Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight!
I'm currently reading this most informative book having discovered it through a Red Ice Creations article.
In an effort to produce greater yields, wheat has undergone a large measure of hybridization with the result that the little dwarf wheat stocks now grown are not the same wheat your grandmother may have eaten, and the result that the effects on human physical and mental health have been, well, nothing short of catastrophic! I'm only on the 5th chapter and wow(!) am I getting an education! Here are some of the things presented in the book:
- Whole wheat consumption has been shown to increase blood sugar levels to higher than that of table sugar consumption
- Because of wheat's morphine-like effect and the cycle of glucose-insulin production, wheat is a stimulant--an appetite stimulant
- The result of this increased appetite is what Dr. Davis calls the "wheat belly" and the bigger it is, the worse the response the body has to insulin with the result that higher and higher insulin levels get produced and this in turn may lead to a situation that could result in diabetes
- Another problem with a large wheat belly is the greater inflammatory responses in the body which can lead to heart disease and cancer
- Celiac disease, which is a serious condition of the small intestine, has been linked to wheat
- In a study done on people classified as obese, there was a 50% decrease in BMI (Body Mass Index) within half a year when wheat was eliminated
- Among the things people who have eliminated wheat from their diet have noted: improved mood, better ability to concentrate and deeper sleep
- During WW II a Dr. Dohan did investigative work related to schizophrenia. He observed that during food shortages men and women of Finland, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and the U.S. were being hospitalized in lower numbers when bread was unavailable. These numbers subsequently went up when wheat consumption resumed after the war.
- Dr. Dohan noted a similar pattern in the Stone Age culture of New Guinea. As the eating habits of westerners took hold in New Guinea, the population experienced a sixty-five fold increase in schizophrenia!
- It was the mid-sixties, and Dr. Dohan was doing experiments with schizophrenic patients at the Veteran's Administration in Philadelphia. What he and his colleagues did was to remove all wheat products from the diets of the patients. What resulted was a reduction in the number of auditory hallucinations, delusions, and social detachment experiences. When the wheat was returned to their diets, the hallucinations, delusions, and detachment from reality experiences resumed. Psychiatrists at the University of Sheffield in England observed similar results in their studies.
- This and a reduced effect on those with autism have been attributed to wheat in the diet. This is not to say these conditions were brought on by wheat, but that there was an apparent and marked exacerbation of them with wheat in the diet.
- There is also the possibility that ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) may also be abetted by the consumption of wheat
- To lend even more credence to the idea of a brain-wheat connection, studies have been done by Dr. Christine Zioudrou in which it was shown that polypeptides, which gluten, the main protein of wheat breaks down into in the stomach, are able to pass through the blood-brain barrier. Once they are in the brain, they bind to the brain's morphine receptor, which is the same one that opiate drugs bind to. Given the name "exorphins," Zioudrou and her colleagues think these may be the factors affecting the schizophrenic patients who showed improvement upon removal of wheat from their diet.
- It gets worse (or better, depending on your point of view). This effect on the brain by these exorphins can be blocked by the use of the drug naloxone.
- Dr. Davis goes on to say that the pharmaceutical industry is pursuing the use of a weight loss drug--naltrexone--which is an oral equivalent of naloxone.
Another one of the cases that I was impressed with was one involving a comparison between einkorn, an ancient grain, and modern day whole wheat bread. The results went like this:
Blood sugar reading before consuming einkorn bread was 84 mg/dl (milligrams/deciliter). After, it was 110 mg/dl--a somewhat expected response after eating a carb. There were no perceptible effects afterwards--no nausea or fatigue, and nothing ached.
Blood sugar before consumption of whole wheat bread was 84 mg/dl. After consumption it was 167 mg/dl. After effects included nausea and a persistent queasy effect, stomach cramps, fitful sleep, inability to think clearly or read a paragraph without rereading it frequently. This was not a clinical trial but a personal experience by someone who has a wheat sensitivity, but one can glean from this that there is an obvious effect on the human body, one that we can all thank agricultural scientists for.
I should mention that the Rockefeller Foundation had a hand in this genetic modification of our wheat during a collaborative effort they did with the Mexican government in 1943. Of course, most modern-day farmers don't want to give up their yields either. And today, we have the corporations paying big bucks to keep GMO labeling off our foods. Wonder why...
Source:
Davis, William, M.D. Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight! Emmaus?: Rodale, 2011. Print.
