reward of wheat and calorie intake goes down, since wheat no longer generates the favorable feelings and addictive behavior that encourage repetitive consumption. (Predictably, this strategy has been pursued by the pharmaceutical industry to commercialize a weight loss drug that contains naltrexone, an oral equivalent to naloxone. The drug is purported to block the mesolimbic reward system buried deep within the human brain responsible for generating pleasurable feelings from heroin, morphine, and other substances. Because naltrexone administration alone can replace pleasurable feelings with feelings of dysphoria, or unhappiness, naltrexone has been combined with the antidepressant and smoking-cessation drug bupropion in the recently FDA-approved drug Contrave.)
From withdrawal effects to psychotic hallucinations, wheat is party to some peculiar neurological phenomena. To recap:
Common wheat, upon digestion, yields polypeptides that possess the ability to cross into the brain and bind to opiate receptors.
The action of wheat-derived polypeptides, the so-called exorphins such as gluteomorphin, can be short-circuited with the opiate-blocking drugs naloxone and naltrexone.
When administered to normal people or people with uncontrollable appetite, opiate-blocking drugs yield reductions in appetite, cravings, and caloric intake, as well as dampen mood, and the effect seems particularly specific to wheat-containing products.
Wheat, in fact, nearly stands alone as a food with potent central nervous system effects. Outside of intoxicants such as ethanol (like that in your favorite merlot or chardonnay), wheat is one of the few foods that can alter behavior, induce pleasurable effects, and generate a withdrawal syndrome upon its removal. And it required observations in schizophrenic patients to teach us about these effects.
NIGHT CRAVING CONQUERED
For as long as he could remember, Larry struggled with weight.
It never made sense to him: He exercised, often to extremes. A fifty-mile bike ride was not unusual, nor was a fifteen-mile walk in the woods or desert. As part of his work, Larry enjoyed the terrain of many different areas of the United States. His travel often took him to the southwest, where he hiked for up to six hours. He also prided himself on following a healthy diet: limiting his red meat and oils and eating plenty of vegetables, fruit, and, yes, an abundance of “healthy whole grains.”
I met Larry because of a heart rhythm problem, an issue we dealt with easily. But his blood work was another concern. In short, it was a disaster: blood glucose in the low diabetic range, triglycerides too high at 210 mg/dl, HDL too low at 37 mg/dl, and 70 percent of his LDL particles were the small heart disease–causing type. Blood pressure was an important issue with systolic (“top”) values ranging up to 170 mmHg and diastolic (“bottom”) values of 90 mmHg, even while sitting quietly. Larry was also, at 5 feet 8 inches and 243 pounds, about 80 pounds overweight.
“I don’t get it. I exercise like nobody you know. I really like exercise. But I just cannot—cannot—lose the weight, no matter what I do.” Larry recounted his diet escapades that included an all-rice diet, protein drink programs, “detox” regimens, even hypnosis. They all resulted in a few pounds lost, only to be promptly regained. He did admit to one peculiar excess: “I really struggle with my appetite at night. After dinner, I can’t resist the urge to graze. I try to graze on the good stuff, like whole wheat pretzels and these multi-grain crackers I have with a yogurt dip. But I’ll sometimes eat all night from dinner until I go to bed. I don’t know why, but something happens at night and I just can’t stop.”
I counseled Larry on the need to remove the number one most powerful appetite stimulant in his diet: wheat. Larry gave me that “not another kooky idea!” look. After a big sigh, he agreed to give it a go. With four teenagers in the house, clearing the shelves of all things wheat was quite a task, but he and his wife did it.
Larry returned to my office six weeks later. He reported that, within three days, his nighttime cravings had disappeared entirely. He now ate dinner and was satisfied with no need to graze. He also noticed that his appetite was much smaller during the day and his desire for snacks virtually disappeared. He also admitted that, now that his craving for food was much less, his caloric intake and portion size was a fraction of its former level. With no change in his exercise habits, he’d lost “only” 11 pounds. But, more than that, he also felt that he’d regained control over appetite and impulse, a feeling he thought he’d lost years earlier.
WHEAT: APPETITE STIMULANT
Crackheads and heroin addicts shooting up in the dark corners of an inner-city drug house have no qualms about ingesting substances that mess with their minds. But how about law-abiding citizens like you and your family? I’ll bet your idea of mind bending is going for the strong brew rather than the mild stuff at Starbucks, or hoisting one too many Heinekens on the weekend. But ingesting wheat means you have been unwittingly ingesting the most common dietary mind-active food known.
In effect, wheat is an appetite stimulant: It makes you want more—more cookies, cupcakes, pretzels, candy, soft drinks. More bagels, muffins, tacos, submarine sandwiches, pizza. It makes you want both wheat-containing and non-wheat-containing foods. And, on top of that, for some people wheat is a drug, or at least yields peculiar drug-like neurological effects that can be reversed with medications used to counter the effects of narcotics.
If you balk at the notion of being dosed with a drug such as naloxone, you might ask, “What happens if, rather than blocking the brain effect of wheat chemically, you simply remove wheat altogether?” Well, that’s the very same question I have been asking. Provided you can tolerate the withdrawal (while unpleasant, the withdrawal syndrome is generally harmless aside from the rancor you incur from your irritated spouse, friends, and co-workers), hunger and cravings diminish, caloric intake decreases, mood and well-being increase, weight goes down, wheat belly shrinks.
Understanding that wheat, specifically exorphins from gluten, have the potential to generate euphoria, addictive behavior, and appetite stimulation means that we have a potential means of taking back control over eating habits and weight: Lose the wheat and lose the weight, as well as the myriad effects this never-should-have-been-food-in-the-first-place thing has over us.
YOUR WHEAT BELLY IS SHOWING: THE WHEAT/OBESITY CONNECTION
PERHAPS YOU’VE EXPERIENCED this scenario:
You encounter a friend you haven’t seen in some time and exclaim with delight: “Elizabeth! When are you due?”
Elizabeth: [Pause.] “Due? I’m not sure what you mean.”
You: Gulp …
Yes, indeed. Wheat belly’s abdominal fat can do a darn good imitation of a baby bump.
Why does wheat cause fat accumulation specifically in the abdomen and not, say, on the scalp, left ear, or backside? And, beyond the occasional “I’m not pregnant” mishap, why does it matter?
And why would elimination of wheat lead to loss of abdominal fat?
Let’s explore the unique features of the wheat belly–body configuration.
WHEAT BELLY, LOVE HANDLES, MAN BOOBS, AND “FOOD BABIES”
These are the curious manifestations of consuming the modern grain we call wheat. Dimpled or smooth, hairy or hairless, tense or flaccid, wheat bellies come in as many shapes, colors, and sizes as there are humans. But all share the same underlying metabolic cause.
I’d like to make the case that foods produced with or containing wheat make you fat. I’d go as far as saying that overly enthusiastic wheat consumption is the main cause of the obesity and diabetes crisis in the United States. It’s a big part of the reason why Jillian Michaels needed to badger The Biggest Loser contestants. It explains