Crushed pork rinds are a favorite of mine for such uses. Books like Dr. Davis' help us think beyond the carb count; what else is this food doing for, or against, us?

I would get a package of low carb wraps once a month, or a few bites of a friend's pie, or a topless sandwich at the local organic place. Once in great whiles, mindful of the carb count.

But for me, ditching even such a small amount dropped five pounds and changed the contours on what was left; flatter belly and probably my first "hip dimples!"

Aside from that, there are very serious health issues with all grains, but especially modern wheat. It's been a long road all the way to where I am now; but I've come to think that processed industrial food keeps us alive only to torment us.

Did you see Dr. Davis' response to the Grain Food Foundation?
http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog...foundation.html

Spelt is still a gluten containing grain. If you need to avoid gluten, you shouldn't eat it. There are lots of alternatives to use though, buckwheat, rice, quinoa, sorghum, etc. Or use low carb things like pork rinds, almond meal, coconut flour, flax meal, etc.

Thanks, everyone! "Hip dimples" - yay, congrats!!

My copy of Wheat Belly arrived today, haven't started it yet, but I'm sure I'll devour it. I have a special interest because my mom nearly died of undiagnosed celiac disease 40+ years ago, all us kids have the gene, and whether or not I had true celiac disease or just gluten sensitivity is unknown because I never got the "official" intestinal biopsy to diagnose it officially, but after a lifetime of "issues" and eventually getting really sick about 5 years ago, I tested thru alternative means (Enterolab) and the results from that were clear, so I almost entirely gave up gluten about 99% of the time, although sporadically I get some accidentally or I'll even eat it intentionally if it's something I love love love and don't mind feeling sick from eating it. That said, I often go months without gluten. AND....sadly, I have to say I can't see it helped me lose weight. The glaring culprit for me was SUGAR. However, even though gluten wasn't responsible for my belly as much as was the sugar, I sure do feel better without wheat and the other grains, and all my physical issues went away...the digestive upsets, the asthma, the sinus issues, the heartburn, the painful arthritis in my hands and fingers,...all gone.

I did as well as their non-answers to the commentators of their previous blog post. http://www.sixservings.org/2011/09/...ed-we-answered/

My bold. Because I got two noticeable things out of ditching all grains... a sort of "glow" emanating from my middle, as a digestive irritation I hadn't been aware of went away; and a dramatic response from my painful arthritic hands.

It started in the thumbs, just like my father, and had started to spread to the whole hands. I've been keyboarding for a living my whole adult life; this was a serious problem. Especially since I'm all too familiar with the way modern medicine "treats" arthritis issues; here's some pain medicine, here's some more, whoopsie this'll kill ya, let's give you a different kind, it only destroys your stomach.

And if you get rheumatoid arthritis, they want to get rid of your immune system; which I'm fond of.

After 8 months, my hands are 90% better; I can open jars without downing aspirin for the next three days to get to sleep. I go days without hearing a peep from them. I hope I've found the problem, and eliminated it. I think my hands are healing; which medical science would tell me is impossible!

How many people have arthritis from the wheat in their diet? Since we are like fish swimming in a sea of wheat; how would anyone know?

Great podcast. I thought Davis said something quite profound: food that has been genetically modified and developed to be something totally unnatural is always deemed safe for human consumption. I have not read the book yet, but if his thesis is correct that GMO wheat has been largely responsible for the obesity/diabetes epidemic, then it would fit is perfectly with the timeline for GMO wheat.

I have recently began eating a whole grain, multi-grain bread and I noticed on the second day, my belly was bloated. I only had 1 slice with breakfast each morning, and besides the bloating, I didn't have any other issues. I am going to cut the stuff entirely, I didn't like the way it made me feel, and I'm hoping to cut it from the families diet, but its hard when its every where and its pushed so darn hard.

My BF is 32. and he hurts when he leans down to pick up his shoes in the morning, I hear him groaning getting out of the recliner. I often wonder if its the amount of grains he eats, but I can only do so much.

Thanks! I didn't see that. At least they're allowing comments through now. Have to laugh at their statement that the DGA are "the gold standard of nutrition guidance in America."

You mean the gold standard for keeping the coorporations pockets full?!

We have to guard against focusing on one thing, plotting a graph against the obesity epidemic, noticing how closely they match and then assuming there is a cause and effect. There are a lot more changes that occurred over the past 50 years than just the introduction of a new type of wheat.

But yeah, I agree that it's probably one of the factors.

Oh I totally agree. I think there are many factors that contribute to obesity, from GMO wheat to HFCS to seed oils. One thing I do not think has contributed very much, however, is eating too much and excerising too little. I also am very wary of any conclusion based upon a mere correlation, but I think correlations are a good place to start. So if we can correlate the introduction of GMO wheat with the obesity epidemic, then I still think we need to say WHY EXACTLY this strain of wheat makes people sick.

I agree. Except that I think eating too much is probably a factor as well. Where I disagree with the "experts" is that it's just a question of willpower, or gluttony as Gary calls it. Animals in a normal healthy environment being fed their normal food will not overeat and become fat. Animals fed food unnatural to them, will become fat. This has been shown from zoo animals to dogs and cats and livestock.

I read/heard a lovely story about a zoo gorilla who was fat, showed signs of heart disease, and aberrant behavior. They took his gorilla biscuits away and replaced them with fresh produce. (Gorillas are truly vegans). He lost weight, the signs of heart disease went away and the aberrant behavior stopped.

Okay, but I think we are in chicken-egg territory here. Do people (and animals) overeat just because they feel like it, or do they overeat because the bad food they were fed to begin with has caused a physiological abnormality in the body which makes them overeat?

I know this is purely anectodal, but when I eat a strict paleo diet I NEVER overeat. By overeating I mean eating until I am super-stuffed and uncomfortable. When I eat refined carbs, I feel like I almost always overeat at every meal. I am the same person with the same personality and the same quirks when I eat the two different diets, yet on one I never overeat and on the other I consistently do. To me that means that the problem lies with the food and not my own "lack of willpower."