Excerpt from the Wheat Belly blog by Dr William Davis ....
1) No other food-sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, sugary soft drinks, French fries, etc. has its very own opiate that stimulates appetite. The gliadin protein, digested down to 5 tetra- and pentapeptide exorphin (exogenous morphine-like compounds) units, binds to the opiate receptors of the human brain and stimulates appetite.
The increased appetite of wheat exorphins cause you to consume 400 or more calories per day, every day. Those calories are not from pork chops or salmon; they come carbohydrates almost exclusively-chips, cookies, crackers, pretzels, candy and other goodies, the foods that raise blood sugar.
2) Wheat contains the complex carbohydrate, amylopectin A. Recall that the unique branching structure of wheat's amylopectin A makes it highly susceptible to digestion by the enzyme, amylase, in saliva and stomach juices, releasing glucose into the bloodstream literally within seconds of ingestion. This explains why two slices of whole wheat bread raise blood sugar higher and faster than 6 teaspoons of table sugar. High blood sugar obliges high blood insulin, over and over and over again in the world of the "healthy whole grain" eater. Over time, this leads to diminished responsiveness to insulin,insulin resistance-the foundation of pre-diabetes and diabetes. It also leads to creation of visceral belly fat which, in turn, worsens insulin resistance and inflammation.
3) Repetitive high blood sugars, over and over again, lead to pancreatic glucotoxicity damage to pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. (Here is a representative discussion of this effect.) Death of pancreatic beta cells is, for all practical purposes, irreversible: When they're dead, they're dead and do not regenerate. Foods that raise blood sugar the most cause the most glucotoxicity. What food dominates the modern diet and has among the highest of glycemic indexes? Yup: wheat.
4) A vigorous and unending flow of carbohydrates fuels the process of liver de novo lipogenesis, the conversion of sugar and carbohydrates into fatty acids in the liver. Among the results: plenty of fatty acids and triglycerides in the bloodstream. This causes lipotoxicity, death to pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. So those typical triglyceride levels of 150 mg/dl, 200 mg/dl, 500 mg/dl or higher that persist for extended periods kill off pancreatic beta cells.
5) Leptin resistance. Gain weight, lose the satiating/appetite-limiting effect of the leptin hormone. It means that appetite is not turned off. High leptin levels are also toxic to the pancreas: leptin toxicity.
6) Inflammation-Insulin resistance, visceral fat accumulation: It all adds up to extravagant triggering of complex inflammatory pathways signaled by increased c-reactive protein in the bloodstream, increased interleukins, increased tumor necrosis factor, and many others, as well as increased inflammatory white blood cell content of the fat itself (like pus). The process is made worse by the entry of foreign compounds into the bloodstream and lymph permitted by the gliadin protein. The same gliadin that is broken down into exorphin polypeptides can also remain intact and exert bowel permeability increasing effects via the zonulin pathway described by Dr. Alessio Fasano; this occurs in people with celiac disease and it occurs in people without celiac disease.
7) The lectin of wheat, wheat germ agglutinin, mimics insulin. It stimulates many of the same processes triggered by insulin in fat cells, including reduced oxidation of fatty acids.
That's a partial list. Yes, a partial list of how wheat causes diabetes.
Posted by hiker53 (Member # 6046) on :
Thanks, Lymetoo.
Good info. I have been gluten free for several years. Since my mom has celiac and I have the genes, it makes sense to avoid gluten even if the genes never activate.
Really, the diet is not that hard to follow if you read the ingredients and find foods to trust.
My mom has been gluten free for over 50 years. She just uses a variety of grains/carbs such as rice, corn, potatoes etc.
Hiker53
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
It's doable! I will never go back to eating it. No way.
Posted by CD57 (Member # 11749) on :
question -- if I have a blood test for gliadin antibodies that is a low positive...that is, the first number in the "positive" range.....does that mean I am gluten intolerant?
Posted by hiker53 (Member # 6046) on :
CD57--I would avoid gluten if I had any positive at all, but that's just my opinion.
Try it for awhile and see if you feel better.
Hiker53
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Very likely, CD57!! It's like a weak "IND" band on the Western Blot, I would think.
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
For more research relating gluten to autoimmune & neurological disorders, see The Gluten File - https://sites.google.com/site/jccglutenfree/ Posted by dogmom2 (Member # 23822) on :
I also had a low positive many years ago, primary doc said it was nothing to worry about.
But just attended a talk from a nutritionist who said it is not normal for your body to make anitbodies to food. that any positive is a positive.
She was convincing enough to get me to try gluten free again(just been a week)Also talked about how it can contribute to the development of a leaky gut, and that if you have sensitivites to 3 or more different food groups that you would be positive for a leaky gut.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Keep at it long enough and strictly enough for you to tell, dogmom.
Go to www.celiac.com and print out their lists of OK and Not-OK foods and ingredients. Very important or your diet may not produce the proper results.
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
And watch out for store brand "gluten free" bakery products - most are not made in a gluten-free environment and very likely contain heavy gluten cross-contamination.
Posted by Melanie Reber (Member # 3707) on :
Hey Miss Toots!
I was really interested in reading your above link about the six signs... but it takes me to an Amazon page to buy turmeric. Do you have a better link by chance?
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :