Even moore from Jimmy Moore

The ubiquitous and irrepressible Jimmy Moore posted even more commentary about the Wheat Belly phenomenon here, what he calls "The Wheat Belly Bonanza."

Is low-carb really, at its core, little more than elimination of wheat? Sure, corn, rice, and sugar exert deleterious effects. But the dominant effect--by far--is the elimination of wheat. So is the low-carb movement really, at its core, a wheat-elimination movement?

Food (non-wheat-containing, of course) for thought.

Comments (8) -

  • marilynb

    9/14/2011 12:12:20 PM |

    "So is the low-carb movement really, at its core, a wheat-elimination movement?"
    I think wheat would be the very close runner up to sugar.  Of course, if you eliminate wheat  you've also eliminated a major vehicle for sugar (cookies, cakes, donuts, muffins, hearthealthywholegrain bread...)

  • Dr. William Davis

    9/15/2011 11:51:43 AM |

    Hi, Marilyn--

    I would reverse it: wheat is far worse than sugar. Let me explain.

    Unlike sugar, wheat has other components, including gliadin, that stimulates appetite. Sucrose does not do this.

    Eliminating sucrose does not eliminate desire for wheat; eliminating wheat eliminates desire for sucrose.

  • Physician Nexus

    9/19/2011 7:19:31 AM |

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  • Jackie G

    9/24/2011 9:54:30 PM |

    In my low-carb house, being gluten-free and sugar-free go hand in hand. If someone were to "slip" I'd rather see a sucrose slip than gluten!

    (Side note, since I've eliminated gluten, I've been free from all headaches - now THAT is telling! I used to get migraines 3x/week!)

  • Dr. William Davis

    9/25/2011 12:04:55 AM |

    I agree, Jackie. Sucrose is not good for you, but it does not invite the appetite stimulation of wheat.

    I'm thrilled about your freedom from migraines.

  • John

    9/26/2011 10:07:14 PM |

    I am new to this site, but have seen numerous remarks about the importance of vitamin D.  I'm a kidney stone former and I'm afraid to take vitamin D supplements.  My wife was put on vitamin D and Calcium supplementation; never had a kidney stone and -- BAM -- got her first one at age 57.  Any wisdom about this?  I am seriously thinking about limited carbs and wheat as Dr. Davis suggests.  We'll see where that takes me.

  • Donna

    9/29/2011 3:23:19 PM |

    Dr. Davis, I was diagnosed with primary biliary cyrrhosis of the liver about 5 years ago, stage 2.  I'm a third generation liver disease patient, with a twin sister and a 1st cousin having the same disease also.  At that time, the doc I was seeing was honest enough to tell me he was not very educated about the disease, but did research it and found that low Vit D was a problem associated with PBC.  My level was almost not existent.  After years of taking the wrong vit D and taking it wrong altogether and getting only as high as a 16, I started researching it myself and put myself on the correct VitD and dosage of my choice and now have a level of 99.  Whoops!  I feel better, but I did stop the Vit D about 3 months ago to try to drop it a bit.  My doc did not order a repeat test.  I didn't ask for one as I was being scolded for prescribing my own treatment at the time.  lol  So, being the good Doc, what should I do at this point.  Retest the vit D level and go from there, or just begin a maintenence dose and retest the next time they draw labs, which could be 6-12 months from now?  And what would a maintenence dose be, in your opinion?  I have no reason to believe my level would stay up with nothing bc it was so low and bc of the PBC.

    Thank you, Donna

  • Philip

    10/16/2011 12:32:26 PM |

    My 93 year old Granny who is still going strong lived on a staple diet all her life of toast for breakfast (wheat) granary brown bread sandwiches every day with cheese or ham usually and in the evening the staple is usually potatos with a meat dish.... My theory is that the situation is highly conditional on how many calories you are burning, if it's being burnt off it makes no difference to a person of normal weight, no?

    How do you explain that?

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