Unexpected effects of a wheat-free diet

17. September 2009 William Davis (59)
Wheat elimination continues to yield explosive and unexpected health benefits.

I initially asked patients in the office to eliminate wheat because I wanted to help them reduce blood sugar and pre-diabetic tendencies.

A patient would come to the office, for example, with a blood sugar of 118 mg/dl (in the pre-diabetic range) and the other phenomena of pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, high inflammation/c-reactive protein, low HDL, high triglycerides, small LDL), and the characteristic wheat belly. Eliminate wheat and, within three months, they lose 30 lbs, blood sugar drops to normal, blood pressure drops, triglycerides drop by several hundred milligrams, HDL goes up, small LDL plummets, c-reactive protein drops.

People also felt better, with flat tummies and more energy. But they also developed benefits I did not anticipate:

--Improved rheumatoid arthritis--I have seen this time and time again. Eliminate wheat and the painful thumbs, fingers, and other joints clear up dramatically. Many former rheumatoid sufferers people tell me that one cracker or pretzel will trigger a painful throbbing reminder that lasts a couple of hours.

--Improved ulcerative colitis--People incapacitated with pain, cramping, and diarrhea of ulcerative colitis (who are negative for the antibodies for celiac disease) can experience marked improvement. I've seen people be able to stop all their nasty colitis medications just by eliminating wheat.

--Reduction or elimination of irritable bowel syndrome

--Reduction or elimination of gastroesophageal reflux

--Better mood--Eliminating wheat makes you happier and experience more stable moods. Just as wheat is responsible for a subset of schizophrenia and bipolar illness (this is fact), and wheat elimination generates dramatic improvement, when you or I eliminate wheat, we also experience a "smoothing" of mood swings.

--Better libido--I'm not sure whether this is a consequence of losing a belly the size of a watermelon or improvement in sex hormones (esp. testosterone) or endothelial responses, but more interest in sex typically develops.

--Better complexion--I'm not entirely sure why, but various rashes will often dissipate, bags under the eyes are reduced, itching in funny places stops.


It's also peculiar how, after someone eliminates wheat for several months, re-exposure of an errant cracker or sandwich results in cramping and diarrhea in about 30% of people.

Obviously, people with celiac disease, who can even die of exposure to wheat, are even worse. What other common food do you know of that makes us sick so often, even occasionally with fatal outcome?
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Comments (59) -

  • Olga

    9/17/2009 1:08:20 PM |

    Hi Dr. Davis:

    Are you familiar with Dr. Wolfgang Lutz from Austria.  He has a book entitled "Life Without Bread."  He has been treating patients with a low carbohydrates diet for over 40 years and he has seen improvements in the same conditions in his patients.  In his book he presents data from his patients over the last 40 years and it's very impressive.  Here is the amazon.com link to the book:
    http://www.amazon.com/Life-Without-Bread-Low-Carbohydrate-Diet/dp/0658001701/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253192708&sr=8-1

    Thanks so much for writing this blog.

  • Adam Wilk

    9/17/2009 1:23:39 PM |

    I absolutely agree with what you're saying here--for the most part, I do not eat wheat, but I must tell you, the desire for any wheat product never leaves (in my case, anyway) and is frequently craved--but what a punishment for indulging, even once in a great while:
    A few days ago, whilst enjoying a delicious mostly protein and fat dinner at Outback, my wheat devil got the best of me, and I took a mere slice of that delicious bread they put on the table, with a generous pat of butter.  Within 5-10 minutes, I literally felt my nose and sinuses swelling up on me.  Not fair, but reality.
    Hmmph.

  • Helena

    9/17/2009 1:43:44 PM |

    Oh this is so true! I love myself when I stop eating wheat and a lot of sugars - can't get enough sex och have much more energy!

    But from time to time I fall back and just crave that pasta... and every time I do, I regret it; Stomach cramps is always what will be served for dessert!

  • Anonymous

    9/17/2009 2:35:30 PM |

    Dairy and lots of sugar.
    But wheat might be the worst.

  • Susan

    9/17/2009 2:48:41 PM |

    Two years ago, my knees hurt so badly that I avoided sitting in low chairs (I couldn't get out of them) and I was "one-footing" stairs. Then I went on a low-carb diet and the pain cleared up. I failed to put two and two together until a trip to France where I "allowed" myself small amounts of bread and suddenly it became important to know if a metro stop had an escalator. Now I know that eating wheat will result in knee pain 48 hours later.

    Fast forward to this summer when my 24-year-old daughter was having stomach pain--it was after meals, but sometimes the pain woke her in the night. "Heartburn," said her physician, maybe related to stress, and put her on Nexium for a month to see if it cleared up. It did, but returned when her prescription was over. Having read about the side effects of PPI use, I suggested to my daughter that she consider eliminating gluten and/or milk products for a while to see if that helped. She did (although she whimpered a bit about giving up beer). The pain disappeared almost immediately, and a bit of experimentation showed that it was wheat and only wheat that caused the pain (cheers).

    When my daughter described the pain, I realized that I had the same symptom when I was her age, but I didn't have it looked into because it never lasted long enough to bother with (I'm one of those doctors' kids who avoid doctors).

    So my question is, in light of all of the signs that point to wheat intolerance as a cause of gastrointestinal distress and joint pain and a whole lot of other things, why is eliminating wheat not the first course of action?

    By the way, I found the recent article in Scientific American on celiac disease, leaky gut and automimmune disease to be very interesting.

  • Chris

    9/17/2009 3:37:49 PM |

    Does wheat elimination include eliminating beer, particularly, wheat beer?

    It's the only wheat--or grain for that matter--in my regular diet.

  • Gretchen

    9/17/2009 6:25:00 PM |

    "after someone eliminates wheat for several months, re-exposure of an errant cracker or sandwich results in cramping and diarrhea in about 30% of people."

    I gave up wheat a long time ago when I found it triggered acid reflux. And I found just the opposite.

    As long as I didn't eat wheat regularly, I could have the occasional wheat with no problems.

  • Anonymous

    9/17/2009 8:01:42 PM |

    Does anyone know if Ezekial 100% sprouted whole grain bread (yes contains some sprouted wheat + many other grains) is still considered "wheat" as I want to have a zero wheat diet.  Hmmm  think I just answered by own question.  thanks!

  • Dr. William Davis

    9/17/2009 9:06:54 PM |

    Hi, Chris--

    Beer is clearly the least desirable of all alcoholic beverages, partly because of its wheat origin. However, perhaps because of fermentation or some other modification, it doesn't seem to exert all the adverse effects of other products, though celiacs will still react to the gluten.

    Anon--

    Likewise with Ezekiel. I believe it's better, though not necessarily perfect. It still trigers carbohydrate responses.

  • Dr. William Davis

    9/17/2009 9:07:33 PM |

    Hi, Olga--

    Amazing how we are re-learning many lessons learned previously before drugs and fancy hospital procedures.

  • Sara

    9/17/2009 9:29:02 PM |

    Another factor in the increased libido may be a reversal of very early nerve damage from high glucose levels. Peripheral neuropathy starts at blood glucose levels that are not really very high at all -- around 140mg/dL, which a person may be seeing after meals for YEARS before they hit the diabetic diagnostic criteria of 180mg/dL after meals or 126mg/dL fasting (and very many diabetics do have measurable neuropathy at diagnosis, for exactly this reason). People worry about their feet when they're considering diabetic neuropathy, but ALL the nerves are adversely affected by being bathed in excessive glucose, and those in the sexual organs are among the most sensitive; I think it's a reasonable theory that one would see a decrease of sensation there even before you have measurable effects in the hands and feet. Fortunately, if neuropathy isn't very advanced, it can be reversed by getting blood glucose under control, and of course that would improve sensation and increase the enjoyability of sexual activity, which would naturally factor into the desire for same. I'm sure there's more to the story, including some or all of the factors you've named, but I think this is probably part of it too.

  • Thomas

    9/17/2009 10:11:38 PM |

    How do the various grains compare: wheat, rye, barley, corn, rice etc.?

  • Robert McLeod

    9/17/2009 10:16:22 PM |

    It's called wheat allergy, look it up.  Different antibodies to celiac, different symptoms, but same cause and same cure.

  • William Trumbower

    9/17/2009 11:13:05 PM |

    There are gluten free beers available, based on sorgum.  Budweiser makes one called Red Bridge, but there are others on the market.    My sister has active celiac and so I eat an anti-inflamatory gluten-free diet.  Last year at my highschool reunion I had pizza and beer with the boys.  I had bloody stools for several days after!  I believe that most of us are gluten intolerant, that is we cannot really digest the gluten molecule. Many of us develop "leaky gut" from the gluten and then go on to antibody production against the gluten-gliadin molecule.  This protein has several key amino acid sequences in common with tissue proteins in many various organ systems (thyroid, pancreas, adrenal,gut, skin, uterus, placenta  etc) and autoimmune disease begins.  Which organ system is affected depends on your genetic make up.   The persistance of GI docs in refusing to diagnose gluten enteropathy without a small bowel biopsy is amazing to me.  see enterolab.com

  • Anne

    9/18/2009 2:21:33 AM |

    A lifelong depression lifted when I went wheat and gluten free 6 yrs ago. I am 66 years old and I wake up with no joint pain. Peripheral neuropathy is better, but not perfect. I have a long list of health improvements.

    As far as my heart, dropping wheat and gluten totally relieved my pitting leg edema and shortness of breath. I had cardiac bypass over 9 years ago, but I did not start to heal until I went gluten free. I am sure that gluten contributed to my CAD.

    I have no idea what would happen if I were to eat a wheat cracker or a slice of wheat bread. I never want to feel that sick again so I have not been tempted to try even one bite. An accidental crumb is enough to cause my brain to fog and my energy level to bottom out.

    This past year I dropped sugars and all grains in order to level out my blood glucose - this has worked well.

    I have heard the celiac experts say that no one is able to digest wheat well.

  • Anonymous

    9/18/2009 3:30:27 AM |

    Dr. Davis,
    A majority of beer recipes are based on Barley, not wheat. Sure it could contain wheat as an ingredient and most "summer" beers often contain a malted barley/malted wheat mix with the latter as a minor component. Beer (at least other than the generic mass market brews like coors, bud etc) contain substantial polyphenols from hops which I would assume have antioxidant value.

    I don't buy this obsession approach that everything that might contain a grain is probably bad. H1N1 is called the "swine flu" so what has happened; people have stopped eating pork.......  I am grateful for the discussion on this site but just sometimes I get a little disheartened with the  generalizations.
    Trevor

  • Anonymous

    9/18/2009 5:18:01 AM |

    Dr. Davis, my diabetic friend just announced to me today that her Triglycerides dropped from 400 to 200, her total cholesterol dropped to 178 and all other blood values are now within normal range just by changing her diet and eliminating all starchy foods (white and brown rice, all wheat products, etc.). Her wheat-free diet truly gave her some unexpected effects. Josephine

  • Anonymous

    9/18/2009 10:08:32 AM |

    Dr. Davis
    I'm 66 years and was diagnosed with migrene from 20. At 62 I startet to eat lowcarb and high fat. My migrene was gone after 14 days. I thougt that sugar was the worst, but I have come to understand that wheat and barley trigger my headaches more than sugar does.
    Other pleasant side effects are no more anal- itching and nearly no more nightly peeing.

  • William Trumbower

    9/18/2009 1:14:22 PM |

    My concern about the sprouted grain breads is the inclusion of soy.  I am not sure that the sprouting process eliminates all the toxins from soy (phytic acid, estrogen, goiterogens, protease inhibitors etc. ). Traditional cultures often soaked grains, sprouted them, and then used lactofermentation (sourdough)  methods to prepare their breads or porridges.  This reduced many of the toxic portions of the grains, but soy is much more resistant.  Traditional Asian cultures often fermented soy for months before using as food.

  • donny

    9/18/2009 1:33:52 PM |

    Before the phrase "wheat-belly" was phrased, there was the phrase "beer-belly." Personally, I don't care if it's made from barley or wheat, beer poses a clear danger either way.

  • pooklaroux

    9/18/2009 4:50:34 PM |

    I suffered from IBS for years, and discovered the "cure" when I went on Atkins in 1999.  I'm afraid, though that in my case, eliminating wheat alone isn't sufficient, I seem to have problems with any grain that is high in fiber. One or two amaranth based cookies was enough to trigger IBS symptoms for a whole weekend.

  • DropYourAllergies

    9/18/2009 5:34:49 PM |

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  • kris

    9/18/2009 7:55:11 PM |

    Susan,
    couple weeks ago, I had to take a trip and drove for 8 hours right after my hard work out at gym. didnt have time to eat at my regular time. that night i had stomich spasm, so bad that it almost made me cry. (now i am completely wheat free for more than 10 months now). only thing that helped me immediate,was powdered Magnesium. the pain would start around 2am and stay on until I take liquid magnesium. the pain wouldnt go away for week or so. funny thing is that in the morning i would go to gym and workout hard with no pain at all. 4 days ago I had to see my doctor and he put me on on Nexium. That was the first night that there was no pain how ever the side effects of Nexium were sharp headache and stomach spasm for 5 minutes. I think that when body is firing on all cylinders, it is important to eat regularly, small meals, more often.

  • Suresh

    9/18/2009 8:38:46 PM |

    Dr. Davis,

    I have seen the mention of eliminating wheat from the diet in many of your articles. Does that mean something like rice is not as bad as wheat namely is wheat is the worst among the grains rice, barley, corn etc ?

    Thanks!

    -Suresh

  • water

    9/18/2009 9:04:16 PM |

    Sara,

    I found your comments extremely interesting and would like to know more about your research, especially relative to this:
    "those in the sexual organs are among the most sensitive"  Do you have reference I can follow?

    I've been reading about periperhal neuropathy and autonomic neuropathy and this article was particularly interesting:

    Unlike PN, AN is often asymptomatic. Among symptomatic patients (55%), erectile dysfunction seems to be the sole symptom, in line with the higher degree of parasympathetic damage.  

    pns.ucsd.edu/JPNS/Ravaglia.accepted.06.16.04.pdf

    An improvement in his ED was definitely an unexpected results of a gluten free diet (wheat free was not enough), but my spouse saw further improvements without dairy and soy.

  • Anonymous

    9/19/2009 3:23:47 AM |

    William,
    Your comment on the fermentation of soy in Asian cultures appears to imply that this is important to render "safe" food from Soy.  So do you make the same generalization about cow's milk.....? IE it should be cheese and yoghurt before consumption?

    Donny,
    what is the scientific relation between "wheat belly" and "beer belly" ? none, I would argue. Other than both are not desirable and result from over indulgence.

    There are a surprising number of people who are sensitive to specific foods.  I love sushi.  My wife is allergic to raw seafood yet she can down a piece of wheat gluten (seitan) with no affects. I have friends who can't go near gluten without severe cramps. My wife can also eat beef yet it gives me terrible gas. On the other hand, beans have absolutely no impact to my gas productivity.  I write this to highlight that many many people have issues with certain foods while other remain unaffected. YMMV as the saying goes, so lets celebrate those who find relief in changing their diets but lets not claim panacea
    Trevor

  • Dr. William Davis

    9/19/2009 1:59:09 PM |

    Suresh--

    Yes, wheat stands out as a uniquely destructive grain. While other grains can also increase blood sugar and trigger adverse patterns, wheat is undoubtedly the worst. I know of no other grain than wheat that is accompanied by addictive behavior, also.

  • Anonymous

    9/19/2009 3:24:20 PM |

    Re: beer and barley

    Barley also contains gluten, so if you're avoiding wheat because of the gluten, you'll need to avoid barley (and rye) as well.

    Re: rice

    The data that the idiotic "China Study" book is allegedly based on suggest that rice is the best grain to eat if you're going to eat grain. The highest rate of heart disease in China is found in the province where wheat is a dietary staple and little meat is consumed.

  • Anne

    9/19/2009 4:27:57 PM |

    1:100 may have celiac disease, but estimates of those with non-celiac gluten sensitivity range from 10-40% of the population.

    It is true, if you want to be tested for celiac disease(villous atrophy), then you do need to keep eating gluten until the testing is completed. If the tests come out negative it does not mean that you have no problem with gluten. You may still have latent celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, wheat allergy or wheat intolerance. I am beginning to see more journal articles about gluten sensitivity. Dr. Green recently wrote in the JAMA that more attention needs to be given to gluten sensitivity.

    I did not go through blood a biopsy testing as my doctors refused to run these tests. I used Enterolab to confirm I have antibodies to gluten. This was enough proof for me. Enterolab cannot diagnose celiac disease, but it can tell you if you are reacting to gluten and you can be wheat/gluten free for up to 2 years for this test.

    There is nothing dangerous about a gluten free or wheat free diet and, luckily, we don't need a doctor's prescription to change our diet. A gluten free diet can be as healthy or as unhealthy as one wants to make it. Along with gluten free, I follow Dr. Davis' recommendation of a low sugar diet to keep my blood glucose in check.

  • taemo

    9/21/2009 1:23:30 PM |

    Ouch! much sugar? Damn! diabetes is you will get.

  • Anonymous

    9/21/2009 5:20:19 PM |

    Dr. Davis,

    Okay... wheat is BAD.  But... does this include wheat bran, often used as a source of fiber in the diet?  I mean the bran only, NOT wheat germ, or whole wheat, or wheat flours.

    Thanks for all you do!

    madcook

  • Dr. William Davis

    9/21/2009 9:43:47 PM |

    Hi, Mad--

    No, wheat bran is essentially inert. It does not interact with anything and so does not exert any adverse effects. It's like eating wood.

  • Anonymous

    9/22/2009 9:25:21 PM |

    I disagree with wheat bran being inert.  It is a source of phytic acid which has mineral binding properties.  Also, reading sites like FiberMenace.com, bran fiber is certainly not benign.

  • denparser

    9/22/2009 11:40:04 PM |

    @Anonymous (before me)

    I agree with your statement. Its a fact, try read health book.

  • Stan (Heretic)

    9/23/2009 11:48:20 AM |

    I have to mention one more benefit to your list, that I noticed:

    - hugely improved dental health and self-healing (sealing) of damaged teeth.

    We know that wheat's agglutins (WGA) affect and reduce D3 transport, I have a suspicion that wheat may be also interfering with K2 (thus teeth) but haven't seen much esearch on this yet.

    Stan (Heretic)

  • Anonymous

    9/24/2009 7:41:01 PM |

    TedHutchinson, there are many other sources that agree that fiber is not beneficial and is indeed harmful if you don't care for the one referenced.

    Nevertheless, Dr. Davis is incorrect about bran being inert.  It does contain phytic acid which interferes with mineral absorption.  Another reason wheat avoidance helps teeth and bones.

  • dves

    9/27/2009 12:53:06 PM |

    @taemo

    haha. you're right.. control use of sugar to avoid diabetes.

  • denparser

    9/27/2009 12:54:22 PM |

    @Thomas

    it has different nutrition level and most of all, its taste.

  • Anonymous

    9/28/2009 5:34:44 PM |

    I have a question: after spending a year in France, I realized that yes, French people are typically lean and thin, however, they eat so much wheat! Pastries, white pastas, cereals...
    Do French people display the same numbers when it comes to celiacs disease and wheat intolerance? I am curious to know. Or might it have more to do with volume or the fact that their breads are more often homemade? Thoughts?

    I went gluten free for nearly two years and then have been dabbling back into spelt and wheat. My primary reasons for trying the elimination were skin-related (itch, chronic eczema). Sad to say, it don't help much, though I did feel pretty healthy. I just ate a croissant the other day from an organic bakery that stone mills. It was heavan. I didn't feel foggy or anything, so perhaps the key is moderation?
    Anyway, great site, very informative. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on those skinny french people.
    PS-I don't have a weight problem and ironically I didn't lose weight when I went gluten free. Ended up eating more meat (allergic to nuts)...

  • trinkwasser

    10/2/2009 4:03:33 PM |

    Interesting that inflammation would appear to be a component of nearly all these symptoms which wheat elimination "cures".

    My depression and mood swings appear to be closely correlated with blood glucose swings, which may be why that also improves.

    I'm another one for whom wheat bran is not inert: it generates BG spikes, although not to the degree of whole wheat. Lectins, phytic acid or wheat germ agglutinin?

    http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-toxic-is-wheat-well-first-point-is.html

  • Anonymous

    10/3/2009 2:40:52 AM |

    Ted,
    Thanks for the link to the livin lavida low carb site interview with Dr. Davis.  Your links are always informative.
    In my opinion, all newbies visiting this web site should be directed to this reference for a great summary of what is important in taking care of your heart via diet changes. v.cool, thanks
    Trevor

  • Sew Bee It

    10/6/2009 10:28:46 PM |

    I've just found your blog via Feed the Animal, and I'm so happy I did!  Thank you so much for you posts, I'll be reading often.  

    You have a few comments here, but I figured I'd add to your collection of anecdotal evidence:  I'd gone paleo for about a month when I took one 24 hour period off (dinner to dinner).  3/4 of a medium pizza, a snickers bar, 1/2 can pringles, and a dozen chocolate coated gingerbread cookies ended up on the menu.  Within 30 minutes of eating the pizza my heartburn had returned, withing hours of eating bits of the rest I was in PAIN.  Why I kept eating this junk for the next day, I have no idea.  The more of it I ate the worse my stomache got.  Severe upset stomache, badly sufuric burps, bowel discomfort, you name it!  And after that 24 hours I finally reached a level of toxicity where my body literally rejected the food.  So toxic was this junk that use to be "normal" food, that my body threw it up in self defense.  

    Needless to say I'm totally commited to the paleo eating now!

  • Jenny

    10/10/2009 12:59:02 AM |

    What element in wheat are you referring to? everyone needs fiber which is a major component of wheat, people can't be allergic to fiber as their digestive system would pack up if you didn't have any.

  • Anonymous

    10/12/2009 11:24:02 PM |

    Does abstaining from wheat include staying away from spelt and kammut and Emmer wheat as well..or is it the GMO wheat that is the problem?
    Some doctors believe spelt is more digestable than regular wheat.

  • Jamie

    11/2/2009 1:06:55 AM |

    Jenny,

    Not true at all. I eat very little fiber and am more regular and have less digestive issues than I ever have. As long as one eats enough fat, there is no need for fiber.

  • Beverly

    3/28/2010 6:24:41 PM |

    You can get Gluten-Free beer.  One brand is called Red Bridge.  There's another, but I forget the name.  I drink the Red Bridge.  Not bad.

  • Beverly

    3/28/2010 6:48:23 PM |

    Besides, you can get your "roughage" from raw veggies and salad.  I've been low-carb for about 6 wks. now; haven't had any bread, rice, pasta, wheat, etc.  I've never felt better and have more energy.  My brain is functioning better, too.  Also, have lost 4 lbs.

    Beverly

  • Julianne

    6/25/2010 11:17:42 PM |

    Hi Dr Davis,
    Thanks for a great blog.
    I just wanted to share my experience of wheat free (I actually went paleo so fully grain and legume free)
    No more swelling knees. Probably mild auto-immune, mother has it also.
    Large - I mean large and multiple bumps - ganglion cyst that I had for 10 years shrank and disappeared.
    PMS with horrid breast pain - gone.
    Menstrual pain - less with fish oil, gone with paleo.
    Constipation - gone
    Pre-menopausal spotting the week prior to menstruation, had this for 10 years - gone.
    Lost weight - that last 3 pounds that make me look my best.

    I wrote about it here, I for one want to spread the news as a nutritionist.
    http://paleozonenutrition.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/my-nutrition-journey/

  • Alina M

    9/7/2010 1:51:47 PM |

    Is whole grain wheat also harmful?

    Thank your very much for all your information.

  • legend_018

    9/10/2010 1:16:13 AM |

    So people just give up having

    1. bread and butter with meals or crusty bread with pasta
    2. peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tuna fish sandwiches etc.
    3. pancakes

    That seems hard to give up.

  • Anonymous

    9/12/2010 10:03:37 AM |

    As an experiment and in an attempt to lose weight, I put my whole family on a low-carb diet. Cutting out wheat was part of it.
    My husband has suffered from a mild type of colitis for the last 15 years. One year ago an awful smell developed with the colitis. Whenever he went to the toilet or passed wind an obnoxious, sour smell like old cheese/rotten eggs lingered a long time after. It caused me to move out of our bedroom, as the smell would cause me to wake up repeatedly. 3 weeks on the wheat-free diet the smell was suddenly gone. It was nothing short of a miracle. It was not something I had expected from the diet, but a very welcome side-effect indeed, as I hate bad smells. By the way - can anyone tell me what generates that particular sour, rotten smell?

  • Rusa

    9/28/2010 11:51:02 PM |

    legend 018 said:
    So people just give up having

    1. bread and butter with meals or crusty bread with pasta
    2. peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tuna fish sandwiches etc.
    3. pancakes

    That seems hard to give up.



    Yes. They are addictive, aren't they? Isn't that the point? Wheat is addictive.

  • KMebust

    11/9/2010 4:16:59 PM |

    A criticism, then a question:
    Any food you give up for months will cause diarrhea and cramping when you come back to it, because you've lost the bacteria that help you digest it.  I've experienced this with dairy, meat, and potatoes.  I am skeptical that wheat is any different than other foods in that regard.
    I have family members who have experienced benefits from gluten free diets, but don't want to give it up altogether, for various reasons.  Does cutting back-- say, not eating bread but not actively eliminating gluten from all your food choices-- have lesser but similar effects?

  • Anonymous

    12/17/2010 7:55:34 PM |

    Thank you so much Dr. Davis.  You have confirmed our worst fears that seemingly "healthy" wheat is actually a form of subtle malnutrition.  Please mention that it is the gluten that causes the problems.  Not in the allergic sense, but by blocking the important nutrients from fruits and veggies to vitamins and minerals.  Gluten forms a mucoid plaque which covers the small intestine thus causing subtle malnutrition and is therefore responsible for dozens of illnesses.

  • James

    1/18/2011 8:13:42 PM |

    I have given up wheat because of its effects on myself including acid reflux, rapid heart beat, irritated hemmoroids.  

    All of the effects you have mentioned have been documented as far back as 1995.  This is especially true of RA. I remember articles in the nutrition press stating that wheat was one of the triggers for RA. Thanks for all the information.

  • Ravi

    2/9/2011 5:28:47 PM |

    Hello Dr. Davis,

    We would like to invite you to summit your exceptional posts to our new ParadigmShift BlogShare at DaiaSolGaia.  
    Please check it out! Thank you. http://daiasolgaia.com/?p=2212

  • Ravi

    2/9/2011 5:30:25 PM |

    ... fingers: type "submit"... thank you. Wink

  • Pixie

    3/11/2011 10:59:55 PM |

    I wish this was the case for me.  I have suffered with IBS for 27 years.  I have gone on gluten elimination diets for up to 30 days twice in the past 15 years with no change.  Incorporating it back in, the only thing I noticed was a little bit of heartburn if I had wheat in the morning. I've tested negative for Celiac's and wheat allergies.
    I'm not saying your are wrong. But for me a wheat free diet was no cure for IBS.  Frown  (I WISH!)
    -Karen

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Diet by LDL

7. March 2012 William Davis (0)
Conventional notions of heart healthy diets, such as that advocated by the American Heart Association, are largely based on observations of total and LDL cholesterol.

So, cut the saturated fat in the diet, cut the overall fat content, and replace them with polyunsaturated oils like safflower, corn, and vegetable oils and increase consumption of whole grains and total and LDL cholesterol show a modest downturn. Thus, diets like the American Heart Association Total Lifestyle Change approach advocate limiting total fat to no more 25 to 35% of calories and saturated fat to no more than 7% of calories.

Orange Cream Cookies

5. March 2012 William Davis (5)
If you loved Creamsicles as a kid, you'll love these Orange Cream Cookies. (Sorry, no photo: We ate them up before I realized we hadn't taken the photo. And, worse, we did it twice!)

Ingredients:
2 cups almond meal
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup golden raisins
½ cup chopped pecans
Sweetener equivalent to 1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons finely-grated orange rind
1 large egg
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
½ cup whipping cream (or coconut milk)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Combine almond meal, coconut flour, baking soda, salt, raisins, pecans, sweetener and orange zest in bowl and mix.

In separate bowl, whisk egg, then add coconut oil, whipping cream, vanilla extract and mix together. Pour wet mix into dry and blend by hand thoroughly.

Spoon onto parchment paper-lined baking pan (or oiled pan) and flatten with spoon to ½-¾ inch thickness. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick withdraws dry.

Why are heart attacks still happening?

4. March 2012 William Davis (10)
I'm a cardiologist. I see patients with heart disease in the form of coronary artery disease every day.

These are people who have undergone bypass surgery, received one or more stents or undergone other forms of angioplasty, have survived heart attacks or sudden cardiac death, or have high heart scan scores. In short, I see patients every day who are at high-risk for heart attack and death from heart disease.

But I see virtually no heart attacks. And nobody is dying from heart disease. (I'm referring to the people who follow the strategies I advocate, not the guy who thinks that smoking a pack of cigarettes a day is still okay, or the woman who thinks the diet is unnecessary because she's slender.)

Two high-profile deaths from heart attacks occurred this week:

Davy Jones--The iconic singer from the 1960s pop group, the Monkees, suffered sudden cardiac death after a large heart attack, just hours after experiencing chest pain.

Andrew Breitbart--The conservative blogger and controversy-generating media personality suffered what was believed to be sudden cardiac death while walking.

It's a darn shame and it shouldn't happen. The tools to identify the potential for heart attack are available, inexpensive, and simple. The strategies to reduce, even eliminate, risk are likewise available, inexpensive, and cultivate overall health.

The followers of the Track Your Plaque program who

1) get a heart scan that yields a coronary calcium score (for long-term tracking purposes)
2) identify the causes such as small LDL particles, lipoprotein(a), vitamin D deficiency, and thyroid dysfunction
3) correct the causes

enjoy virtual elimination of risk.

My letter to the Wall Street Journal: It's NOT just about gluten

8. February 2012 William Davis (7)
The Wall Street Journal carried this report of a new proposed classification of the various forms of gluten sensitivity: New Guide to Who Really Shouldn't Eat Gluten

This represents progress. Progress in understanding of wheat-related illnesses, as well as progress in spreading the word that there is a lot more to wheat-intolerance than celiac disease. But, as I mention in the letter, it falls desperately short on several crucial issues.

Ms. Beck--

Thank you for writing the wonderful article on gluten sensitivity.

I'd like to bring several issues to your attention, as they are often neglected
in discussions of "gluten sensitivity":

1) The gliadin protein of wheat has been modified by geneticists through their
work to increase yield. This work, performed mostly in the 1970s, yielded a form
of gliadin that is several amino acids different, but increased the
appetite-stimulating properties of wheat. Modern wheat, a high-yield, semi-dwarf
strain (not the 4 1/2-foot tall "amber waves of grain" everyone thinks of) is
now, in effect, an appetite-stimulant that increases calorie intake 400 calories
per day. This form of gliadin is also the likely explanation for the surge in
behavioral struggles in children with autism and ADHD.
2) The amylopectin A of wheat is the underlying explanation for why two slices
of whole wheat bread raise blood sugar higher than 6 teaspoons of table sugar or
many candy bars. It is unique and highly digestible by the enzyme amylase.
Incredibly, the high glycemic index of whole wheat is simply ignored, despite
being listed at the top of all tables of glycemic index.
3) The lectins of wheat may underlie the increase in multiple autoimmune and
inflammatory diseases in Americans, especially rheumatoid arthritis and
inflammatory bowel diseases (ulcerative colitis, Crohn's).

In other words, if someone is not gluten-sensitive, they may still remain
sensitive to the many non-gluten aspects of modern high-yield semi-dwarf wheat,
such as appetite-stimulation and mental "fog," joint pains in the hands, leg
edema, or the many rashes and skin disorders. This represents one of the most
important examples of the widespread unintended effects of modern agricultural
genetics and agribusiness.

William Davis, MD
Author: Wheat Belly: Lose the wheat, lose the weight and find your path back to health

60-year old man dies of high cholesterol

1. February 2012 William Davis (12)
Never saw a headline like this? Neither have I. That's because it doesn't happen.

Cholesterol doesn't harm, maim, or kill. It is simply used as a crude--very crude--marker. It is, in reality, a component of the body, of the cell wall, of lipoproteins (lipid-carrying proteins) in the bloodstream. It is used a an indirect gauge, a "dipstick," for lipoproteins in the blood to those who don't understand how to identify, characterize, and quantify actual lipoproteins in the blood.

Cholesterol itself never killed anybody, any more than a bad paint job on your car could cause a fatal car accident.

What kills people is rupture of atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries. For all practical purposes, you must have atherosclerotic plaque in order for it to rupture (much like a volcano erupts and spews lava). It's not about cholesterol; it's about atherosclerotic plaque. Plaque might contain cholesterol, but cholesterol is not the thing itself that causes heart attack and death.

So why do most people obsess about cholesterol? Good question. It is, at best, a statistical marker for the possibility of having atherosclerotic plaque that ruptures. High cholesterol = higher risk for heart attack, low cholesterol = lower risk for heart attack. But the association is weak and flawed, such that people with high cholesterol can live a lifetime without heart attack, people with low cholesterol can die at age 43.The same holds true for LDL cholesterol, you know, the calculated value based on flawed assumptions about LDL's relationship to total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and VLDL cholesterol.

A crucial oversight in the world of cholesterol: There are many other factors that cause atherosclerotic plaque and its rupture, such as inflammatory phenomena, calcium deposition, artery spasm, hemorrhage within the plaque itself, degradative enzymes, etc., none of which are suggested by cholesterol measures.

But one observation has held up, time and again, over the past 40 years of observations on coronary disease: The greater the quantity of coronary atherosclerotic plaque, the greater the risk of atherosclerotic plaque rupture. An increasing burden of atherosclerotic plaque along the limited confines of coronary arteries, just a few millimeters in diameter and a few centimeters in length, is like a house of cards: It's bound to topple sooner or later, and the bigger it gets, the less stable it becomes.

If you are concerned about future potential for heart disease and heart attack, don't get a cholesterol panel. Get a measure of coronary atherosclerotic plaque.

Back to basics: Coronary calcium

30. January 2012 William Davis (42)
After having my attentions pulled a thousand different directions these past 6 months, with the release of Wheat Belly and all the wonderful media attention it has attracted, I've decided to pick up here with a series of discussions about the fundamental issues important to the Track Your Plaque program and prevention and reversal of coronary atherosclerotic plaque.

I fear the discussions at times have drifted off into the exotic. This is great because this is how we learn new lessons, but we can never lose sight of the basics, else we risk losing control over this disease.

Imagine you've got a beautiful new car. You wax it, gap the spark plugs, rotate the tires, etc. and it looks brand-new, just like it came off the dealer's lot. 50,000 miles pass, however, and you realize you've forgotten to change the oil. Ooops! In other words, no matter how meticulous the attention to transmission, tires, and paint job, neglect of the most basic responsibility can ruin the whole thing. We can't let that happen with heart health.

If we propose to reverse coronary atherosclerotic plaque, we've got to have something to measure. First, it tells us whether we have atherosclerotic plaque in the first place, the stuff that accumulates and blocks flow and causes anginal chest pains, and ruptures like a little volcano and causes heart attacks. Second, it gives us something to track over the years to know whether plaque has grown, stopped growing, or been reduced. Without such a measure, you will be driving without a speedometer or odometer, just guessing whether or not you've gotten to your destination.

Of course, the conventional approach to heart disease and heart attack is not to track atherosclerotic plaque in your coronary arteries, but to track some distant "risk factor" for atherosclerotic plaque, especially LDL cholesterol. But LDL cholesterol is flawed at several levels. First, it is calculated, not measured. The nearly 50-year old Friedewald equation used to calculate LDL cholesterol is based on several flawed assumptions, yielding a value that can be 20, 30, or 50% inaccurate as a rule, only occasionally generating a value close to the real value. (No point in publicizing this problem, of course: Why compromise a $27 billion annual cash cow?) It also ignores the effect of diet. (No, cutting fat does not reduce LDL for real, only the calculated value. Cutting carbohydrates, especially wheat--"healthy whole grains"--slashes measured LDL values like NMR LDL particle number and apoprotein B.)

But all risk factors are, at best, snapshots of the situation at that moment in time. They change from day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year. If you do something dramatic in health, like lose 50 pounds, you can substantially change your risk factors values, like LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. But you may not modify the amount of atherosclerotic plaque in your heart's arteries.

Measuring the amount of atherosclerotic plaque in your heart's arteries is, in effect, a cumulative expression of the effects of risk factors up until the moment of measurement.

There are several stumbling blocks, however, in the concept of measuring coronary atherosclerotic plaque. We cannot measure all the unique components of plaque, such as fibrous tissue like collagen, or degradative enzymes like collagenases, or inflammatory proteins like matrix metalloproteinase, or the debris of hemorrhage and inflammation. We struggle to contemporaneously mix in measures of bloodborne inflammation, coagulation and viscosity, and physiological phenomena of the artery itself, like endothelial dysfunction, medial (muscle) tone, and adventitial fat.

So we are left with semi-static measures of total coronary atherosclerotic plaque like coronary calcium, obtainable via CT heart scans as a calcium "score." No, it is not perfect. It does not reflect that moment's blood viscosity, it does not reflect the inflammatory status of the one nasty plaque in the mid-left anterior descending, nor does it reflect the irritating sheer effects of a blood pressure of 150/95.

But it's the best we've got.

If anyone has something better, I invite you to speak up. Carotid ultrasound, c-reactive protein, ankle-brachial index, stress nuclear studies, myoglobin, skin cholesterol, KIF6 genotype . . . none of them approach the value, the insight, the trackability of actually measuring coronary atherosclerotic plaque. And the only method we've got to gauge coronary atherosclerotic plaque that is non-invasive and available in 2012? Yup, a good old CT heart scan calcium score.

Myocardial infraction

15. January 2012 William Davis (45)
I've seen a few heart attacks this past year . . . but none in the people who follow this program.

I saw a heart attack in a priest, a wonderful man who was unable to say "no" to his parishioners who insisted on bringing pies, cakes, and cookies every day.

I saw an impending heart attack in a 74-year old man, a football coach who thought the whole wheat-free, low-carb thing was some wacko trend. Four stents later, he's changed his mind.

A 69-year old woman had to be hospitalized for heart failure due to partial closure of an artery. She repeatedly told me that she simply could not follow the diet because it was "too restrictive."

There were a few others. Interestingly, all felt they were eating healthy, minimizing junk foods and avoiding fatty foods. None were wheat-free nor restricted carbohydrates.

In other words, in the people who follow the basic advice of the Track Your Plaque program to do such simple things as eliminate wheat, don't indulge in junk carbohydrates, normalize vitamin D status, supplement omega-3 fatty acids, supplement iodine and correct any thyroid dysfunction . . . well, they have no heart attacks.

Diet is superior to drugs

7. January 2012 William Davis (27)
Might-o’chondri-AL left this wonderful record of his lipoprotein experience in the comments to the last Heart Scan Blog post. It is a great example of what is achievable with diet and a few supplements . . . without drugs.


(A) Jan. 2011 1st ever NMR lipo-protein analysis was done after 4 months of consistent home food prep of pretty low fat (only olive oil and 1 tablespoon coconut oil daily) but plenty of whole wheat and half potatoes:
* LDL # of particles (P) = 1,676 in nmol/L————being a LDL cholesterol (C) reading of 139 mg/dL
* small LDL # P = 1,021 nmol/L —————yikes! you advise smLDL be less than 117 nmol/L
* HDL # of particles = 28.8 umol/L ————–being a HDL C reading of 45 mg/dL
* Triglycerides = 90 mg/dL ————– true, I never struggled with my weight

(B) May 2011 2nd NMR after another 4 months but added in more fat (1 teaspoon highly concentrated fish oil daily, 90% chocolate, handfulls of nuts, more olive oil and kept coconut oil at 1 tablespoon daily for a controlled experiment), added 500 mg Niacin 3 times a day (in stages up to1,500 mg. total daily), 6000 IU daily vitamin D, deliberately cut out all grains except for social politeness and substituted in daily Koji fermented brown rice (rustic Amazake):
** LDL # P……………= 976 nmol/L ——————————– being LDL C of 100 mg/dL
** small LDL # P …. = 96 nmol/L ——————————– nice surprise
** HDL # P ………… = 27.3 umol/L ——————————being an increase to HDL C of 64 mg/dL
** Triglycerides …… = 42 mg/dL ——————————– despite daily carbs over 150 gr. daily

(C) Dec. 2011 3rd NMR after another 7 more months thinking Doc’s advice is worthwhile I added in yet more fat (mainly daily 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, more 90% chocolate), bumped Niacin up to 1,000 mg twice a day (2,000 mg. total daily), cut out the Amazake, kept up the vitamin D adding daily vitamin K & daily ate main mid-day meal out as lunch on spicy Thai & Chinese fish/shrimp/soup/rice meals (my next control):
*** LDL # P ………. = 764 nmol/L ————— being LDL C of 107 mg/dL ( 2x coconut’s saturated fat)
***small LDL # P… = less than 90 nmol/L ——–surprised me NMR can’t count lower
***HDL # P ……… = 41.4 umol/L ——————– being an increase to HDL C of 88 mg/dL
*** Triglycerides ….= 43 mg/dL ——————- daily carbs below ~ 120 gr. & lost too much weight

Isn't that great? Spectacular job, Might!

MIght achieved values that are superior to that achievable with, say, a high-dose statin strategy. Statins only reduce total LDL particles, reducing small LDL in a non-selective way. And, of course, this diet does not cause muscle aches, memory loss, nor liver problems.

Something to consider: As the diet has become so effective, we can reduce our reliance on niacin. In fact, the benefits of niacin diminish substantially, as small LDL is reduced, HDL increased, triglycerides decreased, and postprandial lipoproteins subdued with the diet only.

Low-carb is heart healthy

4. January 2012 William Davis (88)
Anybody following the discussions in these pages know that: Limiting carbohydrate intake reduces risk for coronary heart disease and heart attack.

First of all, why do conventional diets advocate restricting saturated and total fat? From the standpoint of surrogate markers of cardiovascular risk, cutting saturated and total fat reduces total cholesterol; reduces calculated LDL cholesterol; and may reduce c-reactive protein modestly (an index of inflammation). It also increases blood sugar and HbA1c (reflecting the prior 60 days blood sugars), increases glycation of the proteins of the body leading to cataracts, arthritis, and hypertension.

Problem: Total cholesterol is a combination of HDL cholesterol, an estimate of VLDL cholesterol (triglycerides), and LDL cholesterol. It is a composite of both "good" things (HDL) and "bad" things (LDL and VLDL). Cutting saturated and total fat results in reduced HDL, increased VLDL/triglycerides, and a reduction in calculated LDL. Pretty weak stuff. The last item, i.e., reduction in calculated LDL, is not even a real phenomenon. In fact, the net effect in most genotypes (genetic types) may be negative: increased heart disease risk.

In contrast, what is the effect of reducing carbohydrate without restricting fat? (In the approach I use, we start with elimination of the most destructive of carbohydrates, wheat, followed by reducing exposure to other carbohydrates, especially cornstarch and corn products, sugar, and oats.) If, say, we cut carbohydrate intake into the range of a truly low-carbohydrate diet of 10-15 grams per meal ("net" carbs, or total carbohydrates minus fiber), then we witness a number of metabolic transformations:

Reduced fasting triglycerides and VLDL
Reduced postprandial (after-eating) triglycerides, chylomicrons, and chylomicron remnants
Increased HDL and shift towards large HDL particles (presumably more protective)
Reduced small LDL particles
Reduced glycation and oxidation of small LDL particles
Reduced hemoglobin A1c
Reduced c-reactive protein and other inflammatory markers
Reduced blood pressure

By slashing carbohydrates, we also witness weight loss from visceral fat, reversal of pre-diabetes and diabetes, and reduced phenomena of glycation. And, if the wheat-free part of low-carb is maintained, you can also see marked improvement in gastrointestinal health, relief from joint pains, relief from leg edema, relief from migraine headaches, improved behavior and ability to concentrate in children with impaired learning, ADHD, and autism, better mood, deeper sleep. You will see multiple inflammatory and autoimmune diseases improve or completely relieved, such as rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis.

Having personally gone down the diabetic path and back by cutting the fat in my diet, now maintaining a HbA1c of 4.8% with fasting glucose 84 mg/d; (without medications), there should be no remaining doubt: Low-carb diets, especially if wheat-free, dramatically reduce the factors leading to heart disease; low-fat diets worsen the factors leading to heart disease.

Mocha Walnut Brownies

1. January 2012 William Davis (11)
Richer than a cookie, heavier than a muffin, brownies are ordinarily an indulgence that leaves you ashamed of your lack of restraint. Have one . .  . or two or three, and you will surely pack on a pound of belly fat.

But these mocha walnut brownies, as with other recipes I provide, will not pack on the pounds. With no wheat to trigger appetite, nor any readily-digestible carbohydrate to generate blood sugar highs and lows, you can have a nice brownie or two or three and nothing bad happens: You don’t send blood sugar sky-high, don’t trigger formation of small LDL particles and triglycerides, you don’t trigger appetite, you don’t gain a pound of belly fat. You simply have your brownie(s) and enjoy them.

Serve these brownies plain or topped with cream cheese, natural peanut or almond butter, or dipped in coffee.


Ingredients:
8 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate (100% chocolate)
4 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, melted
2 large eggs, separated
½ cup coconut milk (or sour cream)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups ground almonds
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant espresso
Sweetener equivalent to 1 cup sugar or to taste (e.g., liquid stevia, Truvía, erythritol)


Preheat oven to 350º F.

Melt chocolate using double boiler method or in 15-second increments in microwave. Stir in melted coconut oil or butter.

In small bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Add egg whites, egg yolks, coconut milk, and vanilla extract to chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly by hand.

In separate bowl, combine ground almonds, coconut flour, walnuts, cocoa powder, espresso, and sweetener. Mix thoroughly.

Add dry mix to chocolate mix and mix together thoroughly. If dough is too stiff, add additional coconut milk, one tablespoon at a time.

Place mixture in 9-inch baking pan and bake for 25 -30 minutes or until toothpick withdraws dry.