Craving carbs? Blame your brain, Japanese study finds

Modern wheat makes people hungry according to the book Wheat Belly. It is that a side-effect of the genetic modifications which make it 10x more productive and half the height, they claim.

Because of this extra property, wheat is showing up in things that we would never expect, well beyond flour and bread.

I'm not certain there is such a thing as excess fat. Fats aren't bad, provided the calories aren't beyond daily requirements. Nutritional fat doesn't make people fat. Processed carbs are the main issue for many overweight people.

Of course, everyone is different.

this isn't correct. The casein from milk has casomorphines in it, morphine, causing mild addiction. It was meant for the calf to keep feeding from the mom. We're not meant to be drinking cows milk so our body has over reactions. Acne, heat disease, etc

Carbohydrates are required to live, so you dump the junk food and you actually live well. Okinawans today don't do so, but Japan has 100 years of data showing how they did it, with yams mostly, and a plant based diet. Only 3% was meat. Those that still eat that was could not be considered unhealthy

@sf2k : You are completely wrong. Milk DOES NOT cause heart disease, and since you use the word "We're" to describe every human's reaction to milk, not everyone has an "over reactions" [sic].

Carbohydrates are NOT needed to live. If the body is in desperate need of energy, it can make glucose through gluconeogenesis.

Proteins and fats can supply most if not all of the elements necessary to build or repair tissue in the body; carbohydrates provide nothing "essential. The Institute of Medicine puts it quite clearly: "The lower limit of dietary carbohydrate compatible with life apparently is zero, provided that adequate amounts of protein and fat are consumed."

So if I wanted to bet that this was a legit research paper based on reasonable research but that it will be misinterpreted by news sources, then misinterpreted even further by websites referencing those news sources, then misinterpreted even further by random members of the Internet peanut gallery half-remembering what they read on those websites, would anyone take my bet?

Or is it a bit obvious?

Some humans do really badly on a mostly carb diet. I'm one of those people. I do well on about 30% (or less) carbs while eating a mostly fresh vegetable diet with some proteins and no more than 2 fruit servings daily. Most of the carbs I get come from vegetables, as nature intended.

Humans do just fine on less than 20% carbs. There are not "essential carbs." None.

Nutrition science has come out of the dark ages in the last 10 yrs. Actual science has made it into the field, finally. US govt guidelines are less about science for "best" and more about keeping processed food companies in business. Sad, but why else would they allow things unfit for human consumption into a grocery store as processed food?

You should know that the longest lived people were Okinawans of old, and they ate a 97% plant based diet. They know this because records were kept. Go find the Okinawan Centurion Study