William Davis's Blog: Dr. Davis Infinite Health Blog, page 71

The Magic Pill: A Bold New Documentary from Chef Pete Evans, Director Rob Tate

My first reaction to viewing the trailer (above), then the full documentary, The Magic Pill, was surprise and gratitude that—finally—somebody got the dietary message right.

This isn’t the usual semi-scientific misinterpretation that dominates food documentaries nor a misinformed defense of the status quo. Weaving together a story from varied sources such as journalist, Nina Teicholz, for instance, to recount how the “science” of low-fat nutrition gained traction but was little more than misinterpretation and misrepresentation. Or author and former vegan, Lierre Keith, and organic farmer, Joel Salatin, to provide insights into genuine sustainability and the circle of interdependence among animals, plants, and earth. Or author Nora Gedgaudas to provide the long-term anthropological perspective and the dietary lessons it can yield. Put it all together, combined with chronicles of several impressive and heartwarming health turnarounds unfolding after only several weeks of dietary change (including transformations of two children with autistic spectrum disorder) and the end-result is an enlightening and persuasive illustration of the power of clear thinking on nutrition. I hope that The Magic Pill will serve as a sobering slap to help viewers shake off the uncertainties that come from hearing so many conflicting dietary views.

Filmmakers Rob Tate and Pete Evans deliver a clear and powerful message. There are few messages as necessary and prescriptive as the one they convey in Magic Pill. In the U.S. alone, we suffer a daily barrage of TV and print advertising from the food and now the pharmaceutical industries—because the wrong message is highly profitable. My hope is that, the more people who view this film, the more will join the movement to take back individual control over health and disengage from the predatory disinformation campaign of these industries.

Fighting the disinformation campaign of industry is going to occupy us for many decades. It has gotten so bad in the U.S. that mainstream weight loss and nutrition programs are clueless and actually contribute to disease, direct-to-consumer drug ads now dominate advertising revenues and thereby make network and cable TV resistant to airing ANY opinions that might antagonize Big Pharma. Network and cable TV are more about supporting their advertisers than providing real discussion and objective reporting. It means that efforts like The Magic Pill and social media are going to be the only outlets we have to disseminate messages contrary to the mainstream media marketing message.

Not unexpectedly, and much to my delight, release of the film in Australia in late 2017 sparked outrage from defenders of the dietary low-fat status quo, such as Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon, who lamented that “elements of the discussion are just plain hurtful, harmful and mean.” I hope that The Magic Pill is as hurtful and mean among as many people as possible, but provocative and thought-provoking enough to have people question the absurd dietary message that prevails today.

You can rent/purchase the movie on Amazon, Vimeo, Vudu, or iTunes (rent or buy).

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Be ketotic . . . but only sometime

Achieving ketosis by engaging in a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat lifestyle is an effective means of losing weight, breaking insulin and leptin resistance, reversing type 2 diabetes and fatty liver, reducing blood pressure, reversing the inflammation of visceral fat, and may even cause partial or total remission of selected cancers.

So what’s the problem?

The problem comes when people remain ketotic for extended periods. We know with confidence that long-term ketosis poses substantial risk for health complications because thousands of children have followed ketogenic diets over the years as a means of suppressing intractable grand mal seizures unresponsive to drugs and procedures, seizures that can lead to irreversible brain damage if not stopped. A ketogenic diet reduces seizures by approximately 55-85%. Because seizures are a chronic problem, these kids maintain ketosis for months to years.

The health of these kids have been formally tracked. What happens to them beyond the reduction in seizures? A number of phenomena emerge:

They have high likelihood of calcium oxalate and uric acid kidney stones–Likelihood is 10- to 100-fold greater than in kids not on the diet. Kidney stones are uncommon in childhood, yet these kids commonly have kidney stones. The risk in an adult on a prolonged ketogenic effort is therefore high, also. Kidney stones are not benign–they are painful and can occasionally result in kidney damage (increased creatinine, urinary tract infections, etc.)
Growth is stunted–Most of these kids fail to grow normally and fall into the 10th percentile for growth or less. Adults on a ketogenic diet are no longer growing, of course, but the growth impairment observed in children suggests that there is something fundamentally wrong with prolonged ketosis sufficient to impair normal growth.
There are occasional instances of cardiomyopathies (heart muscle diseases, heart failure) and sudden cardiac death–The immediate causes are unclear, though at least some cases are due to severe selenium deficiency. The picture is muddied by the fact that some kids are fed large quantities of corn oil as a means of maintaining ketosis. Nonetheless, it suggests further uncertainties with prolonged ketosis.
Constipation is the rule–as virtual elimination of dietary carbohydrates also means virtual elimination of prebiotic fibers that nourish bowel flora. Over time, this leads to metabolic distortions including a drop in HDL cholesterol, rise in triglycerides, rise in small LDL particles that lead to heart disease, rise in insulin resistance and blood sugar, rise in blood pressure, even if these parameters initially improved on the diet. This is also due to dysbiosis and lack of prebiotic fibers. While this has not yet been tracked in children, in adults we can expect that these distortions in bowel flora will, over time, also lead to heightened inflammation (bowel and elsewhere), diverticular disease (.e.g., diverticulitis), and colorectal cancer. Yes: prolonged ketosis can add substantially to risk for colon cancer. Other peculiar gastrointestinal complications of prolonged ketosis have also been observed, such as protein-losing enteropathies.

While many of the problems that develop with prolonged ketosis may be addressed simply by minding intake of prebiotic fibers, not all are, such as selenium deficiency and stunted growth.

If you want to use a ketogenic diet as a health tool, it would be wise to do so for no more than a few weeks at a time, as nobody knows how long is too long. And, of course, the period of time during which ketosis is safe can vary from individual to individual. Breaking ketosis is as easy as upping protein intake or having a glass of wine or whole piece of fruit.

Like the stress response, ketosis is a natural, physiological adaptation designed for short-term responses. In other words, an acute stress response to some danger or threat that involves increased adrenaline and cortisol release, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and heightened alertness is normal and can even save your life. But, if the stress response becomes chronic, as it may with divorce, prolonged caretaking of an impaired child or demented adult, PTSD, financial struggles, etc., then the stress response can have terrible health implications that include increased risk for Alzheimer’s dementia, heart disease, dysbiosis, inflammation, diabetes, and cancer. The same applies to ketosis: Acutely, ketosis is a normal physiological adaptation that serves us during periods of carbohydrate or calorie deprivation. Chronically, however, peculiar things happen with consequences that range from constipation, to selenium deficiency and cardiomyopathies, to colon cancer.

Another one of my concerns long-term is that many people are being persuaded to remain on a ketogenic diet over a long period. In 3, 5, or 10 years, we are going to see a sharp rise in colon cancer cases. People in conventional dietary circles will then point fingers at all of us engaged in unconventional dietary advice and we will be lumped together and labeled as dangerous fads. The key is to be smarter and to view ketogenic dieting as the short-term tool/response it is, not as a solution to all health struggles.

Also, be aware that, while diet can be an extremely powerful tool to regain control over many aspects of health, diet by itself remains insufficient for full health. Just as filling up the gas tank of your car with quality gasoline helps your car run well, but other aspects of your car need attention over time (change the oil, tune-ups, new tires on occasion, etc.), so it goes with diet. We must also pay attention to vitamin D and iodine status, the potential for common endocrine disruptions such as thyroid dysfunction, efforts to cultivate bowel flora, and other issues. Focus on diet as a start, not as an end.

So be ketotic—but just don’t stay ketotic for too long. Like an acute stress response, use it to your advantage but don’t allow it to become a chronic impairment of health.

Transcript:

I’d like to share some concerns I have about all the people who are coming to me saying that they’ve been on ketogenic diets for extended periods. Now, let me be absolutely clear, there’s nothing wrong with being ketotic or being on a ketogenic diet — for limited periods of time, and let me tell you why.

First of all, think of being ketotic as like having a stress response. A stress response is a natural physiologic process, right? If something dangerous or life-threatening is about to happen to you, you want to have the increase in heart rate, blood pressure, alertness — for safety. A stress response is a good thing. It’s a protective mechanism.

But what if you had the stress response 24/7; for extended periods, months, or even years on end? That’s what happens, right, when people are stressed to high levels like grief, the death of someone close to you, financial ruin, divorce. When stress goes on chronically, bad things happen. It gives rise to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, other bad effects, dysbiosis that changes bowel flora. Chronic stress, the stress response acutely, is a good thing. It’s a normal protective physiologic response. Chronically, for prolonged periods, it’s a very destructive process.

Ketosis is the same way. For brief periods of times, up to weeks, it’s healthy. It’s wonderful. It helps accomplish such things as accelerate weight loss, accelerate reversal of Type II diabetes, drops haemoglobin A1c, faster reversal of insulin resistance. It helps reverse fatty liver (often to normal), reduces blood pressure, reduces triglycerides — lots of wonderful effects of being ketotic. Problem: being ketotic too long; being on a ketogenic diet too long leads to adverse effects.

Here’s an area where we have good confidence in knowing that prolonged chronic ketosis is bad for you. There are children, kids, who have intractable seizures, grand mal seizures, unresponsive to drugs or sometimes even surgery. They’re put on a ketogenic diet, so of course, very low-carb, very high fat, and they have about 80% reduction seizures. It’s very successful, but kids who remain on this, on a ketogenic diet for a year, two years, three years, start to show bizarre effects — they have at least a tenfold increase in kidney stones, both calcium oxalate kidney stones, and uric acid kidney stones. These are kids who aren’t supposed to get stones at all. So the risk in adults is likely substantially even higher.

Kids have stunted growth. They often fall into 10th percentile. They don’t grow normally. They’re all real short. You and I am not growing, so that’s not a concern, but the fact that kids fall off the growth curve and experience a stunted growth process suggests there’s something fundamentally wrong with the diet, and no one knows what that is exactly.

Then there are the metabolic distortions of dysbiosis. When you fail to take in prebiotic fibers, and don’t make other efforts to restore or maintain healthy bowel flora, weird stuff happens. We’ve seen this happen over and over again in people on ketogenic diets; Atkins, ultra low carb diets, etc. People who do this typically have by a year, two years, or so, sometimes longer: HDL cholesterol drops, triglycerides start to climb back up (even if they’d dropped substantially at the start), small LDL particles on lipoprotein analysis — increase. Postprandial (after meal) distortions develop. Insulin levels go higher. Insulin resistance gets worse. Fatty liver can come back. Blood pressure goes up. You start to get constipated. You develop diverticular disease, and diverticulitis — and down the road, colorectal cancer.

These are not small matters. These are big deals, and this is what happens when you follow a ketogenic diet chronically.

Some of this can be addressed simply by paying to dysbiosis and cultivating healthy bowel flora, with, for instance, a high potency multi-species probiotic, lactate fermented foods, and prebiotic fibers. But a lot of people on a ketogenic diet have not been told this. They have assumed or dismissed the importance of bowel flora, which is a very foolhardy, because you could end up in, who knows, three years, five years, ten years, with a nice case of colon cancer.

One of my fears is that when this starts to happen, when the hundreds of thousands or millions of people following these diets develop bad effects, such as colon cancer, and other metabolic distortions, and diverticular disease, conventional thinkers will say: “see we told you all those fad diets don’t work and they’re gonna be dangerous” they’re going to label more rational approaches, like our approach, the Undoctored or the Wheat Belly approach as just a fad, when it’s not.

We have already incorporated, we’ve accommodated to the reduction prebiotic fibers by adding back prebiotic fibers, and we don’t stay ketogenic for extended periods. Being ketotic, following a ketogenic diet, is fine, but just like a stress response, don’t do it too long. Nobody knows how long a time is too long, but I think it’s probably a matter of weeks and then you should go off. Becoming non-ketotic is as easy as having more protein — having maybe an extra few bites of steak, or fish, or chicken, or having a glass of wine. For many of us, that’s all it takes to break the ketotic process. We’re not talking about going back to cupcakes and candy. It just means not purposely maintaining around-the-clock 24/7 365 days-a-year-ketosis, because bad things will happen if you do that.

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Fermented raw potato for probiotics AND prebiotics

Here’s an easy way to add both probiotics and prebiotics to your life: Fermented raw potatoes. The mildly tangy flavor of these fermented raw potatoes go well tossed into a salad, though you can just eat them right out of the jar, too.

Because they are raw, there are zero net carbs but plenty of fiber. (When heated, however, fibers depolymerize or break down into sugars. When raw and unheated, fibers remain in polymer form.) Raw potatoes therefore provide you with prebiotic fibers to nourish bowel flora.

When you lactate-ferment these raw potatoes, you also cultivate beneficial bacterial species such as Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteria, Leuconostoc species and others that add to healthy bowel flora.

Fermented raw potatoes are therefore an easy and convenient way to add both more probiotic species and prebiotic fibers. I found potatoes to be easier to ferment than most other veggies, as the potatoes, chopped into half-inch (one centimeter) cubes, sunk to the bottom of the jar, thereby not requiring any device to weigh them down to keep them below the air-water interface. (Recall that lactic acid fermentation is an anaerobic process and is inhibited by the presence of oxygen. Veggies must therefore be kept below the air-water interface. The dense cubes of potatoes accomplished this all on their own.)

The recipe is very simple, but there are some reminders to make sure that fermentation can proceed. First, use filtered or distilled water, as tap water that contains chlorine or fluoride will block fermentation. Likewise, when making the brine solution, do not use iodized salt, as iodine will block fermentation, also. (I have used sea salt many times with success.)

To make fermented raw potatoes, place approximately 4 cups of filtered water into a jar, followed by enough salt to generate the level of saltiness you desire (e.g., 1 tablespoon).

Chop potatoes (unpeeled; if any green tinge is present on the skin, remove) into half-inch cubes, then add to water. Cover with paper towel, cheesecloth, or other non-air-tight device.

You will see the water turn cloudy over the next 48 hours, along with tiny bubbles, all reflecting the process of fermentation. If any white film appears on top, remove with a spoon and discard. When the water is moderately cloudy and potatoes have that lactic acid “zing,” transfer jar to refrigerator. Consume within the next week.

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Thinner, healthier . . . and younger

Time and time again, people following the Wheat Belly lifestyle report on their wonderful weight loss successes, fitting back into old jeans with smaller waists, thighs, and other measurements, while also enjoying a wide range of health improvements.

But something we have not talked enough about are the AGE-REVERSING changes in appearance, flexibility, and day-to-day performance. Take a look at what happened to Di (photos above):

“It definitely works!! I started in April, have lost 25 kgs [55 pounds] and never felt healthier.”

Clearly, much of Di’s improvement in appearance is due to weight loss. (The difference in lighting in selfies is always a challenge, as well.) But look at each of Di’s photos independently: She looks more youthful in the “after” photo: smoother and moister skin texture, eyes less puffy, facial features more sharply defined.

Much of this is due to the reversal of inflammation that develops because removing wheat and related grains also removes numerous inflammatory factors such as gliadin, gliadin-derived peptides, glutenins, wheat germ agglutinin, amylase inhibitors and other allergens, and insulin- and visceral fat-provoking amylopectin A.

Di accomplished this with the Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox approach. The strategies in this program alone powerfully restore youthful appearance and performance.

For those of you wanting to obtain results like Di’s, start with the basic Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox program, supported by a private Facebook page that you can ask to join. Then consider joining our discussions on the Undoctored Inner Circle in which we take age-reversing strategies even further by focusing on issues such as oxytocin, specific efforts at cultivating bowel flora that restore youthful characteristics, and collagen augmentation.

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Which beers are safest for the grain-free lifestyle?

Football games, tailgating and beer always seem to go hand in hand. This can be problematic when you are adhering to a grain-free lifestyle. Virtually all ales, beers, malt liquors, and lagers are brewed from grains. Thus, there are measurable grain protein residues present in most beers— generally 1 to 2 grams per 12 ounces. This is not a lot, but it’s enough to stimulate appetite, provoke inflammation, and initiate autoimmunity.

People with celiac disease or the most extreme forms of gluten sensitivity should avoid beers altogether, except those designated gluten-free (though I have my doubts about even the gluten-free products, since all are brewed from the seeds of grasses). If a beer is designated gluten-free, no gliadin or gluten should be present (the official cutoff is fewer than 20 parts per million), but there is still potential for uncertain reactions from other grain proteins. Those who do not have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity seem to do okay with beers brewed from sorghum and rice but which also include barley malt, though you may have to experiment and see how your body reacts to these beers before you decide whether or not to consume them regularly.

Of all alcoholic beverages, beer is the most hazardous, so be careful. If you must drink it, here are a few of the least problematic brews.

Bard’s gluten-free beers. Brewed from sorghum without barley, this beer is truly gluten-free. As with many gluten-free beers, however, it’s high in carbs, and therefore you should not drink more than one per day (14.2 g carbohydrates per 12-ounce bottle).

Bud Light and Michelob Ultra. Bud Light, made by Anheuser-Busch, is brewed from rice but also contains barley malt. The most severely gluten-sensitive people should therefore not indulge in this beer because of the gluten content. But most of us who are just avoiding wheat but who aren’t gluten-sensitive can safely consume this brand without exposing ourselves to the undesirable effects of grains. One 12-ounce bottle contains 6.6 g of carbohydrates. Michelob Ultra is likewise brewed from rice with barley malt. It is also low in carbohydrates, with 2.6 g per 12-ounce serving.

Redbridge. Redbridge is brewed from sorghum and is not brewed with wheat or barley. It is therefore confidently gluten-free, though it’s still brewed from the seed of a grass. The carbohydrate content is a bit high at 16.4 g per bottle; have more than one beer and the carbohydrates begin to stack up.

Green’s gluten-free beers. UK brewer Green’s provides several gluten-free choices made from sorghum, millet, buckwheat, brown rice, and “deglutenised” barley malt. They are not grain-free and have low quantities of grain proteins. So tread carefully here, and make judgments based on your individual experience. The carbohydrate content of these beers is slightly less than most others, ranging from 10 to 14 g per 330-ml bottle.

In addition to these choices, I have seen some microbreweries starting to jump on the gluten-free bandwagon. Look for beers brewed from chicory and other ingredients. Enjoy and may the best team win!

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The Opioid Crisis–In Your Cupboard

The opioid epidemic of the last 20 years has served to illustrate the powerful addictive properties of anything that binds to opioid receptors of the human brain. Lives are ruined by opioid addiction, more than 100 deaths now occurring every day from overdose as people either take more and more to overcome the partial tolerance or new potent drugs like fentanyl make their way into street versions. Drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and fentanyl bind to the brain’s opioid receptors provoking a “high” while causing the user to desire more opioids as partial tolerance develops. And make no mistake: Much of the opioid epidemic was the creation of the pharmaceutical industry and the doctors who fell for misleading marketing. Emergency rooms now must stock plentiful naloxone administered urgently to counteract overdose and prevent cardiopulmonary arrest.

We also know that foods contain proteins that, upon partial digestion, yield components that exert opioid behavior and even resemble the structure of morphine. The gliadin protein of wheat and related grains yields so-called gliadorphins, while the casein protein of mammary gland products yields casomorphin. (Casomorphin has a lower binding affinity to the opioid receptors and thereby exerts a less potent opioid effect than gliadin-derived opioids.) We also know that the varied effects of gliadin-derived opioids can be blocked by naloxone, consistent with its opioid properties.

Food-derived opioids, especially those coming from gliadin, do not, of course, make us “high,” but yield many of the other effects of opioids such as appetite stimulation. We see this in its most exaggerated form in people prone to binge-eating disorder and bulimia, conditions associated with unremitting 24-hour-per-day food obsessions that reverse within days of removing all grain-sourced gliadin from their diet. For the rest of us without such eating disorders, gliadin-derived opioids only cause us to take in around 400-800 more calories per day, every day, reflecting its appetite-stimulating effect.

We do not, of course, overdose on gliadin-derived opioids, at least not in the conventional sense. But, because gliadin has other effects besides its opioid potential, and because wheat and related grains contain numerous other components, the list of human diseases caused by wheat and grain consumption is not a short one. Just consider the diseases that we KNOW are often caused by wheat and grains (responsible component in parentheses):

Celiac disease (gliadin)
Dermatitis herpetiformis (gliadin)
Cerebellar ataxia (gliadin)
Peripheral neuropathy (gliadin)
Iron deficiency anemia (phytates)
Magnesium deficiency (phytates)
Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance (amylopectin A and wheat germ agglutinin)
Type 1 diabetes (gliadin)
Rheumatoid arthritis (gliadin)
Auditory hallucinations and paranoia in selected cases of paranoid schizophrenia (gliadin)
Behavioral outburst in children with ADHD and autistic spectrum disorder (gliadin)

That’s a partial list. Throw in the other consequences of insulin resistance (e.g., heightened risk for cancer, heart disease, and dementia), dysbiosis and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (autoimmune conditions, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, colorectal cancer), and allergy to varied wheat and grain proteins and the list of conditions caused by wheat and grains reads like a textbook of human disease.

No, nobody is going to the emergency room with acute bagel or muffin overdose. The health effects of wheat and related grains are less acute, more chronic, but no less important. And the process of being freed from these effects is complicated by the opioid withdrawal syndrome that about half the people who stop consuming grains experience.

You may not inject heroin or snare a supply of Oxycontin tablets off the street but, if you consume wheat and related grains, you are still subject to an extraordinarily powerful form of opioid addiction and all its health consequences.

 

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Lactobacillus reuteri yogurt: An anorexigenic effect?

 

I have lately been discussing the impressive effects that were observed in an elegant series of mouse experiments conducted at MIT with supplementation of the probiotic species Lactobacillus reuteri strain ATCC PTA 6475. Among the effects they observed were:

Failure to gain weight on an obesogenic diet
Thicker dermis and overall skin thickness, increased collagen
Increased testosterone in males
Increased oxytocin
Anti-inflammatory effects
Accelerated wound healing

The increase in oxytocin—a doubling of blood levels—is especially interesting. Oxytocin is a hypothalamic gland hormone that has been shown to increase bone density, encourage feelings of empathy, and has an anorexigenic effect—it turns off appetite, even circumventing common leptin resistance that can develop in overweight people and interferes with weight control. In a recent human clinical trial, intranasal oxytocin (24 units four times per day) yielded 19 pounds of weight loss over 8 weeks compared to placebo and it did so without side-effects.

In an effort to assess whether any such effects develop in humans, I made yogurt with this strain of Lactobacillus (obtained here). The Swedish company BioGaia provide it as chewable tablets with relatively low CFUs of only 100 million per tablet. I therefore crushed 10 tablets to obtain one billion CFUs, then made yogurt from organic half-and-half and inulin, the method I’ve been using to increase microbial counts and generate an unusually rich and thick yogurt. (I tried to make yogurt starting with only 400 million CFUs and was unsuccessful, thus the higher amount on this second attempt.) I did indeed obtain yogurt, though thinner than the usual result, more like cottage cheese. I consumed this for a few days, a few tablespoons at a time, but also used it as the basis for making another batch. This second batch was more like prior efforts: thick and smooth.

I have noticed that, after taking a few tablespoons every morning mixed with a half-cup of blueberries, I completely lose interest in food for about 6 hours. I’ve previously discussed how you can use MCT oil (or oil powder) as a tool to turn off appetite to facilitate fasting, what I call “assisted fasting” that makes the fasting process easier. The disinterest in food with the L. reuteri yogurt was more prominent than with MCTs: I completely lost interest in food, even felt an aversion towards eating. If I have another serving of yogurt at, say, 2 pm, I extend the period of complete indifference to food until after dinner time.

Unfortunately, I did not monitor my testosterone or oxytocin levels, but shall in future (after a period of yogurt/L. reuteri abstinence). Should anyone else give this idea a try, please share your experience.

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Carb Loading: Outdated and Dangerous

It has become a familiar scene at athletic events: sugar and carb-fests before and during marathons, triathlons, swimming competitions, and other sports among amateurs and professionals, even high school athletes and grade school soccer players. They do it for energy and enhanced athletic performance, having been told that loading up on carbs is the ticket to winning.

This common practice is based on decades-old flawed studies that reported that athletes experienced reduced performance when deprived of carbohydrates, performance restored upon restoration of carbohydrates. Thus was born the notion of “carb-loading” (i.e., consuming large quantities of grains and sugars prior to exercise to improve performance). That simple observation has since become a universal practice. It means runners have pasta feasts the night prior to a marathon in the United States, South African triathletes eat bananas and drink sugary energy drinks during workouts, and even aerobic-exercising mothers in Sydney, Australia, load up on energy bars prior to putting on their Spandex. It is common to see participants in athletic events gorging on pasta, fruit, desserts, and a mind-boggling variety of “energy” bars and drinks from sponsors. They then deal with the “wall” of low blood sugar that results after high blood sugar, as well as abdominal distress and diarrhea from the osmotic load created by the exceptional intake of sugar. (This is why dozens of Porta Potties are familiar fixtures along the route at these events.)

Contrary to popular perception, athletes are not impervious to all the problems presented by overconsumption of carbohydrates and sugars; they are just as prone to all the problems associated with both grain consumption and carbohydrates, such as provocation of autoimmune diseases, impaired digestion, high blood sugars, and the phenomena of glycation, and they are not necessarily spared the visceral fat–provoking effects, either, though their extreme exercise habits blunt it. (Go to any athletic event and you will see it: Easily a third of athletes, including serious athletes, are overweight.) The phenomenon of glycation alone can be responsible for prematurely deteriorating joints from cartilage glycation and cataracts from lens glycation, among other health problems.

A fundamental mistake was made in the studies that purport to prove that carb-loading is beneficial for athletic performance: If athletes who have relied to a moderate degree on grains, carbohydrates, and sugars are deprived of them, there will indeed be a decrement in performance upon their removal: reduced endurance; slowed running, biking, or swim times; and a premature feeling of fatigue. This is due to reliance on glycogen stored in the liver as a source for glucose sugar for energy. The glycogen supply in the liver is depleted after 40 to 60 minutes of high-intensity physical effort, and then the athlete will experience a marked reduction in energy and performance unless sugars are made available to replenish glycogen, accomplished via ingesting carbs and sugars. This phenomenon has been observed over and over again after depriving athletes of carbs and sugars for up to a week. Here is a review of the studies.

What was not appreciated in these studies is that if carb and sugar deprivation is extended to 4 to 6 weeks, performance is restored and then exceeds that achieved during carb/sugar-consuming days (yes, athletes do better without carb-loading, though the effect is delayed due to peculiarities of human physiology).  This obligatory delay is due to the slowed conversion from glycogen-dependence to an increased capacity to mobilize energy stored in fat. While liver glycogen can provide less than 1 hour of energy for high-intensity exercise and forces the athlete to continually seek more sugars, body fat—even in a slender person with little excess body fat—provides energy for weeks. And the energy derived from body fat stores involves no loading up on energy drinks, energy bars, or pasta. It means just eating healthy and living off the, well, fat. And that’s how humans have done it for millions of years, running for hours without such modern carbohydrate crutches. The capacity for long-distance running is built into human evolution without the need for sugary drinks or energy bars (though hydration and electrolytes are necessary).

It means that someone who expects to run, bike, swim, or engage in other prolonged, intensive physical activity will need to endure an obligatory 4- to 6-week period of reduced performance before things get better again, and often better than before. But it also means that you will no longer be exposing yourself to the destructive health consequences of carb-loading before and during demanding physical exertion, including fewer visits to the delightful Porta Potti.

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The next Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox Challenge starts Wednesday Jan 31st!

Through my New York Times bestseller, Wheat Belly, millions of people learned how to reverse years of chronic health problems by removing wheat from their daily diets. But, after reading the original Wheat Belly or the Wheat Belly Total Health book, or even using the recipes from the Wheat Belly Cookbook and Wheat Belly 30-Minute Cookbook, people still said: “I’ve read the books, but I’m still not sure how to best get started on this lifestyle.”

That’s why I wrote the Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox and now help readers along in this Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox CHALLENGE. This is the quickest, most assured way to get started on regaining magnificent health and slenderness by adopting the Wheat Belly lifestyle.

This next CHALLENGE begins at the end of January to give you plenty of time to fit into a new slender wardrobe and reclaim control over numerous health conditions by spring.

The Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox supplies you with carefully designed meal plans and delicious recipes to fully eliminate wheat and related grains in the shortest time possible. Perfect for those who may have fallen off the wagon or for newcomers who need a jump-start for weight loss, this new addition to the Wheat Belly phenomenon guides you through the complete 10-Day Detox experience.

In addition to this quick-start program, I’ll teach you:

How to recognize and reduce wheat-withdrawal symptoms,
How to avoid common landmines that can sabotage success
How to use nutritional supplements to further advance weight loss and health benefits

The Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox also includes:

Inspiring testimonials from people who have completed the program (and have now made grain-free eating a way of life)

Exciting new recipes to help get your entire family on board

To join the Detox Challenge:

Step 1

Get the book. And read it (at least the first 5 chapters). Detox Challenge participants should be informed and active in order to get the most out of the challenge and private Facebook group. READING THE WHEAT BELLY DETOX BOOK IS REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE. PLEASE DO NOT PARTICIPATE IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK or else the conversations will not make sense and you will not enjoy full benefit.

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

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/wheatbelly10daygraindetox-bn

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

Or grab the course from Rodale.

https://www.rodaleu.com/courses/wheat-belly-10-day-grain-detox

(The PLATINUM level INCLUDES the book.)

Using the code DETOX saves you $20+ when you checkout.

Step 2

Come join the Private Facebook Group.

http://bit.ly/WheatBelly-PrivateFBGroup

Step 3

Head back to the Private Facebook Group starting Tuesday, January 30th (the day before the official start of the Challenge) and onwards for tips, videos, and discussions to help you get through your detox and reprogram your body for rapid weight loss and health. Dr. Davis will be posting video instructions and answers to your questions.

Need support? Lapsed and want to get back on board? Join the thousands of people who are losing weight and regaining health by following the Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox. Join us if you desire support through the sometimes unpleasant process of wheat/grain detoxification and withdrawal or if you are among those who previously followed the program but lapsed, and now want to get back on board as confidently as possible, this Detox Challenge was made for you.

The post The next Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox Challenge starts Wednesday Jan 31st! appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

The Yogurt Diaries

I’ve been lately discussing how to take a single species of bacteria and amplify bacterial counts by making yogurt in the presence of prebiotic fiber. Here, for instance, I described my early experience cultivating a strain of Lactobacillus reuteri. For anyone new to this conversation, the method of making prebiotic-infused yogurt is discussed here; and why we choose higher fat starting liquids, such as half-and-half with around 18% fat, is discussed here. For anyone wishing to avoid dairy, you can also accomplish the same with coconut milk (canned, full-fat), though it requires longer to ferment (typically 48-72 hours, rather than the 36-48 hours for dairy. You may also need to add a modest quantity of sugar, e.g., 2 teaspoons, along with the inulin—don’t worry: If fermentation proceeds as planned, sugar and prebiotic inulin should be gone or present at only negligible levels in the end-product because the microorganisms have consumed them. The end-product should therefore not be sweet. And the yogurt you obtain by these methods is incredibly thick, rich, and delicious, not the insipid, water stuff you get at the grocery store.

What we are doing is 1) taking a single microbial species or number of species of known composition, then 2) amplifying the bacterial counts (CFUs). Starting with, for example, 5 billion CFUs from a commercial probiotic preparation of your desired species, making yogurt with prebiotic fibers increases the bacterial counts enormously. 5 billion can readily become trillions. This is a handy way to play around to gauge the effect of augmenting bowel flora with a single species/strain or collection of species/strains, just as I am doing with various strains of Lactobacillus reuteri in the hopes of getting a sense whether the spectacular effects observed in a mouse model in the MIT studies will translate into similar human effects. You might also explore:

Whether amplification of the species Lactobacillus casei (strain PRA205) reduces blood pressure based on these observations.
Whether amplification of Lactobacillus plantarum (strains CECT 7527, 7528 and 7529) reduces cholesterol (accepting that cholesterol is a lousy measure of cardiovascular risk) based on observations such as this.
Whether amplification of Bifidobacterium infantis (strain 35624) may help reduce intestinal inflammation in various conditions such as ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome.

That’s just a sample of the kinds of cultivated probiotics you can explore on your own. And, because you are amplifying counts in yogurt, you can skip your probiotics at times and thereby reduce costs. You can see that we are getting way beyond “eat yogurt” with uncertain microbial count and composition, or taking just any old probiotic.

In general, bowel health and overall health are reflected by wide species diversity, i.e., having a large number of varied species. So these efforts are meant to be short-term explorations to gauge whether increasing the count of a specific species/strain yields a specific desired benefit. Please don’t interpret this to mean that cultivating single species long-term is a key to restoring healthy bowel flora. Should you attempt any of these microbial explorations, however, please share your experiences here and on the Wheat Belly or Undoctored Facebook pages.

The post The Yogurt Diaries appeared first on Dr. William Davis.