Harvard and Whole Wheat

I grow weary of my Ivy League friends citing correlative nutrition studies which rarely show  causation  and are very misleading to the general public (see “Science, Pseudoscience, Nutritional Epidemiology, and Meat?”).   It now appears that at least Harvard is finally coming around.    In addition to the Harvard Food Law Society hosting the 2012 Ancestral Health Symposium (see video presentations and  abstracts here), recently the Harvard Gazette reported what the Paleo community has been proclaiming for years:  grains can have a negative impact on your health.

The Harvard School of Public Health took a second look at the “Whole Grain Stamp” and“found that grain products with the Whole Grain Stamp, one of the most widely used front-of-package symbols, were higher in fiber and lower in trans fats, but  also contained significantly more sugar and calories compared with products without the stamp”.   High sugar is obviously not a good idea if you have metabolic issues (see “Robb Wolf:  Paleo Nutrition Guru”), are trying to lose weight, or  if you have cancer (more on this in another blog post)!

Although the so-called “nutritional experts” are slowly coming on board, there is still very little discussion on how anti-nutrients found in grains can affect the health of your gut (see “Got Leaky Gut?”).   The wheel of progress grinds exceedingly slow.

Maybe I should be more impressed that William Davis, M.D, cardiologist, author of the successful “Track Your Plaque” program and the New York Times bestselling book  “Wheat Belly” recently convinced the oft misled Dr. Oz that bread raises blood sugar more than a candy bar. You can watch the video here or by clicking on the photo below.