Dr. Oz: Wheat-Free Diet
Dr. Oz kicked off his show by talking about the importance of a wheat-free diet. He talked to Dr. William Davis, a controversial cardiologist who believes that wheat is the culprit for obesity in America, as well as other health issues. He’s the author of Wheat Belly and Wheat Belly Total Health. His movement to completely eliminate wheat shocked people who love their pasta and bread, as well as doctors who believe whole grains are good for you.
Dr. Oz: Is Wheat Addictive?
Dr. Oz talked to Dr. William Davis about the importance of a wheat-free diet. (art_of_sun / Shutterstock.com)
Dr. Davis said that it was a mistake to add wheat to the diet. He said 10,000 years ago when people did it, it was out of desperation. Today, he says, we should know better. He calls it a “poison” that brings with it a whole collection of health problems. He said that there’s a protein in wheat that’s addictive.
He said that wheat only breaks down partially into peptides, which he said act as opiates on the brain to stimulate appetite. So you keep eating because you’re consuming an appetite stimulant.
Dr. Oz: How Wheat Is Digested
When you eat wheat, it enters your system and begins to digest. The carbs in the food turn into sugars, which makes your blood sugar go up, as well as insulin to keep up with it. Over time, your body isn’t able to get over that trigger, so the sugars turn into fat stored around your belly and organs. The fat creates molecules that creates irritations in the body and increases inflammation.
Dr. Oz said that the kidneys are affected by this, as well as the liver and the heart. These are the three critical organs affected by this. Dr. Oz said as a cardiologist, he’s always been worried about these organs, but Dr. Davis said there’s even more organs at risk here.
Dr. Oz: Symptoms of Eating Wheat
Dr. Davis said that the entire system is affected by wheat, causing acid reflux, heartburn, urgency in the bowel, appetite increase, colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, mind fog, difficulty with memory, depression, and anxiety. He said there’s nothing in the body that escapes the effects.
Dr. Oz: Wheat-Free Vs. Whole Grain
Dr. Davis said that the nutritional community fell into a trap where they wanted people to stop eating white flour products, so they started suggesting whole grains instead. He said they argue for whole grains because it’s less bad, but not necessarily good. “To me, that’s like saying unfiltered cigarettes are bad, filters cigarettes are less bad, let’s smoke lots of filtered cigarettes. It sounds absurd when you put in those terms. But that is the logic that the nutritional community has fallen into,” he said.
Dr. Oz: Wheat-Free Diet
Dr. Davis said he wanted to be clear that his diet wasn’t just gluten-free. It was grain-free. That means all the grains out there. He said people should return to eating single-ingredient foods, like fruits, vegetables, eggs, meats, and cheeses. He said people should avoid both gluten and gluten free foods, because gluten-free foods often have other grains in them.
Dr. Oz: Worst Carbohydrate For Heart Disease
Dr. Davis also said that Amlyopectin, found in grains, is the worst carbohydrate for heart disease. It seemed to me like Dr. Davis really felt that grains were worse for the heart than saturated fat.
He also said that as much as 400 calories per day could be trimmed from a person’s diet by getting rid of the grains. So this is a great diet for people trying to lose weight.
Davis only recommends sugars in one or two servings per day, from fruit, veggies, and rice. He felt that eating half a banana or half of another fruit such as berries was the best option. He also said that while rice can be starchy and raise blood sugar, it has the lowest protein content of any grain. That means it’s the least likely to have addictive effects.
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