Staff of life…or death?
Some months back, while I was at the Dental Office waiting to get my fangs polished , I read a fascinating article in MacLean’s Magazine about the effects of wheat on our bodies.
Dr. William Davis, a preventive cardiologist, spoke to the magazine about his work and his latest book, the rather provocatively titled “Wheat Belly.”
I wanted to read this book, and found that our library system has copies. I put my name on the list to check it out…I was 23rd in line! The book arrived last week and I’ve been reading it since.
Food allergies play a much bigger role in our health than most people realize. Usually when one thinks of food allergies it’s in the context of dramatic effects…people breaking out into hives or worse, going into anaphylactic shock because their allergic reaction is so severe.
Actually, food sensitivities are very common, but the effects of these sensitivities manifest as something else that most people don’t recognize as food allergies. So they continue to eat the substance that is compromising their health. In fact, people usually LOVE the very foods that they are sensitive to, and eat even more! Ironically, the body’s allergic reaction creates a craving for more of the food that is causing the problem.
And the seven most common food allergens are some of our most common foods:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Soy
- Wheat
- Peanuts
- Tree nuts
- Seafood
Dr Davis focuses on wheat in this book, however. As it transpires, the wheat we eat today is not the wheat our ancestors ate. It’s not even the same grain in chemical and enzymatic make-up that our grandparents ate.
And there lies the problem….the wheat we consume today has been genetically hybridized and modified into a whole new food.
And this new wheat, according to Dr Davis, even if it is organically grown and baked into a loaf of hand-made artisanal bread, wreaks havoc on our bodies.
The major change in wheat occurred fairly recently, back in the 1980’s. You know that American Anthem about “Amber Waves of Grain”? The wheat in the song was indeed amber waves…wheat stalks at that time were some 4 feet high.
As scientists continued with their genetic modifications to increase crop yields, to make the plants produce more seed per stalk, they also needed the plants to become shorter and stouter. Then the heavier seed heads wouldn’t make the fragile stalks fall over.
So today, universally, farmers grow a high yield dwarf strain of wheat. But the hybridization also changed the chemical compound of the grain.
And its effect on the human metabolism is shocking. Eating whole wheat bread increases blood sugar to a level higher than sucrose. Aside from a little fiber, says Dr Davis, eating two slices of whole wheat bread is really little different, and often worse, than drinking a can of sugar-sweetened soda or eating a candy bar!
If you are diet savvy you are probably aware of the glycemic index. Foods that are high on the glycemic index cause your body to produce more blood sugar when eaten. This glucose production stimulates insulin production, the hormone that allows the glucose to enter the cells of the body where it is converted to fat. Wheat products have one of the highest glycemic index ratings, elevating blood sugar levels more than virtually any other carbohydrate, from beans to candy bars.
Back in the ‘90s the diet mantra was “fat makes you fat.” So millions of people cut fat out of their diets, and instead indulged in fat-free heart healthy bagels, pastas and breads and got fatter than ever!
Now, of course, dieticians have reversed themselves, and recommend that healthy fat is essential in our diet.
But in the meantime, the reason folks got fatter was that eating wheat was triggering the whole blood sugar-insulin-fat production reaction. There’s even more to wheat’s effect. The surge in glucose and insulin following wheat consumption is a 2 hour long phenomenon that produces the “high” at the glucose peak (donut rush, anyone?) followed by the “low” of the inevitable glucose drop. This surge and drop creates a two hour roller coaster ride of satiety and hunger that repeats itself during the day. The glucose “low” is responsible for your growling tummy just two hours after a bowl of cereal or an English muffin for breakfast as well as the mental fog, fatigue and shakiness as your blood sugar crashes.
Trigger high blood sugars repeatedly and/or over sustained periods, and more fat accumulation results, especially on the abdomen. The bigger your wheat belly, the poorer your response to insulin which creates a demand for higher insulin levels. And this situation cultivates diabetes. As if all this isn’t disturbing enough, visceral fat also stimulates estrogen production, in men as well as women. This extra estrogen stimulates breast growth, which in women increases breast cancer odds, and in men creates the dreaded “man boobs.”
Ironically, most diet guidelines for diabetics recommend eating whole grain wheat products!
Dr Davis has found that people who quit wheat cold turkey lose weight, especially that dreaded belly fat, very fast. And in many cases, even diabetics became non-diabetic once they cut wheat out of their diet!
Many folks want to lose their spare tire, and quitting wheat will definitely help. And you have to watch out…wheat gets snuck into much of our prepared food. Read labels.
All of this was very interesting, but some of wheat’s other insidious effects on the body really blew me away.
I recommend reading the book, the library will get it in for you. Dr Davis goes into the details of chemical compounds and clinical evidence for his claims.
But the “Cliff’s Notes” version of some other health issues that are either caused or exacerbated by eating wheat include:
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Crohn’s Disease
- osteoarthritis
- rheumatoid arthritis
- acid reflux
- acne (yes, acne!)
- atherosclerosis
- Alzheimer’s
- hair loss
- Peripheral neuropathy (numbness of body extremities)
- Asthma
If you have some ongoing health issue, try cutting wheat completely out of your diet for at least two weeks. Be prepared for some weird and unpleasant side effects if you are one of those people whose body is in fact addicted to wheat. You will probably have flu like symptoms and feel generally awful. Detox effects can be most annoying. But stick with it and see how you feel.
If your health improves you’ll know that wheat wasn’t doing your body any favors!
Dr Davis has a website full of further wheat info, personal stories, testimonials & recipes. Just google Wheat Belly and you’ll find it.
Stephanie kelley
