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Fat America is really a recent trend. When I was in college some 30 years ago, it was rare to see an overweight person. There was one fellow in my fraternity who had a bit of a beer belly, but everyone else was pretty slim. Being obese has become "normal" and that's really unfortunate. The healthcare and societal costs are enormous.
I am so glad I cam across this thread. As a physician, I am overwhelmed by the volume and magnitude of chronic illness I see every day and disappointed by my profession's attitude(in general) that there is a pill for every complaint. I don't necessarily blame them as there is little to no nutrition education in medical school and we are bombarded by medical industry professionals bringing us data on how their medications treat these diseases. An eye opening book is Eat to Live by Dr.Joel Fuhrman. It is an in depth look at the various components to nutrition and a summation of the data. I'm not certain he is 100% correct in his conclusions but a fantastic read for everyone. I would encourage every patient to let your doctor borrow it once you've completed it. There certainly is conflicting data and conflicting opinions on what is healthy and what is not. However, there really does seem to be overlap between most diet plans/lifestyles that refined sugars are evil. I am also really starting to believe that the predominance of Omega 6 oils is also a big contributor to the inflammatory process in our arteries promoting cardiovascular, peripheral vascular, and cerebrovascular disease and would encourage you to look at the data and consider increasing Omega 3 intake (Fish, walnuts) and dramatically reducing Omega 6 oils(corn, soybean, sunflower). One topic that hasn't been discussed in depth is dairy products. I am dragging my heels on decreasing dairy consumption because I absolutely love cheese but consider this: We are the only species of mammal that consumes milk after infancy. If cow's milk is so good for you, why don't cow's continue to drink it? When you look at the countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis, it's the countries with the highest per capita milk consumption (coincidence??). Also, the main protein in milk is what makes the glue that is used to stick the labels on beer bottles. Cows are fed hormones and antibitics frequently and that is passed in the milk...We haven't even discussed the potential health pitfalls (allergies, eczema, migraine headaches etc...). If you do stop drinking milk, be careful if you substitue soy or almond milk because they are loaded with Omega 6 oils so don't trade one problem for another. I am so thankful that my audio friends seem more in tune with this topic than a lot of my colleagues.
“Wheat Belly is just a low-carb diet, another version of the Atkins diet.”Hmmmm. Where to start?If Wheat Belly were a diet, I would have called it The Wheat Belly Diet.” But it’s not a diet and I didn’t call it that. While a diet is indeed articulated, Wheat Belly is, first and foremost, about the changes introduced into modern wheat by the work of geneticists during the 1960s and 1970s, the same kind of research that led to the creation of Agent Orange, DDT, and other “better health through chemistry” types of efforts.The failure of agricultural geneticists and agribusiness to ask questions about the suitability of a genetically unique crop means they unleashed a foodstuff on a public . . . with no understanding of its effects on humans who consume it. This unquestioned acceptance of chemistry and genetics was the modus operandi during the mid-20th century. Look at asbestos exposure, the widely-used insulation that now shows up as lung diseases, asbestosis and mesothelioma. Or the widespread application of brominated flame retardants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PDBEs), in carpeting and mattresses, that triggers thyroid disease. How about bisphenol A, BPA, formerly used as an estrogen replacement in females, found to provide desirable hardening characteristics in polycarbonate plastics, but also yielding . . . estrogenic effects in humans using the plastics?In other words, wheat is really part—though an awfully big one, also enjoying widespread endorsement by dietitians, nutritionists, physicians, and the U.S. government—of a broader problem. We now know that asbestos, PDBEs, and BPA have destructive effects on human health, thanks in part to 40 years of exposure on a large scale sufficient to witness the increased cancer, disruption of endocrine function, and 9-year old females with breasts and menstrual cycles. Yet wheat continues to enjoy its hallowed place in nutrition, praised by nearly all who offer nutritional advice.Among the changes introduced into wheat by geneticists:–Enrichment in the glia-alpha-9 genetic sequence that provokes celiac disease. Nearly absent from the wheat of 1950, nearly all modern semi-dwarf wheat contains this genetic sequence. Is it any wonder why the incidence of celiac disease has quadrupled?–Gliadin is a more powerful opiate–The changes introduced into the gliadin gene/protein make it a more potent opiate. While the digestive byproducts of gliadin bind to the opiate receptors of the brain, they lack the pain-relieving and euphoric effects of heroin and morphine, but “only” provoke addictive eating behavior and appetite stimulation. People who consume wheat consume, on average, 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year.–Changes in the lectin unique to wheat, wheat germ agglutinin, that is responsible for 1) direct intestinal damamge, and 2) a Trojan horse effect of helping foreign substances gain entry into the bloodstream. This is likely at least part of the reason why wheat-eaters experience more lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, polymyositis, type 1 diabetes in children, worse ulcerative colitis and Crohns, more Hashimoto’s thyroiditis: Foreign proteins gain entry to the various organs of the body and result in “autoinflammation.” Changes in wheat lectin may have also led to more effective blocking of the hormone of satiety, leptin.–Changes in alpha amylase inhibitors–These are the most common sources of wheat allergies, e.g., wheat allergy in kids.Eliminating wheat is about undoing all these effects, effects that have broad implications for human health across an astounding number of health conditions.So is Wheat Belly just another low-carb diet? Hardly.Wheat Belly is an exposure of the destructive changes introduced into wheat by unwitting geneticists during an age when such things were unquestioningly viewed as scientific progress. It is an accusation that Big Food, likely aware of these phenomena for 25 years or more, has quietly put these effects to use, especially appetite-stimulation, to increase revenues. And it is an exposure of the incredible ignorance (collusion?) of official government agencies, such as the USDA, FDA, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who tell us to eat more “healthy whole grains,” then watch healthcare expenditures and American waistlines explode . . . then blame the disaster on our gluttony and sloth.And, oh yes, there is a diet to follow, too.
A very interesting documentary that just played on BBC television in Britain. Covers a LOT of the stuff discussed here. I'm surprised how quickly this has hit the mainstream:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cD4CLSmIRQ
Couldn't get past the title. If you're fat, it's nobody's fault but yours. I (52) work out six days a week. Sometimes twice per day. My Wife (46) works out more than I do. She and I don't go on cruises for vacation. We backpack in the Sierras. When my Kids hit six years old, they were required to participate in year-round competitive sports. They took to swimming. My oldest (24) was a college All-American, youngest (16) is swimming 50 miles per week in the Summer. Her challenge is trying to consume enough calories to support training. When I come in from running in 100 degree heat, the last thing I want to consume is a bunch of fat. Lifestyle dictates diet.Anyone who says "no pain no gain" is a fallacy, is either misinformed or a loser.
No offense, but different strokes for different folks. I was a hardcore runner in college and maintained 3 percent body fat. In many ways I also was not in particularly good shape. I don't exercise much now but am more focused on overall health. The Atkins-style plan my wife and I are trying is a bit of an experiment. Before I got into it, my GP took a blood draw to give us a baseline. (My number are always good to excellent.) And I'll go back in July and see what kind of affect eating lots of fat, meat, and leafy vegetables is having on my body. Big weight loss isn't my goal. I'm more interested in trying to avoid or delay the cancer that seems to latch on to almost everyone in my family. Stay tuned...
THIS is how people gain weight. Now, tell me how "eating less and moving more" is gonna address these metabolic issues?
Taubes's position seems to have a lot of overlap with the "paleo diet," whose foundation is detailed in two interesting books: The Paleo Answer, by Loren Cordain (2012); and The Paleo Solution, by Robb Wolf (2010).
Not to be pedantic but someone had me confused. So:Glutton : One who over-indulges in and over-consumes food, drink, or intoxicants to the point of waste.Gluten: A substance present in cereal grains, esp. wheat, that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough.
All grains are bad, and wheat is the worst. Old wheat, new wheat, makes no difference. Note, I am not saying "low carb" is the way to go. I think rice and potatoes (especially sweet potatoes), carrots, fruits, peas, and nuts are all fine. These are fairly high carb foods but I believe they are perfectly OK to eat. That's because they are not TOXIC like wheat. To me, it's not low carb vs high carb, or even low fat vs high fat. It's toxic foods vs healthy foods. Just don't eat toxic foods.
This new modern wheat may look like wheat, but it is different in three important ways that all drive obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and more. It contains a Super Starch -- amylopectin A that is super fattening. It contains a form of Super Gluten that is super-inflammatory. It contains forms of a Super Drug that is super-addictive and makes you crave and eat more.The Super StarchThe Bible says, "Give us this day our daily bread." Eating bread is nearly a religious commandment. But the Einkorn, heirloom, Biblical wheat of our ancestors is something modern humans never eat.Instead, we eat dwarf wheat, the product of genetic manipulation and hybridization that created short, stubby, hardy, high-yielding wheat plants with much higher amounts of starch and gluten and many more chromosomes coding for all sorts of new odd proteins. The man who engineered this modern wheat won the Nobel Prize -- it promised to feed millions of starving around the world. Well, it has, and it has made them fat and sick.The first major difference of this dwarf wheat is that it contains very high levels of a super starch called amylopectin A. This is how we get big fluffy Wonder Bread and Cinnabons.Here's the downside. Two slices of whole wheat bread now raise your blood sugar more than two tablespoons of table sugar.
