I find it incredible that, buried in the common advice to consume more “healthy whole grains,” is advice to consume what is, in effect, a mind-active drug. Wheat and grain consumption have very real effects on the brain, thinking, and emotions, some of which are reversible, some of which are permanent. Many of the effects are due to the gliadin protein of wheat, rye, and barley. Dr. Alessio Fasano has mapped out the segments of the gliadin protein that, upon partial digestion (humans are incapable of complete digestion of this grass protein) yield the following peptides (protein fragments):
Red = direct cytotoxic segment (intestinal cell-destroying)
Light green = immune-stimulating segment (responsible for celiac disease)
Blue = bowel permeability segment (via zonulin activation)
Dark green = inflammatory interleukin release
Interspersed among these segments are shorter, 4- to 5-amino acid long segments (not color-coded) that are act as the opiates (opioids) that exert mind effects. Gliadin therefore exerts myriad disease effects, among which are powerful mind effects that manifest in different ways depending on individual susceptibility.
Below is an excerpt from the Wheat Belly Total Health book discussing the reversible mind effects of wheat and grains.
It’s Not Your Imagination: Reversible Mind and Brain Effects of Grains
Reversible mind effects begin with the gliadin proteins of wheat, rye, and barley that undergo digestion to smaller 4- or 5-amino acid-long peptides, small enough to penetrate into the brain and bind to opiate receptors (Zioudrou 1970). The effects of these peptides, dubbed “exorphins,” or exogenously derived morphine-like compounds, vary depending on individual susceptibility. In some conditions, a reversible autoimmune process has also been documented (positive gliadin antibody). The conditions associated with these phenomena include:
Appetite-stimulation—Grain derived exorphins trigger the grain consumer to take in 400 more calories per day, every day. This is an average value; some people consume more, others less. At worst, it can cause calorie intake to be 1000 or more calories per day or higher and trigger food obsessions or other addictive food behaviors. Appetite is specifically stimulated for carbohydrates, such as pretzels, corn chips, and cookies, and, to a lesser degree, for fat. And the effect tends to be addictive, with cyclic and recurring desire for such foods driving dietary habits, even dominating thoughts and fantasies. Rid yourself of gliadin derived opiates and calorie intake drops by 400 calories per day (Bardella 2000). Food obsessions and addictive food relationships are also typically reduced or completely eliminated.
Mind “fog”—Disrupted concentration, inability to focus, impaired learning, impaired decision-making ability, and sleepiness are exceptionally common after consuming wheat, rye, and barley. Gliadin derived opiates are the most likely culprits for these effects, given their known ability to affect the mind. It’s also likely that the blood sugar fluctuations—high, then low—an effect shared by all grains, likely contribute, especially the low of hypoglycemia.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autistic spectrum disorder—While these disorders are unrelated, they share a similar response to gliadin derived opiates. Children (and now adults, since so many children in the growing epidemics of these conditions are now reaching adulthood) experience behavioral outbursts, such as temper tantrums or emotional “storms,” without reason, and impaired capacity to sustain attention. Kids with these conditions begin with impaired ability to learn and pay attention for more than a few seconds or minutes; grain derived opiates just make it worse (Vojdani 2004; Lahat 2000). A recent analysis demonstrated that kids with autism lack the markers for celiac disease (such as transglutaminase antibody), but they do have increased levels of IgG antibodies to gliadin, especially if abdominal symptoms like diarrhea are present (Lau 2013).
Binge eating disorder and bulimia—People with binge eating disorder tend to eat in large binges, eating well beyond their need, unresponsive to signals that turn off appetite, feeling ashamed at their lack of restraint. Bulimia is a similar condition, with binges followed typically by “purging” the excessive quantity of food from their stomachs by vomiting. People with these eating disorders describe intrusive, 24-hour-a-day food obsessions that occur even after finishing a large meal or during the night, triggering nighttime binges. Both conditions are socially incapacitating, ruin relationships, are associated with low self esteem, and rot the teeth of the bulimic sufferer who puts a finger in the back of her throat to bring up food, exposing tooth enamel to corrosive stomach acid.
Paranoid schizophrenia—The worsening of paranoia, auditory hallucinations (hearing voices and receiving warnings or commands), and social disengagement were among the first observations made with wheat consumption, attributable to the gliadin protein derived opiates (Dohan 1978) and since corroborated by a number of psychiatric studies (Okusaga 2013; Dickerson 2010). This effect may be confined to schizophrenics who express an autoimmune response to the gliadin protein, the group most likely to improve with wheat, rye, and barley avoidance (Kalaydijan 2006; Jackson 2012).
Bipolar illness—We know that people with bipolar illness express higher levels of antibodies to the gliadin protein, similar to the phenomenon observed in schizophrenics (Dickerson 2011; Dickerson 2012). Gliadin derived opiate peptides likely also play a role in generating the distortions in judgment and reality experienced with this condition.
Depression—If there is predisposition for depression, grains, especially wheat, rye, barley, and corn, can magnify or unmask the tendency (Volta 2012). Depression due to the gliadin and prolamin protein derived opiates can be mild, resulting in a pervasive feeling of unhappiness and lack of interest, or it can be incapacitating and life threatening, complete with obsessive thoughts of suicide or self-harm. Both wheat and corn are also responsible for reductions in brain serotonin that regulate mood (Choi 2009).
Obsessive-compulsive disorder—Very similar to the food obsessions experienced by people with binge eating disorder, the person with obsessive-compulsive disorder helplessly gives in to the impulse to obsessively and compulsively perform some action or engage in some thought, behaviors that have been associated with wheat consumption (Sharma 2011). It might be compulsive hand washing, or housecleaning, or checking and rechecking (and rechecking and rechecking) figures in a ledger. Being locked into such behavioral loops can be debilitating for the sufferer, as these rituals can dominate thought and behavior, as well as booby-trap success in school and work and disrupt the health of relationships.
A world of research has yet to be performed to further explore these mind-altering phenomena that develop in people who follow advice to consume more grains, studies that may reveal, for instance, via MRI, PET, and other brain imaging modalities, why and how schizophrenics tend to suffer more auditory hallucinations with grain consumption, or why kids with autistic spectrum disorder experience impaired attention span. Notably, while some mind effects are associated with an immune response against one or more grain proteins, many mind effects do not. But remember: If grains cause such deteriorations of mind control, it also means that you have gained an understanding of how to undo all these effects or, as one of Keanu Reeve’s fellow rebels in the Matrix remarks, “Buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, ‘cause Kansas is going bye-bye.”
Strangely, Alessio Fasano is (very) dismissive of going wheat-free or gluten-free (for those not suffering coeliac disease). I’m curious to know why. Perhaps he thinks his research results do not have practical implications for most people?
K wrote: «Strangely, Alessio Fasano is (very) dismissive of going wheat-free or gluten-free (for those not suffering coeliac disease). I’m curious to know why.»
Here’s what are probably his most recent musings on the matter:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/search.html?query=Five+myths+about+gluten&contenttype=&searchType=&blogName=&datefilter=60+Days
What strikes me about it is:
▼ He provides several useful warnings to celiacs, although he neglected to mention that 90% of celiacs don’t know they have it, and are likely to suffer considerably before finding out.
▼ He writes “It is true that our bodies do not have the proper enzymes to break down the complex proteins found in gluten.” So what then, is the argument FOR eating it? That question is not addressed at all.
▼ He writes “The immune system spots gluten as an invader and goes into battle mode to get rid of it.” He doesn’t seem to be aware that wheat-provoked leaky-gut might be a petri dish for a wide array of auto-immune diseases, or he just neglected to mention it in this article.
▼ He’s very narrowly focused on celiac disease, and perhaps NCGS. Nothing in the essay suggests any awareness of the other charges on the wheat rap sheet.
▼ He admits that NCGS (Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) exists.
▼ He seems to be aware of Wheat Belly, but it’s not clear if he’s read any of it, other than one quote, source unidentified.
▼ He seems to have fallen for the false dichotomy that the alternative to eating wheat is replacing it with GF mimics, and then correctly warns that those are adverse junk food. He vaguely endorses a Med diet (which is itself too vague to be useful).
▼ He says “…should work with a registered dietitian…”. Is he a victim of consensus nutrition mythology, or pandering to the consensus so as to not rock the boat, or…?
▼ That sentence went on to say “…to make sure they’re getting all the vitamins and micronutrients they need”, conveniently neglecting to mention that much of what wheat (flour) provides is only because it’s artificially added to it.
As long as he keeps writing outstanding papers, I guess we need not be too worried that he doesn’t seem to read them, or contemplate their wider implications.
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A. Fasano: ‘But here’s the key: In most people, the immune system is able to “clean up” the gluten invasion, and then it’s back to business as usual.’
This seems to be the reason for him thinking there’s no problem. The question then is, what is the strongest evidence that it’s not ‘back to business as usual’? (I wonder how long he claims it takes to get ‘back to business as usual’. I guess a few hours.)
K quoted: ««…and then it’s back to business as usual.»»
He seems to be very narrowly focused on specific gut etiologies, and not the huge number of longer term and downstream consequences of wheat-whacking oneself.
Keeping in mind the “Susie Flaherty contributed to this article”, another odd remark is: “After all, our species has evolved during the past 10,000 years eating gluten-containing grains.”
Oh, really? No hints, of course, where one might find some evidence to support a notion of any appreciable adaptation. The fossil record seems to suggest we are nil- to ill-adapted to consuming seeds of grasses.
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If you have this much time to “break down” someone trying to help people feel healthier and happier with their lives than why not go use that time to volunteer at a homeless shelter? Use that time to do something more productive.
If anything this should be a realization how much gluten is in our diets. Of course our bodies know how to take care of the junk, but how long will it do that for your actions?
Here’s video of a talk by Dr. Fasano from April, 2015:
https://vimeo.com/124649740
K. wrote: «Here’s video of a talk by Dr. Fasano from April, 2015:»
Thanks. It’s an hour and a half, in case anyone is wondering, and there’s apparently no transcript available (he uses at least some slides).
I can’t personally review and respond to the whole thing at the moment because it either won’t play at all, or crashes several minutes in. There was a fiber cut regionally here yesterday, and the internet has been pretty unreliable.
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Bob wrote: “Oh, really? No hints, of course, where one might find some evidence to support a notion of any appreciable adaptation. ”
The video suggests why he thinks this. He refers to some isolated tribe that had no gluten exposure and was introduced to it by outside authorities. Their coeliac disease rate is now apparently 7 or 8%. His interpretation: since here in the west it is ~1%, this means adaptation has occurred, and the tribe’s rate will eventually drop to the same level.
I have experienced some of the mind effects Dr. Davis talks about. Although I cut wheat out in the year 2000 (following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet of Elaine Gottschall) there were periods of time between 2000 – 2010 where I “fell off the wagon” and reverted back to wheat consumption.
I developed movement disorders. My first event was when I went to sleep Christmas Day 2004. As I tried to fall asleep I felt anxious, like I was going to be having a really important job interview the next day. I kept having to get up to pee. Then the trembling started. It was all over my body, in my legs, my back, shoulders and even my teeth were chattering.
We went to emergency and the hospital found nothing.
A few weeks later I was given a thorough exam at a Movement Disorders clinic. They did all these tests with flashing lights and so forth but couldn’t find anything wrong.
My trembling problem happened on and off on subsequent nights as well, over a period of years.
I haven’t had the problem after adopting Wheat Belly in December 2011.
It wasn’t until 2014, however, after watching a PBS Special featuring Dr. David Perlmutter, that I realized my trembling problem was Myoclonus. He showed an actual patient and based on what he looked like I’m sure that is what I had.
Another strange and even embarrassing thing for me to talk about is that when I was on wheat I did experience what it was like to hear voices in my head. It has only happened a couple of times but it gave me a much better appreciation of what people who are seriously troubled with this must be going through.
The voice I heard was a woman and she said just one word, my name, “Malcolm.” It happened in the morning just as I was waking up. It was so real, one time I looked beside me in the bed because I was sure this person was right next to me. The voice was very identifiable to me. This woman had a distinct accent and quite a sensual voice.
But there’s no way she was anywhere near me because the voice I heard was that of a girlfriend I hadn’t seen or spoken to for over 15 years.
By the way, you are the first people to learn about this. I have never told anyone before, including my wife.
Thank you for sharing this, Malcolm. It takes courage to speak so openly about these scary things that happen to us, under the influence of toxic grains. I am so glad you found a way to avert these symptoms, actually I’m glad all of us have! Best to you. ;)
“Interspersed among these segments are shorter, 4- to 5-amino acid long segments (not color-coded) that are act as the opiates (opioids) that exert mind effects. Gliadin therefore exerts myriad disease effects, among which are powerful mind effects that manifest in different ways depending on individual susceptibility.”
Landmark research posted in the Washington Post this morning….
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/01/27/scientists-open-the-black-box-of-schizophrenia-with-dramatic-genetic-finding/
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For the first time, scientists have pinned down a molecular process in the brain that helps to trigger schizophrenia. The researchers involved in the landmark study, which was published Wednesday in the journal Nature, say the discovery of this new genetic pathway probably reveals what goes wrong neurologically in a young person diagnosed with the devastating disorder.
The study marks a watershed moment, with the potential for early detection and new treatments that were unthinkable just a year ago
…..
The researchers, chiefly from the Broad Institute, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, found that a person’s risk of schizophrenia is dramatically increased if they inherit variants of a gene important to “synaptic pruning” — the healthy reduction during adolescence of brain cell connections that are no longer needed.
In patients with schizophrenia, a variation in a single position in the DNA sequence marks too many synapses for removal and that pruning goes out of control. The result is an abnormal loss of gray matter.
The genes involved coat the neurons with “eat-me signals,” said study co-author Beth Stevens, a neuroscientist at Children’s Hospital and Broad. “They are tagging too many synapses. And they’re gobbled up.”…..
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So like virtually every other effect of gliadin ingestion, schizophrenia is a classic autoimmune disease. The differences in where the autoimmunity strikes depends on the differences in genetic coding, and how sensitive the host is in the particular affected area. Schizophrenics appear to be more sensitive to exogenous peptide deposits in the brain.
Thank you, Uncle Roscoe, for explaining this a bit more clearly. I read that article, but couldn’t quite comprehend what they were saying … I have no scientific mind, and have to read things very slowly to grasp what is being said. You seem to really grasp these things easily, and have a gift for interpreting in a simple way, for those of us, who are not so lucky!
Actually, my interpretation includes my own speculation, not included in the experiment’s results. The scientists discovered that some people, with a particular genetic structure on chromosome 6, tag neurons and synapses for destruction. This phenomenon is virtually identical to the way autoimmune diseases work. The experiment’s results say that schizophrenia’s nerve destruction coincides with normal post-adolescent nerve destruction. The tissue destruction associated with other autoimmune diseases is not, as in the case of schizophrenia, associated with a life cycle-timed event.
I’m speculating that there’s a reason why some people can have genetics which allow this destruction after 2.5 billion years of evolution perfecting the human species.
Look at autoimmune disease, and you find an unmistakable pattern. Alessio Fasano discovered zonulin, the chemical which, in the presence of wheat and other harmful agricultural proteins and sugars, places these substances into the bloodstream. The proteins attach to tissue. The immune system attacks the proteins, and attacks the associated tissue ……just like these experimenters say schizophrenia works. The immune processes associated with autoimmune destruction are on chromosome 6, just like the schizophrenia-causing mechanism.
Is schizophrenia an autoimmune disease? Is the schizophrenia nerve attack the result of food proteins attaching to brain neurons? If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, what is it?
Ooooops…….. “I’m speculating that there’s a reason why some people can have genetics which allow this destruction after 2.5 billion years of evolution perfecting the human species.
……should read……. “I’m speculating that there’s a reason why some people can have genetics which allow this destruction after 2.5 Million (with an “m”) years of evolution perfecting the human species.”
Hominids haven’t been around for 2.5 billion years.
Well, it makes complete sense to me, the way you explain it. My sister is sadly a victim of this disease, and it started in her teenage years. And now her daughter is also showing extreme symptoms of schizophrenia, also started around 17 years of age. It is devastating, to the person afflicted, and the family who loves this person, who is not themselves any more. Very sad and extremely difficult to observe. The medications are destructive as well. So if one could get through and implement a grain free diet, it would be interesting to see what would happen. Alas, most of these individuals are not compliant at all.
Barbara wrote: «…schizophrenia…So if one could get through and implement a grain free diet, it would be interesting to see what would happen.»
Grain-free alone is probably frequently helpful, but I would think that the whole Wheat Belly program would be needed, with other key factors being very-low-net-carb, DHA&EPA supplementation and gut flora cultivation. A ketogenic diet is always worth a try as well.
Even then the condition needs some expert insight from someone who is not just babbling consensus neurology and psychiatry. Dr. Daniel Amen, in his book “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life” points out, for example, the striking geographic correlation between schizophrenia and lyme disease. A course of minocyline might be indicated.
Schizophrenia is probably not a single ailment, with a single treatment.
Amen, by the way, is one of the very few psychiatrists who actually examines the brain (SPECT scan), and has been rapidly evolving and refining his treatments based on real clinical results. He does use psychotropic meds, but as a last resort.
«Alas, most of these individuals are not compliant at all.»
It’s a challenge. Even when a treatment plan can get someone functioning, all the progress might be undone by a single wheat exposure that derails the regimen. Just being institutionalized, or even arrested, could easily result in a catastrophically adverse sequence of meals.
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My mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was 10. She was about 35, an extremely old age for schizophrenia, but not unheard of. Having matured with a schizophrenic I’m familiar with the symptoms and heartbreak. I spent years trying to straighten out my mother’s twisted logic to no avail.
Like you my experience caused me great interest in the cause(s) of schizophrinia.
I’m 67. About a year ago I discovered that I have neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). It is an inherited nerve-attacking condition. NF1 is also based on mutated genetics on the sixth chromosome.
When I was about 35 I started getting dizzy spells, and was able to associate them with ingestion of sweet-tasting food …..fructose. So I stopped eating anything which tastes sweet. My dizzy spells abated. I went wheat free about 7 years ago. I went onto a ketogenic diet when I figured out that I have NF1. Now I look back to when I was 35 and stopped eating fructose. I wonder exactly what disease I might have dodged with my fructose-free diet. Schizophrenia?
Commenting to your last post, there was no reply box to click …
Like you, I’ve been researching this topic for around 40 years. I came across one of the early orthomoleclar doctors, Carl Pfeiffer, saw him on Donahue (remember that guy;).
His theory: the missing link was Vitamin B6 and zinc to counter copper toxicity. Problem was, most of the patients he saw where so depleted of B vitamins, he had to give them transfusions, or mass quantities, if they were willing to take them. I tried unsuccessfully to get my sister to give it a try. In her mind, she was fine and I was the crazy one. I think there are as many types of schizophrenics as there are people afflicted with it. One of her psychiatrists labeled her a Paranoid schizo affected, or something like that. I guess that makes treatment even harder, to have so many varieties and different allergies.
I’m sorry you had to grow up with such heartbreak, but at the same time, like you said, it gave you insight into things that are very helpful to you now. I feel similarly grateful, and it’s definitely genetic, at least the predisposition. Wish you would have a blog were you could write all your knowledge down for those of us to read, who are interested. Do you have one per chance?
Well I’m wrong about one thing. The NF1 gene is on chromosome 17, not on chromosome 6.
http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/71/5/679.full
I think I should hold off on starting that blog.
I have all the symptoms described in this article and at 65, most seem to be getting worse. I will be removing whole grains from my diet starting this week.
I am very disappointed that Oprah W has chosen to promote bread through WW. How many people will be set back by that?
Thanks, Dr. Davis.
Donna wrote: «I will be removing whole grains from my diet starting this week.»
Although many people get startling results just doing that, do know that the Wheat Belly recommendations go well beyond that. To jump right in, your best bet is the Wheat Belly 10-Day Detox book recently published.
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