating there. I can't say for sure that it's the wheat causing it, but definitely something in the crust. Diarrhea, on the other hand, is definitely triggered by the wheat for me.

My mom complained of gastric reflux for years, but never filled the prescriptions that her doctors would give her. I suggested wheat-avoidance- gastric reflux disappeared within 3 days and hasn't returned (has been 6 months now). I've already commented elsewhere on this blog about how much weight and bloating she has lost...

Some readers have suggested that changes in gut bacteria play a role here, and I tend to agree. When my mother stopped eating wheat, her years of gastric reflux symptoms ceased. Yet, her blood test for H. Pylori, taken one month after stopping wheat and cessation of symptoms, was positive for antibodies (indicating past or present infection) and her subsequent breath test was positive for current infection.

So, for my mother, H. Pylori + wheat = gastric reflux symptoms, and H. Pylori without wheat = no symptoms. It would be interesting to know if the H. Pylori would have disappeared after a longer period without wheat as her intestinal bacteria changed...

Interesting that I should sit down, turn on my computer and find your poll. Having gone several weeks, maybe months, avoiding gluten, I took my daughter and her boyfriend out to eat because my wife has been working late at the office lately. Although I was thinking I would just eat my steak and chicken, I succumbed to the temptation of eating about a dozen greasy, breaded shrimp that my daughter and her boyfriend ordered. It's 1:39am and I still do not feel sleepy. My left nostril is completely blocked, my stomach feels bloated, really, really full and I've been burping. In your poll I checked sinus problems but could have chose gastrointestinal or nervous problems just as well. A few weeks ago my daughter brought home a pizza and, once again, despite my knowing that I shouldn't, I ate a couple of pieces. I was sick for two days. The pain in what I think was my transverse colon was so bad I thought I might have to go to ther emergency room. Before I ate the pizza I had never gone grain-free that long before. I did this after reading Robb Wolf's book. I AM CONVINCED. No more wheat for me! Please, Lord, give me strength.

It is very interesting to read the comments here.  I have been LC for almost 4 years but have cheated sometimes (at restaurants).  I have had intestinal distress but never considered that it was from the wheat...

RE: Pizza - Just don't eat the crust.  We still get pizza and eat the toppings with a fork!

"Still others say there is no such thing."

Really?  I hadn't noticed anyone saying that.  I, like a few others, reported that I, myself, did not experience symptoms from very occasional wheat re-exposure.

When I eat wheat, I often have diarrhea the next day. And I am hungrier, I believe.

Again, 90% of this is pure mental.

Interesting the vote results are mostly on GI distress.

I'd suggest a couple additional matrixes:

1:  How long have you gone without wheat
2:  How much wheat did you consume?
3:  How neutrotic are you?

I went without wheat for 2-3 days last week.  Had a bad day on Thursday -- stuck at home with little food to eat, so had some WASA whole wheat crackers. Yuck.  Noticed some gassiness but nothing rising to the level of pain.

I do suspect it mostly is internal flora, but that shouldn't change in 2-3 days.  If you are cramping and shitting after eating some breadcrumps, you either have celiac or some severe mental problems.

Remains a good idea to advise people to give up wheat -- so prevalent is US diet and easy way to lose weight.  Hard to see it being a long term problem if not abused.

I remember stories of Indians during 1940's famine being unable to eat wheat while starving. Extreme example -- people who didn't eat wheat for 6000+ years being forced into it.  However, 50 years later common diet item.  Obesity is out of control but that is as much from 10x as many caloric units being available as in the 1930 (i.e. people don't starve to death like they used to)

"Effects not listed" for me.  I am OK on minimal wheat but when I cross a certain threshold, my eczema flares a week or two later, and my asthma sometimes returns.

On January 31, 2011, Charlie said... "Again, 90% of this is pure mental."

Your psychic ability or your plain old unfounded, indeed unfoundable, presumptuousness would be really funny - if you were trying to be funny.

But, I think you really mean "Again, 90% of this is pure mental."  Even though you do not have a clue as to whether or not anything described by others on this or any other blog really is, "90% of this is pure mental."

I think the main question you should ask yourself is, "3: How neutrotic are you?" Charlie, can you figure out how to use a spell checker? "neutrotic". HAH.

Charlie, you actually made the statement, "Again, 90% of this is pure mental." You know NOTHING about most, if not ALL, of the people who comment here. Yet, that you actually think you know what goes on in their minds! Do you use a crystal ball to make your divinations, Charlie?  

You even made the more ridiculous statement that, “you either have celiac or some severe mental problems.” Your POMPOUS, SELF-RIGHTEOUS PRETENTIOUSNESS is risible, Charlie, RISIBLE!  If anyone on this post has “severe mental problems” Charlie, it is you, and only YOU.  

I expect you are the same “Charlie” who made a complete fool out of himself on Stephan Guyenet’s blog by spewing similar complete and utter nonsense about “honesty”.

What you are doing here, as on SG’s site, is called “projection”. What you do not like about yourself, but are afraid to acknowledge in yourself, you project onto others, and claim it is they who have  â€œsevere mental problems” and that “90% of this is pure mental”. So, Charlie; it is YOU who should deal with YOUR mental state, and stop projecting it onto other people, whom you know NOTHING about!

Just like Might-o'chondri-al (what a mouthful!) mentioned, it's hard to tease out the confounders. I don't sit down and munch on some wheat stalks on my off days. These are the occasions when I allow myself to indulge in delicious croissants, scrumptious shortbread tarts and traditional Australian carrot cake (if you do something bad, you might as well be good at it). These very occasional indulgences, apart from containing wheat, also have other NADs, to use Dr Kurt's phrase, that I routinely avoid: sugar, maybe HFCS, maybe some trans fats, maybe some other additives/chemicals I'm not aware of. I know the fall-out: pimples within 24 hrs, flatulence, ankle oedema and headache. I would be hesitant to blame just one ingredient as tempting as it is to indict wheat. But I am not prepared to run an experiment involving me, wheat husks and gluten-free cookies

I'll submit "other".

No overt symptoms, but since limiting
carbs generally, wheat specifically,
my A1C stays in the low 5s, and my
insulin requirement is half what it was...

Suits me.

Jack

What if you have multiple symptoms? Grains are a disaster for a lot of people I know: http://www.cutthecarb.com/your-daily-bread-pasta-and-pizza-are-killing-you/

For those worried about their blood sugar levels, may I recommend this: chana dal

And here is an interesting article on this food:

http://www.mendosa.com/chanadal.html

From: http://www.mendosa.com/chanadal.html

"Tim writes, "While I was in Tesco ( Britain's largest supermarket) I checked on the nutritional information panel on the back of a packet of Chana Dal. It was:

        "100g = 1404kj or 332kcal
        protein 23.1g
        carbo 48.2g
        fat 6.5g
        fibre 10.0g""

But the Chana Dal currently on sale states the nutritional composition as:

Energy kCal 298kCal
Energy kJ 1,264kJ
Protein 24.0g
Carbohydrate 59.7g
of which sugars 2.2g
Fat 3.1g
of which saturates 0.3g
Fibre 16.1g
Sodium Trace


http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesco-price-comparison/Rice_Pulses_And_Grain/Natco_Chana_Dal_2Kg.html

What don't I experience!  I typically avoid wheat (and gluten for that matter) as I'm pretty sure it makes me sick, but when I slip (or someone else slips me some) I end up with massive amounts of joint swelling and tenderness, diarhea, cramping, gas, bloating and brain fog.  I'm absolutely miserable.  Just that alone is enough to keep me off gluten. I have RA, so if I have repeated exposures I'll have a flare which SUCKS!

Like clockwork, I get massive pain in one or both hips with certain movements when I deviate from a low-wheat regimen. I also get heartburn, and difficulty sleeping as well. All are very good reasons to stay off the grain, for me.

depends if it is a fleeting re exposure of prolonged. no symptoms in former and in latter i get weight gain and a crackling but not painful back but im young so that explains the the painlessness. 26 yo.quiv

The varied responses to wheat re-exposure could literally fill a book.

What is amazing is that this is just a "food"--it's not a poison, medication, or some foreign chemical like a pesticide. It's just wheat.

I know that someone like Charlie would come on and say something like "it's all in your head." I hear this all the time.

I'm wondering your views on wheat products contained in cooking flavorings such as soy-sauce etc.
I've cut out wheat from bread and flour however going through all my condiments there is a small amount (~4-8% ) of wheat in these.  The physical amounts are obviously quite small in cooking so for example 8% wheat in soy-sauce would translate to about 1.5 grams out of a 20ml tablespoon serving.
It would be very hard to go the extra step and cut out my cooking condiments.
I’m not wheat intolerant, obviously.  Your thoughts?
Thanks

I have severe joint pain, especially in my knees and hips, when reexposed to gluten.  I also had GI issues in the form of slowing things down.  I went gluten free last April 2010 and had 1 exposure in September and that was enough for me to cut it out for good.  All my tests show no reaction to gluten (blood/stool), but I know there is something there my body does not like!

ps:  I agree with others who wrote about gastrointestinal flora.  I believe we need to address these issues in a broader way.   A person could have a bacterial or parasitic overgrowth (or yeast for that matter) that are "carb" feeding, causing GI distress when wheat is consumed.

Dr. Davis,

Your blog has been educational and inspirational to me as a medical professional.  I have been lurking for several months, perusing old blogs and waiting for new ones.  The conversations in the comments are interesting, sometimes heartbreaking with the illness that people have suffered before the true cause has been found.

I write now because the improvements in health the removal of wheat, and various reactions with the re-introduction of it is something that has been known in the field of Environmental Medicine for over 40 years.  

Foods other than wheat, as well as environmental chemicals, can cause similar problems with ill health.  An older, but still useful, book on the subject is 'Alternative Approach to Allergies' by Theron Randolph, MD.  In it, Dr. Randolph describes his work with food and chemically sensitive patients, his theories on why this happens, and his observations on treatment.  Because these sensitivities are highly individual, the gold standard multi-centered double-blinded placebo-controlled studies are impossible to do.

As with many doctors who practice outside the 'normal' medical paradigm, I have family and personal experience with food and chemical sensitivities.

My father had had cluster headaches since he was a young man.  He saw Dr. Randolph in the early 1980's, when I was a freshman in medical school.  Dr. Randolph diagnosed sensitivity to wheat and corn (not sure of the technique).  My father also found orange juice triggered headaches.  

When he removed these foods from his diet and went on a strict four day rotation diet, his headaches quit.  That is not the natural history of cluster headaches.  When I mentioned this to anyone at school, I was told that it was the wrong diagnosis, or it was a coincidence.  It is best to not rock the boat, so I kept quiet after a while.  

The next year, as a sophomore, I had a chemical exposure from new carpet in my apartment.  Whether it was the glue or the finish, it made me very ill.  I became confused, developed nasal allergies, couldn't do simple drug dose computations, and depressed.  My mother had to come and help me move.  Very embarrassing for a 20-something to need mommy, but I did.  

I eventually recovered almost back to normal, but even now my memory and ability to concentrate on technical materials is not what is used to be.  

My dad went back on a conventional diet after 4 years, and his headaches did not return.  He has developed diabetes, arthritis, and balance problems.  I suggested his diet might have something to do with all of this, but he is unwilling to change.  It is hard to convince an 87 year old man that he shouldn't eat his wheaties!

Extrinsic Asthma is triggered by pollen, chemicals or some other external agent; Intrinsic Asthma is triggered by boggy membranes, congested tissues, or other native causes… even adrenalin stress or exertion.

I really wish that I had tangible reasons to avoid wheat, but after a fast-food experiment at the end of last year, I had no problems to report whatsoever. So I have to rely on the theoretical information I have to motivate my avoidance of wheat.

My goodness, I didn't even know wheat can cause these. I just found ways to cure arthritis. Anyway, prevention is better than cure.

Dr. Davis,

My name is Barbara and I have been going to you for several years.  I have been using benecol light on my husbands sweet and white potatoes.  After seeing your blog on plant sterols I am worried that I am giving him something thats not in his best interests.  Would you please comment.

My son and I both have asthma, and we manage with a combination of conventional medicine and some alternative treatments like respitrol for asthma.

Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa (http://ninjiom-hk.cwahi.net/) may be another choice. i know alot of people use it, its also non alcoholic, though it's effectiveness is not as good as alcohol based cough medicine, but it's still good to use on not so serious scratchy throat.

I started gluten/wheat free 5 days ago. But two days in and I started having terrible flatulence and loose stools. Are they connected?? Patellofemoral arthritis in both knees feeling great tho.