Wheat under fire in the media

Mar 03, 2015

Crop is said to be the cause of obesity and even some mental health issues

If given the chance, people will wage war against anything.

There’s a war on crime, a war on drugs, a war on poverty, a war on terror and even a war on Christmas.

Now, people are deciding to declare a war on wheat.

There are some out there who believe wheat, one of the most profitable crops in Canada, is the cause of obesity and even schizophrenia.

CBC’s (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) “the fifth estate” produced an investigative piece about what some people think of wheat and why they’ve eliminated it from their lives. It’s called The War on Wheat.

The episode centred on Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist, author of Wheat Belly and who the show’s host Mark Kelley referred to as “the world’s most influential anti-wheat evangelist.”

According to Dr. Davis, wheat causes 70%-80% of all known diseases.

“Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease),” he lists during a clip of one of his presentations.

Dr. Davis says without eating wheat, these diseases and conditions would disappear because wheat isn’t the same crop it used to be. It’s genetically modified and Dr. Davis calls it “Frankenwheat”.

The road Dr. Davis took to get to his beliefs on wheat stem from his own life. He was looking to improve his health to help combat his Type II diabetes. He eliminated wheat from his diet, got healthier and insisted his patients to do the same.

Throughout the episode, host Mark Kelley also finds sources who argue against the findings of Dr. Davis.

“It’s relatively easy when you know some science, to cherry pick the data and to make it sound much much more compelling than it is,” said Joe Schwarcz, chemist at McGill University when talking about a 1966 study Dr. Davis cites that says schizophrenic patients see improvements after eliminating wheat from their diet.

Join the discussion. Watch the episode and tell us what you think of Dr. Davis and his findings.

Wheat

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