Once ‘man could not live by bread alone’, but now it seems man cannot live by bread at all. In a new book called “Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health” Dr William Davis, cardiologist, explains how the genes in wheat have modified themselves in the last 40 years so that it now contains an extra protein called ‘gliadin’. Gliadin, he contends, can trigger many health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and irritable bowel syndrome. In a CBS interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qT3kVYr4Xo#t=24 he explains:
“Wheat today has been crossbred to multiplyyield and in the process, there has been a major changein a protein called gliadin, which is a componentof gluten. The gliadin in today’s wheat is a very powerful stimulant of appetite, so much so that the typical person who consumes wheat eats, on average, between 440 and 800 more calories per day…….
“When we eat wheat, the gliadin gets broken down into polypeptides, which are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier and bind with certain opiate receptors. Because of the nature of these opiate receptors, gliadin doesn’t cause pain relief or euphoria, it causes addiction and appetite stimulation. It’s a very, very unique kind of opiate. ……
“Nearly all people who say ‘I have a terrible sweet tooth,’ are really addicted to wheat that stimulates their desire for sweets. Almost always, people who eliminate wheat lose that desire and their sense of sweetness is amplified. Things they used to think were tasty are now so sickeningly sweet, they can’t eat them…….
“Gliadin is unique to wheat. However, rye has been crossbred so much with wheat that all the problems of wheat are also problems of rye. Other grains, such as millet, buckwheat, and rice, don’t contain gliadin….”.