http://www.cbsnews.com/...
Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn't the wheat your grandma had: "It's an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the '60s and '70s," he said on "CBS This Morning." "This thing has many new features nobody told you about, such as there's a new protein in this thing called gliadin. It's not gluten. I'm not addressing people with gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. I'm talking about everybody else because everybody else is susceptible to the gliadin protein that is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite, such that we consume 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year."
Asked if the farming industry could change back to the grain it formerly produced, Davis said it could, but it would not be economically feasible because it yields less per acre. However, Davis said a movement has begun with people turning away from wheat - and dropping substantial weight.
"If three people lost eight pounds, big deal," he said. "But we're seeing hundreds of thousands of people losing 30, 80, 150 pounds. Diabetics become no longer diabetic; people with arthritis having dramatic relief. People losing leg swelling, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and on and on every day."
*Sigh*
I throw this out for discussion as I do not quite know what to make of the claim.
Yes, I can believe the premise of what Davis is saying, and it makes sense, but so do a lot of other "sensible-sounding" theories until you get some serious peer-reviewed research into the claims.
America's obesity problem is being blamed on a number of factors, all which seem plausible:
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- High concentrations of corn in food
- Sugar (all types)
- Growth hormones used in animals
- Growth of suburbia requiring driving instead of walking
- Practical elimination of phys-ed in schools
- Shift from agrarian to industrial economy
- The rise of super-high calorie fast food/convenience food
- Cheap food prices (relative to the past, especially meat)
- All the above
What does one eat to be healthy? And if most of what is on the market is unhealthy, how does one find the money and time to find, buy and prepare healthy foods?
How do we make sense of all these conflicting theories?
(I am cross-posting here and at DU in hopes of greater participation in the discussion).