Effect of wheat on irritable bowel syndrome- FreeTheAnimal

Looks Like Dr. William Davis Was Right in Wheat Belly

February 18th, 2014     

Well what do you know?

I've been following Dr. Davis for a long time and have really applauded a lot of the work he was doing over the years getting really good results for people, primarily by getting them off wheat and getting their vitamin D levels up. The results often showed up in significant reductions in heart scan calcification scores. Davis in a cardiologist. Since I was pretty hardcore Paleo at the time, it made a lot of sense, but I attributed that success mostly to the removal of grains period.

Then comes his book—Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back To Health

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The above is a quote from here.


Below is a copy of the abstract from  a double-blinded randomised dietary intervention trial. The original can be found here.
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Effect of Triticum turgidum subsp. turanicum wheat on irritable bowel syndrome: a double-blinded randomised dietary intervention trial.

Sofi F¹, Whittaker A², Gori AM³, Cesari F³, Surrenti E⁴, Abbate R³, Gensini GF³, Benedettelli S², Casini A¹.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of a replacement diet with organic, semi-whole-grain products derived from Triticum turgidum subsp. turanicum (ancient) wheat on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms and inflammatory/biochemical parameters. A double-blinded randomised cross-over trial was performed using twenty participants (thirteen females and seven males, aged 18-59 years) classified as having moderate IBS. Participants received products (bread, pasta, biscuits and crackers) made either from ancient or modern wheat for 6 weeks in a random order. Symptoms due to IBS were evaluated using two questionnaires, which were compiled both at baseline and on a weekly basis during the intervention period. Blood analyses were carried out at the beginning and end of each respective intervention period. During the intervention period with ancient wheat products, patients experienced a significant decrease in the severity of IBS symptoms, such as abdominal pain (P< 0·0001), bloating (P= 0·004), satisfaction with stool consistency (P< 0·001) and tiredness (P< 0·0001). No significant difference was observed after the intervention period with modern wheat products. Similarly, patients reported significant amelioration in the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms only after the ancient wheat intervention period, as measured by the intensity of pain (P= 0·001), the frequency of pain (P< 0·0001), bloating (P< 0·0001), abdominal distension (P< 0·001) and the quality of life (P< 0·0001). Interestingly, the inflammatory profile showed a significant reduction in the circulating levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-17, interferon-γ, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor after the intervention period with ancient wheat products, but not after the control period. In conclusion, significant improvements in both IBS symptoms and the inflammatory profile were reported after the ingestion of ancient wheat products.

PMID: 24521561 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Read the complete articles here and here.

Does Wheat Cause Coronary Heart Disease?

Introduction

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of deaths worldwide - killing 7 millions people every year. In the following text, we will see that wheat consumption is probably a risk factor for CHD.

Conventional Wisdom on Wheat

Most health organizations currently view wheat as a safe food except for people having celiac disease - affecting up to 1% of the population - and people having non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Also whole wheat - as part of whole-grains - is considered to be one of the healthiest food. In fact a diet rich in whole-grains is considered to be protective against CHD.

Why? Because observational studies consistently find that whole-grain consumption is associated with a decreased risk of CHD. Do these results contradict wheat consumption causing CHD?

Are Whole-Grains Protective Against CHD?

According to this study:

Whole-grain intake consistently has been associated with improved cardiovascular disease outcomes, but also with healthy lifestyles, in large observational studies. Intervention studies that assess the effects of whole-grains on biomarkers for CHD have mixed results.

Indeed many studies show that whole-grain consumption is associated with a decreased risk of CHD. But these studies are observational and can only show correlation but not causation.

In fact there is an health-conscious population bias in these studies: for example people consuming the most whole-grains also exercise more and smoke less:

Data from Majken K Jensen et al., Intakes of whole grains, bran, and germ and the risk of coronary heart disease in men, 2004

Of course researchers adjust the data with these risk factors. But it is very difficult, maybe impossible, to adjust for all risk factors. For example the two previously cited studies did not adjust for important risk factors like socioeconomic status or social support.

A classic example of an occurrence of this bias can be found in hormone replacement therapy (HRT): observational studies had found that HRT was decreasing the risk of heart disease risk while a controlled study finally found that HRT was indeed slightly increasing the risk of heart disease.

A proof that this health-conscious bias could explain the seemingly protective effect of whole-grains can be found in randomized controlled studies: many of them fail to find any beneficial effect of whole-grains compared to refined grains.

So according to these randomized controlled studies whole-grains are neutral toward CHD risks. How then can we say that wheat causes CHD?

Are All Grains Created Equal?

Many randomized controlled studies compared wheat with other grains. These trials are usually quite short. So instead of looking at the number of heart attacks, short-term studies focus on risk predictors of CHD like weight gain or markers of inflammations. Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) level is another risk factor. It represents the number of LDL particles - often called “bad cholesterol”. It is now considered to be a better predictor than LDL-C - the amount of cholesterol contained in LDL particles. The lower the level of ApoB the lower is the risk of CHD.

Here are some results of these studies:

• a study concluded that a bread diet may promote fat synthesis/accumulation compared with a rice diet
• wheat increased BMI compared to flaxseed in a 12 months study
• wheat increased ApoB level by 5.4% compared to flaxseed in a 3 weeks study
• wheat increased ApoB level by 7.5% compared to flaxseed in a 3 months study
• wheat increased ApoB level by 0.05 g/L compared to flaxseed in a 12 months study
• oat decreased ApoB level by 13.7% while wheat had no significant effect in a 21 days study
• wheat increased the number of LDL particles by 14% while oat decreased them by 5% in a 12 weeks study
• ApoA to ApoB ratio (a risk predictor similar in efficiency to ApoB alone - here the higher the better) was increased by 4.7% for oat bran and 3.9% for rice bran compared to wheat bran in a 4 weeks study

These studies show that some grains like oat improve the risk factors of CHD compared to wheat. In addition, these studies often show an absolute improvement of the CHD risk profile in groups eating oat and an absolute deterioration in groups eating wheat. Although we cannot say for sure, it would suggest that oat is protective against CHD - which is confirmed by other studies - while wheat increase the risk of CHD.

That could help explaining why people eating more whole-grains are healthier in observational studies since it looks like that they eat more grains like rice and oat and less typically wheat-made food like white bread, pasta and doughnuts:
Data from Andersson A. et al., Intakes of whole grains, bran, and germ and the risk of coronary heart disease in men, 2007

Now let’s have a look at studies linking wheat and CHD.

Observational Studies on Wheat

Some observational studies linked wheat and waist circumference gains - waist circumference being a strong predictor of CHD:

• a study showed a correlation between consumption of white bread and waist circumference gains
• a study concluded that: ”reducing white bread, but not whole-grain bread consumption, within a Mediterranean-style food pattern setting is associated with lower gains in weight and abdominal fat”
• a Chinese study found that ”vegetable-rich food pattern was associated with higher risk of obesity” but as noted by obesity researcher Stephan Guyenet the association between obesity is in fact stronger with wheat flour than with vegetables

A more pertinent result is found in the data of a large observational study in China. Researchers analysed these data and found a 0.67 correlation between wheat flour intake and CHD. They also found a 0.58 correlation between wheat intake and BMI.

From Denise Minger
But this is just a single unadjusted correlation and does not prove much. However blogger Denise Minger thoroughly analysed the data of this study and found that the association held strongly after multivariate analysis with any other variable available like latitude, BMI, smoking habits, fish consumption, etc.

Since it is an observational study it cannot prove anything but it is yet another evidence suggesting that wheat consumption causes CHD. Let’s now have a look at randomized controlled trials.

Randomized Controlled Trials on Wheat

In addition to the previous randomized controlled trials comparing wheat with other grains there are two additional studies suggesting that wheat consumption causes CHD.

The first one is a study involving rabbits. While studies involving animals are not always relevant to humans - especially studies with herbivore animals like rabbit - the results of this study are quite interesting.

The researchers fed rabbits an atherogenesis diet (i.e. promoting formation of fatty masses in arterial walls) with a supplement of cottonseed oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, wheat germ or sucrose. And as they concludes:

Severity of atherosclerosis after 5 months was greatest on the wheat germ-supplemented diet, whereas there were no differences among the other three groups.

The second study is the Diet And Reinfarction Trial (DART). In this 2-year randomized controlled trial, people who already had recovered from an heart attack were split into groups receiving various advices. The main result of this study was that the group advised to eat fatty fish had a reduction in mortality from CHD.

One other advice - the fibre advice - was:

to eat at least six slices of wholemeal bread per day, or an equivalent amount of cereal fibre from a mixture of wholemeal bread, high-fibre breakfast cereals and wheat bran

Seeing this advice we can guess that most of cereal fibres intake by this group was from wheat although we cannot be sure.

This advice resulted on a 22% death increase:
From Stephan Guyenet
However this result bordered on statistical significance: the 95% confidence interval being 0.99–1.65.
For people not familiar with statistics, a result is usually defined as statistically significant when there is less than 5% chance that the result is due to luck alone. Here there is a 95% probability that the relative risk is between 0.99 (1% decreased chance of dying) and 1.67 (67% increased chance of dying).

Since the probability that the fibre advice resulted in a protective or neutral effect was a little too high, this result has been quite overlooked. Had the study last a little longer, it would have raised way more suspicion toward whole-grains.

In fact, researchers found this effect to be statistically significant in a follow-up study. After adjusting for pre-existing conditions and medication use, we can see in the table 4 of this study an hazard ratio of 1.35 (95% CI 1.02, 1.80) for the 2-year period of the randomized controlled trial.

These results are quite telling: according to these researchers, a 2 year randomized controlled trial showed that advising people recovering from an heart attack to eat at least six slices of wholemeal bread per day resulted in a statistically significant 35% percent chance increase of CHD compared to people not receiving this advice.

Wheat, Vitamin D Deficiency And Heart Disease

Many studies found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with CHD.
However vitamin D deficiency does not seem to cause heart disease. For example several studies found that vitamin D supplementation did not prevent heart disease.
As this study concludes:

A lower vitamin D status was possibly associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease. As a whole, trials showed no statistically significant effect of vitamin D supplementation on cardiometabolic outcomes.

Wheat consumption causing CHD could help explaining these results. A study found that wheat consumption depletes vitamin D reserves. That could explain why vitamin D deficiency is associated with heart disease and why it does not seem to cause it: both vitamin D deficiency and heart disease could be consequences of wheat consumption.

Of course this is not the only explanation. For example the DART study shows that fish consumption prevents CHD and fish is a food rich in vitamin D.

Not the Perfect Culprit

To be clear, if it seems likely that wheat consumption is a risk factor of CHD it is not the only one nor the primary one. There are many other factors like smoking, hypertension, lack of exercice or stress. Even among dietary factors wheat is probably not the main one. For example the DART study shows that the protective effect of fish intake is stronger than the adverse effect of wheat.

In addition, deleterious wheat effects might not affect everybody. One study showed that the ApoB level variation following wheat and oat bran intake was different depending on the genotype of the individuals. In another study whole-wheat intake worsened the lipid profile only in people having a specific genotype compared to refined wheat.

How the wheat is cooked may have a role too. Studies show that sourdough bread improve mineral bioavailability (such as magnesium, iron, and zinc) compared to yeast bread or uncooked whole-wheat. Also content in proteins with potential adverse consequences like gluten or wheat germ agglutinin differs depending of the food type.

Conclusion

There are strong evidences that wheat consumption is a risk factor for CHD. People at risk of CHD should avoid wheat as should those trying to lose weight. In all cases, stopping wheat consumption for a month for example to see how one feel without wheat is always a good idea since there is currently no available method to diagnose non-celiac wheat sensitivities and that even for celiac disease the average delay in diagnostic is 11 years in the US.

More studies looking at the links between wheat and CHD are urgently needed since CHD is the leading cause of deaths while wheat is the second most widely consumed food and whole-wheat is often advised to lower risk of CHD. Studies considering grains as a whole are bound to give inconsistent results since different grains seem to have opposite effects in the case of CHD. So as much as possible future studies should treat grains separately and consider things like type of wheat products and genetic variability.

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Read the complete article here or here.

Dr William Davis was interviewed on the Dr Oz show

Cardiologist, Track Your Plaque founder and Wheat Belly author Dr William Davis was interviewed on the Dr Oz show tagged 'Are You Addicted to Wheat' on Monday Dec 3 2012. The complete show can be seen in three parts here.

http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/are-you-addicted-wheat

Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity: A New Clinical Entity

Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity: A New Clinical Entity
 A common response to the suggestion that wheat may be causing digestive or other problems is “I don’t need to worry about wheat because my doctor checked me and I don’t have celiac disease.”

Despite thousands of anecdotal reports of improved digestive health with wheat avoidance, most people, including most physicians, cannot recognize a wheat sensitivity outside of an official diagnosis of celiac disease.

To the mainstream medical establishment, negative celiac tests mean you do not have wheat sensitivity.
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“Our data confirm the existence of non-celiac wheat sensitivity as a distinct clinical condition.”

As William Davis documents thoroughly in Wheat Belly, celiac disease testing does a very poor job of identifying those of us who are sensitive to wheat. Perhaps one day, clinicians, and mainstream public opinion, will catch up with the research.
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“As a whole group, the [non-celiac wheat sensitivity] group showed a higher frequency of anemia, weight loss, self-reported wheat intolerance, coexistent atopy, and food allergy in infancy than the IBS controls.”
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Read the complete article here.

Also read this and
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Here is part of another eye opening article about wheat titled
 The Problems with Modern Wheat

It’s less nutritious.

In 1843, agronomists at Rothamstead Research Station in Hertfordshire, England began what would become one of the longest-running continuous agronomic experiments in the world: the Broadbalk Winter Wheat Experiment. For the last two centuries, generations of scientists involved in the experiment have grown multiple wheat cultivars on adjacent plots of land and applied different farming techniques and fertilizers to study the effect on yield, nutritional content, and viability of the crop. They’ve rotated crops in and out, switched up fertilizers, and tracked the change in mineral content of both soil and wheat grain. It’s a stunning example of a well-designed, seemingly never ending (it continues to this day, as far as I can tell) experiment.

Between 1843 and the mid 1960s, the mineral content, including zinc, magnesium, iron, and copper, of harvested wheat grain in the experiment stayed constant. But after that point, zinc, magnesium, iron, and copper concentrations began to decrease – a shift that “coincided with the introduction of semi-dwarf, high-yielding cultivars” into the Broadbalk experiment. Another study found that the “ancient” wheats – emmer, spelt, and einkorn – had higher concentrations of selenium, an extremely important mineral, than modern wheats. Further compounding the mineral issue is the fact that phytic acid content remains unaffected in dwarf wheat. Thus, the phytate:mineral ratio is higher, which will make the already reduced levels of minerals in dwarf wheat even more unavailable to its consumers.

Increased yield leading to dilution of mineral density is one possible explanation for the reduction in wheat mineral content, but modern wheat has shorter root systems than ancient wheat, and longer roots allow greater extraction of minerals from the soil. Some people have proposed soil mineral depletion as the cause of reduced nutrient content of food, but – at least in the Broadbalk experiment – soil mineral content actually increased over time.

It’s more damaging to celiacs and gluten-sensitives.

One of the primary proteins in wheat, gluten provides the “viscoelastic properties” that allow wheat to be turned into bread, dough, pasta, and all sorts of processed foods. Gluten provides the chewiness of good bread, the bite of al dente pasta. Bakers, cooks, and foodies prize it – but some people fear it, and rightfully so. I wrote all about gluten sensitivity and celiac disease a few weeks back, but the basic gist is that for many people, consuming gluten inflames the body, perforates the gut, and opens them up to a whole host of health maladies.

So what’s the deal with modern wheat? Well, celiac disease is on the rise, and some researchers have suggested that this is caused by the prevalence of certain gluten proteins that predominate in the new varieties of wheat. Namely, a gluten peptide known as glia-α9, which is nearly absent in older wheats but prevalent in modern wheats, is the most reactive “CD (celiac disease) epitope.” In other words, a majority of people with celiac disease react negatively to glia-α9. It’s a common trigger, and older wheat doesn’t have as much of it.

Meanwhile, einkorn, an ancient variety of wheat, has been shown to cause less intestinal toxicity in patients with celiac. Einkorn and other related ancient strains of wheat still contain gluten, of course, but they do not appear to be as damaging to people sensitive to or completely intolerant of gluten and its related protein subfractions.

It’s prepared differently.

Consider how bread is made today:
With refined, old (often rancid) white flour instead of freshly ground wheat.

Using quick rise commercial yeast instead of slowly fermenting with proven sourdough cultures.
On an industrial scale instead of in the home.

Meanwhile, for the vast majority of our wheat-eating history, humans have been grinding whole wheat berries up fresh and fermenting them before baking and eating the stuff. Dr. Weston Price famously found several traditional cultures who thrived on wheat, but they weren’t eating refined white flour treated with quick-rising yeast. They were stone-grinding fresh wheat. They were fermenting it. They were doing all the things a person has got to do if they want to make wheat a staple of their diet and maximize the nutrition in the process. Later, Price conducted experiments in which he reversed dental decay and remineralized cavity-ridden teeth in refined white flour-eating people using wholesome, varied diets that included some freshly ground wheat. Fermentation effectively “pre-digests” the proteins in wheat, as I mentioned previously. If you have the right organisms, you can even break down wheat gluten to the point that celiacs can eat it without suffering symptoms.

That’s not to suggest you should go eat wheat. It’s simply to suggest that if you do, fresh, whole, ancient wheat prepared the old way is definitely healthier.

So, there you go: a few good lines of solid evidence showing why modern wheat – which is the only kind of wheat most people are ever going to encounter in the real world – should be avoided. Does that help? If you’re interested in more, check out Dr. Davis (of Wheat Belly fame), who’s made it something of his mission to rail against what he calls a “perfect, chronic poison.”


Read more here.

Wheat Gluten Sensitivity and Autoimmune Disease - Dach

Wheat Gluten Sensitivity and Autoimmune Disease

by Jeffrey Dach MD

Read the complete article here.

Gluten Sensitivity, Autoimmune and Neurological Disease by Jeffrey Dach MD This article is Part Three of a Series. For Previous Parts, Click Here: Part One and Part Two Two Very Mysterious and Complicated Cases caused by Gluten SensitivityWhat is wheat gluten? Gluten is a protein in grains such as wheat, rye, barley, spelt, triticale, kamut,and possibly oats. In susceptible individuals, about one per cent of the population, Wheat Gluten stimulates an immune response which may damage the inner lining of the gastrointestinal tract, or cross-react with other tissues in the body producing auto-immune, neurological and psychiatric illness. Upper left image: A variety of foods made from wheat, all containing gluten. Courtesy of the USDA and Wikimedia Commons. Celiac Disease or Gluten Sensitivity ? Shag Carpet or Flat Carpet ? The immune response to gluten may cause malabsorption, and damage to the mucosal lining of the GI tract which can be seen on endoscopic biopsy as villous atrophy (see left image). Normally, the healthy small bowel looks like a "shag carpet" under the microscope with a brush border. However, with villous atrophy, the villi or fingers are lost or shortened, and the shag carpet turns into indoor-out door carpeting with a flat surface. Left Image: Red Arrows point to Villous Atrophy. Biopsy of small bowel showing Coeliac disease manifested by blunting of villi, crypt hyperplasia, and lymphocyte infiltration of crypts, consistent with Marsh classification III. Courtesy of wikimedia commons. This advanced form is called Celiac Disease which may cause malabsorption of B12, Iron, and Calcium (leading to osteoporosis and stress fractures at a young age) . In addition, there may be malabsorption of fat with labs showing a low serum triglyceride level which may be "tip-off" for the diagnosis. (12-14) However, in many people, there may be minimal or no gastrointestinal symptoms. Rather the immune response may show up elsewhere in the body as an auto-immune disease, a neurological disease or a psychiatric manifestation. This form of the disease is called Gluten Sensitivity, a diagnosis frequently missed or ignored by mainstream medicine. Gluten Testing - Conventional Lab PanelSince Gluten sensitivity leads to villous atrophy and malabsorption of vitamins, minerals and fats, various abnormalities may show up on the conventional lab panel: Low serum triglyceride level (below 75) is a marker for gluten sensitivity.(12-14) Low Serum Iron, Ferritin and Vitamin B12 are frequently seen together as a "pattern". This pattern of malabsorption is strongly suggestive for gluten sensitivity. A clinical history of stress fracture, and osteoporosis at a young age (from calcium malabsorption) is strongly suggestive for gluten sensitivity. Enterolabs - Definitive Testing After finding the conventional blood antibody testing to be useless, we have switched to stool antibody testing with a home test kit from Enterolabs. This kit can be ordered by anyone, without a prescription, and the test performed at home. The stool sample is sent into the lab for analysis which includes immunological response to gluten, anti-gliadin antibody and genetic testing for gluten sensitivity. They offer additional panels which examine fat malabsorption (similar to the triglyreride test), and food sensitivity to dairy, egg, and soy. Dietary Trial Off-Gluten Another obvious test is a 6-week trial on a strict gluten-free diet, during which time symptoms are closely observed for improvement, indicating a gluten sensitivity. These patient should remain on a strict gluten-free diet. A 63 year old male with Recurring Cranial Nerve Palsies, Hypertransaminasemia, and Hashimotos ThyroiditisA pleasant 63 year old gentleman came to the office for a "wellness physical and some vitamins". A few years past, he had Bell's Palsy, a form of facial nerve paralysis, which had resolved. He also noticed intermittent loss of sensation involving the soles of his feet. On physical exam, he had a mild residual facial paralysis (Bell's Palsy), and a mild sensory polyneuropathy with loss of vibratory sense in the lower extremities. His lab studies showed mildly elevated liver enzymes which "had always been present over the years", and previous doctors have told him that it is "genetic", and not to worry about it. The patient also had elevated thyroid antibodies, with reduced thyroid function compatible with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The patient was treated with thyroid hormone among other things, and did well over the next few years. However a few years later, he reported eye problems. He was unable to gaze laterally with his right eye. The opthalmologist made a diagnosis of Sixth Cranial Nerve palsy (abducens nerve to the lateral rectus eye muscle) with failure of lateral gaze. Extensive neurological workup with MRI scans was unremarkable, and his neurologist suggested a test for Lyme's Disease, which was done and found negative. Gluten and Neurological Disease The immunologic response to gluten may cross react with the nervous system, producing various neurological symptoms, such as cranial nerve palsy, and neuropathy. These may be present in the absence of any gastrointestinal symptoms. Neuropathies and psychiatric symptoms caused by consumption of wheat gluten have been reported in the medical literature.(5-7) Recurrent cranial nerve palsy has also been reported caused by ingestion of gluten. (1) Gluten Sensitivity Celiac Hashimoto's Connection Patients who have Hashimoto's thyroiditis have about 15 times greater chance of also having gluten sensitivity. One Dutch study published in 2007 showed 15% of Hashimoto's patients tested positive for gluten sensitivity or celiac disease.(2). Chronic Mild Elevation of Liver Enzymes Chronic mild elevation of liver enzymes may be a tip off of underlying gluten sensitivity.(3-4) These mild liver enzyme elevations will normalize 95% of the time by adhering to a strict gluten-free diet.(3) Treatment- Gluten Free DietThis patient ordered the Enterolabs test kit for gluten sensitivity which showed a markedly positive immunologic response to wheat gluten. After adhering to a strict gluten-free diet, the patient's symptoms of cranial nerve palsy and sensory neuropathy gradually resolved. In addition, the liver enzyme elevations normalized. A Young Patient with Systemic Lupus - Gluten Connection A 23 year old female college student with Lupus came to my office. She had been previously diagnosed with Systemic Lupus and started on Prednisone, a commonly used immune suppressive drug. She was recently hospitalized and treated with IV antibiotics for pneumonia. She was very ill, lost weight, and was amenorrheic, with menses stopping about 18 months ago. Her symptoms included joint pains, and buccal ulcerations. Physical examination showed a chronically ill, weak, cachectic young woman, with typical increased pigmentation of the palms and Lupus Butterfly Rash of the face (see left image). Above left image : Butterfly Facial Rash of Systemic Lupus Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. This is caused by low adrenal output which stimulates increased pituitary ACTH which has Melanocyte stimulating properties. This patient needs adrenal hormones. Acetyl Co-A Deficiency in Lupus Lupus is an autoimmune disease, and blood testing shows circulating anti-nuclear antibodies as a main feature. Acetyl Co-A Deficiency in LupusMy previous article discussed the underlying defect in Lupus as an Acetyl Co-A Deficiency and how this produces adrenal insufficiency, with reduced hormone production. Adrenal insufficiency causes the pituitary to increase ACTH production which has melanocyte stimulating properties. The melanin pigment accounts for the increased skin pigmentation and facial rash of lupus (see above image). Vitamin B5, Pantothenic Acid is extremely beneficial for Lupus patients because B5 increases Acetyl-Co-A which helps the adrenals recover in their important job manufacturing adrenal hormones. My Lupus treatment program includes high dose Pantothenic Acid (300 mg three times a day of Vitamin B5), as well as direct adrenal hormones replacement with cortisol or prednisone. Over time, patients are slowly weaned off the prednisone and switched to low dose bioidentical hydro-cortisone (cortisol). Since other hormones levels are typically low in Lupus patients, we will commonly give a bioidentical hormone topical cream containing DHEA, Estradiol, Estriol (Bi-Est), Testosterone and Progesterone. Low vitamin D is frequently associated with autoimmune disease, correction is important. Her low Vitamin D levels were treated with Vitamin D3, 10,000 units per day. LDN for Autoimmune Diseases including Systemic LupusLow Dose Naltrexone is an FDA approved drug which has been used off label in a variety of auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, crohn's rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus, with considerable benefits for these patients. See my previous articles on LDN: LDN Part One and LDN Part Two. Lupus patients will frequently benefit from Low Dose Naltrexone Capsules 4.5 mg each evening before sleep. Gluten Free Diet Benefits Systemic Lupus PatientsMedical science considers Lupus to be an incurable disease, and relies on prednisone, a powerful immune suppressing drug to control symptoms. Prednisone is a synthetic form of hydro-cortisone, the main adrenal hormone. Systemc Lupus Cured With a Gluten Free Diet I was astounded to find a report by Jonathon Wright of 500 patients cured of Lupus with a gluten free diet. Jonathan Wright MD writes in a newsletter about how dietary exposure to wheat gluten may trigger autoimmune disease including systemic lupus. Here is an exerpt from "A Simple Solution to an Incurable Disease". (15): In 1989, my wife Holly and I visited the office of Dr. Christopher Reading in Dee Why, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. He showed us documentation of over 500 individuals who came to see him with a diagnosis of Systemic Lupus, a usually-thought-to-be incurable auto-immune disease. With hard work on their own and with Dr. Reading's treatment, these individuals eliminated all signs and symptoms of lupus as well as the patent and formerly patent medicines used to treat it. How did over 500 individuals eliminate all signs and symptoms of lupus – and all patent medicines given for it, too – over 20 years ago? Dr. Reading had them totally eliminate all gluten, all milk and dairy products, and often other foods to which they were found to be allergic.(15) Lupus is only one of a long list of auto-immune diseases triggered by Wheat Gluten Exposure. (15) Here is the complete list of auto-immune diseases triggered by gluten sensitivity: Type One Diabetes Hashimoto's thyroiditis Graves's disease Ulcerative Colitis Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (lupus) Vitiligo Addison's disease Sjogren's syndrome Pernicious anemia Scleroderma Chronic auto-immune hepatitis Dermatitis herpetiformis Polymyalgia rheumatica Celiac disease The patient was advised to adhere to a strict gluten-free diet, and eliminate dairy products as well. (8-16) She did well, and eventually tapered off the prednisone without recurrence of joint pain, and resumption of normal menses. How Many Cases of Gluten Sensitivity Are Missed by the Mainstream Medical System ? All of them. Articles with Related Interest: Wheat Gluten and Celiac Diease, Part One Gluten Sensitivity , Is Your Food Making You Sick? Part Two Minefield at the Grocery Store Fast Food in Hospitals, Selling Sickness in the Lobby

Whatever the nutrition authorities have to say… the exact opposite is likely to be the truth!- Kristjan Gunnarsson

How to Win an Argument With a Nutritionist or Registered Dietitian

By: Kris

For reasons I have disclosed before, I prefer not to get in to online arguments with nutritionists.
I used to enjoy it, but ended up becoming frustrated so I gave it up.

But… I often observe these arguments online.

It’s fun. Usually.

There’s an annoying pattern I’ve noticed though.

The people who are arguing with the nutritionists, who seem to have all the facts straight and are trying to make their point, don’t cite any studies.

This is a problem!
I get it…
Not everyone has a ton of studies bookmarked on their computer and it can be quite a hazzle to start looking them up at the time of need.

But citing studies is critical in an argument about science. Nutrition = science!
So, with this article I decided to collect studies for the main arguments against some of the more foolish claims made by nutritionists, vegans and know-it-all low-fat zealots.

All of them are in a copy-paste friendly format. Just highlight the URLs to the studies and Click Ctrl+C (Cmd+C on mac) or right click and select “Copy.”

If you tend to get in to these online arguments a lot, I suggest you bookmark this page!
Remember Kris’s Law:

“Whatever the nutrition authorities have to say… the exact opposite is likely to be the truth!”

(Disclaimer: Many nutritionist are good people and seem to know what they are talking about, but the ones that seem to be the most active in the mainstream media seem to do little other than spreading potentially dangerous misinformation.)

Nutritionist Says: Protein is Bad For Your Bones

Put on: this face.
There are some short-term studies showing that the increased acid load from a high protein intake can lead to increased calcium excretion. That is true, but this is only a short-term phenomenon.

The long-term epidemiological studies on protein intake and bone health shows the exact opposite. Increased protein intake correlates with improved bone health and a lowered risk of fractures.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21102327
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1359/jbmr.2000.15.12.2504/full
http://www.ajcn.org/content/69/1/147.short
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1359/JBMR.040204/full
http://www.springerlink.com/content/0595572652p658w7/
http://www.jacn.org/content/24/suppl_6/526S.short

Nutritionist Says: Protein is Bad For Your Kidneys

Put on: this face.
There is NO evidence that increased protein is harmful for people with healthy kidneys.
In fact, the studies show that increased protein can lower blood pressure:

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=201882
http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/38/4/821.short
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20711407
…and improve blood sugar control in type II diabetics:

http://www.ajcn.org/content/78/4/734.short
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/25/3/425.short
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/53/9/2375.short
High blood pressure and diabetes are the key risk factors for kidney failure. Consequently, eating more protein, not less, should be good for the kidneys.

The advice to restrict protein intake for the bones and kidneys is likely to have the exact opposite effect.

Here are two review articles that show no harmful effect of protein consumption on kidney health:

http://www.jissn.com/content/1/1/45
http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/2/1/25

Nutritionist Says: Whole Wheat is Good For You

Put on: this face.

Whole wheat raises the blood sugar faster than most other foods and its glycemic index isn’t much lower than refined wheat..

Additionally, gluten is likely to be harmful for people who don’t have celiac disease.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1954879/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21224837
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6111631
Whole wheat raises small, dense LDL, which is extremely atherogenic and can lead to heart disease:

http://www.ajcn.org/content/76/2/351.short

Nutritionist Says: Low-Carb Diets Are Dangerous

Put on: this face.

This is simply not true. There are no documented severe reactions to low-carb diets and they tend to improve all the main biomarkers of disease, including HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, LDL particle size, blood pressure and body fat levels.

Low-carb diets have an outstanding safety profile and appear to be healthier, more effective and easier to follow than low-fat diets:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12679447
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17341711
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19099589
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19439458
A lot more studies on this here.

Nutritionist Says: Eating Fat Makes You Fat

Put on: this face.

This seems logical enough, but doesn’t hold up in practice.

Diets that are high in fat, but low in carbs, and eaten without restricting calories are usually a lot more effective than low-fat, high-carb diets that are calorie restricted.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12761365
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12761364
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12679447
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15148063
Again, more studies here.

Nutritionist Says: Saturated Fat is Unhealthy

Put on: this face.

Not true. Saturated fat raises HDL cholesterol and changes the LDL pattern from small, dense (bad) to large, fluffy (good).

This has been studied extensively and an association of saturated fat with heart disease has never been proven.

http://www.ajcn.org/content/77/5/1146.short
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1386252
http://www.ajcn.org/content/67/5/828.short
http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900711003145

Nutritionist Says: Eggs Are Bad For You

Put on: this face.

Not true at all. Eggs, especially the yolks, are incredibly nutritious and highly satiating. There has never been any proven association between egg consumption and cardiovascular disease.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16340654
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2006.00543.x/full
http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/AAI3138385/

Nutritionist Says: Diet Soda Can Help You Lose Weight

Put on: this face.

This is true in the context of a controlled diet. However, most people don’t count calories and do not eat a controlled diet.

In the context of a western, ad libidum diet, epidemiological studies show that diet soda consumption is associated with severe weight gain, diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/117/6/754.full.pdf+html
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/4/688.short
http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v16/n8/abs/oby2008284a.html

Nutritionist Says: Sugar is Just Empty Calories

Put on: this face.

It’s true that sugar is empty calories, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Sugar can also lead to fatty liver, insulin resistance and may be a significant contributor to the metabolic syndrome.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673878/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168827808001645
http://www.nature.com/nrgastro/journal/v7/n5/full/nrgastro.2010.41.html

Conclusion

Kris’s law still holds.

It doesn’t seem like it is about to change in the next few decades. Modern nutrition keeps on clinging to the old ideas that brought us the obesity epidemic and for some reason they seem completely unwilling to change their minds.

Are there any other myths (lies?) you would like me to cover? Shoot me a comment below and I’ll see if I can add them to the list.

I’d love for this post to become a “weapon” for all of us to change the world, one nutritionist at a time.
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Read the complete article here.

I Wish I Had Lipoprotein(a)!

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Dr. Davis

 

Why would I say such a thing? Well, a number of reasons. People with lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), are, with only occasional exceptions:

–Very intelligent. I know many people with this genetic pattern with IQs of 130, 140, even 160+.

–Good at math–This is true more for the male expression of the pattern, only occasionally female. It means that men with Lp(a) gravitate towards careers in math, accounting, financial analysis, physics, and engineering.

–Athletic–Many are marathon runners, triathletes, long-distance bicyclists, and other endurance athletes. I tell my patients that, if they want to meet other people with Lp(a), go to a triathlon.

–Poor at hydrating. People with Lp(a) have a defective thirst mechanism and often go for many hours without drinking water. This is why many Lp(a) people experience the pain of kidney stones: Prolonged and repeated dehydration causes crystals to form in the kidneys, leading to stone formation over time.

–Tolerant to dehydration–Related to the previous item, people with Lp(a) can go for extended periods without even thinking about water.

–Tolerant to periods of food deprivation or starvation–More so than other people, those with Lp(a) are uncommonly tolerant to days without food, as would occur in a wild setting.

In short, people with Lp(a) are intelligent, athletic, with many other favorable characteristics that provide a survival advantage . . . in a primitive world.

So when did Lp(a) become a problem? When an individual with Lp(a) is exposed to carbohydrates, especially those from grains. When an evolutionarily-advantaged Lp(a) individual is exposed to carbohydrates, more than other people they develop:

–Excess quantities of small LDL particles–Recall that Lp(a) is a two-part molecule. One part: an apo(a) made by the liver. 2nd part: an LDL particle. When the LDL particle within the Lp(a) molecule is small, its overall behavior is worse or more atherogenic (plaque-causing).

–Hyperglycemia/hyperinsulinemia–which then leads to diabetes. Unlike non-Lp(a) people, these phenomena can develop with far less visceral fat. A Lp(a) male, for instance, standing 5 ft 10 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds, can have as much insulin resistance/hyperglycemia as a non-Lp(a) male of similar height weighing 50+ pounds more.

Key to gaining control over Lp(a) is strict carbohydrate limitation. Another way to look at this is to say that Lp(a) people do best with unlimited fat and protein intake.
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Read the complete article here.

Dr Davis was interviewed by Wellness Mama  recently. The full interview can be seen here. I have shown only the part that specifically addresses heart disease.
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2. How is wheat consumption linked to heart health?

Wheat consumption causes heart disease. It’s not cholesterol, it’s not saturated fat that’s behind the number one killer of Americans; it’s wheat.

The nutrition community has been guilty of following a flawed sequence of logic: If something bad for you (white processed flour) is replaced by something less bad (whole grains) and there is an apparent health benefit, then a whole bunch of the less bad thing is good for you. Let’s apply that to another situation: If something bad for you—unfiltered Camel cigarettes—are replaced by something less bad—filtered Salem Cigarettes—then the conclusion would be to smoke a lot of Salems. The next logical question should have been: What is the health consequence of complete removal? Only then can you observe the effect of whole grains vs. no grains . . . and, from what I witness every day, you see complete transformations in health.

Consumption of wheat, due to its unique carbohydrate, amylopectin A, triggers formation of small, dense LDL particles more than any other common food. Small, dense LDL particles are the number one cause for heart disease in the U.S. The majority of adults now have an abundance of small LDL particles because they’ve been told to cut their fat and “eat plenty of healthy whole grains.” This situation of excessive small LDL particles can appear on a conventional cholesterol panel as higher levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, along with low HDL cholesterol and higher triglycerides that often leads to statin drugs. When more sophisticated lipoprotein testing is obtained, then the explosion of small LDL particles becomes obvious.

Compound this with the increased appetite triggered by the gliadin protein in wheat that acts as an appetite-stimulant, and you gain weight. The weight gained is usually in the abdomen, in the deep visceral fat that triggers inflammation, what I call a “wheat belly.” Wheat belly visceral fat is a hotbed of inflammation, sending out inflammatory signals into the bloodstream and results in higher blood sugar, blood pressure, and triglycerides, all adding up to increased risk for heart disease.
Say goodbye to wheat and small LDL particles plummet, followed by weight loss from the wheat belly visceral fat. Inflammation subsides, blood sugar drops, blood pressure drops. In short, elimination of wheat is among the most powerful means of reducing risk for heart disease.

The information and online tools for health can handily exceed the limited “wisdom” dispensed by John Q. Primary Care doctor.

Crossposted from Heart Scan Blog====================================================================
How far wrong can cholesterol be?

from Heart Scan Blog  by Dr. William Davis

Conventional thinking is that high LDL cholesterol causes heart disease. In this line of thinking, reducing cholesterol by cutting fat and taking statin drugs thereby reduces or eliminates risk for heart disease.

Here’s an (extreme) example of just how far wrong this simpleminded way of thinking can take you. At age 63, Michael had been told for the last 20 years that he was in great health, including “perfect” cholesterol values of LDL 73 mg/dl, HDL 61 mg/dl, triglycerides 102 mg/dl, total cholesterol 144 mg/dl. “Your [total] cholesterol is way below 200. You’re in great shape!” his doctor told him.

Being skeptical because of the heart disease in his family, had a CT heart scan. His coronary calcium score: 4390. Needless to say, this is high . . . extremely high.

Extremely high coronary calcium scores like this carry high likelihood of death and heart attack, as high as 15-20% per year. So Michael was on borrowed time. It was damn lucky he hadn’t yet experienced any cardiovascular events.

That’s when Michael found our Track Your Plaque program that showed him how to 1) identify the causes of the extensive coronary atherosclerosis signified by his high calcium score, then 2) correct the causes.

The solutions, Michael learned, are relatively simple:

–Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation at a dose sufficient to yield substantial reductions in heart attack.
–”Normalization” of vitamin D blood levels (We aim for a 25-hydroxy vitamin D level of 60-70 ng/ml)
–Iodine supplementation and thyroid normalization
–A diet in which all wheat products are eliminated–whole wheat, white, it makes no difference–followed by carbohydrate restriction.
–Identification and correction of all hidden causes of coronary plaque such as small LDL particles and lipoprotein(a)

Yes, indeed: The information and online tools for health can handily exceed the limited “wisdom” dispensed by John Q. Primary Care doctor.

The five most powerful heart disease prevention strategies

Here is a summary of the strategy from Dr Davis's blog.
Please read his complete article here.
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The five most powerful heart disease prevention strategies
from Heart Scan Blog by Dr. William Davis


You've seen such lists before: 5 steps to prevent heart disease or some such thing. These lists usually say things like "cut your saturated fat," eat a "balanced diet" (whatever the heck that means), exercise, and don't smoke.

I would offer a different list. You already know that smoking is a supremely idiotic habit, so I won't repeat that. Here are the 5 most important strategies I know of that help you prevent heart disease and heart attack:

1) Eliminate wheat from the diet
2) Achieve a desirable 25-hydroxy vitamin D level
3) Supplement omega-3 fatty acids from fish
4) Normalize thyroid function
5) Make exercise fun
Note what is not on the list: cut your fat, eat more "healthy whole grains," take a cholesterol drug, take aspirin. That's the list you'd follow if you feel your hospital needs your $100,000 contribution, otherwise known as coronary bypass surgery.