The "Paleo" diet is the new craze in America. It is apparently based on the notion that ancient humans were more healthy than we are now due to a more "natural" diet. It seems obvious that they were much thinner, but is it really because they did not eat pasteurized dairy or grains, but instead ate a lot of fruit (did they really eat a lot of fruit in Great Britain, for example?), or because they did not have easy access to a 3,300 calorie per day diet? More evidence is emerging that we need not go back so far and buy into yet another silly and illogical diet fad.
Today Dr. William Davis, the author of "Wheat Belly" appeared on CBS This Morning:
Davis asserts that we only need go back to days when we ate bread that was substantive, and was eaten for its nutrition, not just as a substrate for a meat snack. Unfortunately, as he notes, the return to "good" wheat is probably very unlikely. So let's say you want to follow his plan and eliminate wheat in order to transform your health. If the store shelves are full of wheat-based products, and eating a lot of meat will mean an increase in fat consumption, this probably sounds like a big challenge.
Davis asserts that we only need go back to days when we ate bread that was substantive, and was eaten for its nutrition, not just as a substrate for a meat snack. Unfortunately, as he notes, the return to "good" wheat is probably very unlikely. So let's say you want to follow his plan and eliminate wheat in order to transform your health. If the store shelves are full of wheat-based products, and eating a lot of meat will mean an increase in fat consumption, this probably sounds like a big challenge.
In fact if you want to simply trade one carb source for another, that's very easy. But more evidence shows that carbs are in fact the problem, not fat. A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine showed that an Atkins-style diet led to more rapid calorie burning. Also, a research review published last month showed that on average Atkins diet followers had much improved health, including improvements in cholesterol levels, blood pressure, etc.
Despite all the evidence showing that a LOW CARB, NO WHEAT diet is best for our health, this Gallup poll shows that Americans still overwhelmingly believe that a LOW FAT diet is best.
I believe a big part of this disconnect comes from the lack of good carb options. The same big food companies that created a wheat-based health crisis now market "14 Grain" breads that actually contain about 2% of anything other than whole grain wheat. In fact, one of the alternative grains used in these "healthy" breads is brewer's barley, which is a waste product from beer production. This waste product is also very commonly used in dog food. Yum.
As Dr. Davis says, the anti-wheat movement is really taking off. Eventually this will lead to an organized marketplace for grains that perform well both agronomically and nutritionally, like buckwheat. Yet another study recently showed the benefits of using a large amount of buckwheat flour in blended bread formulations.
I would be remiss not to comment on the recent food price spike, since the dramatic price inflation in wheat futures will be a factor in true alternative grains entering the marketplace, as those more expensive options (due to very small supply) are now closer in price to wheat. As we saw two years ago, the dramatic price increase in wheat futures has nothing to do with supply. Most of the wheat harvest was in the bins before the drought began this summer, and the USDA has shown over many years that livestock producers do not substitute wheat for corn or soybeans as speculators like to suggest.
Lose the wheat, eat mostly meat, and transform your health. Eventually as more Americans transition back to the diet of their grandparents, good carb options like buckwheat will become more available.
