Apo E4 and sterols: Lethal combination?

11. February 2011 William Davis (24)
Phytosterols, or just "sterols" to its friends and neighbors, are a group of cholesterol-like compounds that are abundant in the plant world. Lately, however, sterols have proliferated in the processed food supply, thanks to the observation that sterols reduce LDL cholesterol when ingested by humans.

This must mean that sterols are good for you.

Uh oh. Wait a minute: There is a rare disease called sitosterolemia in which there is unimpeded intestinal absorption of all sterols ingested through diet. They must have really low LDL cholesterols! Nope. They develop coronary disease--heart attacks, angina, etc.--in their late teens and 20s. In other words, if sterols gain access to your bloodstream, they are bad. Very bad.

Conventional thinking is that only a modest quantity of dietary sterols gain access to the bloodstream. But there are two potentially fatal flaws in this overly simplistic line of thinking:

1) What happens when you load up your diet with "heart healthy" sterols, such as those in "heart healthy" margarines, mayonnaise, and yogurt, effectively increasing sterol intake 10-fold?

2) What happens in people with the genetic pattern, apo E4, that is carried by 25% of the general population that permits much greater intestinal absorption of sterols?

My prediction: Despite the fact that sterols reduce LDL, they may, in certain genetically-susceptible people, such as those with apo E4, increase risk for heart disease: heart unhealthy.

Here are two studies that suggest that greater sterol absorption in people without sitosterolemia are at higher risk for heart disease:

Alterations in cholesterol absorption/synthesis markers characterize Framingham offspring study participants with CHD

Plasma sitosterol elevations are associated with an increased incidence of coronary events in men: results of a nested case-control analysis of the Prospective Cardiovascular Münster (PROCAM) study

Glucomania

8. February 2011 William Davis (52)
As I suggested in a previous Heart Scan Blog post, a glucose meter is your best tool to:

1) Lose weight
2) Cure diabetes
3) Reduce or eliminate small LDL particles
4) Achieve anti-aging or age-slowing effects

But it means getting hold of a glucose meter and applying it in a very different way.

Diabetics typically check fasting morning glucose and again several times during the day to assess medication effects. But you and I can measure blood glucose to assess the immediate effects of food choices--two very different approaches.

The concept is simple: Check a blood glucose just prior to a food or meal of interest, then one hour after finishing.

Let's take two hypothetical breakfasts. First, oatmeal, a so-called "low-glycemic index" food. Slow-cooked, stone ground oatmeal with skim milk, a handful of walnuts, just a few blueberries.

Blood glucose just prior: 95 mg/dl
Blood glucose one hour after finish: 175 mg/dl

I made those numbers up, but this is a fairly typical response for many adults. (This is why "low-glycemic index" is an absurd notion.) This kind of response causes 1) glycation, the adverse effects of glucose modification of proteins that leads to cataracts, kidney disease, cartilage damage and arthritis, atherosclerosis, skin wrinkles, etc., 2) high insulin response that cascades into fat deposition, especially visceral fat ("wheat belly"), and 3) glucotoxicity, i.e., direct damage to the pancreas that can, over years, lead to diabetes.

Next day, let's try a breakfast of 3-egg omelet made with green peppers, sundried tomatoes, and olive oil.

Blood glucose just prior: 95 mg/dl
Blood glucose one hour after finish: 93 mg/dl

This is a meal of virtually zero-glycemic index. This kind of response triggers none of the effects experienced following the oatmeal. Repeated over time and you fail to trigger glycation, you stop provoking insulin, and visceral fat mobilizes rather than accumulates: you lose weight, particularly around the middle.

We therefore aim to keep the one-hour blood glucose 100 mg/dl or less. If you start with a high fasting blood glucose of, say, 118 mg/dl, then we aim to keep the one-hour after-eating blood glucose no higher than the pre-meal.

It works. Plain and simple.

This makes the primary care docs crazy: "How dare you check your blood sugar! You're not diabetic." In truth, blood glucose meters are relatively simple devices to use. The test strips and lancets will cost a few bucks. (The meters themselves are either low-cost or free, just like Gillette sometimes sends you a beautiful new razor for free but expects you to buy the blades). These are direct-to-consumer products. While a prescription written by your doctor for a glucose meter and supplies helps insurance cover the costs, you can easily get these devices without a prescription. Some stores, like Target, keep their devices out on the shelves with the shampoo and bath soap.

Warning: Anyone taking diabetes drugs will have to consult with their doctors about the safety of such an approach. Because this approach can actually cure diabetes in some people, if you are taking some diabetes drugs, especially glyburide, glipidize, and glimepiride, you can experience dangerously low blood sugars, just as any non-diabetic taking these drugs would.

Diarrhea, runny noses, and rage: Poll results

6. February 2011 William Davis (19)
Here are the results of the week-long poll asking the question:

Have you experienced a wheat re-exposure syndrome?
Yes, undesirable gastrointestinal effects 223 (41%)
Yes, asthma or sinus problems 51 (9%)

Yes, joint pains and/or swelling 85 (15%)

Yes, emotional or other nervous system effects 59 (10%)
No, nothing, nada  107 (19%)

No. Wheat is sacred and you're all nuts  13 (2%)


There are several interesting observations to make from this informal poll. First, as I have observed, the most common wheat re-exposure syndrome is gastrointestinal, usually involving cramps, diarrhea, and lame explanations to your dinner partner.

Second most common: joint pains and/or swelling.

Third: asthma or sinus congestion.

The incidence of emotional or nervous system effects surprised me a bit. I didn't expect 10% of people to share this effect. This is an effect I also experience personally, along with the gastrointestinal consequences.

To be sure, this is a skewed poll, since many people likely come to this blog in the first place because of such issues. But I was nonetheless impressed with the relatively modest proportion of people who did not share such a re-exposure syndrome: only 19%.

Beyond the interesting numbers provided by readers, a good many also provided some fascinating and graphic comments. Here's a sample:




Sassy said:

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.
Anonymous said:
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 2 eggs and 2 bacon and I could go 5 hours before hunger, or 2 eggs and 2 bacon and toast was good for three hours before hunger. That was the final step to giving up wheat. Now three years and 59 Kg [130 lbs!] 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.

Anna said:
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.

Mark said:
Cureality | Real People Seeking Real Cures

Why haven't you heard about lipoprotein(a)?

1. July 2010 William Davis (26)
Lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), is the combined product of a low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particle joined with the liver-produced protein, apoprotein(a).

Apoprotein(a)'s characteristics are genetically-determined: If your Mom gave the gene to you, you will have the same type of apoprotein(a) as she did. You will also share her risk for heart disease and stroke.

When apoprotein(a) joins with LDL, the combined Lp(a) particle is among the most aggressive known causes for coronary and carotid plaque. If apoprotein(a) joins with a small LDL, the Lp(a) particle that results is especially aggressive. This is the pattern I see, for instance, in people who have heart attacks or have high heart scan scores in their 40s or 50s.

Lp(a) is not rare. Estimates of incidence vary from population to population. In the population I see, who often come to me because they have positive heart scan scores or existing coronary disease (in other words, a "skewed" or "selected" population), approximately 30% express substantial blood levels of Lp(a).

Then why haven't you heard about Lp(a)? If it is an aggressive, perhaps the MOST aggressive known cause for heart disease and stroke, why isn't Lp(a)featured in news reports, Oprah, or The Health Channel?

Easy: Because the treatments are nutritional and inexpensive.

The expression of Lp(a), despite being a genetically-programmed characteristic, can be modified; it can be reduced. In fact, of the five people who have reduced their coronary calcium (heart scan) score the most in the Track Your Plaque program, four have Lp(a). While sometimes difficult to gain control over, people with Lp(a) represent some of the biggest success stories in the Track Your Plaque program.

Treatments for Lp(a) include (in order of my current preference):

1) High-dose fish oil--We currently use 6000 mg EPA + DHA per day
2) Niacin
3) DHEA
4) Thyroid normalization--especially T3

Hormonal strategies beyond DHEA can exert a small Lp(a)-reducing effect: testosterone for men, estrogens (human, no horse!) for women.

In other words, there is no high-ticket pharmaceutical treatment for Lp(a). All the treatments are either nutritional, like high-dose fish oil, or low-cost generic drugs, like liothyronine (T3) or Armour thyroid.

That is the sad state of affairs in healthcare today: If there is no money to be made by the pharmaceutical industry, then there are no sexy sales representatives to promote a new drug to the gullible practicing physician. Because most education for physicians is provided by the drug industry today, no drug marketing means no awareness of this aggressive cause for heart disease and stroke called Lp(a). (When a drug manufacturer finally releases a prescription agent effective for reducing Lp(a), such as eprotirome, then you'll see TV ads, magazine stories, and TV talk show discussions about the importance of Lp(a). That's how the world works.)

Now you know better.

How to have a heart attack in 10 easy steps

29. June 2010 William Davis (48)
If you would like to plan a heart attack in your future, here are some easy-to-follow steps to get you there in just a few short months or years:


1) Follow a low-fat diet.

2) Replace fat calories with "healthy whole grains" like whole wheat bread.

3) Eat "heart healthy" foods like heart healthy yogurt and breakfast cereals from the grocery store.

4) Use cholesterol-reducing plant sterols.

5) Take a multivitamin to obtain all the "necessary" nutrients.

6) Take the advice of your doctor who declares your heart "in great shape" based on your cholesterol values.

7) Take the advice of your cardiologist who declares your heart "like that of a 30-year old" based on a stress test.

8) Take a statin drug to reduce LDL and c-reactive protein while maintaining your low-fat diet.

9) Neglect sun exposure and vitamin D restoration.

10) Limit your salt intake while not supplementing iodine.



There you have it: An easy, 10-step process to do your part to help your local hospital add on its next $40 million heart care center.

If you would instead like to prevent a heart attack in your future, then you should consider not doing any of the above.

Kick inflammation in the butt

25. June 2010 William Davis (0)
C-reactive protein, or CRP, is a protein produced by the liver in response to inflammatory signals its receives. Thus, CRP has emerged as a popular measure to gauge the underlying inflammatory status of your body. Higher CRP levels (e.g., 3.0 mg/L or greater) are associated with increased risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular events.

The drug cartel have jumped on this with the assistance of Harvard cardiologist, Dr. Paul Ridker. Most physicians now regard increased CRP as a mandate to institute statin therapy, preferably at high doses based on such studies as The JUPITER Trial, in which rosuvastatin (Crestor), 20 mg per day, reduced CRP 37%.

I see this differently. Two strategies drop CRP dramatically, nearly to zero with rare exception: Vitamin D restoration and wheat elimination. Not 37%, but something close to 100%.

Yes, I know it sounds wacky. But it works almost without fail, provided the rest of your life is conducted in reasonably healthy fashion, i.e., you don't live on Coca Cola, weigh 80 lbs over ideal weight, and smoke.

How can something so easily reduced like CRP mean you "need" medication? Easy: Increased CRP means there are fundamental deficiencies and/or inflammation provoking foods in your diet. Correct neither and there is an apparent benefit to taking a statin drug.

Why not just correct the underlying causes?

Life without Lipitor

25. June 2010 William Davis (17)
One of the most common reasons people come to my office is to correct high cholesterol values without Lipitor. (Substitute "Lipitor" with Crestor, simvastatin, Vytorin, or any of the other cholesterol drugs; it's much the same.)

In the world of conventional healthcare, in which you are instructed to follow a diet that increases risk for heart disease and not advised to correct nutrient deficiencies like vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, then a drug like Lipitor may indeed provide benefit.

But when you are provided genuinely effective information on diet, along with correction of nutrient deficiencies, then the "need" and apparent benefits of Lipitor largely dissolve. While there are occasional genetic anomalies that can improve with use of Lipitor and other statins, many, perhaps most, people taking these drugs really would not have to if they were just provided the right information.

Anyone following the discussions on these pages knows that wheat elimination is probably one of the most powerful overall health strategies available. Wheat elimination reduces real measured LDL quite dramatically. Provided you limit other carbohydrates, such as those from fruits, as well, LDL can drop like a stone. That's not what your doctor tells you. This approach works because elimination of wheat and limiting other carbohydrates reduces small LDL. Small LDL particles are triggered by carbohydrates, especially wheat; reducing carbohydrates reduces small LDL. Conventional LDL of the sort obtained in your doctor's office will not show this, since it is a calculated value that appears to increase with reduced carbohydrates, a misleading result.

Throw vitamin D normalization and iodine + thyroid normalization into the mix (both are exceptionally common), and you have two additional potent means to reduce (measured) LDL. Not restricting fat but increasing healthy fat intake, such as the fats in lots of raw nuts, olive oil, and flaxseed oil reduce LDL.

While I still prescribe statins now and then, a growing number of people are succeeding without them.

(Note that by "measured" LDL I am referring to the "gold standard," LDL particle number by NMR provided by Liposcience. A second best is measured Apoprotein B available through most conventional labs.)

In search of wheat: Emmer

23. June 2010 William Davis (13)
While einkorn is a 14-chromosome ancient wheat (containing the so-called "A" genome), emmer is a 28-chromosome wheat (containing the "A" and "B" genomes, the "B" likely contributed by goat grass 9000 years ago).

Both einkorn and emmer originally grew wild in the Fertile Crescent, allowing Neolithic Natufians to harvest the wild grasses with stone sickles and grind the seeds into porridge.

Having tested einkorn with only a modest rise in blood sugar but without the gastrointestinal or neurological effects I experienced with conventional whole wheat bread, I next tested bread made with emmer grain.

The emmer grain was ground just like the other two grains, cardiac dietitian Margaret Pfeiffer doing all the work of grinding and baking. Margaret added nothing but water, yeast, and a little salt. The emmer rose a little more than einkorn, but not to the degree of conventional whole wheat.

I tested my blood sugar beforehand: 89 mg/dl. I then ate 4 oz of the emmer bread. It tasted very similar to conventional whole wheat, but not as nutty as einkorn. Also not as heavy as einkorn, only slightly heavier than conventional whole wheat.

One hour later, blood sugar: 147 mg/dl. I felt slightly queasy for about 2-3 hours, but that was the end of it. No abdominal cramps, no sleep disturbance or crazy dreams, no nausea, no change in ability to concentrate.

I asked four other wheat-sensitive people to try the emmer bread. Likewise, nobody reacted negatively (though nobody tested blood sugar).

So it seems to me, based on this small, unscientific experience, that ancient einkorn (A) and emmer (AB) wheat seem to act like carbohydrates, similar to, say, rice or quinoa, but lack many of the other adverse effects induced by conventional wheat.

Modern wheat , Triticum aestivum, contains variations on the "A," "B," and "D" genomes, the "D" contributed by hybridization with Triticum tauschii at about the same time that emmer wheat hybridization occurred. It is likely that proteins coded by the "D" genome are the source of most of the problems with wheat products: immune, neurologic, gastrointestinal destruction, airway inflammation (asthma), increase in appetite, etc. This is consistent with observations made in studies that attempt to pinpoint the gliadin proteins that trigger celiac, the area in which much of this research originates.

If I ever would like an indulgence of cookies or cupcakes, I think that I will order some more einkorn grain from Eli Rogosa.

In search of wheat: Another einkorn experience

23. June 2010 William Davis (6)
Lisa is a trained dietitian. Unlike many of her colleagues, she has "seen the light" and realized that the conventional advice that most dietitians are forced to dispense through hospitals, clinics, and other facilities is just plain wrong. 

I know Lisa personally and we've had some great conversations on diet and nutritional supplements. I told Lisa about my einkorn experience and how I witnessed a dramatic difference between bread made from einkorn wheat and that made from conventional whole wheat. So she decided to give it a try herself. 

Here's Lisa's experience:


This past Friday, June 18th, I conducted my "Einkorn Wheat Experiment".

7 am 
FBG [fasting blood glucose] 97 mg/dl

8 am-9 am 
1 hour high-intensity aerobic workout

10:05 am 
BG 99

10:05 am 
I embarked upon the journey of choking down, I mean enjoying, the hefty piece of Einkorn bread. Wow, was that bread dense!  It was a lot of work chewing. 

10:50 am 
(45 minutes after consumption, wanted to see what BG did a bit before the 1 hr mark)  BG 153

11:05 am 
1hr PP 120

11:35 am 
90 mins PP [postprandial] 113

12:05 pm 
2 hours PP  114 ... at this time I ate an egg & veggie omelet for lunch.

12:50 pm 
BG 100

Before dinner 5:10 pm 
BG 88

I was surprised with the BG of 153. However, it was good to see my insulin response is reactive and decreased BG 33 points in 15 minutes to end up with a BG of 120 1 hr after the bread.  

So, it appears my response is similar. A slight elevation of BG at the 1 hour mark, but not to the degree of conventional whole grain wheat bread.  

Of note, also, was the fact that I cannot remember the last time I ate a piece of wheat bread of this magnitude that did not make me bloated... not at all: No cramps, no brain fog, no headache and, did I mention not bloated?  

I believe you are on to something with tolerance of Einkorn wheat for those of us with wheat sensitivities, in addition to its apparent lower glycemic response.

Along with Lisa, I asked four other people with various acute intolerances (all gastrointestinal) to conventional wheat, i.e., people who experience undesirable effects from wheat within minutes to several hours, to eat the einkorn bread. None experienced their usual reactions.

Obviously, this does not constitute a clinical trial. Nonetheless, I find this a compelling observation: People like myself who generally experience distinct undesirable reactions to wheat did not experience these reactions with einkorn.

Note, however, that einkorn behaves like a carbohydrate. No different, say, from brown rice or quinoa. However, unlike modern whole wheat flour from Triticum aestivum,  in this little experience there were no immune reactions, no neurologic phenomena, no gastrointestinal distress--just the blood sugar consequences.

While this may not be true for all people consuming einkorn, it suggests that primordial einkorn wheat is quite different from modern conventional wheat for most people.

Increased blood calcium and vitamin D

21. June 2010 William Davis (50)
Conventional advice tells us to supplement calcium, 1200 mg per day, to preserve bone health and reduce blood pressure.

Here's a curious observation I've now witnessed a number of times: Some people who supplement this dose of calcium while also supplementing vitamin D sufficient to increase 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood levels to 60-70 ng/ml develop abnormally high levels of blood calcium, hypercalcemia.

This makes sense when you realize that intestinal absorption of calcium doubles or quadruples when vitamin D approaches desirable levels. Full restoration of vitamin D therefore causes a large quantity of calcium to be absorbed, more than you may need. In addition, two studies from New Zealand suggest that 1200-1300 mg calcium with vitamin D per day doubles heart attack risk.

We have 20 years of clinical studies demonstrating the very small benefits of supplementing calcium to stop or slow the deterioration of bone density (osteopenia, osteoporosis). These studies were performed with no vitamin D or with trivial doses, too small to make a difference. I believe those data have been made irrelevant in the modern age in which we "normalize" vitamin D.

Should hypercalcemia develop, it is not good for you. Over long periods of time, abnormal calcium deposition can occur, leading to kidney stones, atherosclerosis, and arthritis.

Until we have clarification on this issue, I have been advising patients to take no more than 600 mg calcium supplements per day. I suspect, however, that the vast majority of us require no calcium at all, provided an overall healthy diet is followed, especially one that does not leach out bone calcium. This means no foods like those made with wheat or containing powerful acids, such as those in carbonated drinks.

Heart health consultation with Dr. Joe D. Goldstrich

20. June 2010 William Davis (3)
Cardiologist, nutritionist, and lipidologist, Dr. Joe D. Goldstrich, is a frequent contributor to the Track Your Plaque Forum, where we discuss the full range of issues relevant to coronary health and coronary plaque reversal.

I have come to value Dr. Goldstrich's unique insights, especially in nutrition. Formerly National Director of Education and Community Programs for the American Heart Association and a physician at the Pritikin Center, his dietary philosophy has evolved away from low-fat and towards a low-carbohydrate focus, much as we use in Track Your Plaque. Like TYP, Dr. Goldstrich is always searching for better answers to gain control over coronary health. His unique blend of ideas and background has helped us craft new ideas and strategies. Dr. Goldstrich has proven especially adept at understanding how to incorporate new findings from clinical studies in our framework of coronary atherosclerotic plaque management strategies.

Dr. Goldstrich is offering to share his expertise with our online community. If you would like a one-on-one phone consultation with Dr. Goldstrich, you can arrange to speak with him at his HealthyHeartConsultant.com website.

Wheat aftermath

16. June 2010 William Davis (18)
Following my 4 oz whole wheat misadventure that yielded the sky-high blood sugar of 167 mg/dl, compared to einkorn wheat's 110 mg/dl, I suffered through a 36-hour period of misery.

After I obtained the blood sugar of 167 mg/dl, I biked hard for one hour. This yielded a blood sugar back down in the 80s. I felt spacey in the ensuing few hours, as well as a little queasy. However, about 12 hours later, I awoke with overwhelming nausea along with that hypersalivating thing that happens just prior to vomiting. It did not come to that, but persisted all through the following day.

The next morning, I could barely concentrate. Trying to read a study (admittedly on the complex topic of agricultural genetics), I had to read each paragraph 4 or 5 times. Abdominal cramps and a bloated feeling also developed, though I was able to eat.

The 2nd night was filled with incredibly vivid dreams and intermittent sleeplessless. I awoke about 5 times through the night, but periods of sleep were filled with detailed, colorful dreams. I dreamt that a large corporation was secretly trying to gain control over the world's water supply, and I snuck onto a complex underwater vessel that was exploring and mapping the coastline of the Great Lakes in preparation. Weird.

I recognized these odd feelings as various facets of wheat intolerance, since they were all reminiscent of feelings I used to experience before I removed wheat from my diet. They were amplified and compressed, likely because I had been wheat-free for so long.

The odd thing is that, despite the modest blood sugar effect of my einkorn experience, none of the gastrointestinal or neurologic effects of wheat developed. So far, two other people with acute gastrointestinal wheat sensitivities have consumed our einkorn bread, also without reproduction of their usual symptoms.

Einkorn contains gluten, though the structure of the many gluten proteins of einkorn differs from that of the wheat bread I consumed, an example of modern Triticum aestivum. 14-chromosome einkorn carries what biologists call the "A" genome, while Triticum aestivum has the combines genomes of 3 plants, the combination of the A, B, and D genomes. It is the D genome that contains the genes coding for the most obnoxious, immunogenic forms of gluten.

So einkorn may not be entirely benign, but it is a good deal less obnoxious than modern Triticum aestivum.

I am awaiting the reports from a few other people on their experiences.

In search of wheat: Einkorn and blood sugar

14. June 2010 William Davis (32)
There are three basic aspects of wheat's adverse health effects: immune activation (e.g., celiac disease), neurologic implications (e.g., schizophrenia and ADHD), and blood sugar effects.

Among the questions I'd like answered is whether ancient wheat, such as the einkorn grain I obtained from Eli Rogosa, triggers blood sugar like modern wheat.

So I conducted a simple experiment on myself. On an empty stomach, I ate 4 oz of einkorn bread. On another occasion I ate 4 oz of bread that dietitian, Margaret Pfeiffer, made with whole wheat flour bought at the grocery store. Both flours were finely ground and nothing was added beyond water, yeast, olive oil, and a touch of salt.

Here's what happened:

Einkorn wheat bread:

Blood sugar pre: 84 mg/dl
Blood sugar 1-hour post: 110 mg/dl

Conventional wheat bread
Blood sugar pre: 84 mg/dl
Blood sugar 1-hour post: 167 mg/dl

The difference shocked me. I expected a difference between the two, but not that much.

After the conventional wheat, I also felt weird: a little queasy, some acid in the back of my throat, a little spacey. I biked for an hour solid to reduce my blood sugar back to its starting level.

I'm awaiting the experiences of others, but I'm tantalized by the possibility that, while einkorn is still a source of carbohydrates, perhaps it is one of an entirely different variety than modern Triticum aestivum wheat. The striking difference in blood sugar effects make me wonder if einkorn eaten in small quantities can keep us below the Advanced Glycation End-Product threshold.
 

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