Ban the Wheat Belly!

A gal at work gave me this article, Eight reasons Wheat is Making You Gain: Doctor Says Whole Wheat Packs on Belly Fat - And Has a Lot in Common with Opiate Drugs.  Dr. William Davis, MD and cardiologist, claims the compounds found in "modern" wheat are responsible for appetite stimulation, rises in blood sugar, and release of endorphin-like chemicals than get the brain hooked on breads, pastas and crackers. He claims blood sugar rises more with wheat than with a snickers bar and the excess sugar gets stored as fat. "Modern" wheat is defined as the industrial processing and genetic seeds manufacturers use to create what folks call "wheat" in most pre-packaged and processed foods.  If you look at a grocery store loaf of bread that claims to be 100% stone ground wheat, it usually also contains a whole lot of other unknown substances. Many times, high fructose corn syrup is in there and that has been known to increase appetite.  So wheat is bad now the good doctors say.  This article, courtesy sheknows.com has this to say: 

It’s all about blood sugar

Here are the basics. When you eat, your food is converted to fuel for your body. In order for your body to use the fuel (blood sugar), it needs insulin. Some foods cause rapid increases in blood sugar and also insulin. The repetitive highs and lows -- a roller coaster -- causes fat to be stored. Wheat is at the top of the list of foods that causes this rise and fall of blood sugar and insulin levels. Dr. Davis has documented his patient’s blood sugar levels before and after eating wheat and the results are astonishing! "Wheat increases your blood sugar more than that Snickers bar," says the cardiologist. And don’t think relying only on whole wheat flour is the answer. Though whole wheat flour is better than white flour, both are from the same plant. "It’s like [comparing] filtered cigarettes to unfiltered cigarettes," notes Dr. Davis.

Ironically, the Eat to Live way of life (#3 top seller on Amazon.com and # 5 on the NY Times list  I might add) that I've been thinking about doing again (was successful in 2009) excludes most grains by default.  The diet (to lose weight) is 3-7 servings of fruit a day, one pound of raw vegetables (mostly leafy greens, excludes starchy veges), one pound of steamed vegetables (excluding starchy vegetables) 1 cup of beans or legumes (including tofu), 1 ounce nuts or seeds, 1 tablespoon chia or flax a day, 1 cup soy or almond milk daily, and here's where the grains come in: 1 cup daily of EITHER starchy vegetable  (i.e., sweet potato, white potato, corn, squash) OR 1 cup of whole grains (i.e., oatmeal, bread, quiona, millet).   No dairy, animal products, white flour, sugar, oil or salt.  Looking at my choices, bread (thus WHEAT!) would go first.  Donna mentioned this wheat thing about a year ago and at the time she was trying to eliminate wheat and was feeling pretty good in the process.  There just might be something to be said for what the doctors are claiming here.  Ban the wheat belly!