I don't eat wheat, at your suggestion.  But while it's clear to me that processed foods are a huge health problem, it's not clear to me if the biggest problem is wheat, or sugar, or processed meat, or processed vegetable oils, or some other problem due to factory food production.  It does seem like cultures with traditional diets are better off before they start eating American processed foods, but I don't know of any research that pinpoints the problem.

@Peter
Good point, however, I feel that if a person DOES give up all wheat products and then sees/feels a dramatic change in their body or the control of a particular disease or just a feeling of improved over-all well being, then something is definitely going on.

The older I get, the less confidence I have in either the majority of physicians I see or in the advice/guidelines from my government.

This reaction just means you're onto something important.  Keep fighting the good fight!  Loved your interview on The Paleo Solution this week.  I ordered your book and can't wait to read it.

On the Six Servings blog they write, "Cutting out one specific food is not only unrealistic, it’s dangerous. Omitting wheat entirely removes the essential (and disease-fighting!) nutrients it provides including fiber, antioxidants, iron and B vitamins."

. . . um, yeah . . . because you can't get fiber, antioxidants, iron or B vitamins *anywhere* else. How uninformed do they think people are?

Dr. Davis, I'm really curious, what do you mean by the "misguided" gluten-free movement?

I am looking forward to reading your book and adding it to my growing health-related library of books. I just visited that blog you referenced and here is something they stated,
“Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the gold standard of scientifically-sound nutritional advice…”

That is laughable...if it wasn't so scary when you think about it's implications.
Keep up the good work!

I received my copy of  "Wheat Belly"  yesterday. It is even better than I expected Dr. Davis. Very readable and amusing too. You have really started a fire storm and you have alot of people behind you including me!

I am doubting this comment will make it past the moderation on the SixServings.org website, but here is what I posted (all of which I believe is absolutely true):

I haven’t read Wheat Belly, but this quote strikes me as odd:

“Omitting wheat entirely removes the essential (and disease-fighting!) nutrients it provides including fiber, antioxidants, iron and B vitamins.”

What about the lectins, phytates, gluten, and blood-sugar elevation?

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but can’t you simply get more fiber, more antioxidants, more iron, and more B vitamins (amongst others) from fruits and veggies? Without them being fortified and bound up with the anti-nutritious phytates in our digestive system?

Chow -- Dr. Davis has talked a lot about most "gluten-free" foods are almost as bad as wheat.  In other words, the replacement grains they use to make "gluten-free" baked products (pizza, bread, cereal, etc.) are just not good for you.  Of course, if you just stick to whole foods - fruit, veggies, nuts, meat - primarily found in the outer supermarket aisles, you can be gluten free and healthy.
I also loved the assertion that cutting classes of food is "unrealistic."  Huh?  it is very easy to do, provided you want to.  I quit cold turkey on a dime last year after following the Paleo movement (primarily Art Devaney) and once I noticed how much better I felt -- especially with no wheat and grains -- I was motivated to continue to quit.  I don't feel "cheated" or "deprived".  I feel liberated.  Keep up the great work, Dr. Davis.

Yup. Next door neighbor works for one of the largest bakeries in the US here in Fort Worth Texas.  And yes, it shows.

I'll bet my comment on their website doesn't make it either. Funny how their post was days ago yet there are no comments. I wonder how many they've removed? All of them... either that or people aren't jumping in to sing the praises of grains.

If there was no evidence, the grain lobby would be in a legal process to shut you down, not a media process of discrediting. Keep up the fine work.

No sugar, no grain, no omega 6 oil.

Thanks Daren, I thought that might be it, but wasn't quite sure.

I put a review up as fast as I could at Amazon, convinced 3 folks already (they bought the book). Last night my sister calls me that she read about Wheat Belly in Woman's World and is gonna try the wheat free thing to see how she feels, as she looked back at her life and realized whenever she gave up bread, she felt BETTER. (This after weeks of me pleading with her to try gluten free, as she and my other sister both have lupus, I have Hashimoto's and asthma/allergies, and our family is riddled with auto-immune stuff. She'd been tested "allergic" to wheat ages ago.) So, hopefully, the message really branches out. I just want my family to get better. As the third of three sisters, two with lupus, and a mom dead from auto-immune aplastic anemia, and a niece sans hair with alopecia, if we can tame the autoimmune beast, we'd do ourselves a huge service.

Thanks for the good word.

@Tyler @Melissa,  Fruits and vegetables aren't much better than grains for mineral bioavailability again because they are locked up by phytates, and vitamin content of fruits & vegies is lower today than 50 years ago because of the nutrient depleted soils they are grown in.

Just Google 'Phytates are Mineral Magnets', here's a cut & paste:    "Iron and other minerals required for cellular respiration aren’t usable by humans if they are ingested in plant or vegetable foods, because plants contain phytates. Phytates biochemically lock up the minerals with the plant fiber, rendering them unusable. This makes minerals, as well as the fiber, UNUSABLE BY HUMAN cells. That’s why it was shown, and reported in the “Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2000,71:446-471,” that WOMEN EATING THE MOST FIBER AND THE LOWEST AMOUNT OF FAT HAD 20% LOWER CALCIUM RETENTION.

Eating meat did NOTHING to increase colon cancer risk. Yet this shocking result hasn’t been reported in the popular press. “Fiber fiction” has run rampant in America for many years.

An exceptional article was written for the general public in 1997 by “Albion Research Notes – A Compilation of Vital Research Updates on Human Nutrition”, Albion Laboratories, Clearfield, UT (Vo.. 6, No. 2, June 1997). Here is what it said:

“Natural sources of fiber, such as cereals and fruits, generally have a DEPRESSING EFFECT on absorption of minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, and copper.” Imagine taking mineral supplements and still going into a negative balance for the very minerals that are being supplemented! Too few of us saw this important paper.

Minerals can’t be separated from the fiber in human digestion so, because you aren’t a cow with four stomachs designed to accomplish that difficult task, you can’t make effective use of the minerals in plants. “Consumer Reports on Health” reported on this – in fact, the magazine actually published the statement that eating spinach was worthless for obtaining necessary iron. It’s “in there” but not usable for a human being.

We keep getting misled with what sounds good, but isn’t based on science.

Phytates TAKE OUT MINERALS (the respiratory co-enzymes Dr. Warburg speaks of) – JUST THE OPPOSITE of what we desire and require to avoid contracting cancer.

Think of fiber as bad “mineral magnets”, removing the precious minerals from your body and inhibiting oxygen transfer through the blood, whereas Essential Fatty Acids  are the good “oxygen magnets” helping bring an abundance of needed oxygen into your cells."

Huh, that's funny. All my comments on the sixservings grain website got deleted. Must be a technical glitch.

It's called "Reasoned Discourseâ„¢". It's what happens when organizations make claims on their blog, and the other side shows up with overwhelming logic and scientific evidence that pounds them into the ground. It's pretty obviously broken out there.

@Peter Silverman;  There's plenty of research out there if you know how to look for it or if you have  sources you can trust to give you the real truth and scientifically solid references.  

Also you must realize that the term "biggest problem" is relative to time and degree of disease progression, in other words it depends on how fast and how bad you want to get sick or suffer the effects of an industrial foods diet.  For my money the "food" that is the biggest problem in having the most immediate negative effect on humans is the nutrient depleted & stripped white flour used in ALL processed "foods" that is known to cause severe dental decay and physical degeneration and under development as was clearly established by Weston Price in his 1938 book "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration."  To see the entire book for free just google 'nutrition and physical degeneration online', it's the first result, and at least look at the pictures and read the captions to see how the effects of processed "foods" can be seen with the outcome of just the next pregnancy!  Both wheat flours and sugars are carbs, and as ALL carbs reduce to glucose molecules they are essentially one and the same, which is why a diet high in just breads even from the much lauded whole grains can quickly rot your teeth.  In the section about the Arctic Inuit in his book, Weston Price details how the Inuit eating their native diet would go their entire lives and only get maybe one or two dental cavities, and their teeth would eventually repair themselves and get even harder as the people got older.  

As bad as the almost immediate physical degeneration effects of industrial flours are, the other "biggest problem" has to be the toxic, adulterated, pre-oxidized trans molecule fats in partial & fully hydrogenated vegetable oils that are KNOWN to be a direct cause of cancer and arterial plaque formation.  Can't find it now but I once saw a chart somewhere overlaying the use of trans fat vegetable oils & margarines with the incidence rates of cancer & heart disease since the introduction of the bad oils into processed "foods" around 1920 and the curves matched almost exactly.  The problem with industrial oils is that the latency period of cancer and heart disease progression due to trans fat intake is measured in decades, so people tend to not see the association of those diseases with those oils until they are shown the facts, such as the fact that at the turn of the century in 1900 when most people subsisted on a pre industrial  "farm style" diet of eggs, butter & whole milk & cream, cancer and heart disease affected only 3 percent of the population and obesity was only 5 percent (google 'margarine vs. butter newsflash' see the top hit).

As for processed meats just google ' avoiding nitrates in foods is unnecessary', you'll see this:  "No one mentions that nitrate is naturally occurring in greens such as lettuce and spinach. The article, “Bad Rap for Nitrate: Infamous Preservative Maj Help Defend Against Bacteria,” by J.R. Minkel, Scientific American Biochemistry Section, September 2004, page 24, details that “they” were wrong again and sets the record straight. It was known in 1994, that the stomach contains lots of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide kills germ in the bloodstream. Therefore, it is obvious that nitrate is a helpful substance. Why this has taken ten years to be publicized is astounding, Here are some key points from the article:

” … [D]ietary nitrate is actually part of the body’s inherent defense against infection ….

“Bacteria in the mouth convert nitrate to nitrite, which gets swallowed, so the stomach can naturally produce nitric oxide …. “

”’We’ve gone from considering all of these things to be toxic and carcinogenic to realizing that [nitrates are] playing a fundamental homeostatic role [safe and required, and NOT cancerous],’ says microbiologist Ferric Fang of the University of Washington.” (Emphasis added.)"

Hope that answers your question and helps round out the nutritional picture.  Live long and prosper.

"Wheat Belly" arrived today at my door (in Germany). Great reading and a real eye opener. I am distributing the message here as well and will loan the book to others. Would make a good candidate for translating into other languages. How about Nihongo?
Renfrew

Thanks, Amy! Be sure to come back and share your impressions.

Hi, Chow--
I was referring to the terrible practice of replacing wheat/gluten with cornstarch, rice starch, tapioca starch, and potato starch that make you diabetic, give you cataracts, arthritis, and heart disease. We should be eating wheat-free and low-carb.

Thanks, Patty!

Dr. Davis, is it true that there are no sound scientific studies referenced in the book that support your case?

I haven't looked at the book, but I have the same question.

I've been a subscriber to this blog for a while, and I recall when Dr. Davis solicited reader experiences, along the lines of, "if you stopped eating wheat and it helped your health let me know!" I don't recall any solicitations along the the lines of, "if you stopped eating wheat and nothing happened, let me know!"  In sum, I suspect that the grains marketing group's criticism of the book's advice being based on anecdotal evidence may be substantially correct.

I should mention that for a variety of reasons, I don't eat wheat.

Are there studies to show the current version of wheat is safe? It would seem to me the burden is on the produce of a new food.

Make that "producer of a new food"

Hi cancerclasses,
Maybe (?) you'd like last week's Oncogen journal's full "Dynamic epigenetic regulation of ... tumorigenesis" ,see  http://www.nature.com/onc/journal/vaop/
current/full/onc2011383a.html

Hi, Don-

Absolutely none. Of course, wheat lobby defending the status quo will quote the studies that say things like replacing white flour products with whole grains yields less diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and colon cancer--that is indeed true. What they fail to ask is what happens when you replace wheat products with NO wheat products? The products of "traditional breeding methods" have also been assumed to be safe for human consumption, essentially no questions asked.

Noted. However, Steve, I would reserve judgement until you read the book. It is not just a compilation of anecdotes; all the science is laid out as plain as day.

Hi, Gary--

No, of course not. There are several hundred relevant references over 16 pages. And that was just a partial compilation of the literature already published.

I think you need to package your book with Tom Naughton's "Fat Head" movie.  It could be the Fat Head/Wheat Belly combo!

(Seriously.)

Dear Doctor Davis,
I'm so glad that  you've published your book. I will be buying it for myself and others. Also,my library is waiting for it to come in, 5 people are waiting for it!.  I have a calcium score of 206. I HAVE HASHIMOTO THYROID and b 12 intrinsic factor problems,,,I HAVE ALSO HAD LYME DISEASE AND BABESIA A FEW YEARS AGO ,,I have been wheat (and grain -free) since 4/11 and I'm down to 130 pound (from 150) and with a thyroid problem.....this is amazing.  MY lipids have dropped significantly .  Thank you...I hope to contact your office to look at my NMR in the future....Linda

Wheat adherents are mostly orientated to a nutritional perspective; and so miss out on Doc's point that unique byproducts of wheat digestion affect the brain, irregardless of one's intestinal and/or metabolic response. His clinical results seem to indicate that some wheat digestion byproducts acting in the brain influence the gene BDNF (brain derived neuro-trophic factor) to either encode different proteins for expression &/or down-regulate the DNF total output; BDNF is inherently related to being overweight and obesity (but not "morbid" obesity).

BDNF experimentally  injected into the cerebral ventricle affects circulating triglycerides,  the size of adipocytes and most importantly visceral fat mass ( see Doc's recent 27 Aug post "Good Fat Bad Fat" for orientation on non-nutritional relevance of visceral fat). When there is more BDNF produced the lower the blood glucose levels go and the more peripheral insulin sensitivity improves; as well as the less visceral fat there is. The mechanism whereby BDNF expression works is  apparently via a cortico-trophin releasing hormone (CRH)-urocotin-CRH R2 pathway in the hypo-thalamus PVN (para-ventricular nucleus). Nutritional needs on a fad diet isn't the same as practicing medicine; Doc elsewhere said no one diet is right for every person (nor all life long, I'd add).

My comment at sixservings.org has also not appeared.

Dr. Davis,  What do you think of The Esselstyn diet?  They are making some of the same claims you are but with a different diet with about the only thing the same is to eat lots of fresh vegetables.

2 days ago in  "Adipose Tissue Dysregulation in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome" from Sept.  Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism lead author ( I. Jialal, 34 years in endocrinology , quote) " ... some body fat may actually be toxic. .. dysfunction in the fat of people with metabolic syndrome is more than can be explained by obesity. " Report shows when fat cells outgrow their supply of blood those cells have macrophage crusts crowning them; the macrophage inflammation has cardiovascular implications. Team previously found those with metabolic syndrome visceral fat have less endothelial progenitor cells to preserve blood vessel lining functional integrity.

I like how Ashley at SixServings.org infers in her statement that being a vegan or vegetarian in "not only unrealistic, but dangerous." And she's their crack PR person - what a joke. Wheat Brain!

I so need to get your book.  I test positive for the DNA that leads to Celiac disease and was diagnosed with IBS (before I went low-carb, now I'm symptom-free).

My only concern is my kids.  They have my genes, LOL.  Is there a resource for feeding them properly so they're not getting wheat, or spelt, but still get to eat "bready" style things?  Basically I guess I mean a cookbook.

yes, this book deserved to be translated into multiple languages!
am going to order one!
my colleagues won't believe me that "wheat is evil" & causes "man boobs" & belly.

comments I just posted (awaiting moderation) at Six Sevings:


No Comments
Steve L says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
September 3, 2011 at 4:45 am
So, cutting wheat is not a cure all for coeliac disease??

Well, I have coeliac disease.

Sure, there are other sources of gluten in western diets, but wheat is by far the most important source…by a country mile.

So, maybe cutting wheat is not a cure all for coeliac disease, but it goes pretty damn close.

Steve L AUS 20110903.14.45

Reply
Steve L says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
September 3, 2011 at 4:58 am
…further to my comment (above) regarding the nonsense in this article about coeliac disease, let’s also consider the value of wheat (and other grains) for various nutrients.

Look at nutrient density tables. Wheat is only a good/cheap source of energy/calories, especially if your government subsidises its production. Maybe fibre too, depending on how heavily its processed. As to other nutrients, its a pretty poor source compared to vegetables and meat (incl poultry and fish).

This is without getting into more contentious issues such as whether wheat (and other grains) damage the gut of even non-coeliacs, causing leaky guy syndrome and possibly being involved in the pathogenesis of some autoimmune diseases….

Then there is the high glycaemic load wheat provides in the diet, with metabolic consequences.

Remember too that there is not unanimity amongst experts regarding official dietary guidelines: far from it. So, you can’t reasonably appeal to a consensus among experts.

But leave that aside, and also the damage it does to coeliacs (I was VERY ill for 10 years because of wheat), wheat is a pretty poor source of nutrients apart from calories.

Steve L Australia 20110902.1500

It does seem like cultures with traditional diets are better off before they start eating American processed foods.
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Challenge them on Twitter and Facebook. Ask them why they are not allowing comment on the Wheat Belly post.

What struck me from this post is the "concern" that those who do not eat wheat are missing out on essential nutrients, but there seems to be none of this concern for those who do not eat wheat because of celiac disease or gluten-intolerance. So does that mean that since I have celiac, I wouldn't "suffer" by eliminating that nutrious wheat? Eliminating that wonderful wheat has transformed me. I was constantly in pain, muscular and headaches, terrible heartburn, skin issues, etc. Eliminating that nutritious wheat has been amazing. I believe that everyone can take in all of the nutrients they need by eating the good stuff. I can't wait until my copy of "Wheat Belly" arrives. It will be on my 17 year od son's reading list too.

Sadly lots of people are that clueless.

Check out everydaypaleo.com. I don't know about wating "bready" things but that blog is all about getting the kids on board.

Hi, Debbie--

Yes, a crucial point. Provided wheat calories are replaced with real foods like vegetables, nuts, avocados, cheese, eggs, etc., there is absolutely no deficiency that develops. Of course, Mary Q. Dietitian automatically assumes that you replace lost calories with Slurpies, Twinkies, and French fries--the default position being we're stupid.

Be wheat-free, be healthy!

Yes, Michia. We should all do that and not let up!

Thank you, Steve. I find it incredible, also, that for every person who knows he/she has celiac disease, nine others don't know it.

Keep on punching away!

Thanks, Pam. This is why I wrote Wheat Belly: to bring to light all that is ALREADY known about wheat and its relationship with human health.

Hi, Helen--

The world is indeed a field of wheat landmines, especially for kids who eat at friends' houses, school cafeterias, etc. There's little to do except educate them and help them understand why they shouldn't eat the foods their friends are eating.

Rodale has mentioned the possibility of a Wheat Belly Cookbook, but it's still pretty early, only 5 days after release of the book! So stay tuned . . .

Yes, indeed: impaired, foggy, wheat-added thinking!

Yes, Might: a crucial issue in understanding how visceral fat is bad, bad, bad, unlike the fat, say, on the arms or backside.

Hi, Tracy--

A strict vegetarian low-fat diet can be better than an average American diet--minus fast food; junk food; hydrogenated fats; meats from warehouse-raised livestock given corn, hormones, and antibiotics--but it is far from an ideal diet. Esselstyn and Ornish, while they have great intentions, are beating a dead horse in this diet. This is the diet, by the way, that made me diabetic 20 years (yes, 20 years! that's how long they've been preaching this nonsense), made me gain 30 lbs, and gave me lipid distortions: HDL 27 mg/dl, triglycerides 350 mg/dl. It all reversed when I stopped following their advice.

Thanks, Linda! Keep up the momentum!

Hi, Serge--

That's a darn good idea!

I just checked that blog you referenced and they didn't post my comment that questioned their approach...interesting.

Since people eat clusters of foods rather than single foods (wheat, sugar, vegetable oil; hot dogs, hot dog buns, Coke; brown rice, tofu, broccoli) it must be hard to single out individual foods as being lifesavers or villains.

HI, Peter--

Nope, I don't think so.

Wheat stands apart at many levels, unique in its protein content (glutens, gliadin, and others), carbohydrate (amylopectin A), and glycoprotein lectins (wheat germ agglutinin).

Parallel to this is allergy: You can have fatal allergy to peanuts but not to walnuts. That's a bit difference, though on the surface they seem roughly similar. Food composition is a crucial factor in human tolerance and foods cannot be lumped together willy nilly.

Great interview with Robb Wolf. I have been waiting for Wheat Belly to come out, so we're getting ours and several others to share ASAP. LIke many, many others, eliminating wheat (and other bad juju) from my diet dramatically changed my health (it's been almost 2 years, now).

The Go with the Grain commentary was rubbish. And I find it very telling that they are not printing the critical comments. Not to mention that their site is sponsored by the Grain Foods Foundation. I'm sure they only have everyone's best interest at heart - yeah, right.

Thanks for your bold move with this book. It is needed.

I have just gotten started in your book (around 50 pages) and am really enjoying it.  Who would have thought a book about wheat and science would be such a page turner!

I have a question though:  Why?  Why are the doctors/dieticians/nutritionists so uninformed?   Why is this seemingly such a 'fad' diet to so many?  Is it really just about money and keeping the cycle going?  I just find this concept so hard to fathom.  Do 'they' really want us sick and fat or have they just created a mess that is far too big to clean up and now they are just saving face?  

I also posted over at that six serving's blog and thought something was a bit fishy when I didn't see any other comments.  It is clear that she/they can't take any form of reasonable, informed rebuttal.  Mostly though, my thought was: that's it?  That is all you are coming with?  That is your review?  Saying nothing would have been better than what she tried to pass off as an honest review of your book.  I would be very surprised if she even read it.  If you had, one can't remain that misguided can they?

Hmm, wonder if my comment will ever get approved on the sixservings.org site

I was struck by the tenor of the wheat-industrialist organs in that they seem a bit defensive. If I were in charge of their message, I would have a very low key response. I would make some low level noise about the science being on our side and use some back handed compliments directed at “fringe nutritional ideas”.

In other words, I think it is a mistake for them to act provoked. It is actually in their power to control this because in my experience, people do not want to listen to the message of wheat-belly. If the noise level stays down a bit, people will keep on eating their “healthy whole grains” and downing Twinkies when no one is looking because fundamentally they do not want to change. Everyone wants to know what I did to transform my health, but when I tell them, they look at me like someone who escaped from a mental institution and generally, they never bring it up again. I understand that completely too, because at one time, I would’ve said you’ll have to pry the baguette from my cold dead fingers.

The best thing that can happen for you, Dr. Davis, is a full scale onslaught by the evil empire. That is the only way people like me will take note of the message in a serious way.

Hi Dr. Davis,

This is my comment I left at sixservings.  I am pretty sure it will not get posted either:

Honestly,
If you don’t start posting some of the comments coming your way from the folks that have been commenting about their experiences regarding wheat consumption, then people are just going to think of this organization as a bunch of intellectual cowards! What is so hard about defending your position?

Or, are you just having technical challenges?
Susan Moles

Thanks, Susan.

It looks like they've censored--CENSORED--all of our comments, so I posted a challenge on their Facebook page (though I had to "Like" them to do it).

I'm itching to engage these people. I'm not hoping to convert them, just to allow me to bring all the incredible and damning evidence against wheat out into the open.

Hi, Tony--

You clearly understand the ways of the world! I am going to hammer away and try to embarrass and shame them into responding!

It looks like they've blocked all of our comments. I've counted 5 people who say they've posted comments, none show on their blog. Yes, I believe they are practicing CENSORSHIP.

Thank you for joining the fight, Corina! You are absolutely correct: NONE of our comments are showing up.

They are choosing to not engage in the fight face-to-face. I suspect they will never engage in a public debate, since it will allow me and others to publicly air all the damning evidence against wheat. Instead, they will rely on the misleading and deceptive research showing that whole grains are better than white flour.

All I want is not to convert them to our way of thinking, but a chance to articulate these ideas to the broader public.

Thank you, Cathy. "Wheat and other bad juju" . . . that made me laugh!

I knew the fight was coming. It would be nice if they would not just say nasty things and then run away, but confront me and others face-to-face.

Dr. Davis,

I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed Wheat Belly.  Not only was it informative, but it was fantastically well written as well.  Over at Tom Naughton's blog, I joked that your huge number of synonyms for "extreme" and "extremely" show that you must have either a massive vocabulary or the Deluxe Edition of Roget's Thesaurus.

But in all seriousness, it is a great book!

Who profits? Follow the money:

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2010/Meeting2/CommentAttachments/GrainFoodsFndn-182REF.pdf

ConAgra, Pepperidge Farm, various milling companies.

Yes, indeed, Damaged. And a LOT of money--hundreds of billions.

Thanks, Ari. I'm extremely happy you like Wheat Belly!

Sarah  from Everyday Paleo did a great podcast over at The Paleo Solution, here is the link:
http://robbwolf.com/2011/01/11/the-paleo-solution-episode-62-everyday-paleo/

So why don't they go after vegans and vegetarians?

How can these people live with themselves?

Rhetorical question, yes ... sigh.

Looking forward to reading WB after being blown away by Dangerous Grains.  Have been eating a paleo diet for 6 months and the improvement in my health is nothing short of astonishing.  In my 50s, I look and feel 20 again, actually better.  I truly believe if everyone dumped grains from their diet for a month, you could kiss Cargill, Monsanto and ADM good-bye.

Hi, Leslie--

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly. Feel and look like in your 20s while in your 50s? That's great!

I think they're worried about Wheat Belly"s head-on attack. This is the most direct attack they've suffered yet.

Don't take it personally  ... in looking over all the blog posts on that site there are no comments on any of them.  Comments likely encounter a script that reads, "send acknowledgement message then delete"  Wonder what happens if someone posts a positive comment?  

I posted a comment over there, I loved that 99% of the comments were anti-wheat.  This is awesome.  Great book and great interview on LLVLC.

Thanks for all you do!

Hi, Karn--

The battle being waged over at Good Grains Foundation has been nothing short of an anti-wheat rally with placards reading: "We won't eat wheat!"

Read a bit of "Wheat Belly" while in the bookstore taking a break from flood traffic.  I probably won't buy it for awhile since I already have a long reading list and consider myself in the "choir" since I've been eating Paleo/Primal for almost a year.  I do have three diabetics in the family that are so stuck in conventional wisdom that I don' t think it would be much help for them.  Lent Mom my Paleo book at her request but she never got around to reading it.  I had hoped that she would take to it and become n=2 and turn their T2D and Dad's congestive heart failure around, but maybe they are two far down that path.  Time is running out and all they do now is treat the diseases and resulting symptoms and are clueless about the underlying causes.  Death by Conventional Wisdom and "Modern Medicine".   I was happy to see the book make the NYTBS list.  This may be a good shot at getting the health/healthcare situation turned around.  Unfortunately, 99.99% of people are not paying attention or are fixed on the CW way.  "Eat less fat!  More healthy whole grains!  More cardio!"  The rest just wants food thats cheap and tastes good(sweet or salty).  Just waiting for the other shoe to drop and the book get recalled from the stores and the Kindles since it presents such radical, subversive information and viewpoints.   The book will become a black market item and will only be shared in meetings of the anti-wheat cell groups in private homes of those trying to stop the Great Amirican Wheat Machine.

Your book is great!
I happened upon your blog through another blog 6 months ago.
I am gluten free but became fat from all the new products and assumed I was eating real food.
With a bit of reading, I connected the sugar
being the problem. I am a 58 yr old woman who runs 5 miles 5 days a week and who by accident through trial and error happen to eat your diet and was convinced to by another doctor friend to go for the higher fats.
My old body is back less 2 sizes in 5 mos. I feel wonderful again. I too feel like a lean machine again while jogging. It feels great!
The body fat is so noticably gone that people in the large community I live in have asked me how I did it.
I have directed them to read your book. Better understanding of the real reasons to get fit may change their old beliefs and give it a try.
I am curious to see Dr. Oz's new live show today. He will be discussing how to lose belly fat. I hope you
are his guest!!! congrats to you on your contributions to a better life!

Thanks, M!

I, too, had to stumble my way to find the path to a diet that truly works. So why are given this information at the outset? Why do we all have to inadvertently commit egregious errors of dietary misbehavior to learn from mistakes?

I agree so much Dr. Davis.  In fact, I often think that the replacing of gluten containing products with other very processed starches is the reason why so many parents and studies have concluded that GFCF diets do not work for kids on the autism spectrum.  GFCF was where we started with my son, but he did not show significant improvement until we went grain and sugar free, including severely limiting fructose.  Low carb GAPS/Paleo or Primal diets are much more helpful for kids with neurological and digestive issues, but do not get nearly the press.  Love your blog.  Keep it up.

Thanks, Mom!

I'm very interested in the leptin research and hope that it can help people figure out how to overcome their hurdles to weight loss. In your experience can someone correct the leptin resistance with diet? I've been grain and sugar free for 11 weeks and have even energy all day. No more cravings and eat pretty much only when I'm hungry (4-5 hours between meals). The weight loss is slow but I realize that being 43, hormones probably play a role as well.

Thanks for doing what you do to help educate others on this topic.

Great post, Dr. Davis.

I blogged on leptin resistance at http://goo.gl/4lHbi, but my primary interest was the effect of high triglycerides due to a "standard American diet". There is some evidence that the high triglyceride levels block leptin from crossing the blood brain barrier and therefore prevent it from signaling that you have had enough to eat. In my own experience, going low carb eliminated the constant hunger I faced when I was 40 pounds heavier (and my trigylcerides were at 440).  Going low carb meant that I effectively eliminated wheat, as I eliminated nearly all bread, etc., and focused on animal protein and  green veggies exclusively. The effect happened very quickly, within a week, so I wonder if the wheat lectin was a factor here as well.

When I eliminated wheat from my diet in 1999 as part of my low-carb liftestyle chage, my arthritis went away (that alone provided more than enough motivation to stick with the diet for over a decade now), and I dropped 100 lbs with practically no effort. The problem is that I needed to lose *150* lbs, and that last 50 lbs refuses to budge, even on a low-carb diet. I'm beginning to wonder if I have permanently damaged my metabolism. I've noticed that I can drop about 10 lbs, and my morning body temperature goes below 80F, and eventually, I gain the 10 lbs back.

Your advice?

Hi, Howard--

This sounds an awfully lot like a thyroid issue. While I doubt that your temperature actually drops to 80 degrees F (since that is fatal), low temperatures can signal hypothyroidism. This can easily throw you off your weight plateau.

Hi, Frank--

The wheat lectin-leptin connection would indeed explain many things, especially why hunger drops and weight drops so quickly when wheat is eliminated, far larger effects than can be accounted for simply by wheat's carbohydrate content.

Thanks for the feedback, Dee!

Yes, you can correct leptin resistance with diet, though the effects are highly variable. In general, however, weight correlates quite cleanly with leptin serum levels.

A tougher question is how to deal with leptin resistance that somehow causes a weight loss effort to stall. A discussion for another day!

Hi Dr. Davis:
Have you seen this new study?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21943927

So what the heck does this mean?  Eating wild caught and pastured meats and non starchy veg as almost my only food (added coconut and olive oil), rarely a piece of fruit, I weighed 138 lbs.  As soon as I switched to an all plants, whole intact grains and potatoes and sweet potatoes based diet my weight dropped to 125 with zero change in activity level.  I have since switched most of the grains and potatoes for legumes and by more strenuous working out seem to have lost "hidden" fat and converted it to muscle.  Still at 120 but much more muscular...  This seems to be the opposite of what you espouse as  eat approximately 280 grams of carbs/day though probably 800 or so calories less than when I was eating meat, fat, and non starchy veg... Am I just an anomaly?

Is it possible that eliminating proteins resulted in the loss of muscle?

A question for you Doc,

Hoping you can give me some clarity on the genes issues of Celiac disease.  I have long suspected that I was wheat intolerant.  I suffered severe constipation since my teens, was laxitive dependant for lots of year taking handfuls a night just to be "regular".  I was able to get off the laxitives after 20 years by grinding my own wheat (and other grains).  It made all the difference in the world getting off pre-packaged foods, and dairy ( I am EXTREMELY dairy intolerant).  However, I never got "better".  I now know from your book that switching from a bad thing, to a less bad thing is not the answer, is advantagous, but still not the best .

I have known deep down inside that something was wrong with wheat because I am like a heroin addict when I eat it... I cannnot get enough, but since it did help me get off the laxitives, I kind of argued with myself over it my having "real" systemic issue with it.  My other health issues.. skin rash (chronic) which looked and felt like DH, dermititis herpetiformus.  Dermatologist said biopsy was not going to be 100% sure to diagnose it, so I should just get the gene test to see if I had DQ2 or DQ8.  My tests came back negative to both... but I still had a terrible chronic rash for going on 15 years on my legs, lower back and occasionally my torso, like a mirror, effecting both sides of my body in the same areas.  Dermatologist just shrugged and said he couldnt tell me what it was, but he put me on dapsone, and it cleared.  I finally had relief for the first time in a long time, but couldnt stay on the dapsone, due to liver enzyme issues.

Now, years later, and more health issues like osteoarthritis in my hands and spine and rib joints, BTW, I am only 43!!  I wind up back to questioning the wheat!!  When I found that you had written Wheat Belly, I thought, "maybe he knows something about wheat that I have been unable to find out"!?  After I read it (2 weeks ago) I immediatly changed my diet to a totally gluten free one.   ( we do not eat GMO's, and eat lots of veggies, green smoothies ect.. but I didnt realize just HOW genetically altered our wheat was.)

I am NOT an "undiagnosed" celiac for sure, as I do NOT have the DQ genes.  The biggest change I feel from being off the wheat is less drive to eat like a maniac.  I have not had any "health" changes, but it has only been 2 weeks.  I unfortunately am noticing the constipation creeping back up though, when I am off the milled wheat.

In your book, you seem to be speaking largely to people who have been told they do not have Celiac disease due to being misdiagnosed, or told they were NOT celiac due to false blood test results, or lack of proper biopsies...  What is y our opinion of serious immune system/ health issues happenning to folks like me, who are DQ2,DQ8 negative?  I know people WITH those genes can be reactiing (immune system) to wheat even if they are NOT actively in a Celiac disease state... but what about those of us who are not even ever going to get celiac?

I hope my questions dont sound stupid, perhaps I need to read the book again, or I just missed this specific issue of  where we, who are without the celiac genes, fit into this picture.  Could it be that there are other genes that we dont know about?  Or, are the genes simply irrelevant, due to the fact that the gluten content, and other harmful proteins and lectins are just so out of proportion to natural unmodified wheat?
I know for sure that my addiction is real, and has caused me much yo yo dieting in the past, never able to lose this pesky 30lbs, because once I eat a slice of toast, or a whole wheat muffin, I become like ravenous beast, who cant stop eating!!  I do know also, that to only be 43, and have such health issues already, that something has to be wrong...  Perhaps years of laxitives have injured my system... glad to have been off of them for 5 years now, but I really think your book has surely pointed me in the right direction of getting off the dwarf wheat!

Hi, Kim--

There is plenty more to this thing called wheat than "just" immune phenomena. I believe it is pure folly to believe that all potential adverse effects of wheat can be identified via HLA DQ markers or celiac blood markers. There are just too many undesirable components of this thing that are not identified with currently available blood tests.

You could be HLA DQ2 or DQ8 negative, with negative celiac markers, yet still have life-threatening disease reversed with wheat elimination.

Interesting, Olga.

If we were to extrapolate this to us hairless mice, it means that an extreme low-carb restriction makes it MUCH harder to express diabetes.

1) Only rectal temperature readings should be considered accurate. With other types of readings you have a certain heat loss - most for armpit readings, less for under tongue.
2) You should look into euthyroid sick syndrome/reverse T3 which is a possibility if you drop the carbs all the way...? Some research suggests that we should leave about 50g carbohydrates in the daily allowance to avoid this possibility.

Hi Dr. Davis!

First of all, I have to say that I love your book! The information is a God-send and the way that it is presented is clear with just enough humor to be riveting (at least, for a nerd like me).

I have a question tho’, and I hope that I am not being repetitive or redundant. All I hear and read is that by cutting wheat from the diet, a person can expect weight loss. I have read wonderful testimonials from people who have cut wheat and have lost 50 pounds in 6 months without doing anything else (exercise or caloric restriction).

But, this does not work for me. My diet is quite strict paleo since last spring (a la Robb Wolf). I eat NO grains (including quinoa or buckwheat or other “grain-ish” items). No dairy with the exception of cream in coffee (about 3 to 4 cups per day). No peanuts, legumes or beans. No rice, potatoes, corn or peas.  No fruit (again, at Robb Wolf’s suggestion that people who need to lose should eschew fruits until their goal is reached). Of course, nothing processed, no sugar and artificial sweeteners are kept to a minimum. I drink water as needed.

I eat nuts and seeds, eggs, all meats, fish and seafoods, green and colourful vegetables as well as coconut products (oil, milk and meat), avocados, fish oil and olive oil.

I am 43, and feel great as long as I eat this way. I am not celiac and have not been diagnosed with any medical problems by my doctor (MD). I do however have a strong family tendency towards DMT2. So far, I seem to be OK there, but do suspect insulin resistance due to physical features. I do notice that eating grains results in stomach upsets, water retention, RAPID weight gain, mood swings and a wicked distended belly (I have been congratulated on my pregnancy... LOL!)

I am very careful about my food intake, so I know that there are no hidden grains, sugars, etc. slipping in. This is very easy when you don’t eat anything processed. I take in, on average, about 1500 calories daily, and currently work out with weights 3 times per week. In the past, I have tried doing tremendous amounts of cardio... Again, no real results.

I also see an ND, and he has recently requested a saliva panel to check my adrenal hormones, notably AM DHEA’s, Cortisol Curve = C1,C2, C3,C4. I am 5’6” tall and weigh 190 pounds and gain weight mostly in the mid section. I obviously need to lose weight, but everything I try results in a small weight loss (< 10 pounds), followed by a frustrated week or 2 off of my diet, which only results in a big weight gain. Seriously... I went to Mexico for 10 days a year ago. I ate and did the same as everyone else. I GAINED 15 POUNDS. Everyone else’s weight stayed the same, or showed a very small gain... only about 3 pounds.

My regular doctor, when presented with this information shrugged his shoulders and said, “Weight loss is hard.” I am getting seriously stressed about this... This can’t possibly be normal. Close family and friends have observed and made comments like, “The way you eat and work out, you should have a near perfect body!”
I know that you would require much more detailed information about me, but is there anything that is striking to you, or have you encountered this before? Any info that I can pass along to my MD or my ND would be so much appreciated!

Barb

Dr. Davis,

Mat Lalonde gave a speech at the ancestral health symposium called "An Organic Chemist's Perspective on Paleo" - it was mostly about bad science circulating in the Paleo community. In his speech, he mentions an interesting study that demonstrates that wheat germ agglutinin is completely destroyed in the cooking process - literally not a trace is detectable. I can't provide you a reference, because none was given, naturally, during the speech. Perhaps you could get in touch with him and get the reference. I will try myself, and get back to you if I am able to. But if that is true, I seriously doubt WGA is relevant to weight gain, because I can't think of a single wheat product that people eat raw.

Nor do I believe that the high glycemic index of wheat is a cause of weight gain in people with healthy metabolisms. Numerous cultures have been found in great health eating high glycemic index carbohydrates such as potatos. So I find it a little hard to believe that the glycemic index of wheat initiates metabolic derangement and weight gain.

As far as your 'cycles of satiety and hunger' and 'high glucose and high insulin' points, those too would indicate a problem with carbohydrate in general, not just wheat. So I would think 'carb belly' would be a more intellectually honest title to your book. Especially, when one considers that you improve most of your patient's health with a low-carb diet - not too mention the supplements and exercise you recommend.

Also, Stephan Guyenet recently wrote a post outlining why insulin levels have nothing to do with fat mass.
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/08/carbohydrate-hypothesis-of-obesity.html
He presents very convincing arguments. Having read it, I personally am not swayed by your claim that wheat promotes weight gain by greatly increasing insulin levels - I dount anyone one who read that article is. He presents far more evidence that insulin levels are not relevant to weight gain than you do claiming they are. Given your claims, I think you are obligated to respond to this article.

This post offers nothing to single wheat as a unique cause of weight gain.

Also...
I recently had a debate with Tom Naughton regarding the validity of your claims. I made the following points: You claim that wheat is the greatest cause of weight gain, and removal of it from your patient's diets has yielded incredible results. But you don't treat your patients with simply a wheat-free diet. You place your patients on a low-carb, vegetable oil free, refined sugar free, processed food free diet. You also prescribe very important supplements, like omega-3 and vitamin-d, which have been shown to be beneficial independent of other changes. There are innumerable uncontrolled variables in your lifestyle recommendations - far beyond wheat removal - that could be bringing these results.

Tom's response to me was that you have had an undisclosed (by him) number of your patients try eliminating wheat alone. Apparently, you still saw improvements. Once again, the level of improvement remained undisclosed by Tom. I would like to know how many of your patients you had advised to just eliminate wheat, and what improvements you saw. Of all the patients you've treated, if 99% have undergone your complete recommendations, it is absurd to use their improvements as a case against wheat when you have left countless uncontrolled variables.

If you have seen improvements with strictly wheat elimination, that too cannot be effectively used as a case against wheat. Eliminating wheat creates far-reaching changes in ones diet that go beyond simply eliminating wheat. The vast majority of highly-palatable, engineered, processed junk food becomes inaccesible. No more doughnuts, no more McDonalds, no more cake. That alone is very significant. Also, when you advise your patients to eliminate wheat alone, I seriously doubt they carried on eating wheat-free junk food like deep-fried factory farm chicken wings, ice cream, and french fries in abundance. They likely embraced a healthier diet altogether that happened to disclude wheat.

No doubt, Roberto. The majority of real world patients in my clinic, as well as the online experience, have followed more than a wheat-free diet. Anecdotally, the people who have followed low-carb yet included wheat continued to experience issues like acid reflux, persistent small LDL, high HbA1c, etc. But anecdotal experiences cannot be used as sole proof.

If you've read the book, you will see that there is much more to this argument than my anecdotal experience. The fact that overweight celiac patients, for instance, lose on average 26 pounds in the first six months while not restricting calories, fats, polyunsaturates, etc. is among the arguments that are consistent with this proposition, that wheat underlies many health problems, including overweight.

No doubt: We need more data to fully document the full range of health effects of this incredibly unhealthy creation of geneticists.

Noted. I disagree.

Do one thing: Eliminate wheat. Do not limit calories or portion size.

Weight drops, usually at the rate of one pound per day. I can speculate why and I believe it is partly due to the unusually high glycemic index/insulin triggering. It might be the effects of wheat lectin on leptin receptors. But it is a very real effect.

Hi, Barb-

The most common weight confounder I see is low free T3 values, i.e., low T3 thyroid hormone.

Assess this by checking free T3, as well as reverse T3, along with TSH and free T4. I aim to keep TSH, by the way, 1.0 mIU or lower to maximize weight control, and keep free T3 and free T4 in the upper half of the quoted range, higher for T3 if reverse T3 is high.

The cortisol curve can also uncover high cortisol levels that can counteract the effects of your otherwise excellent diet.

"Weight drops, usually at the rate of one pound per day."

I'm having a very tough time envisioning that, especially if a person eliminates wheat without altering calorie intake and portion size. Let's assume the average sedentary obese person requires 2500 calories a day - a reasonable estimate I would say. If they stopped eating completely, a 2500 calorie deficit would amount to less than 3/4 of a pound weight loss per day. So how could they possibly maintain portion size and lose an entire pound per day? Perhaps if wheat was causing them sever water retention, and avoidance of wheat remedied that and led to massive amount of weight loss from water. But I doubt that is what you meant.
Did you mean to say a pound per week?

Thank you so much Dr. Davis!
I will take this information in to my docs... I have a feeling that I will get further with my ND than I will with my MD.

Thanks so much, and do not be discouraged by the naysayers. Cognitive dissonance can be a very unpleasant thing!

Barb

Nope. Literally a pound per day. I know it sounds crazy.

I don't know why. It certainly defies the "calorie in, calorie out idea." Calorie intake drops, on average, only 400 calories per day, so why would someone lose the equivalent of 3500 calories? It is definitely partly water weight, but there is a visible loss of abdominal fat for most people.

It's not everyone, of course, but a substantial proportion of people.

I was diagnosed with PreDiabetes in August and having a rough time Changing from eating Carbs, like that Bagel you referred to or a few cookies a day, to High Fat and High Protein. I am underweight and Still have around 7 pounds to gain  before I am at my goal. I have only My Diabetic MD who by the way is Diabetic Herself, Promoting me to Give Up the Grains and roots. All other MD's on my team have been against this saying that I am on the Cusp of Prediabetes at 5.7 and should not worry about it. I want to PREVENT being Diabetic, not come to them AFTER the fact. By the way, I have very HIGH cholesterol, so what you are saying sure seems to go right along with my Diabetic. MD. I feel torn because I know I need to gain weight and How Possibly DO I GAIN WHEN I LEAVE OFF FOODS THAT WILL HELP ME GAIN? Please respond if ANYONE has any advice. I am OPEN TO LISTEN.  I also dont feel the best after eating Sugars, but Crave them. Once I eat them, then I feel worse. CYCLE BEGINS AGAIN.

Hi, Tammy--

Tough situation.

While slashing carbs will reduce HbA1c and blood glucose, the fact that you are underweight yet still diabetic raises some unique issues. This may not be the run of the mill diabetes, but another condition such as the so-called late-onset diabetes of adulthood, a form of diabetes with features that overlap with type 1. So the comments directed at the very common overweight type 2 may not fully apply to you.

Let us know what you learn.

Dr D

I was wondering when you advise to eliminate wheat, does the same go for oats and oat bran too? Does this effect prediabetics the same way as wheat. I am very interested in your response.
thank you

Andrew

Hi, Andrew--

The problem with oats is somewhat different: It is a blood sugar and carbohydrate issue.

If you were to check a blood sugar 1-hour after a bowl of unsweetened whole oats, you would see sky-high blood sugars. So we do not include oat products in any form in the diet.

Here I was thinking that oat bran for breakfast was a good choice. Thanks Doctor D for the response

Hi Doc,

While I've significantly reduced the amount of carbs/wheat I eat, I often still find myself in situations where I can't avoid it (out with coworkers, and the run, etc).

My resting blood glucose was a little high on my last physical (105), so I want to keep an eye on things.

My question is this:   If you are stuck eating a meal that is going to spike your blood sugar, when would be the best time to take a 15-30min walk to try to help your muscles absorb some of the glucose?  I know insulin peaks around 90min afterwards or so.

Would I be better off walking immediately after eating (to start the glucose absorption right away), or delaying around an hour and then walking?

Could there be a beneficial increasing metabolic rate accounting for at least some of this weight loss? I used to be able to eat untold numbers of calories when I was (much) younger, without gaining weight. Quite a typical situation.
Now, if I could just get that quicker metabolism again  

Question - so, if I eliminate the modern wheat you are talkiing about, what about some of
the other grains that are being used? For example:
"Ancient grains", such as kamut and spelt. They taste great and if they are truly ancient grains
they wouldn't have the integral problems.

[...] http://blog.trackyourplaque.com/2011/10/why-wheat-makes-you-fat.html [...]

I've lost 52# and maintained the loss for 16 months. My total cholesterol went from 243 to 285. My HDL went from 58 to 91. Doctor wanted to put me on a statin. I said no because I don't tolerate them (muscle pain and very poor test results) and wanted a diagnosis of CHD if I was to undergo medical treatment for that condition. A coronary calcium scan showed 0 in 2, a 100 in one and 329 in the left anterior descending. Cardiologist ordered nuclear and treadmill stress tests with neither showing any restrictions in flow or supply to the heart. So, he says to exercise vigorously 5x week/1hr daily and exercise is 70% of my treatment, diet 20% and medication would be 10% if I took the statin which I am not.  Neither my Doc or the Cardiologist knew what the VAP scores of the fractionated LDL scores meant (117 1-2, 43 3-4) but the both recommended a low fat diet and the cardiologist told me to buy and follow Dean Ornish's newest book Spectrum.
1. Are all fractionated LDL tests of the same quality or is there one best?
2.  Why is this called a disease and not a condition?  How am I to know if any treatment is proceeding successfully other than I'm not dead?  
3. Years ago a physician put me on a synthetic Throid supplement to eliminate the possibility of thyroid cancer since he thought he could feel the thyroid and I had been treated with X-Ray to the head in 1946 for ringworm. My TSH scores have remained within the boundaries pretty well although my T4Free was 244.  Any comment.
4. I was diagnosed 33 years ago as being hypoglycemic and carried sugar with me to treat low blood sugar while exercising etc.  my CRP score is just over 1, well within the test limits of the tests I take. But that is 2x your recommendation of no more tham .5. BTW, since low carb, I've not had low blood sugar event and my tested glucose runs 90.  Is it likely that this hypoglycemic condition related to inflammation and arteriosclerosis?
5.  I'm taking antioxidant supplements, lumbrokinase, L-Carnitine, no flush Niacin, Vit D3 (6000 IU)
6.  I'm 73, no illnesses of consequence, blood pressure of 105/65.  I live in Naples FL. There are no cardiologistts I've heard of down here willing to discuss any regimen other than low fat and statins along with exercise. Do you have a colleague within 200 miles?  

Thank you for your work. I think my promoting your work along with Gary Taubes has caused a 500 lb weight loss for me and our friends and a nice, fat increase in HDL.