Whole wheat not so great after all?

questionablemethods

I'm sure that some people will jump all over this thread accusing me of demonizing a particular food and yadda yadda yadda but I really found what this doctor said to be interesting and I am simply trying to share it with others.

On particularly striking bit -- "Two slices of whole wheat bread raise your blood sugar higher than white bread, higher than table sugar, higher than a Snickers bar, higher than a Milky Way bar."

http://www.themorningblend.com/videos/125226934.html

On top of this is other information that I've read recently (sorry, can't find the source at the moment) speculating that, even with diagnoses of celiac on the rise, a huge number of cases of celiac or other gluten sensitivity go undiagnosed.

erinsueburns

Not to demonize it either, but another issue can be that if you have gress allergies, grains can be a cross reactive allergy that means you font tolerate it well either.

EthanJeremiahsMama

:ohwell: I eat whole grain / wheat bread everyday.. yikes?

ilookthetype

SOOO many people have gluten issues that are undiagnosed, be it sensitivity, intolerance, or Celiac.

brittanyjeanxo

Meh. My blood sugar is usually on the low end, so I don't really care *shrugs* but I suppose if anyone has sugar problems they may want to look into that.

servilia

Oh wow I didn't know all that. Interesting! Guess I'll try switching to rye bread some of the time - just did some searching after I saw that video and found out it doesn't spike insulin like wheat bread does.

KHaverstick

I don't eat wheat (gluten). I agree that there are probably many people out there who are sensitive to gluten but just don't know it. I didn't know that some of my symptoms that I had lived with for years (including chronic hip pain) were caused by eating gluten. Feel so much better now!

JConstine

Well white bread and candy bars aren't rich in fiber like whole wheat bread so you're getting something beneficial out of eating whole grains. At least, that's what I think. I'm no expert.

servilia

Well white bread and candy bars aren't rich in fiber like whole wheat bread so you're getting something beneficial out of eating whole grains. At least, that's what I think. I'm no expert.

Yes you're right - whole wheat definitely has more nutrition than white bread. The Dr. in the video is talking about it from the blood sugar point of view though, a different story..

questionablemethods

Meh. My blood sugar is usually on the low end, so I don't really care *shrugs* but I suppose if anyone has sugar problems they may want to look into that.

Just curious how you know. Do you have a meter or something?

Cbandelier

Oh wow I didn't know all that. Interesting! Guess I'll try switching to rye bread some of the time - just did some searching after I saw that video and found out it doesn't spike insulin like wheat bread does.

Sourdough is also a good choice.

Rae6503

The best way to combat blood sugar spikes is to eat your carbs with protein and/or fat. So put butter or peanut butter on your whole wheat bread and you're good.

fteale

That is the opposite of what I have always heard.

But I don't really eat wheat anyway as it makes me feel rough. If I do eat it, it'll be wholemeal and seeded because a) it tastes about 1 million times better, b) I need the extra protein, and c) fibre can't be bad.

questionablemethods

That is the opposite of what I have always heard.

Me too, which is why I shared this. I don't know how accurate this doctor is and I haven't read the book, but I have been hearing quite a bit of fairly stuff about wheat and gluten recently which paints it in a negative light ("converging evidence" if you will).

i_love_vinegar

I'm not too-well educated in this, but from what I understand, unless you have a medical condition that could be effected, a spike in blood sugar is not necessarily a bad thing. I am guessing that the difference between the spike from the bread versus the milky way bar is that the bread probably goes down more slowly while the milky way bar will spike back down (guessing this because candy bars aren't known for keeping people full for a long time).

Fresh fruit causes a spike in blood pressure as well, but it would be ridiculous for most of us to cut out fruit and whole grains for that reason.

I think with most anything, there will be someone there to counter argue. Best thing you can do is make the most educated decisions you can.

Frankly, I prefer the flavor of whole wheat to white bread, and I feel healthier after eating it. Thanks for sharing though!

calibri

Digestion of anything with sugar in it causes blood sugar spikes of some level; good luck if you're trying to pursue a diet free of sugars and carbohydrates.

Vegan_Chick

What kind of doctor said this? Most doctors have very little nutrition knowledge. But if you are worried, you should look up sprouted wheat. It is healthier, easier to digest, has more protein, and even many gluten sensitive people can eat it.

meerkat70

SOOO many people have gluten issues that are undiagnosed, be it sensitivity, intolerance, or Celiac.

and sooooooooo many more don't. . . ?

questionablemethods

Again, I am not trying to be alarmist by any means. I'm just sharing the information that I am learning (almost all of which is new to me because I thought celiac and gluten sensitivity was just a digestive problem and I didn't think I exhibited any symptoms. I have since learned otherwise and I wonder if it is behind some of the nagging health problems I have had all my life. I am personally eliminating it for 30 days as an experiment.

What kind of doctor said this? Most doctors have very little nutrition knowledge.

Here's the source that I mentioned in my original message but couldn't find at the time: http://www.primalbody-primalmind.com/?tag=grains

The author of this (which, although a blog post, cites several primary research studies) is, according to her website "Board-certified in Holistic Nutrition through the National Association of Nutritional Professionals (NANP) and is recognized by the Nutritional Therapy Association as a Certified Nutritional Therapist (CNT)."

The doctor from the video who was talking about blood sugar spikes is a cardiologist. I don't know the extent of his nutritional education, but I suspect that he did a fair amount of research in writing his book, though I can't speak to that.

SOOO many people have gluten issues that are undiagnosed, be it sensitivity, intolerance, or Celiac.

and sooooooooo many more don't. . . ?

Some interesting excerpts from the above cited post:

"A study published in 2009 in the peer reviewed journal, Gastroenterology (July;137(1):88-93) compared 10,000 available blood samples from individuals 50 years ago to 10,000 people today and found that there has been a 400% increase in the incidence of full blown celiac diseasedisease (defined by conventional medicine as a total villous atrophy of the small intestine)! Changes made to American strains of wheat, giving them much higher gluten content is likely a significant part of the problem. Increased genetic susceptibility due to a variety of causes is likely another. "

"Fully 99% of those who suffer from this entirely curable and potentially lethal condition do so completely unaware of the dangerous vulnerability within themselves. Although a biopsy of the small intestine is commonly used to diagnose celiac disease, fully seven out of ten celiac sufferers exhibit no intestinal or GI symptoms at all. In fact, an article in the journal Neurology (Vol 56/No.3 Feb 13, 2005) states that “Gluten sensitivity can be primarily and at times exclusively a neurological disease”, affecting not only the brain and nervous system directly, but also cognitive and psychiatric illness."

"A 2002 review paper in the New England Journal of Medicine (Jan 17; 346(3):180-188) found that fully 55 diseases are known to be caused by gluten. These partly include heart disease, cancer, nearly all autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, irritable bowel syndrome, as well as many common psychiatric illnesses, partly including anxiety issues, ADD, bipolar disorder, depression dementia, schizophrenia, Hashimoto’s (autoimmune thyroid disorders), migraines, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, ALS, neuropathies (having normal EMG), and most other degenerative neurological disorders…as well as Autism, which is technically an autoimmune brain disorder. In my opinion, it is always safest to assume the presence of gluten sensitivity in these populations, or frankly wherever significantly compromised health is an issue."

"Only an estimated 1% of all suffering gluten sensitivity or celiac disease is ever diagnosed."

servilia

Some interesting excerpts from the above cited post:

"Changes made to American strains of wheat, giving them much higher gluten content is likely a significant part of the problem. "

I'm only quoting this part because I wanted to focus on it and don't know how to bold or whatever.. but this is interesting because I watched the video of the doctor on that show and he specifically mentioned that 99% of the wheat in the market today, etc is a new strain that was created a couple of decades ago (the shorter, stocky kind). So it seems to match up with what the doctor said.

ToningtheButt

I love bread any kind of it, who doesnt love it??
but some of us CANT have it so we stay away but i bet they like it.
Im a recent gluten free, wheat free, and many other allergy free eater
basically im trying to clear my skin of the nasty breakouts Ive been getting.
wheat is 1 of the major foods I need to stay away from, but I do still eat it when I just NEED to eat it, but I try to control myself...
Great read "Healthier without wheat" by Dr. stephen. Wangen.

questionablemethods

Some interesting excerpts from the above cited post:

"Changes made to American strains of wheat, giving them much higher gluten content is likely a significant part of the problem. "

I'm only quoting this part because I wanted to focus on it and don't know how to bold or whatever.. but this is interesting because I watched the video of the doctor on that show and he specifically mentioned that 99% of the wheat in the market today, etc is a new strain that was created a couple of decades ago (the shorter, stocky kind). So it seems to match up with what the doctor said.

I noted that too! (wish that we could use bold text in the forums!)