William Davis's Blog: Dr. Davis Infinite Health Blog, page 103

Join us for a Wheat Belly Retreat!

We will be conducting a Wheat Belly Retreat at the beautiful Loew’s Ventana Resort in Tucson, Arizona from October 27th-30th, 2016.

We will discuss all things Wheat Belly from start to finish, host cooking demonstrations and fireside chats, all in an incredible and lush desert setting with hotel room and many meals provided. Dr. William Davis will personally host most of the retreat with additional sessions provided by several others, including head chef Ken Harvey who will provide cooking demonstrations that adhere to the Wheat Belly lifestyle. A private Facebook page will be created in the 4 weeks prior and after to facilitate discussion.

Included will be discussions built around the Wheat Belly Total Health book that shows readers how to reverse numerous health conditions. We will also present the Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox program to help any newcomers to this lifestyle get started as quickly and confidently as possible, or to jump-start your program if you have drifted off.

For more information about the program and the resort, go here and/or sign up for updates on the retreat here.

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The vitamin B12-grain connection

Nutrient deficiencies from wheat/grain consumption are common, especially deficiencies of positively-charged minerals magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc, due to the presence of phytates that block their absorption. But deficiency of vitamin B12 can also occur for other reasons unrelated to grain phytates and, if not corrected, can lead to symptoms such as fatigue and mental fogginess, as well as some real health problems.

Gastrointestinal absorption of vitamin B12 can be tenuous because it requires the participation of two factors/sites: so-called intrinsic factor produced by the parietal cells of the stomach to bind B12 from food or supplements and a healthy distal ileum (just before the colon) for absorption. Disruption of the health at either site will therefore impair vitamin B12 absorption and lead, over time, to deficiency. Wheat and grains can disrupt health at both sites.

Wheat germ agglutinin from wheat, rye, barley, and rice can block intrinsic factor, while gliadin from wheat and proteins from related grains (secalin in rye, hordein in barley) provokes formation of antibodies against both intrinsic factor and stomach parietal cells, leading to autoimmune destruction. People with Crohn’s disease are especially vulnerable to vitamin B12 deficiency, since the distal ileum is inflamed in this condition and may require months to years to recover the ability to absorb B12.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is suggested by symptoms such as impaired mental performance/clarity, deteriorating nervous system function, low energy, an enlarged liver, a cherry red tongue, and a specific form of anemia called macrocytic anemia due to abnormally enlarged red blood cells (signaled by a high mean corpuscular volume, or MCV, value on a CBC). You may recall that removing grains, restoring vitamin D, and cultivation of healthy bowel flora can reverse autoimmune inflammation. Unfortunately, some organs, such as the thyroid or the beta cells of the pancreas, are poor at recovering once autoimmune damage has been inflicted, and there is little hope of recovering organ function. The same can be true for autoimmune damage to the stomach’s parietal cells that produce intrinsic factor: remove the original cause of damage (gliadin and related proteins), but parietal cells may not recover. This means long-term dependence on vitamin B12 supplementation, with blood levels dropping when supplementation ceases.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is identified by measurement of cobalamin or holocobalamin on a blood test, as well as an increased level of methylmalonic acid that can detect milder degrees of deficiency. When restoring vitamin B12, aim to achieve cobalamin and holocobalamin levels in the upper half of the reference range, as levels in the lower half of cobalamin and holocobalamin levels can still be associated with persistent problems including neuropathy, impaired balance, and memory. For the majority, oral (or sublingual, i.e., beneath the tongue, if poor absorption is suspected) supplementation with higher doses in the 500 to 1000 mcg per day range get the job done; rarely are injectable forms required. Because vitamin B12 is most plentiful in animal products such as meat, liver, and eggs, vegans and vegetarians should consider lifelong B12 supplementation. The best form of B12 is methylcobalamin, rather than the more common cyanocobalamin, as the methyl- form is better absorbed and sidesteps the question of potential cyanide toxicity with the cyano-form.

You can also appreciate how deep the fictions surrounding “healthy whole grains” can be. We are told over and over again that whole grains are filled with fiber and B vitamins, but not told that numerous deficiencies can develop, including B12 deficiency, regardless of how much is added to grains to compensate. Notice that grains are the only foods that are “fortified” with B vitamins?

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Lessons learned from constipation

Here’s an excerpt from Wheat Belly Total Health about constipation. As uninteresting as it can seem at first glance, constipation can offer useful insights into diet and health, but not simple-minded insights like “get more fiber.”

 

A condition as pedestrian as constipation serves to perfectly illustrate many of the ways in which grains mess with normal body functions, as well as just how wrong conventional “solutions” can stray, Keystone Kops of health stumbling, fumbling, and bumping into each other, but never quite putting out the fire. Drop a rock from the top of a building and it predictably hits the ground—-not sometimes, not half the time, but every time. That’s how the bowels are programmed to work, as well: put food in the mouth, it should come out the other end, preferably that same day, certainly no later than tomorrow. People living primitive lives without grains, sugars, and soft drinks enjoy such predictable bowel behavior: Eat some turtle, fish, clams, mushrooms, coconut or mongongo nuts for breakfast, out it all comes that afternoon or evening, large, steamy, filled with undigested remains and prolific quantities of bacteria, no straining, laxatives, or stack of magazines required.

Live a modern life and have pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast instead. You’ll be lucky to pass that out by tomorrow or the next day. Or perhaps you will be constipated, not passing out your pancakes and syrup for days, passing it incompletely in hard, painful bits and pieces. In its most extreme forms, the remains of your pancakes can stay in the colon for weeks. The combined effects of impaired CCK [cholecystokinin] signaling, reduced bile release, insufficient pancreatic enzymes, and changes in bowel flora disrupt the orderly passage of digested foods. We therefore receive advice to include more fibers, especially insoluble cellulose—-wood-—fibers from grains, in our diet. We then convert our breakfasts to that of breakfast cereals or other grain-based foods rich in cellulose fibers and, lo and behold, it does work for some, as indigestible cellulose fibers, undigested by our own digestive apparatus as well as undigested by bowel flora, yields bulk that people mistake for a healthy bowel movement. Never mind that all the other disruptions of digestion, starting at the mouth on down, are not addressed by loading your diet up with wood fibers. What if sluggish bowel movements prove unresponsive to such wood fibers? That’s when healthcare comes to the rescue with laxatives in a variety of forms, some irritative (e.g., phenolphthalein, senna), some lubricating (dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate), some osmotic (e.g., polyethylene glycol as in MiraLAX), some no different than spraying you down with a hose (enemas).

Perhaps, as a grain consuming human, you develop iron deficiency from grain phytates, necessitating prescription iron tablets that cause constipation. Perhaps you also develop high blood pressure, thereby prescribed thiazide diuretics and beta blockers, both of which add to constipation. Autoimmune thyroid disruption can develop from prolamin proteins of grains that slows bowel function down. When joints hurt from grain consumption, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents are typically taken, also resulting in slowed stool passage. If emotionally depressed from grain consumption, antidepressants can be prescribed that slow normal bowel reflexes that maintain motility. Get more fiber, drink more fluids, take a laxative.

The longer stool-in-progress stays in the distal small intestine and colon, the longer it has to putrefy. Just as food sitting out in the open rots, so can stool sitting too long in the bacteria-rich environment of the intestinal tract. Slowed passage of putrefied stool has been linked to increased cancer risk, especially of the rectum. Over time, constipation and its accompanying added work of evacuation can lead to hemorrhoids, anal fissures, prolapse of the uterus, vagina, and rectum, even bowel obstruction, a surgical emergency. Once again, the healthcare system, with its enthusiasm for procedures, has solutions for all of it. As banal, uninspiring, and ordinary as it is, constipation contains a world of important lessons to teach us about our relationship with the seeds of grasses. Yes, there is order and justice in the digestive world, but you won’t find it in that box of fiber-rich cereal.

Note that I barely make any mention of celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, as most of the gastrointestinal disruptions of grains are of neither variety. You can better appreciate just how much gastrointestinal distress and disruption is due to the various toxic components of grains. You can also appreciate why defenders of grains, such as the Whole Grain Council, try to minimize the problem by arguing that gluten is the only problem component in grains, a problem for a relative few. Nope: Grains are simply the innocent seeds of grasses, incompletely digestible just like the rest of grass plants, allowing persistence of toxins, intact and ready to block, irritate, and inflame the gastrointestinal tract of this species of primate, Homo sapiens, who never should have eaten the stuff in the first place. Insufficient bile and pancreatic enzymes, impaired digestion, gallstones, dysbiosis, effects coupled with intestinal inflammation—-the human gastrointestinal tract doesn’t stand a chance.

After a period of being free of grains, a re-exposure, inadvertent or intentional, can reactivate all of these intestinal phenomena. And it can do so with a vengeance, typically with intense symptoms of bloating, gas, diarrhea, as well as mind, emotional, joint, and inflammatory effects, that are worse upon re-exposure than they were during chronic grain consuming days, reflecting the partial (never complete) tolerance to their effects with frequent consumption.

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The next Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox CHALLENGE begins July 5th!

The next Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox Challenge is scheduled to start Tuesday, July 5th, 2016!

Join the thousands of people who are losing weight and regaining health. Join us if you desire support through the sometimes unpleasant process of wheat/grain detoxification and withdrawal, or if you previously followed the program but have lapsed and want to get back on board as confidently as possible.

To join the Detox Challenge:

Step 1)

Get the book. And read it. Detox Challenge participants should be informed and active in order to get the most out of the challenge and private Facebook group.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1JqzMea

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/wheatbelly10daygraindet...

Indiebound: http://bit.ly/1KwcFTQ

Step 2)

Come join the Private Facebook Group.

http://bit.ly/WheatBelly-PrivateFBGroup

Step 3)

Head back to the Private Facebook Group starting July 4th and onwards for tips, video, and discussions to help you get through your detox and reprogram your body for rapid weight loss. Dr. Davis will be posting video instructions and answers to all your questions.

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Smoke low-tar cigarettes? The fatal flaw in logic of nutritional studies

Just because something bad is reduced or eliminated in cigarettes, it should not logically follow that cigarettes must now be good, right? Low-tar, filtered cigarettes may be less harmful than full-tar, unfiltered cigarettes, but still contain heavy metals like mercury, lead, and cadmium, as well as nicotine, naphthalene, arsenic, formaldehyde, ammonia and other toxic compounds. Low- or no-tar does NOT mean healthy. This may seem obvious, but it is surprising how many people—physicians and dietitians included—fall for such flawed logic when applied to nutrition.

We saw this play out in yet another flawed analysis released from the U.K. this week with media headlines proclaiming “Whole grains lengthen life” and the like. This was not a new study, but a re-analysis of prior studies (a “meta-analysis”). In each and every study included in this analysis, increasing consumption of whole grains (usually in quartiles or quintiles of whole grain intake) was compared to consumption of white flour products, and there are indeed benefits (not due to B vitamins nor cellulose fiber, but due to the arabinoxylan and amylose prebiotic fiber content): longer life, less type 2 diabetes, less cardiovascular disease, less weight gain (not weight LOSS)—that is all true.

In other words, if we conducted a study that compared increasing reliance on low-tar filtered cigarettes with smoking full-tar unfiltered cigarettes and demonstrated, say, a 27% reduction in lung cancer and heart disease, and people lived 2 years longer than full-tar smokers, should we therefore conclude that smoking low-tar filtered cigarettes is therefore the key to health and longevity? Of course not, but you can begin to appreciate the flawed house of cards that nutritional thinking follows.

Such epidemiological analyses included in this meta-analysis can therefore not be used to conclude that whole grains are good for you: they are LESS BAD. The full implications of this do not become apparent, however, unless we compare whole grain consumption with NO grain consumption. Such studies have indeed been conducted and demonstrate dramatic reductions in type 2 diabetes and blood sugar, reversal/remission of rheumatoid arthritis and some other autoimmune conditions, reversal of irritable bowel syndrome, reversal of temporal lobe seizures, reversal of cerebellar ataxia, reduction or elimination of small LDL particles that lead to heart disease, reduction in paranoia and auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia, reduction in behavioral outbursts in kids with attention deficit disorder and autistic spectrum disorder, etc.

Remember, wheat and related grains, whole or white, still contain:

Gliadin (and related proteins, such as zein in corn)–that trigger appetite via gliadin-derived opiate peptides and initiate the process of autoimmunity via intestinal “leak”
Phytates — that disturb digestion and block iron and zinc absorption by 90%.This is why grain consuming societies experience so much iron deficiency anemia, impaired immunity, and skin rashes.
Lectins — such as wheat germ agglutinin, grain proteins that exert disruptive effects in the gastrointesinal tract and gain access to the bloodstream, where it yields potent inflammatory effects.
D-amino acids — Humans, as well as other mammals, have the digestive apparatus to break proteins down in to L-amino acids. But many of the amino acids in grains are the mirror image D-versions. The implications of this peculiar clash between incompatible species–non-ruminant humans and the seeds of grasses–are just starting to be appreciated.
Amylopectin A — The carbohydrate of grains that is responsible for its extravagant potential to raise blood sugar higher ounce for ounce, than table sugar.

Keep this simple principle in mind—that less bad does not necessarily mean good—and you will see through numerous blunders made in nutrition. “The Mediterranean diet is the ideal diet,” for example, is yet another mistake in that there is simply no logical way to reach that conclusion, only that the Mediterranean style of eating is less harmful than, say, the average American diet.

And anyway, if the millions of people who have enjoyed extravagant weight loss and reversal of health conditions on the Wheat Belly wheat/grain-free lifestyle were to go back to consuming grains, even 100% whole grains, we would re-exposure reactions on a grand scale with weight gain, diarrhea, abdominal distress, recurrence of all symptoms previously relieved with grain elimination such as migraine headaches, acid reflux, rashes, fibromyalgia, and autoimmune conditions.

Stay wheat/grain-free and maintain your extraordinary level of health and control over weight, regardless of the sloppy thinking of nutritional “authorities.”

 

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Calling for Wheat Belly Total Health success stories!

I am putting the finishing touches on a new book that, while not called “Wheat Belly,” builds on the program provided in the Wheat Belly Total Health book. Just as Wheat Belly Total Health took the message several steps farther than the original Wheat Belly book, this new book will go even farther. But the basic principles overlap with the Total Health message, so I’d like to use your story of Wheat Belly Total Health success to support this new book.

I am therefore looking for compelling success stories from anyone who has incorporated all the Wheat Belly Total Health strategies (diet, iodine, vitamin D, bowel flora cultivation, etc.) and experienced health improvements and/or weight loss. Post a few sentences about your story here on the Wheat Belly Blog comments or on the Wheat Belly Facebook page and we will contact you for any additional information we might need. If I use your story, I shall have a copy of the new book sent to you without charge when released in spring 2017. I will use your first name only and your city, state, province, or country. Ideally, a before and after photo (or at least an after, particularly if most of the benefit was in health, not so much in weight loss) would be included, but is not absolutely necessary.

My goal with this new book is to broadcast just how much is possible in reclaiming control over health with these simple lifestyle changes. Life is not about submitting to doctors, prescription drugs, and the profit-seeking practices of healthcare systems. It is about enjoying health that is gained on your own, using commonsense and natural means. I need some compelling stories to help convey this message.

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Shopping List – Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox

Get ready for success! Here’s the shopping list of commonly used ingredients that will get you off the ground running with the day-by-day menu plan in the Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox!

Get even more resources and tips from the eCourse! 

Almond meal/flour

Almond milk, unsweetened

Baking powder (aluminum-free, cornstarch-free)

Baking soda

Cauliflower

Cheeses (preferably full-fat, organic)

Chia seeds

Chocolate—100% chocolate, 85% cocoa or greater

Chocolate chips, dark

Cocoa powder, unsweetened

Coconut flour

Coconut milk—canned for thickness, carton for drinking

Coconut, shredded and unsweetened; coconut flakes

Dried fruit, unsweetened

Extracts—natural almond, coconut, vanilla, and peppermint

Flaxseed, preferably ground golden

Ground nut meals—ground almonds, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts

Inulin powder

Nut and seed butters—almond butter, peanut butter, sunflower seed butter

Nuts—raw almonds, pecans walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts; chopped walnuts or pecans for baking

Oils—extra-virgin olive, coconut, organic butter, ghee, avocado, flaxseed, walnut, extra-light olive, non-hydrogenated lard or tallow

Seeds—Raw sunflower, raw pumpkin, sesame, and chia

Shirataki noodles (in the refrigerated section)

Spaghetti squash

Sweeteners—liquid stevia, powdered stevia (pure or with inulin, not maltodextrin), monk fruit, powdered erythritol, xylitol

Zucchini

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Kitchen Clean Up – Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox

Don’t wait to get started! Start preparing today by cleaning out your kitchen and setting yourself up for success on your detox.

Join the eCourse now! 

First step: clear your kitchen of all obvious wheat and grain sources. Take a look at the list below and pull these items out of your kitchen. If your family isn’t on board for the detox, make sure to create a cabinet or shelf and space in the refrigerator especially for your detox food, so you won’t be tempted to “cheat” and reignite your body’s addiction to wheat and grain.

Making the break abruptly and cleanly is very important for success.

Clean your cabinets of these foods (donate or throw away!):

Wheat-based products: breads, rolls, breakfast cereals, pasta, orzo, bagels, muffins, pancakes and pancake mixes, waffles, doughnuts, pretzels, cookies, crackers
Bulgur and triticale (both related to wheat)
Barley products: barley, barley breads, soups with barley, vinegars with barley-malt
Rye products: rye bread, pumpernickel bread, crackers
All corn products: corn, cornstarch, cornmeal products (chips, tacos, tortillas), grits, polenta, sauces or gravies thickened with cornstarch, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, breakfast cereals
Rice products: white rice, brown rice, wild rice, rice cakes, breakfast cereals
Oat products: oatmeal, oat bran, oat cereals
Amaranth
Teff
Millet
Sorghurn

Then eliminate hidden sources by reading labels.

Eliminate hidden sources of grains by avoiding the processed foods that fill the inner aisles of the grocery store. Almost all of these are thickened, flavored, or textured with grain products, or grains are added as cheap filler and/or appetite stimulants. Living without grains means avoiding foods that you never thought contained grains, such as seasoning mixes bulked up with cornstarch, canned and dry soup mixes with wheat flour, Twizzlers, soy sauce, frozen dinners with wheat-containing gravy and muffins, and all breakfast cereals, hot and cold. (You will find lists of the hidden aliases for wheat and corn, in particular, that can be found in so many processed foods in Appendix B of Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox.)

This does not mean you will never have a crunchy breakfast cereal again or a salad topped with delicious dressing. You will learn to either make your own versions with no unhealthy grains to booby-trap your lifestyle or to identify the brands that have no grains or other unhealthy ingredients added. Armed with the Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox, you have every advantage to succeed!

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Like detergent to your intestines

Emulsifying agents are commonly used in foods to keep them mixed. You will commonly find carageenan, for instance, in ice cream to keep dairy fat from separating from the water and proteins, especially after repeated melting and refreezing.

The capacity for a compound to emulsify a solution varies from minimal to dramatic. Even some natural compounds in whole, unprocessed foods can exert modest emulsifying effects, such as acacia (acacia seeds), pectin (apples, peaches), and lecithin (egg yolks). The most powerful emulsification effects occur with synthetic or semi-synthetic emulsifying agents, such as polysorbate-80, carboxymethylcellulose, and methylcellulose. In one study, polysorbate-80 increased intestinal permeability 59-fold.

The human intestinal tract is covered by a protective mucous layer made of mucopolysaccharides that keeps undesirable organisms and other factors away from the intestinal lining itself. The mucous barrier is continually being regenerated, but is susceptible to emulsification, like adding soap or detergent to oil, resulting in its breakup. Emerging data suggest that synthetic emulsifiers, polysorbate-80 and methylcellulose, disrupt the mucous lining, allowing microorganisms to penetrate and exert changes via bowel flora that increase blood insulin, blood sugar, contribute to pre-diabetes, and increase inflammation, in addition to altering the composition of bowel flora present. This is believed to be an important part of the process operating in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, for example, as well as diabetes and weight gain. An unintended consequence of the low-fat message was an increase in foods that contained synthetic emulsifying agents, such as low-fat yogurts, adding further to the blunders of the low-fat era.

In the Wheat Belly lifestyle, we opt for whole, single-ingredient foods as often as possible, thereby not containing synthetic emulsifiers. However, our reliance on almond, coconut, and some other processed non-dairy milks means we are being exposed to some of the natural, semi-synthetic, and even synthetic emulsifiers. We should therefore avoid brands containing synthetic emulsifiers. Alternatively, you can prepare almond or coconut milk yourself (see below) and avoid them altogether. The Wheat Belly effort to cultivate bowel flora by including 20 grams of prebiotic fibers per day also increases mucopolysaccharide production (via short chain fatty acids), reducing the impact of emulsifiers.

Stay tuned for more on this emerging and exciting new insight, as I predict that better understanding of the intestinal mucous layer is going to yield even greater capacity to heal intestinal tracts damaged by wheat/grains, antibiotics, chemical exposures, and prescription drugs.

Fresh Dairy-Free Homemade Coconut Milk

Making coconut milk by cracking open a whole coconut can be a lot of work. My good friend, Lori Arnold, PharmD, an integrative health practitioner in the Palm Springs, California area, came to the rescue and shared this simplified method to make your own coconut milk without use of emulsifying agents and without having to crack open a coconut. (For more of Lori’s recipes, as well as her unique views on prescription medication, see her website/blog, Heal Yourself Beautiful.)

Makes 3 cups

8 ounce package organic finely shredded coconut (unsweetened)

4 cups boiling, or very hot, filtered water

Nut milk bag* or cheesecloth

*Available online via Amazon and other retailers, as well as health food and specialty food stores

You will need a high-powered blender, like a Vitamix or equivalent that can sustain high heat.

Add the coconut and boiling/hot water to the blender. Blend well, about 1 minute on higher setting. Let set for another 2-3 minutes before straining.

Pour the contents of the blender through the nut milk bag into a large bowl or pitcher. Pull the strings of the bag and squeeze the remainder of the coconut milk out.

Refrigerate the coconut milk and use within 2-3 days.

TIP: Don’t throw away the coconut meal left in your nut bag! I put the fine coconut in a tight container and refrigerate to use in recipes. The coconut is deliciously moist and tastes fresher than boring bagged coconut. You can keep the coconut in your fridge for up to a week if tightly sealed. Use the coconut in smoothies.

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Natural sweeteners: A quantity and cost comparison

Here’s an interesting comparison I did in my kitchen.

In the Wheat Belly lifestyle, we occasionally desire non-wheat, non-grain snacks, desserts, and treats made without sugar or other unhealthy sweeteners. We therefore reach for natural non- or minimally nutritive sweeteners that allow us to have, for example, a cookie or slice of cheesecake without problems of tooth decay, high blood sugars, inflammation, or any of the other health problems accompanied by foods made with grains and sugar. This allows you to entertain friends, serve treats to kids and grandkids, and enjoy holidays without destroying health.

But such sweeteners can be pricey. So I did this comparison. Shown in the photo is the amount of sweetener required to yield the equivalent sweetening power of one tablespoon of table sugar, shown at the far left. Below each little pile of one tablespoon-equivalent sweetener is the cost per tablespoon (based on the retail price I paid at a local Milwaukee grocer that carried every sweetener shown, thereby eliminating differences based on varying markups at different stores—the store for anyone in Wisconsin is the Woodmans’ employee-owned chain with an incredible selection of sweeteners and other foods).

Some conclusions can therefore reached by this simple exercise:

Lakanto (erythritol + monkfruit in a proportion designed to be used like sugar 1:1) is the most costly sweetener by a substantial margin, over 3-fold the cost of the SweetLeaf stevia
Wheat-Free Market’s Virtue Sweetener is the least costly, also by a substantial margin. Even though Virtue, like Lakanto, is a mixture of erythritol + monkfruit, the different proportions of sweetener (richer in the intensely sweet monkfruit) make it four-fold sweeter, thereby reducing the quantity required, tablespoon for tablespoon. In fact, the Virtue Sweetener is only a bit more costly than sugar.
SweetLeaf stevia (inulin + stevia) is also a great buy.
Wholesome (erythritol without the added sweetening power of monkfruit or stevia) and Swerve (erythritol + oligosaccharides) are just behind Lakanto as high-cost sweeteners.

Of course, you may mix your sweeteners in ways that avoid, for instance, the metallic aftertaste of stevia preparations. You may therefore combine some stevia with Virtue, or stevia with erythritol, to obtain sweetness with less prominent aftertaste.

I did this comparison because Gary Miller of Wheat-Free Market expressed concern that, despite formulating the Virtue Sweetener for concentrated sweetness and value, many people did not recognize the cost advantages. Well, here you see it in play daylight: the unique monkfruit + erythritol mixture of the Virtue Sweetener means you can make delicious wheat-, grain-, sugar-free and healthy Wheat Belly dishes at just a tiny bit greater cost than using conventional sugar.

 

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