Thankfully the 2005 Dietary Guidelines are a major step in the right direction as they reduced their previous recommendation of nine grain servings a day by two-thirds. They now only advise three servings and those servings should be from whole-grains.

The use of whole-grains is an easy subject to get confused on. I was certainly confused when I first started my journey in health. Prior to starting medical school, all my health reading pointed to the tremendous importance of whole-grains. Much of the work was based on the work of the African physician missionary Dr. Dennis Burkitt who established the fiber hypothesis in the 60s.

I bought into the theory hook, line and sinker, so much so that when I was in medical school 25 years ago, I was referred to as "Dr. Fiber," for my passionate views about the health benefits of fiber. Since then, I have subsequently learned that grains for most people, yes even whole-grain, organic wheat, are best avoided by the vast majority of the population.

It has been my experience that more than 85 percent of Americans have problems with controlling their insulin levels -- especially those who have the following conditions:

• Overweight
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Protein metabolic types

The Grain-Insulin Connection

What most people don't seem to realize is that there are many less than obvious reactions to gluten-containing grains, like wheat, that can cause health problems (gluten is a protein in wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt). Medicine has a term for this and it is called sub-clinical gluten intolerance. Most of us are addicted to breads, bagels, pizza, pasta, waffles and pancakes and would rather die than give them up. And many people do just that, die from insulin-related complications from eating grains. This is why I strongly recommend that if you have one of the above conditions that are related to insulin resistance to eliminate grains as well as sugars from your diet.

Even if you are purchasing whole-grain, organic sprouted bread, more than likely it will not move your body toward health and you are better off avoiding it until you don't exhibit any insulin-related problems. The higher your insulin levels and the more prominent your signs of insulin overload are, the more ambitious your grain elimination should be.

Grains to eliminate from your diet include:

Wheat		Oats
Spelt		Rice
Barley		Rye
Amaranth		Quinoa
Millet		Teff
Potatoes (This is actually a vegetable, but it digests more like a grain.)		Corn (This is considered a vegetable, but it is technically a grain.)

To learn more about how grains adversely affect your health, I recommend reading an article I posted in 2004 written by Paul Chek: You Are What You Eat!: Grains. Chek shares an excerpt from his "You Are What You Eat" audio series about the history of grains throughout the ages, and how they serve to impair your health today in countless and unforeseen ways. His philosophies about nutrition, and grains in particular, mirror my own strategies that I share on my Web site and daily with my patients.

Related Articles:

The Dangers of Bread

If You Have Osteoporosis, Wheat May be Responsible

Is Bread Making a Comeback?