Quote: (05-09-2014 12:05 AM)Tail Gunner Wrote:
Quote: (05-08-2014 01:26 PM)MidniteSpecial Wrote:
Read the book 'grain brain' and 'wheat belly'. They most definitely do have an affect on everyone.
An amazing amount of ignorance displayed in this thread. I am just finishing reading "Grain Brain," a book written by Dr. Perlmutter, who is the only doctor in the United States who is both a board-certified neurologist and a fellow of the American Board of Nutrition. So, he is both a medical doctor and a nutrition expert. (Most doctors are lucky to have taken a single basic nutrition course by the time that they graduate from medical school).
The scientifically documented stories of people cured of serious disease simply by doing nothing more than eliminating gluten is amazing. Things like serious cases of Tourette's syndrome, with uncontrollable tics and grunting noises, literally cured within days of beginning a gluten free diet.
In terms of producing the greatest surge in blood sugar, eating a slice of wheat bread or white bread is worse that eating a tablespoon of white sugar or a Snickers Bar! Yes, you read that right. It is documented in the book (on page 66). I can hear the thundering echo from your minds being blown. That is why gluten is a huge public health threat that will create a tremendous future increase in diabetes cases.
This stuff is no joke. Read this book. It is one of the best health-related books that I have read in awhile.
I haven't read the book yet, but I'll probably take a look when I have time.
However... here's the fundamental problem with most dietary advice. Beyond the obvious fact that the nutrition experts change their advice and dire warnings every 5 years (including many 180 degree turns), there really aren't any proper studies to cite that I've ever seen. Oh, we can look at anecdotal data and find various correlations, but they're not scientifically rigorous studies.
I'm a scientist. I'm not a nutritionist or a doctor but I know how to do solid, rigorous research. There are serious ethical issues involved in doing medical studies on humans, because what do you do if your experimental group gets screwed up over your 15 year study? Besides that, there are nontrivial logistical issues. Do you just stick people in a compound for the length of the study and monitor their every move? Obviously not, because even if you did it would affect the validity of the study! So the scientists have to rely on self reporting, not direct observation, which is a major source of error. It obviously also becomes very difficult to conduct double blind studies on real humans. This is why so much medical research is done on animals, because it can be conducted in a much shorter period of time with much more control. There are a bunch of other problems but you get the idea.
So, when people come out and make blanket statements like wheat is bad and it fucks you up, I just roll my eyes. The only rational approach to nutrition is to pay attention to your diet and how it affects you, personally. There is no one size fits all solution, because there is so much variation within the human population. What works like magic for one person (steak and eggs diet, for instance) can make another person feel like shit and develop heart disease.
I personally feel my best when I avoid simple sugars and eat a lot of meat, fats, greens, and fruit. I am not paleo, and I do eat wheat about once a week. I love homemade pizza, and I'm not going to make my pizza on a god damn zucchini crust. I break all kinds of dietary "rules" pushed by "experts" and I somehow still remain very healthy. Why is my anecdote not worth just as much as the guy who was cured of Tourette's by cutting out gluten?