Plaque is the stuff of coronary heart disease. It is CONTROLLABLE, it is STOPPABLE, it is REVERSIBLE.
But you must be equipped with the right information on diet, nutritional supplements, and hopefully the avoidance of medication.
This is the blog that accompanies the 
You’ve heard of wheat belly. How about wheat hip?
Recall that the innocent appearing wheat belly is actually a hotbed of inflammatory activity beneath the surface. The visceral fat of the wheat belly, i.e., fat kidneys, fat liver, fat intestines, fat pancreas, produces abnormal inflammatory signals, such as various interleukins, tumor necrosis factor, and leptin. These are the inflammatory signals that create insulin resistance and diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer.
These same inflammatory mediators are able to enter the joint spaces, such as those in your hips, knees, and hands. This leads to osteoarthritis, the exceptionally common form of arthritis that affects 1 in 7 Americans. In particular, the level of leptin in joints mirrors that in blood, a phenomenon that has been associated with joint destruction.
The previously widely-held notion that arthritis is simply a wear-and-tear phenomenon due to the mechanical stress of excess weight is proving to be an oversimplification. Arthritis is also part of the carbohydrate-driven, weight-increasing, inflammatory condition of insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome.
Throw into this cytokine storm the fact that glycation, i.e., glucose modification of proteins, also causes cartilage destruction. The cells of human cartilage lack the ability to divide, so the cartilage cells you had at age 18 are the cartilage cells that you will hopefully still have at age 80. However, high blood sugars (glucose) glycate the proteins in cartilage. (Wheat raises blood glucose higher than almost all other foods, higher than a Milky Way bar, higher than a Snickers bar.) The process is irreversible and cumulative. Because cartilage has next to no capacity for repair or regeneration, it becomes brittle. Over years, it essentially crumbles, leading to the “bone on bone” that prompts conversations about total hip and total knee replacement.
So that ciabatta or blueberry muffin in your mouth takes you a step or two closer to joint destruction via heightened inflammation arising from the visceral fat of the wheat belly, worsened by glycation of high blood sugars after carbohydrate consumption.
My solution: Lose the ciabatta.
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Like Anne, I have found that removing grains from my diet has resulted in pain-free joints. If I get "glutened" by mistake, I almost always respond with an inflammation in a large joint – shoulder, knee, even back – with heat and sharp pain. Before a grain-free diet, I had what I thought were normal aches and pains in my finger joints. Those are completely gone with a grain-free diet.
Thank you, Onschedule. Perfect!
And thank you, Dr Davis.
Two days into my no wheat experiment and I'm not having any cravings like I thought. I probably have a lot of those wheat carbs still floating around.
So far though, I think this may be easier than I first thought. Although, I might get tired of eggs for breakfast pretty soon, then what. Everything else has wheat (pancakes, waffles, cereal) and I'm allergic to oats. Maybe yogurt and fruit?
Lunches and dinners are, so far so good. We'll see what happens.
stop smoking health:
re: what to eat for breakfast
Rethink "breakfast". The cereal companies have done a good job convincing Americans that breakfast is a sweet and starchy meal, but that isn't so around the world. In Poland and other parts of Eastern and Northern Eastern Europe, I have happily enjoyed breakfasts that included salad or cut up vegetables, smoked or pickled fish, salami or sausage, cheese, as well as simple yogurt and fresh cut fruit.
How about some leftovers from the previous dinner?
When I'm in a hurry I make a Real Food high fat protein shake: I blend together a couple raw eggs or egg yolks, a couple tablespoons of heavy cream or coconut milk, a tablespoon of Dutched cocoa powder, and either some water, crushed ice, or cold coffee/espresso. I don't sweeten my shakes, but they can be sweetened a little, too. Frozen berries can be substituted for coffee and ice to change the flavor/add sweetness. Plain whole fat yogurt is a nice tart probiotic addition, too. Make it up the night before if needed and store in the fridge. With practice and keeping the ingredients stocked, this shake is blended and cleaned up in less than 5 minutes.
My main point is to explore different ideas for breakfast and don't let the food processing companies define "breakfast" foods for you. Redefine "breakfast" for yourself.
Thanks for pointing out the connection between high carbs and inflammation of the joints. I very much enjoyed the many comments and learned from them.
Thanks to this blog I avoid wheat almost completely nowadays but for the sake of interest I would like to add a rejoinder: what should one replace the ciabatta with?
People eat food to *get high* and maintain their moods as much as to supply their bodies with fuel and raw materials.
So, in the absence of fundamental personal change, my guess is that the ciabatta is going to be replaced by:
(a) more coffee,
(b) more alcohol,
(c) more getting angry,
(d) drugs/painkillers, or
(e) some other vice
This is the cental issue of low-carb eating, in my opinion.
The body and mind are part of a *system* which inclues the rest of the eater's life.
how about no breakfast in the morning, that is if you had a good dinner. Our energy should be the highest in the morning with cortisol and testosterone at the highest levels so any food just messes it up. This is something natural for us as I don't think our ancestors ate in the morning as they didn't have refrigeration, we are genetically predisposed eating later in the day. Only a few nuts or berries in the morning may be all right.
"People eat food to *get high* and maintain their moods as much as to supply their bodies with fuel and raw materials."
Blimey, never looked at it like that.
What's your opinion of Sauerkraut?
This just in:
Low-carb diet causes profound increase in HDL cholesterol
MedWire News: Long-term adherence to a low-carbohydrate diet is associated with marked improvements in lipid levels, in particular a large increase in levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, US researchers report.
The low-carbohydrate diet was also associated with significant weight loss, leading the study authors to recommend the diet as a "viable option for obesity treatment for obese adults."
Gary Foster (Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and colleagues undertook a randomized trial to compare the efficacy of a low-carbohydrate versus a low-fat diet, both of which were given alongside a comprehensive lifestyle modification program.
http://lipidsonline.org/news/article.cfm?aid=9601
>What's your opinion of Sauerkraut?
It's been quite a while since I ate any, but, if memory serves, I don't think it's a particular favourite of mine
However, it might be a good example of how various sour and bitter foodstuffs have evolved into expensive delicacies within human culture.
This is despite the fact that bitterness is a fairly reliable indicator of toxicity.
Thus we do not eat foods directly for the sake of our bodies but for the the way we interpret the tastes and other internal sensations. It's a mental thing, and causes addiction for many of us I think.
Sauerkraut? An expensive delicacy? It's just cabbage and salt!
I make my own so that I can eat it raw. The recipe I use is a half-tablespoon of additive-free salt per pound of shredded cabbage. I make it in mason jars, with the lids tightened, loosening the lids once a day for the first 5 days to release the CO2 gas (loosening them only enough to release pressure but not allow air to get in.) I put the jars in the fridge after 3-5 days to finish aging.
Matt Stone wrote:
I try to keep my carb intake above 500 grams per day – almost all unrefined starches. This causes instant fat loss, a drop in insulin levels due to improved insulin sensitivity, and reversal of metabolic syndrome in most people
WHAT A JOKE! 500g of carbs is 2000 kcal per day! The body won't take the fat when it has that much carbs available… you need to get down to at least below 100g, perhaps as low as 20g…
I must agree with others here – remove such comments or at least respond to it so it won't be uncontradicted.
Matsmurfen wrote:
"I must agree with others here – remove such comments or at least respond to it so it won't be uncontradicted."
I truly wish that rather than removing such posts there could be an open discussion. I think everyone would learn a lot more if such things were addressed and both sides dissected. Counterpoints from Dr. Davis would really be great. A lot of questions get raised here but never answered or addressed in any way. That can be potentially very bad because people read and then go of with half baked info. That could be dangerous. What is needed here is a "forum" where these things can be discussed and many sides looked at.
Ok, so here are so many wheat topics it's hard to know where to put stuff so that things get noticed.
Regarding wheat and heart disease, Loren Cordain has written interesting pieces called “Whole Wheat Heart Attack” part 1 and 2. I found the second one on google:
“Common dietary lectins are potent stimulators of
inflammatory cytokines in white blood cell cultures20,21.
In Figure 3 you can see that lectins
from lentils, kidney beans, peas and WHEAT
potently increase the production of inflammatory
cytokines (IL-12, IL-2, and INFγ). WHEAT lectin
(WGA) also stimulates production of two other
inflammatory cytokines (TNFα and IL-1β)21 that
promote the atherosclerotic process.”
- -
“Enzymes
called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs),
secreted by white blood cells and other cells
within the plaque, are known to cause collagen
and elastic tissue within the fibrous cap to disintegrate.
Consequently, any dietary or environmental
factor which facilitates synthesis of MMPs
is not a good thing for cardiovascular disease
patients. Well guess what? Lectins from wheat,
WGA22, and lectins from kidney beans, PHA23,
cause tissue cultures of white blood cells to increase
their production of MMPs.”
- -
“WHEAT lectin also influences
the final and fatal step in
atherosclerosis, the formation
of a blood clot in an artery.
Integral to the formation of
clots are platelet cells, which
circulate in the bloodstream..
Platelets are normally activated when they contact
collagen from a damaged blood vessel.
WGA directly causes the activation of platelets
and potently increases their aggregation
(clumping) 24. Hence, the consumption of WHOLE WHEAT
may be integral in the thinning and destruction
of the fibrous cap as well
as the formation of the fatal clot.”
http://www.deflame.com/Portals/0/Wheat%20lectins,%20heart%20disease,%202008.pdf
What is for breakfast? (I think that was the original question). I like a bit of fruit like berries and banana. Or I will put a bit of berries with coconut milk and blend it in the blender. Bacon and/or eggs are always another option. Cheese with a bit of meat or leftover meat from the day before works nicely. Or a breakfast burrito with lowcarb tortilla. Or muffins made with almond butter and banana taste great with a slab of butter on top! Another classic is a grapefruit half.
Dr. Davis:
Interesting article, in the NY Times about Moose and arthritis.Also about native American Indians, developement of arthritis on change of their nutrition to corn and food eaten by the misionaries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/17/health/research/17moose.html?_r=1&hpw
kasing12
Follow our series of posts: "Grains, the world would be better off without them" http://bit.ly/a8GqfY VBR
Do you have a link to the study for your comment "Wheat raises blood glucose higher than almost all other foods, higher than a Milky Way bar, higher than a Snickers bar." as I would be interested in following up on this.
You have an interesting topic with very interesting comments as well. I learned a lot. Thanks!