499 The Starch Diet [26 Nov 2018]

Years ago I learned that to get a balanced view we need to read widely, especially in the field of natural health. Writers focus on one nutrient or diet and make it sound like the most important or only logical choice. Only by reading many different authors can we begin to see the whole picture. That’s what I have tried to bring to you over the past 10 years writing these articles.

A case in point is Dr. John McDougall’s 2013 book The Starch Solution (read the first chapter here). McDougall advocates a diet rich in starchy foods like grains, legumes, potatoes and sweet potatoes, along with plenty of vegetables and fruit, while eliminating meat, dairy, processed foods and most oils. This is in sharp contrast to the currently popular low-carb high-fat paleo and keto diets.

McDougall observed that when people from other countries with a traditional starch based diet who were trim and healthy moved to the USA and adopted an American diet, they became obese and developed western diseases. The immigrant grandparents remained slim and healthy; their children were overweight and unhealthy; and the grandchildren obese and sick – the opposite of what we would expect. He believed the difference was the increased meat and dairy in their diets.

Over four decades Dr. McDougall developed his diet and helped thousands of patients regain their health. McDougall claims that a diet rich in starch:
• Allowed humans to move beyond the tropics and to develop our large brains;
• fuelled the rise of civilization and fed the Greek and Roman armies;
• Healthy populations around the world get most of their calories from starch;
• will let you lose excess weight almost effortlessly;
• will improve your blood pressure and cholesterol;
• will prevent diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis;
• will make you feel, function, and live better;
• will help save the planet (beef produces 14X more greenhouse gases than potatoes per calorie); and
• will significantly reduce your grocery budget.

I believe that minimally processed starchy foods are part of a healthy diet but I’m not sure I’d take it to the extreme that McDougall does eliminating all animal products. His diet does provide a welcome balance to the high-fat keto diets but I’d like to see some good research supporting his health claims.

Next week – The Last Post. I’m retiring this column after #500.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

325 Got Gas? Get Enzymes! [29 June 2015]

My wife Donna asked me today if beans were a comfort food. I replied that they were for me, but not for anyone sitting beside me.

Intestinal gas or flatulence can be more than a social problem. Abdominal gas can cause uncomfortable bloating and can put pressure on the bladder and other organs. Excessive intestinal gas can also be a sign of a more serious health problem like food allergies, lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance, or irritable bowel syndrome.

There are two main areas of gas formation. Upper intestinal gas is usually the result of swallowing too much air while eating or drinking. It results in belching, and can usually be remedied by eating more slowly and not chewing gum.

Lower intestinal gas is caused by eating foods containing indigestible fiber, sugar alcohols or polysaccharides, which are broken down by bacteria in the intestines:
• Beans and lentils contain polysaccharides
• Dairy foods containing the milk sugar lactose
• Cruciferous vegetables: cabbage, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, broccoli
• Eggplant, bell peppers, asparagus, onion & garlic
• Inulin fiber, often taken as a prebiotic to promote growth of good bacteria
• Fiber and starch in whole grains
• Sugar alcohols like sorbitol & maltitol
• Fructose & fiber in fruit like apples, pears, peaches, plums, mangos

To prevent abdominal gas you can avoid the foods that are causing it, but most of these are good nutritious foods. A better solution is to take digestive enzymes with your meals. Look for a plant enzyme formula with high amounts of cellulase for digesting fiber and Alpha-galactosidase for digesting polysaccharides. If dairy is a problem for you, find a formula that includes lactase. Plant sourced enzymes are not “habit-forming” meaning that taking them will not reduce your body’s own production of enzymes.

Probiotics may also help if the problem is caused by dysbiosis, for example following a treatment of antibiotics.

Sources
Nutrition Action: What Foods Cause Gas?
Mayo Clinic Website
MedicineNet
International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
– bloating & distension
– controlling gas

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

286 Maybe it’s not Gluten [22 Sept 2014]

We all know someone with gluten sensitivity (or have it ourselves) but it wasn’t that long ago that this condition was rare or at least not well recognized. Why the sudden increase? Aicacia Young, a registered dietitian writing for the MindBodyGreen e-newsletter asks if gluten is really the culprit and proposes two possible alternatives.

It is known that people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) improve on a gluten free diet. A double-blind crossover study in 2013 tested 37 adults with NCGS to determine if gluten was in fact the culprit. The participants were placed on three different diets: low gluten, high gluten, or whey (as a control). The diets didn’t make a significant difference in their digestive symptoms and fatigue – they were about the same with all three. Interestingly though, when they were put on a special diet in preparation for the study, all 37 improved significantly. This special diet is low in fermentable, oligo-, di-, monosaccharides and polyols called FODMAPS. A low FODMAPS diet eliminates: dairy, wheat, apples, pears, watermelon, garlic, onions, legumes, avocados, honey and sugar alcohols. Young suggests that while gluten-free diets, which eliminate wheat, will reduce some of the symptoms of NCGS, temporarily going on a low FODMAPS diet could do even more.

The other possible cause of symptoms attributed to gluten is the herbicide glyphosate. I have previously discussed [#265 April 28, 2014] how glyphosate accumulates in our food crops and appears in human tissue in North America where it wreaks havoc with our gut flora. The resulting dysbiosis leads to intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut) which is linked to inflammation and food allergies. Even though “Roundup-ready” wheat has not been approved for production, glyphosate is used on some wheat fields as a desiccant so wheat can still have traces. Other crops sprayed with glyphosate would be canola, soybeans, corn and sugar beets. Shopping organic for these foods or avoiding them altogether (and replenishing your gut biome with probiotics) should reduce symptoms caused by glyphosate.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

240 Grain and our Brain [28 October 2013]

A recently published book, “Grain Brain – the Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar – Your Brain’s Silent Killers” by David Perlmutter, MD argues that “…to a large extent numerous neurological conditions often reflect the mistake of consuming too many carbs and not enough healthy fats”. Perlmutter argues that a diet closer to what our ancestors ate (75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbs) would be healthier for our brains than our modern diet of 20%, 20% & 60% respectively. In addition to simple carbohydrates like glucose, he particularly singles out wheat as the main culprit. His healthy brain diet does allow some alternate grains like quinoa, amaranth, millet, brown rice and oats. Watch an interview with Dr Perlmutter here.

In the book Perlmutter lays out the research and evidence to support his theory, backed by years of experience as a practicing neurologist in Florida. Hidden sensitivity to gluten and other components of grains goes beyond celiac disease and affects many, possibly all, of us to some extent. Gluten causes the gut membrane to become permeable to partially digested proteins which then enter the blood and cause inflammation. Similarly gluten disrupts the blood-brain barrier leading to brain inflammation which can develop into serious neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. All carbs raise blood sugar, even the complex carbs in whole grains, and elevated blood sugar damages the brain and increases risk of dementia. Patients started noticing clearer thinking and improved memory after only two weeks following Dr Perlmutter’s program.

Perlmutter’s theory agrees with that of Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride who treats neurological disorders with what she calls the GAPS diet: eliminating grains, dairy & processed foods; reestablishing healthy flora in the GI tract, and elimination of toxins. I wrote about her work and diet in columns 147, 172, 173, 175.

Reaction from nutritionists was swift to support whole grains as part of a healthy diet. Cynthia Harriman, a director of the Whole Grains Council, refutes Perlmutter: “Grain Brain is a misleading and sensationalist title for a book that distorts current science and contributes, sadly, to public confusion about what constitutes a healthy diet”. Personally, I (Stan) think that Grain Brain is a valuable contribution to the literature on diet and mental health and, while I still eat whole wheat bread, we have been enjoying more quinoa, millet and rice lately.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.

161 Wheat – Beyond Gluten

Two recent publications implicate modern wheat varieties in a wide range of human diseases: Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight by cardiologist Dr. William Davis (2011) and The Dark Side of Wheat by researcher Sayer Ji. Dr Mark Hyman summarizes their theories in an article in The Huffington Post called Three Hidden Ways Wheat Makes You Fat.

Gluten intolerance is well established as a problem for a small but growing population who react to a certain protein in wheat, barley and to a lesser extent oats. I wrote about it 2 years ago in column #60 Celiac Disease (26 April 2010).

The above publications argue that several factors in modern varieties of wheat, not just gluten, affect the health of everyone, contributing to our current high rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression and many other modern diseases. Modern dwarf wheat varieties, with double the chromosomes of the ancient wheat species, have been bred for high yields and high levels of a special starch called amylopectin A. This starch makes beautiful bread and pastries but wreaks havoc with our blood sugar. According to Hyman this starch has a very high glycemic index (quickly converts to sugar) which contributes to obesity, diabetes, fatty liver and inflammation (and whole wheat is no better in this regard).

Modern wheat also contains a larger variety of proteins including the glutens most likely to cause celiac disease. This “super gluten” as Hyman calls it “…triggers severe inflammation throughout the body and has been linked to autoimmune diseases, mood disorders, autism, schizophrenia, dementia, digestive disorders, nutritional deficiencies, diabetes, cancer and more.” Another compound in whole wheat is a glyco-protein called wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) which also increases inflammation.

Finally the proteins in wheat convert during digestion to exorphins, polypeptides which act on our brain like endorphins and morphine causing food cravings and addiction. As Hyman puts it “no one binges on broccoli”. So … there appears to be a lot more problems with wheat than simple gluten intolerance.

For more information on this or other natural health topics, stop in and talk to Stan; for medical advice consult your licensed health practitioner.