lol, well written doc. i miss pizza and naan.

i have been grain free for almost 4 years now.  just got my LDL particle size tested and was surprised to see i was predominately small particle.  i eat pretty low carb with very little sugar.

Hi, my name is Marie-Anne.  I am a carbivore - a whole grain junkie with a sweet tooth to boot.  Changing is hard but your blog is very helpful and informative, thank you!  Now if only I could get the rest of my household on board.

We tested einkorn flour to see how it would elevate blood sugar.

Einkorn wheat bread:

Blood sugar pre: 154.8 mg/dl (8.6 mmol/L)

Blood sugar post: 160.2 mg/dl (8.9 mmol/L)

Convention wheat bread:

Blood sugar pre: 149.4 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L)

Blood sugar post: 190.8 mg/dl (10.6 mmol/L)

Post was based on 1 hour 15 minutes.  Quanity was about 1 oz.  (a slice of white bread)

Has anyone tried using Einkorn in any of the other ways
that wheat flour is commonly employed,
like as a thickener for sauces or in making noodles?

By the way, has Barley also gone through the mutations that wheat has?

Regards,

Scott

I would be curious if this were true of the "ancient" grains showing up in the bread aisle.

Thank you for cotinuing to remind us why wheat is not healthful.  I have been trying to give it up completely for about a year.  Gluten-free foods tasty gritty and chalky, not spongy and chewy like wheat, so wheat-free means no pastries or breads.  I picked the most challenging time, the month of December, to try again to banish wheat from my diet.  If I can get past Christmas without eating a cookie or cranberry-walnut scone, I'll have unacquired my acquired taste for wheat.  As an added bonus, my consumption of added sugars in any form will be zero since most of it came from pastries and sweet snacks.

Where do I find einkorn?  I've not been eating grains for about 3 months now, but I'd like to have something occasionally.

Re:  According to Dr. Allan Fritz, Professor of Wheat Breeding at Kansas State University, and Dr. Gary Vocke at the USDA,...

Have they got any hard data (and willing to make it public) that would allow statistically correlating the rate of coronary heart disease with the spread of this breed of wheat, historically and across various areas of the Earth?  

I wonder if they use the same variety in France and in other low heart diase countries?

If that dwarf variety of wheat is really more harmfull than the old wheat, that could perhaps explain the sudden onset of heart disease among the population of the UK and USA in the 1920-ties, and in other countries after 1945?

Stan (Heretic)

Would you add beer to this list?

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/obituaries/article_3af7cf24-af69-50f6-8d70-20ac78da15e9.html

Thought you might have something to say about his "egg white and granola" diet.

Chuck...what were the specific test results that you received?

Hi, Vick--

That's what I would have expected, though I'm a bit surprised that the standard wheat didn't send blood glucose even higher.

Experiences like yours make me more hopeful that einkorn may indeed be a reasonable alternative for some people.

Judy-

Try the Jovial brand pasta at Whole Foods.


Stan--

Great question, though I doubt it. We would probably have to perform the correlation ourselves, since their focus is not health, but agriculture.

I have finally found a substitute for toast/ bread at breakfast--organic green beans with organic butter from grass-feed cows. So far, I am not missing the wheat and the beans are very satisfying.

I will have unacquired my acquired taste for wheat. As an added bonus, my consumption of added sugars in any form will be zero since most of it came from pastries and sweet snacks.

some nit-picking: traditional pumpernickel is made from rye exclusively (at least in my part of the world where it originates). So, this has been dwarved, too, I am aware, but it ain't wheat. Period.

I tried the jovial "spirals" last week. Starting blood sugar  86. 2 hours later blood sugar 91. Gluten destroys my digestion but several days later no noticeable change in digestion. I plan on testing it again this week. One year of grain free lowered my average blood sugar from 124 to 86. our blog was a great resource. Thanks Doc!

I worked on a wheat farm in the early 70's. The shorter varieties raised the yield per acre because they put less energy into building stalk, and were less likely to fall over during high winds and become difficult or impossible to harvest. Nothing nefarious, just practical. Also around that time the Russians, who were huge importers of wheat, started paying for the protein content rather than just by volume. High protein yield became important as a result.

Other than the dwarfing mutation, which seems to be a symptom rather than a cause, what changes have taken place in the dwarf mutant wheat, especially chemically and nutritionally?

Speaking of costs ...
my own CEO of my own HMO (I live in this quite stupid country now) "made" in 2007 over 1 BILLION and nobody investigated the deaths.

Wow, a miraculous disappearance of intelligent posts.

Anonymous--

I didn't think that penis enlargement ads were "intelligent." I can forward them to you if you'd like.

Also, I think you meant "curious," not miraculous.

Even organic whole wheat suffers from "genetic manipulations"? Really?

Long time reader, first comment.
Thank you for so freely sharing all the information.

Marc

Thank you for this!  I have had this question for a long time given the number of things I take that "thin the blood."

As a veterinarian I've dispensed fish oil capsules for several years.  Some owners give so many that the dogs smell 'fishy' when seen for routine care.  The owner doesn't smell it since they're with the dog a lot.  The coats are gorgeous, something that doesn't often happen in Wyoming at 7000ft altitude.

Hi, Kevin--

My two Boston terriers jump for their fish oil capsules, two every day!

I'm glad to hear from a veterinarian that the coat sheen is indeed from the fish oil.

Due to an afib episode a couple of years ago, I was taking 20 mg of warfarin per day, plus around 5000 mg of EPA+DHA, and never had bleeding issues.  

My INR was always a stable 2.0.

As I've not had an afib reoccurrence, I've replaced the 20mg coumadin with 325mg aspirin daily, and still take around 5000 mg EPA+DHA.  No bleeding issues with that combo either.

Glad this topic came up.
Over the last 5 years, I've had to periodically eliminate my fish oil intake as I would start to bruise badly. My internist said she has seen this occasionally with fish oil and called it "capillary fragility." I bruise easily anyway, but it would really get bad with fish oil. So there must be some quality in fish oil that influences this.

Then about 6 months ago I started a strong supplement change to help with my low bone density--already taking magnesium and calcium but added:
Boron, K2, silica,pomegrantate juice, and BIG increase in vitamin D.
I also increased omegas to 3,000 a day which I was not able to tolerate before.

It has been over 4 months since I have had ANY bruise---which is just unheard of for me. I usually have 3-4 different bruises on arms/legs. So something in these supplements  strengthened my capillaries I guess, and I can now take high fish oil doses!
Anyone else had a bruising problem with fish oil?

Hi, Catherine--

Fascinating observation!

I'll bet it has something to do with the vitamin D, more than anything else. Vitamin D seems to strengthen structural tissues in bones, muscle, heart valves, and perhaps capillaries and other small blood vessels.

Several years ago I bruised easily for a while and attributed it to taking garlic supplements daily.  I started taking Vit C and the bruising stopped.  I don't think it had to do with fish oil (in my case); I don't think I was taking fish oil at the time.

I too achieve rapid blood thinning when taking 2400mg of EPA/DHA per day. That's only 4 pharmaceutical grade capsules. Even after my vitamin d levels were normalized I still got bruising.

I now take Vitamin K2 (MK-7 natto extract) twice a week and it's allowed me to bump my EPA/DHA up to 3600mg with no ill effects or bruising.

It was either supplement or eat a lot of aged cheese, they both seemed to do the trick in my particular case.

Thank you for sharing this study with us.  It helps clarify whether there is a risk for blood thinning from taking fish oils.  This information may help individuals who are taking blood thinning medications and considering adding fish oils to their daily diet.

Catherine,

Without a doubt, your cessation of bruising was due to vitamin k2. I routinely take nattokinase, large doses of fish oil, curcumin, and other blood thinning agents, and if I don't take vitamin K2, I will begin bruising. (I also take high doses of Vitamin D). When I take K2, I have absolutely no bruising.

Vitamin K2 has many clinical trials showing that it helps endothelium  integrity and elasticity.

Also, grapeseed extract and pine bark extract (specifically oligomeric proanthcyanins) has the same beneficial effect.

Daniel,

That's really interesting! There is a lot of research on K2's effect on strengthening weak bones. Bone fractures go down considerably when high doses of K2 are used (Japan is using K2 as osteoporosis treatment) BUT studies show it needs to be in conjunction with adequate calcium and Vitamin D---they work synergistically for bone strength.  So it makes sense that K2 and D could do the same with strengthening fragile capillaries. I am also taking the M7 natto form.

Dave,

Thanks for sharing your experience with this, you've really confirmed it now for me.  I can't believe I have suffered with this for most of my life with no answers (tried high dose Vit C, grape seed, etc) and now within months on K2, there's no bruising and I can tolerate fish oil. Hope my bones are responding this well!
This blog is so helpful....

Thanks for posting this. The question recently came up in our office. I like your assertion that omega-3s restore the blood to normal and remove abnormal clotting. And to comment on a post above, our dog has a beautifully shiny coat and takes 2 pure EPA capsules each day!

I have enjoyed reading That During nearly 3 years of observation, there was no excess of bleeding events in the group taking fish oil. (In fact, the group not taking fish oil had more bleeding events, though the difference fell short of achieving statistical significance.

I've been drinking fish oil for many year and I don't have any chance in my body people use to said me that but I think it is just a rumor.

I'm also especially gratified that a woman now holds our record. I'm uncertain why, but the ladies have been shy and the men remain the dominant and vocal participants in our program. Speak up, ladies!

I haven't heard of this problem
fish oil supplements. But now we know what to tell them when this sort of concern comes up. Fish oil or Omega-3 is really beneficial to health. It's just important that it comes from clean waters.

What is an appropriate dose of fish oil for someone taking coumadin?

Dr. Davis, when  person is taking Tamoxifen...
(1) is it safe to take vitamin k2 or K1?
(2) will fish oil have a role in preventing blood clots?