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.
 
All posts by william-davis

What WERE they thinking

1. August 2012 William Davis (0)
When the Dietary Guidelines for Americans were drafted and the USDA and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services charged with disseminating this information to us . . .

When the American Heart Association created its Total Lifestyle Change (TLC) diet to reduce cardiovascular risk and reduce cholesterol . . .

When the American Diabetes Association developed its diet to help diabetics manage their blood sugars and prevent hypoglycemia . . .


How did conditions like Familial Hypertriglyceridemia fit into this scheme?

Green Tea Ginger Orange Bread

11. July 2012 William Davis (4)
How about all the health benefits of green tea in wheat-free bread form, spiced up with the magical combined flavors of ginger and orange?

Frequent consumption of green tea accelerates loss of visceral (“wheat belly”) fat, increases HDL and reduces triglycerides, reduces blood pressure, and may provide cardiovascular benefits that go beyond these markers such as reduction of oxidative stress. In this Green Tea Ginger Orange Bread, we don’t just drink the tea—we eat it! This provides an even more powerful dose of the green tea catechins believed to be responsible for the health benefits of green tea.

You can grind your own green tea from dried bulk leaves or it can be purchased pre-ground. I’ve used sencha and matcha green tea varieties with good results. The Teavana tea store sells a Sencha preground green tea that works well. If starting with bulk tea leaves, pulse in your food chopper, food processor, or coffee grinder (cleaned thoroughly first!) to generate green tea powder. You will need only a bit, as a little goes a long way.

The entire loaf contains 26 grams “net” carbohydrates; if cut into 10 slices, each slice therefore yields 2.6 grams net carbs, a perfectly tolerable amount.


Bread:
1¼ cup almond meal/flour
½ cup coconut flour
2 tablespoons ground golden flaxseed
1 teaspoon baking powder
Sweetener equivalent to 1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground green tea
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
1½ teaspoons ground allspice
1½ ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, separated
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
Grated zest from 1 orange + 2 tablespoons squeezed juice
1/2 cup coconut milk

Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Sweetener equivalent to 1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9” x 5” bread pan.

In large bowl, combine almond meal/flour, coconut flour, flaxseed, baking powder, sweetener, green tea, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon and mix.

In small bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. At low mixer speed, blend in egg yolks, vanilla extract, almond extract, orange zest and juice, and coconut milk.

Pour egg mixture into almond meal/flour mixture and mix by hand thoroughly.

Pour dough into bread pan and place in oven. Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick withdraws dry. Remove and cool.

For frosting, combine cream cheese, lemon juice, and sweetener and mix. When cooled, spread frosting over top of bread.

Chocolate Bomb Bars

10. July 2012 William Davis (4)
These healthy bars will blast you with chocolate from several directions!

Look for cacao nibs in health food stores, Whole Foods Market, or at nuts.com. If unavailable, the bars are still delicious without them.



These bars contain around 4-5 grams "net" carbs per bar, well within the tolerance for most people.

Yields approximately 10 bars

1 cup ground almonds
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup cacao nibs
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 ounces 85-90% cocoa chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 cup raw pumpkin or sunflower seeds
Sweetener equivalent to 3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons almond butter
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons coconut oil or cocoa butter (food grade)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Lay sheet of parchment paper on large baking pan.

In large bowl, combine ground almonds, coconut flour, cocoa powder, cacao nibs, coconut, chocolate bits, pumpkin seeds, and sweetener (if dry) and mix.

In microwave-safe bowl or in small sauce pan, add almond butter, coconut milk, and coconut oil and sweetener (if liquid) and heat for 15 second increments in microwave until liquid, but not hot. If using stove, heat at low-heat enough to make liquid easily mixed, but not hot.

Pour liquid into dry almond mixture and mix together thoroughly. If too stiff, add water one tablespoon at at time until the consistency of thick dough.

Spoon out approximately 1 1/2-inch balls, shaping with the spoon and/or your hands into bar shapes.

Bake for 35 minutes. Remove and cool.

An iodine primer

10. July 2012 William Davis (7)
What if your diet is perfect--no wheat, no junk carbohydrates like that from corn or sugars, you are physically active--yet you fail to lose weight? Or you hit a plateau after an initial loss?

First think iodine.

Iodine is an essential nutrient. It is no more optional than, say, celebrating your wedding anniversary or obtaining vitamin C. If you forget to do something nice for your wife on your wedding anniversary, I would fear for your life. If you develop open sores all over your body and your joints fall apart, you could undergo extensive plastic surgery reconstruction and joint replacement . . . or you could just treat the scurvy causing it from lack of vitamin C.

Likewise iodine: If you have an iodine deficiency, you experience lower thyroid hormone production, since T3 and T4 thyroid hormones require iodine (the "3" and "4" refer to the number of iodine atoms per thyroid hormone molecule). This leads to lower energy (since the thyroid controls metabolic rate), cold hands and feet (since the thyroid is thermoregulatory, i.e., temperature regulating), and failed weight loss. So iodine deficiency is one of the items on the list of issues to consider if you eliminate wheat with its appetite-stimulating opiate, gliadin, and high-glycemic carbohydrate, amylopectin A, and limit other carbohydrates, yet still fail to lose weight. A perfect diet will not fully overcome the metabolism-limiting effects of an underactive thyroid.

Given sufficient time, an enlarged thyroid gland, or goiter, develops, signaling longstanding iodine deficiency. (The treatment? Iodine, of course, not thyroid removal, as many endocrinologists advocate.) Your risk for heart attack, by the way, in the presence of a goiter is increased several-fold. Goiters are becoming increasingly common and I see several each week in my office.

Iodine is found in the ocean and thereby anything that comes from the ocean, such as seafood and seaweed. Iodine also leaches into the soil but only does so coastally. It means that crops and livestock grown along the coasts have some quantity of iodine. Humans hunting and foraging along the coast will be sufficient in iodine, while populations migrating inland will not.

It also means that foods grown inland do not have iodine. This odd distribution for us land dwelling primates means that goiters are exceptionally common unless iodine is supplemented. Up to 25% of the population can develop goiters without iodine supplementation, a larger percentage experiencing lesser degrees of iodine deficiency without goiter.

In 1924, the FDA became aware of the studies that linked goiters to lack of iodine, reversed with iodine supplementation. That's why they passed a regulation encouraging salt manufacturers to add iodine, thought to be an easy and effective means for an uneducated, rural populace to obtain this essential nutrient. Their message: "Use more iodized salt. Keep your family goiter free!" That was actually the slogan on the Morton's iodized salt label, too.

It worked. The rampant goiters of the first half of the 20th century disappeared. Iodized salt was declared an incredible public health success story. Use more salt, use more salt.

You know the rest. Overuse of salt led to other issues, such as hypertension in genetically susceptible people, water retention, and other conditions of sodium overexposure. The FDA then advises Americans to slash their intake of sodium and salt . . . but make no mention of iodine.

So what recurs? Iodine deficiency and goiters. Sure, you eat seafood once or twice per week, maybe even have the nori (sheet seaweed) on your sushi once in a while . . . but that won't do it for most. Maybe you even sneak some iodized salt into your diet, but occasional use is insufficient, especially since the canister of iodized salt only contains iodine for around 4 weeks, given iodine's volatile nature. (Iodized salt did work when everybody in the house salted their food liberally and Mom had to buy a new canister every few weeks.)

Iodine deficiency is common and increasing in prevalence, given the widespread avoidance of iodized salt. So what happens when you become iodine deficient? Here's a partial list:

--Weight loss is stalled or you gain weight despite your efforts.
--Heart disease risk is escalated
--Total and LDL cholesterol and triglyceride values increase
--Risk of fibrocystic breast disease and possibly breast cancer increase (breast tissue concentrates iodine)
--Gingivitis and poor oral health increase (salivary glands concentrate iodine)

(Naturopathic doctor Lyn Patrick, ND, has written a very nice summary available here.)

So how do you ensure that you obtain sufficient iodine every day? You could, of course, eat something from the ocean every day, such as coastal populations such as the Japanese do. Or you could take an inexpensive iodine supplement. You can get iodine in a multivitamin, multimineral, or iodine drops, tablets, or capsules.

What is the dose? Here's where we get very iffy. We know that the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), the intake to not have a goiter, is 150 mcg per day for adults (220 mcg for pregnant females, 290 mcg for lactating females). Most supplements therefore contain this quantity.

But what if our question is what is the quantity of iodine required for ideal thyroid function and overall health? Ah, that's where the data are sketchy. We know, for instance, that the Japanese obtain somewhere between 3,500 and 13,000 mcg per day (varying widely due to different habits and locations). Are they healthier than us? Yes, quite a bit healthier, though there may be other effects to account for this, such as a culture of less sweet foods and more salty, less wheat consumption, etc. There are advocates in the U.S., such as Dr. David Brownstein in Michigan, who argues that some people benefit by taking doses in the 30,000 to 50,000 mcg per day range (monitored with urinary iodine levels).

As is often the case with nutrients, we lack data to help us decide where the truly ideal level of intake lies. So I have been using and advocating intakes of 500 to 1000 mcg per day from iodine capsules, tablets, or drops. A very easy way to get this dose of iodine is in the form of kelp tablets, i.e., dried seaweed, essentially mimicking the natural means of intake that also provides iodine in all its varied forms (iodide, sodium iodate, potassium iodide, potassium iodate, iodinated proteins, etc.) This has worked out well with no ill effects.

The only concern with iodine is in people with Hashimoto's thyroiditis or (rarely) an overactive thyroid nodule. Anyone with these conditions should only undertake iodine replacement carefully and under supervision (monitoring thyroid hormone levels).

Iodine is inexpensive, safe, and essential to health and weight management. If it were a drug, it would enjoy repeated expensive marketing and a price tag around $150 per month. But it is an essential nutrient that enjoys none of the attention-getting advantages of drugs, and therefore is unlikely to be mentioned by your doctor, yet carries great advantage for helping to maintain overall health.

Green coffee bean extract in AGF Factor I

7. June 2012 William Davis (16)
Track Your Plaque's new and proprietary formulation, AGF Factor I, is designed to to support a program to achieve low levels of endogenous glycation.

Endogenous glycation, discussed at length in a recent Track Your Plaque Special Report, makes LDL particles (especially small LDL particles) more prone to oxidation and thereby more atherogenic, i.e., more likely to contribute to atherosclerotic plaque. Endogenous glycation also exerts unhealthy effects on long-lived proteins in the body, such as the proteins in the lenses of your eyes (cataracts), the lining of arteries (hypertension), and the cartilage cells of joints (brittle cartilage and arthritis).

Endogenous glycation is reduced by slashing carbohydrates in the diet, especially the most offensive carbohydrates of all, the amylopectin A of wheat, sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup and other fructose sources. Endogenous glycation can also be blocked by using blockers of the glycation reaction, such as benfotiamine (lipid-soluble thiamine), pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (a form of vitamin B6 with greater glycation blocking effect), and chlorogenic acid from green coffee beans, all components of AGF Factor I, which also contains Portulaca oleracea (Portusana), or purslane, for reduction of glucose.

Green coffee bean extract, and thereby chlorogenic acid, is receiving increased attention, most recently due to a study demonstrating substantial weight loss with 750-1050 mg green coffee bean extract, providing approximately 325-500 mg chlorogenic acid per day. Participants lost 15.4 pounds over 8 weeks at the higher dose (500 mg chlorogenic acid per day), while participants lost 8.8 pounds over 8 weeks at the lower dose (325 mg chlorogenic acid per day).

AGF Factor I was not formulated for weight loss but, taken twice or three times per day, does indeed mimic the dose of chlorogenic acid from green coffee bean extract used in the weight loss study. If you wish to take advantage of this application of chlorogenic acid/green coffee bean extract, while also maximizing protection from endogenous glycation, our AGF Factor I is one excellent choice to do so.

Lessons learned from the 2012 Low-carb Cruise

14. May 2012 William Davis (13)
I just returned from Jimmy Moore's Low-carb Cruise, a 7-day excursion to Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island, and Cozumel aboard the Carnival Magic. During our 7 wonderful days, a number of authors and experts spoke, each offering their unique perspective on the low-carb world. The focus was the science, experience, and practical application of low-carbohydrate diets.

The event kicked off with a roast by Tom Naughton of Fat Head fame, who entertained with his insightful low-carb humor and predictions of my demise at the hands of Monsanto!

Among the most important lessons provided:

Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt of the Diet Doctor blog discussed how Sweden is leading the world as the nation with the most vigorous low-carbohydrate following, witnessing incredible weight loss and reversal of carbohydrate-related diseases way ahead of the U.S. experience. I spent several hours with Dr. Eenfeldt who, besides being an engaging speaker, is a new father and an all-around gentleman. At 6 ft, 7 inches, he also towered high above all of us.

Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University and author of The New Atkins for a New You, debunked low-carbohydrate myths, such as "low-carb diets are high-protein diets that make your kidneys explode."

Dr. John Briffa, creator of the popular blog, Dr. John Briffa: A Good Look at Good Health, and author of the wonderfully straightforward primer to low-carbohydrate eating, Escape the Diet Trap, stressed the importance of never allowing hunger to rule behavior. Dr. Briffa's serious writing tone conceals an incredible charm and wit that took me by surprise, having spent several thoroughly engaging hours over breakfast, lunch, and dinner with him over the week.

Fred Hahn, exercise expert, founder of Serious Strength and author of Slow Burn Fitness Revolution and Strong Kids, Healthy Kids, debunked a number of trendy exercise methods, boiling many of the purported benefits of exercise down to that of increased strength.

Dr. Chris Masterjohn of The Daily Lipid and supporter of the Weston A. Price Foundation program, provided a comprehensive overview of the data that fails to link saturated fat with heart disease. He also helped me understand the analytical techniques used in studies of advanced glycation end-products.

Denise Minger, brilliant young usurper of China Study dogma and blogger at Raw Foods SOS, proved an engaging speaker and a truly real person (since some critics of her analyses have actually questioned whether there was even such a person!). She also proved every bit as likable as she seems in her captivating blog discussions.

Dr. Jeff Volek, prolific researcher from University of Connecticut, author of over 200 studies validating low-carbohydrate diet effects, and author of the recently released book with Dr. Stephen Phinney, The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living, debunked myths behind carbohydrate dependence and "loading" by athletes. He also talked about how assessing blood ketones may be the gold standard method to ensure low-grade ketosis on a long-term low-carb effort.

Over a bottle of wine, Jimmy Moore and I reminisced over how his modest start with no experience in blogging or media has now ballooned to an audience of over 100,000 readers/viewers.

All in all, Jimmy's Low-carb Cruise experience was worth every minute, with many wonderful lessons and memories!

Chili Sesame Crackers

3. May 2012 William Davis (0)
Looking for something hot and crunchy?

These chili sesame crackers are perfect for dipping into hummus or salsa. As written, the recipe yields a moderately spicy cracker that you can modify readily by increasing or decreasing quantities of cayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce.

This recipe uses sesame seeds as the "flour." Either brown sesame seeds or the lighter version work, though the lighter seeds yield a slightly less bitter flavor with the spices.

For ease of baking, a shallow baking pan measuring 11 x 17 inches works best, as it allows the batter to fill the pan and spread to a cracker thickness. With a smaller pan, you may have to bake in two batches.

Makes approximately 30 chips

2 cups raw sesame seeds
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1¼ cups water

Preheat oven to 350º F.

In food chopper or food processor, grind 1¼ cups sesame seeds to fine meal. Remove and place in large bowl.

Place shredded Parmesan cheese in food chopper or food processor and pulse briefly until reduced to granular consistency. Add to sesame seed meal and mix. Stir in olive oil.

Add remaining (unground) sesame seeds, chili powder, cayenne pepper, onion and garlic powder, mustard, sea salt and mix thoroughly. Add Tabasco sauce and water and mix. Add additional water, if necessary, one tablespoon at a time, to obtain a consistency similar to pancake batter.

Pour mixture into baking pan and smooth to fill pan and obtain a thickness of a cracker. If too thick, remove some batter and re-smooth. Optionally, roll a clean cylindrical glass or bottle over top to smooth and yield a consistent thickness.

Bake for 30 minutes or until edges browned and center firm. If a dry, extra crunchy cracker is designed, bake an additional 10-15 minutes at 250 degrees F.

Remove and allow to cool. Cut with pizza cutter to desired size.

Opiate of the masses

18. April 2012 William Davis (22)
Although it is a central premise of the whole Wheat Belly argument and the starting strategy in the New Track Your Plaque Diet, I fear that some people haven't fully gotten the message:

Modern wheat is an opiate.

And, of course, I don't mean that wheat is an opiate in the sense that you like it so much that you feel you are addicted. Wheat is truly addictive.

Wheat is addictive in the sense that it comes to dominate thoughts and behaviors. Wheat is addictive in the sense that, if you don't have any for several hours, you start to get nervous, foggy, tremulous, and start desperately seeking out another "hit" of crackers, bagels, or bread, even if it's the few stale 3-month old crackers at the bottom of the box. Wheat is addictive in the sense that there is a distinct withdrawal syndrome characterized by overwhelming fatigue, mental "fog," inability to exercise, even depression that lasts several days, occasionally several weeks. Wheat is addictive in the sense that the withdrawal process can be provoked by administering an opiate-blocking drug such as naloxone or naltrexone.

But the "high" of wheat is not like the high of heroine, morphine, or Oxycontin. This opiate, while it binds to the opiate receptors of the brain, doesn't make us high. It makes us hungry.

This is the effect exerted by gliadin, the protein in wheat that was inadvertently altered by geneticists in the 1970s during efforts to increase yield. Just a few shifts in amino acids and gliadin in modern high-yield, semi-dwarf wheat became a potent appetite stimulant.

Wheat stimulates appetite. Wheat stimulates calorie consumption: 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year, for every man, woman, and child. (440 calories per person per day is the average.) We experience this, sense the weight gain that is coming and we push our plate away, settle for smaller portions, increase exercise more and more . . . yet continue to gain, and gain, and gain. Ask your friends and neighbors who try to include more "healthy whole grains" in their diet. They exercise, eat a "well-balanced diet" . . . yet gained 10, 20, 30, 70 pounds over the past several years. Accuse your friends of drinking too much Coca Cola by the liter bottle, or being gluttonous at the all-you-can-eat buffet and you will likely receive a black eye. Many of these people are actually trying quite hard to control impulse, appetite, portion control, and weight, but are losing the battle with this appetite-stimulating opiate in wheat.

Ignorance of the gliadin effect of wheat is responsible for the idiocy that emits from the mouths of gastroenterologists like Dr. Peter Green of Columbia University who declares:

"We tell people we don't think a gluten-free diet is a very healthy diet . . . Gluten-free substitutes for food with gluten have added fat and sugar. Celiac patients often gain weight and their cholesterol levels go up. The bulk of the world is eating wheat. The bulk of people who are eating this are doing perfectly well unless they have celiac disease."

In the simple minded thinking of the gastroenterology and celiac world, if you don't have celiac disease, you should eat all the wheat you want . . . and never mind about the appetite-stimulating effects of gliadin, not to mention the intestinal disruption and leakiness generated by wheat lectins, or the high blood sugars and insulin of the amylopectin A of wheat, or the new allergies being generated by the new alpha amylases of modern wheat.

Jelly beans and ice cream

23. March 2012 William Davis (6)
What if I said: "Eliminate all wheat from your diet and replace it with all the jelly beans and ice cream you want."

That would be stupid, wouldn't it? Eliminate one rotten thing in diet--modern high-yield, semi-dwarf wheat products that stimulate appetite (via gliadin), send blood sugar through the roof (via amylopectin A), and disrupt the normal intestinal barriers to foreign substances (via the lectin, wheat germ agglutinin)--and replace it with something else that has its own set of problems, in this case sugary foods. How about a few other stupid replacements: Replace your drunken, foul-mouthed binges with wife beating? Replace cigarette smoking with excessive bourbon?

Sugary carbohydrate-rich foods like jelly beans and ice cream are not good for us because:

1) High blood sugar causes endogenous glycation, i.e, glucose modification of long-lived proteins in the body. Glycate the proteins in the lenses of your eyes, you get cataracts. Glycate cartilage proteins in the cartilage of your hips and knees, you get brittle cartilage that erodes and causes arthritis. Glycate structural proteins in your arteries and you get hypertension (stiff arteries) and atherosclerosis. Small LDL particles--the #1 cause of heart disease in the U.S. today--are both triggered by blood sugar rises and are 8-fold more prone to glycation (and thereby oxidation).

2) High blood sugar is inevitably accompanied by high blood insulin. Repetitive surges in insulin lead to <em>insulin resistance</em>, i.e., muscles, liver, and fat cells unresponsive to insulin. This forces your poor tired pancreas to produce even more insulin, which causes even more insulin resistance, and round and round in a vicious cycle. This leads to visceral fat accumulation (Jelly Bean Belly!), which is highly inflammatory, further worsening insulin resistance via various inflammatory mediators like tumor necrosis factor.

3) Sugary foods, i.e., sucrose- or high-fructose corn syrup-sweetened, are sources of fructose, a truly very, very bad sugar that is metabolized via a completely separate pathway from glucose. Fructose is 10-fold more likely to induce glycation of proteins than glucose. It also provokes a (delayed) rise in insulin resistance, accumulation of triglycerides, marked increase in formation of small LDL particles, and delayed postprandial (after-eating) clearance of the lipoprotein byproducts of meals, all of which leads to diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis.

I think we can all agree that replacing wheat with jelly beans and ice cream is not a good solution. And, no, we shouldn't have drunken binges, wife beating, smoking or bourbon to excess. So why does the "gluten-free" community advocate replacing wheat with products made with:

rice starch, tapioca starch, potato starch, and cornstarch?

These powdered starches are among the few foods that increase blood sugar (and thereby provoke glycation and insulin) higher than even the amylopectin A of wheat! For instance, two slices of whole wheat bread typically increase blood sugar in a slender, non-diabetic person to around 170 mg/dl. Two slices of gluten-free, multigrain bread will increase blood sugar typically to 180-190 mg/dl.

The fatal flaw in thinking surrounding gluten-free junk carbohydrates is this: If a food lacks some undesirable ingredient, then it must be good. This is the same fatally flawed thinking that led people to believe, for instance, that Snack Well low-fat cookies were healthy: because they lacked fat. Or processed foods made with hydrogenated oils were healthy because they lacked saturated fat.

So gluten-free foods made with junk carbohydrates are good because they lack gluten? No. Gluten-free foods made with rice starch, tapioca starch, potato starch, and cornstarch are destructive foods that NOBODY should be eating.

This is why the recipes for muffins, cupcakes, cookies, etc. in this blog, the Track Your Plaque website, and the Track Your Plaque Cookbook are wheat- and gluten-free and free of gluten-free junk carbohydrates. And put that bottle of Jim Beam down!