Quote:
Originally Posted by Villages PL
In his book, "Wheat Belly", Doctor Davis recommends a wheat free diet. And, I think, to a lesser extent he recommends a grain free diet. He doesn't seem to like any grain but targets wheat as being the most harmful because it has been the most genetically modified and is the most consumed grain in the U.S. As he says, "wheat is in everything".
Wheat, he says, can cause IBS, celiac disease and weight problems not to mention many other health issues.
But if that's the case, that grains (especially wheat) are so bad for us, how can the great health and longeviety of Japanese Okinawan elders be explained? A 25 year study of Okinawans, ended around the late 90s, indicated that Okinawan elders ate almost 3 times more grain than Americans. And, for the most part, they were not overweight or obese. Weight was not an issue with them that I ever heard of.
This information comes from the following book: "The Okinawa Program: How The World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health- And How You Can Too"
This book compares the American diet with the Okinawan diet: Americans at that point in time: 11% of their diet (by weight) consisted of grains, whereas 32% of the Okinawan diet consisted of grains.
This being the case, how can grain be the problem?
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Before it respond let me say that I am a vegan and only eat fruits, plants, and grains, nuts, legumes, so even though I agree that the "Asian" diet is healthier, I don't fully agree with the methodology. I have read others who compare the diets of Asian populations to those of Americans. They certainly make a "connective" link between dietary differences and longevity and certain diseases, but that is not necessarily a "causative" link. We can just as easily say that people who live in countries that have less telephone poles live longer. There is a connection between the two, but one is not the cause of the other. Better studies have been done with Japanese that have emigrated to the United States. Those that adopt a typical American diet soon develop the same western diseases that we have here, namely obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. This is a stronger causative effect because it eliminates most genetic and cultural differences. So, I agree with your premise, just not based on your original circumstance.