What happened to flour?

In this week’s vlog, I answer a viewer question about the difference between how we used to respond to flour back “in the good old days” and how we respond to it now. I bet my answer will surprise you.

 

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Comments

  1. PAUL RUSSO

    What about Almond and Coconut Flour? Allowed ?

    Reply ·
    1. Bright Line Eating

      Hi Paul! No, we don’t eat any kind of flour in Bright Line Eating. <3

      Reply ·
  2. Tara

    Can you have einkorn grains such as granola and pasta on the bright line plan?

    Reply ·
  3. Melissa Webber

    I understand about augar and I am so on board – I am an addict! However complex carbohydrates , as in pasta, are a large parr of the Mediterranean diet tha t is supposed to be so healthy. Please explain why there is no flour, from any source allowed on BLE

    Reply ·
  4. Rogier Dijk

    I am reading the book right now and it makes perfect sense. I do encounter a translation problem.

    In the Netherlands we have two words for flour that makes bread. White flour (bloem) is the mostly seen as the evil-Sunday-morning-use-for-cake-pizza-pancakes stuff and contains as little healthy material as white rice. However, there is wholegrane flour (meel) made of various grane kinds ranging from spelt, buckwheat, rye or regular grain that is used for brown bread. This is considered healthy, especially when bought at an organic shop or homemade with wholegrain flour from the mill.

    Do you seperate those or do your share the distinction or do we ban all grain (any kind) based products.

    Added question – I eat unrefined grains in my muesli in the morning (not grenola or cruesli) are those ‘o.k.’?

    And whilst I am at it… 🙂 How do I join the community from the Netherlands?

    Yours kindly,

    Rogier

    Reply ·
  5. Krista Karp

    This should be added to the bootcamp modules! It is that important!

    Reply ·
  6. Lois Myers

    I found Dr. William Davis’ book, Wheat Belly, to be enlightening. (I had ceased eating wheat before coming to BLE). I find it entirely credible that wheat would be hybridized to create maximum growth and weed resistance without those who are doing the hybridizing even considering how they were changing the composition of the grain and how this Frankenstein would affect the physiology of an innocent consumer…

    Reply ·
  7. BJ

    This is my first time on this site. It’s very interesting. I am one of the extremely underweight people
    out there. I eat non-gluten carbs: teff, quinoa, batsmati rice,buckwheat , red and sweet potato
    as well as lentils and beans. I would starve without them. Usually, I eat about 200mg of carbs a day.
    This includes 1 piece of fruit and starchy veggies like carrots and parsnips. I can’t eat much fruit
    due to the high fructose and most any fruit sugar feeds yeast (I have a low grade issue).
    I don’t often eat any flour, but wonder if I could. I am not at all sure if I am pickled, as I am not
    addicted to carbs, but heavy meat or fats don’t agree with me (beyond usual daily servings).
    What can we do if we don’t want to lose weight? This diet seems like all the other trends that focus
    on a need for weight loss. That’s not an issue that we used to see or hear about in the good old days
    among the bread eating ancestors. They were moderate and ate less sugar, though. . Look at the
    the waist lines and general size of women in old movies. Try on antique clothes. Most of them
    needed to gain or maintain weight. I will read more from this site as Susan seems more open than
    many of the extreme Paleo sites. Those diets I believe will be found to be too heavy in fats and the
    meats are high in ammonia, nitrogen and purines. It also is very acidic. Balance in all things seems
    safest, but eating what makes you feel good for your metabolism and genetics, etc is best.

    Reply ·
  8. Jarka

    Hi everyone! I think Susan had a good start on this, but I believe there is much more to it as well. Esp. pickles turning back to cucumbers. 😉
    The main source of any addiction is a glycogen deficiency in liver & brain. By eating healthy glucose (fruit, starchy veggies & raw honey), you can start building it back up, and the cravings for bad sugar will disappear.
    I highly recommend checking out Anthony William/Medical Medium – also a Hay House author, his books & free radio shows on Sundcloud.
    This is a good one to start with: put Medical Medium Understanding Addiction in Google (sorry, won’t let me submit my comment with a website link in it).

    Reply ·
  9. Cathy

    I can attest to this vlog. I was in a 12 step program for food addicts before Bright Line Eating, and when I left that program I didn’t eat sugar, but I thought a little flour – bread and so forth – might be OK. I added a flour produce here and there to my dinner, and within just a few weeks I felt totally addicted to flour and was eating way too much way too often.. I am just not the kind of person that can eat a little bread with my dinner – nope – I’m pickled for sure!

    Reply ·
  10. Melissa

    I wonder then how much truth there is to the scientific community’s belief in neuroplasticity? How come neuroplasticity doesn’t work in this situation? Why can’t we stop for a long time (maybe a really long time) and have the potential of our brains truly healing? I know the pathways have already been worn and new pathways are being formed by removing sugar and flour, I just wonder why the brain/body, given enough time away from these substances, couldn’t take our cells back to a state of non-addiction (i.e. pickling) and keep them there. We can rewire our posture with new, good habits and possibly rehab exercises, we can heal cancer from our bodies, our cuts heal and more…so why not the brain?

    Reply ·
  11. charmaine

    So the pickle simile is purely psychological and not something physical? Are you saying that once you have become a ‘pickle head’ you can never again control how much bread and sugar you eat?

    Reply ·
  12. Carrie

    Thank you Susan! Such a scary truth!! Thank you for explaining this in a simpler way that still hits home. This is the point I try to make to my family but I feel like I screw it up every time! I now have proper ammo!!

    Reply ·
  13. Marcela

    Hi Susan:
    There is another element that you did not mention in this weekly blog. The wheat that was consumed years ago by our grandparents or great grandparents was a very different product from the wheat consumed today. Todays’s flour is made from wheat that has been hybridized so greatly that it now has elevetated gluten and proteins that are not easily digested by many. Beyond the addictive issues, celiacs and gluten sensitivity and all of the related inflammatory responses and diseases are increasing because of the amount of flour and sugar consumed but also because of the product itself. Read “Wheat Belly” and “The Autoimmune Fix” to learn more about the actual chemical changes and impact to our bodies.

    Reply ·
  14. Ann Holley

    Your touch of science, easy to follow explanation and sincerity is a winning combo once again. I can’t wait to share this with my family. With SISU I continue on the path of BLE.

    Reply ·
  15. Diana

    Thank you so much for this and your other wisdom. I’m wondering if I have whole grain wheat, as in wheat berries, and I mill it myself and use the flour for whatever (sugar free of course) baked good etc, is that nuturitively valuable, BLE compliant, and/or triggering? Thanks for any help. I’m on day 45 and doing great.

    Reply ·
  16. Claire Paul

    Also, wheat wasn’t harvested with herbicide poisons, or modified to have 20x more gluten (as it was in the last 50 years.

    Reply ·
  17. Kathy Starks

    OMG just what I needed to hear. That is brilliant! This is true for me in any form of wheat and corn as well. I have been sampling candy since the holidays and thinking it’s ok to have just a little. BUT, now inflammation has returned to my spine and I am suffering from the little bit of “pickle juice” I have been poisoning myself with. This makes it so easy to understand that once pickled, no going back to being a cucumber. Great visual for my mind’s eye. Thanks Susan!

    Reply ·
  18. Katherine

    Many years ago I went to one of the national diet meal replacement companies and asked to join their program. Since I was interested in Paleo eating at the time, I asked if I could pick products without flour. The representative who was trying to sell me the program stopped and stared for a minute then she walked back to the office and got me a large sheaf of papers and a half page list. She said, “These are all our products and this half page is all the products we have that do NOT contain flour. You are not a good candidate for our program. ” and then she said good bye.

    Reply ·
  19. Josephine

    Thanks for answer to pertinent question. Too- I think
    People were more active back then and burned
    off the calories from flour. The processed and added
    Flavoring and sugars to food after industrialization
    Made it easier for brain to get addicted to them
    And wanting more and more like addictions that change
    The brain’s signals to keep it from starving which
    Is what it feels like.
    I love bread and miss it alot. I do buy the 7 sprouted
    Bread and it helps to have it sometimes. Like Carol above,
    I starred in May 2017 too and lost 22.5. I don’t want
    To gain back and worry. Holiday time did cause
    Me to dabble here and there since we are surrounded
    By them. I too have to get back on the train and not get
    Derailed. I am good at moderation and was a 6 on the
    Suceptibility scale. Long cold nights has been harder and
    Each day will brighten up now slowly.

    Reply ·
  20. Christine Murphy

    Hi Susan:
    I want to start off by saying that I love you and I normally agree 100% with your VLOGS but this one I don’t think is accurate. Grain has changed soooooo much since our great, great grandparents used to have bread as one of the major staples. In Victorian times people would not have survived without bread. The actual grain itself has been GM so much and all you have to do is to look to history and science to prove this . Also we don’t have near the activity in our lives (physical) to burn off the calories from the GOOD grains. Yes processed food is the enemy but so is the actual grain itself and I think you should have mentioned this in your answer. Yes the brain is greatly affected by the overdose of sugar and flour but flour is not really the enemy it is the flour today and the genetic modification that has change the grain completely.
    Thank you for all you do!

    Reply ·
  21. Cat

    Susan great blog. One thing I thought regarding the “good old days” is the difference in quantities our parent/grandparents ate. I have China from my mum, her good China was bought in the early 1960’s, and the difference in size of the dinner plates astounds me. Modern dinner plates are much larger, almost 1 1/2 times the size of the older plates,. Different foods, ie fruits, are readily available year round, and we can now eat whatever/whenever we want! To go back to the good old days, means huge changes in our lifestyle. BLE is so much easier. 😊

    Reply ·
  22. Jan Romeo

    I refer you to Breadbeckers.com for an explanation of how tremendously modern flour is different (and deficient) from old-fashioned flour – meaning flour milled from wheat kernels and baked within a day or two. I know most people won’t make their own bread this way but there is a community of people that does. I wonder if this sort of bread would still be harmful to the “pickle.” Susan, I think you would enjoy very much learning about this and so I encourage you to look into what you can learn from Breadbeckers.

    Reply ·
  23. Jan McLaughlin

    The pickle image is a good one! thanks – I am definitely a pickle and need to realize the implications

    Reply ·
  24. Lena

    Great vlog Susan, however, I missed one bit of info which is crucial in my opinion! The way the wheat has been GM to make it resistant to deseases, mould and to make it grow less tall to make harvest easier. Dr Davis explains it well in Wheat Belly!

    Reply ·
  25. Zipi Haetzni

    Thanks for this blog and returning to the more hard core issues associated with BLE.
    I missed that. It has been a while since I heard a vlog that is more directly relevant and helpful to my challenges.

    Reply ·
  26. Elizabeth Oboyi

    Love the neckline. Good explanations

    Reply ·
  27. Kathryn Shivel

    I have read that flour today is not even close to the flour our grandparents had. It’s been changed so much that our bodies hardly know how to process it, with additional non-nutritional compounds and properties. That isn’t even factoring in GMOs, chemicals from years of pesticides, and the common practice of spraying to cause drying (and dying) and uniformity for easier harvesting. Radically different wheat, or so I’ve read or heard from reputable sources.

    Reply ·
  28. Kathleen Nelson

    Susan, I’m in my 70’s and that was a brilliant explanation of the difference between then and now. By the way, that is the most attractive dress I’ve seen you wear…awesome neckline on you. 🙂

    Reply ·
  29. Kathryn Doran

    Brilliant, as usual.

    Reply ·
  30. Jessica Atkinson

    I’m a pickle!!:) Haha! Gratitude analogy and sum up of baby food… fascinating. You are looking especially radiant and confident and spectacular!:) I look forward to your vlog every week:)

    Reply ·
  31. Carole Mistarka

    Great vlog! Thank you!

    Reply ·
  32. Vicki Girard

    I’d be interested in the answer to that question too. I’m on day 5 the 14-day Food Freedom challenge. I’m finding it to be easier than I thought it would be and I’m enjoying eating good healthy food again. The foggy brain and memory problems are the main reason I wanted to do the bright line eating because it was only one that really made sense to me. I think total elimination is the only way for this sugar, cookie loving Queen to get better. Thanks Vicki

    Reply ·
    1. Kathleen Nelson

      Boy, Vicki, can I relate. I, just 5 minutes ago, OD’d on sugar, and already I feel SICK! The foggy brain issue is real. Bright Line Eating is the best for me too…now to get back on that horse and NOT get bucked off again. I never feel good nutritionally nor emotionally when I let myself get bucked off. Kathleen

      Reply ·
  33. Pam

    Also, we do not get anywhere near the exercise we used to, which uses up blood sugar. But, yes, there’s just too much sugar now.

    Reply ·
  34. Judy Fulp

    This explains a lot and why Bright Line Eating brings us back to the way people used to eat!

    Reply ·
  35. Donna G

    The vlog was really good tonight. It makes so much more sense now. Thank you!

    Reply ·
  36. Linda

    I have done the boot camp and was well on my way to non-addiction. But then, like many, I ate too much flourand sugar. Over the holidays. Now, I am CRAVING flour junk. And the more I eat, the more I want.

    I am getting back on track….re-zooming and will report back on results.

    Love to all
    Linda

    Reply ·
    1. Roberta

      Hope you’re back on track and making progress. I just started today and LOVE everything so far.

      Reply ·
  37. Nancy Westrup

    I wrote the previous message regarding tortillas, cactus, wine/tequila, but made a mistake in my email address! Perdón.

    Reply ·
  38. Amy

    “once a pickle, always a pickle” is the most succinct analogy. Loved the blog.

    Reply ·
  39. Nancy Westrup

    Very interesting. I would like to know your opinion regarding eating tortillas. I am Mexican and although I like flour, I can get along without it. It is slightly more difficult not to eat tortillas, made from corn flour.
    Also, have you eaten cactus. I love to eat it and consider it a vegetable. Am I right?

    Last but not least, what about a glass of wine or tequila once in a while? Is this allowed or not.

    Reply ·
  40. Claire Lash

    There are some breads (e.g., Ezekial) that claim to be flourless. are these OK to eat?

    Reply ·
    1. Diane Dickinson

      Yes, no flour!

      Reply ·
  41. Tawna

    One thing you didn’t hit on was how GMO’s are effecting our bodies. We now know that the Round Up ready molecule that Monstanto claimed, years ago, would just pass through the body, has been found in placenta which means it is not only NOT passing harmlessly through our bodies but passing into developing fetuses doing god knows what to future generations. My mother is gluten intolerant, developing severe rashes and blistering when consuming wheat etc and my mother in law develops heartburn and indigestion when consuming flour based products but neither of them has a problem eating breads and pastas when travelling through European countries where GMO’s have been banned. This is definitely something to consider in the case of “what happened to flour”

    Reply ·
  42. Heather

    To underscore Susan’s comments, I believe the cultivation of wheat with super-added chemical fertilizers and pesticides plus the current baking methods which apparently don’t kill the yeast in cooking, (as was the case in times past) modern manufactured bread barely resembles the wholesome staff of life that it was once considered to be.
    Just the yeast getting into the body has a huge impact on health creating systemic candida and the story there is that candida itself sets up a craving for bread (and sugar).

    Reply ·
  43. Jack Olsen

    I th ink I’ve found a personal trigger. I seem to want to “graze” a lot more when I’m cold. Eating helps keep my mind off of being cold. In the summer it doesn’t seem to be a problem , I can easily stick to my bright lines. Do you have any sugestions?
    PS I heat my house with wood so my house doesn’t have a thermostat.

    Reply ·
    1. Adrienne

      It’s cold where I live right now so I can relate! For Christmas I received beautiful lined heavy sock/slippers that make such a big difference! After dinner, I also find it helpful to pretty much constantly have a cup of herbal tea or cacao tea on the go. Not only does it warm me up, but gives me something to put in my mouth in the evenings when I am tempted to graze.

      Reply ·
  44. Stephen Rodier

    For thousands of years wheat and other grains have ben referred to as the staff of life. In 1990 wheat farmers started spraying wheat with glyphosate to make the whole crop ripen at once for a quick easy harvest. Glyphosate is strong antibiotic as wells a herbicide. It is absorbed into the grain as the plant dies. The glyphosate in the wheat preferentially kills the gut microbes that digest wheat for you. So the undigested wheat irritates your gut and you become allergic to it.
    According to Samsel & Seneff two highly respected PHD sceintist there is a 98% correlation between the use of glyphosate and the rise of wheat allergies.

    Reply ·
  45. KARLYN KAMM

    Have always wondered ‘re your plan for 3 substantial meals/day for those of us with hiatial hernia. I can only eat very little amounts of food at any one time, so have to eat in “parts”– some vegetable, later some protein, etc. About 4 bites of anything does it!!
    How can this square with BLE??
    Thx! Great vlog. Good analogy

    Reply ·
  46. Mary Henik

    Susan , I am not overweight & never will join brightline BUT I love listening to you because you say some really great stuff(&your kind of funny). Im just learning as much as I can from all sources because I work in a hospital and boy is healthcare a mess. So dont take me off youremail because I may just refer people. Just wanted you to know I have UNSUBSCRIBED from so many things and as I said to save me from incessant email (email in general I mean) I should unsubscribe but I cant do it,you’re too interesting

    Reply ·
  47. Anne Metz

    Awesome!!! And definitely made me laugh. So I’ve been pickled! I am a pickle! But I want to be a cucumber. Can’t wait to see the T shirts.

    Loved it. so smart and clear.

    Reply ·
  48. Leslie

    I have a question all all flours equal?
    If you grind your own oats and make oat flour or almonds and make almond flour, will that have the same addictive effect as wheat flour?

    Reply ·
    1. Mikaelah M Morocco

      I am also interested in hearing an answer to this question about “are all flours equal?”
      – and I have ground rice to make rice flour and oats to make oat flour (not since starting this program though).

      Reply ·
      1. Diane Dickinson

        All flours are equal in Bright Line Eating. It’s the grinding/processing. Susan talks about how that disrupts the fiber lattice in any grain. And any grain lights up our brains in the same way. Not an expert, just doing Bright Line Eating…

        Reply ·
  49. Cathie

    Thx Susan. Even though I’ve understood the science, for some reason, this visual really solidified something for me.

    Reply ·
  50. Toni

    Would ground almonds, beans, rice oats, be considered flour

    Reply ·
  51. Pamela Marie Watson

    I agree with Paul up there.^ The GMOs are a huge problem! A couple thousand years ago bread was made from a totally different wheat. It’s not the same grain much less the over refining process. Thanks for getting folks aware! More to look into…

    Reply ·
  52. Mary Mazzone

    The visual, I could see myself as a kid eating after school snacks sitting in front of the TV. My mom an immigrant who really only wanted to feed us fresh fruit my nonno’s garden, but us kids in watching our friends eat from boxes and packages…WE BEGGED, she caved, we ate and now we are pickles! It feels good to be processed food sober for 102 days. Thank you Susan – Great top btw! XO

    Reply ·
  53. Heather

    Can you be an addict for sugar and not for flour? Or vice versa?

    Reply ·
  54. Holly Jeske

    Wow. After the 14-day challenge and losing 8 lbs in the 2 weeks before Christmas, I “splurged” on Christmas day and then “mostly” went back to the 14 day challenge plan, but I found out fast that my “pickled” system DID NOT LIKE IT. I regained 3 lbs practically overnight and with my continued little “cheats” I have not been able to drop it back down more than a pound! I recently had a blood test for gluten intolerance, so it wasn’t an allergic reaction per se. I think I’m just too pickled to go back to the old ways at all. I will be grieving this for awhile because my emotional brain says I’m missing out, but my rational brain is working hard to remind me how truly FREE I felt when I wasn’t cheating/reactivating my cravings. I literally looked forward to my simple and flavorful CLEAN food choices. Thank you SO MUCH for helping me launch back in the right direction- back over the Bright Line, so I can truly be free!

    Reply ·
    1. Donna

      You can do it! Every day you wake up is another chance to give it a shot! Keep pushing! 🙂

      Reply ·
    2. Derya

      Hi Holly, I am going to do the 14 day challenge starting on the 14th. After I read BLE book and then the End of Overeating Book, I feel empowered because I understand what is happening in my brain. Accepting myself as a food addict is hard. I love to cook, serve and eat. I keep thinking I will be the boring person in the room because while I have envied people who are disciplined in the way they eat, I have always found them annoying. May be in part it was because I couldn’t enjoy eating the foods I love (addicted to) when someone else in front of me was refusing them. I started 3 days ago to only eat three meals a day as a segway to the 14 day challenge. I am mostly eating plant based foods, no sugar but some flour right now. I keep the mantras in my head. Breakfast Lunch Dinner, no sugar, no flour, automaticity, patience. The end of Overeating book talks about how rules are governed by a higher brain function. and I am trying to remind myself of the rules to get relief from my urges to eat. If you are ready, I hope you find peace with food-issues. Practice makes perfect. You’ve done it once, you can certainly do it again. The part of you that is struggling, cheating, is the addiction and the part of you that wants to be Happy Thin and Free. Let’s see if I see the light at the end of the tunnel once I really kick this BLE thing into gear. Thanks for sharing your experience.

      Reply ·
      1. Roberta

        How is it going Derya? I started today and am very excited to have the knowledge from Susan that what I have been saying for a long time is really true. Sugar IS addictive and now I know the story behind flour also. It totally makes sense to me.

        Reply ·
        1. Derya

          Hi Roberta,
          My husband and I have been doing the 14 day challenge, today is day 11. We have been off sugar and flour and eating 3 meals a day. The only thing that we are not doing is measuring our food. At this point, I feel this is a manageable and gentle transition to health for us. We both feel much better, clear head, no more bloating and actually recognizing our hunger. Of course he already lost a bunch of weight, while I’ve lost 4 lbs, which I accept as a nice gradual loss.My only obstacle right now, as we approach day 14 is what will we do next? He is a 6 on the susceptibility scale while I am a 10. He needs to take a day off BLE at the end of the 14 days and then he said he will do another 14. My addictive brain and my rational self are in a giant debate right now as I write, lol. I know that I need to never eat sugar again for sure. But what if I took a day off? The other part that I am not good at is getting external support. I have attended 1 OA meeting before BLE and hated every absolute minute of it. In general 12 step programs are not aligned with my thinking style. I think I have to seek a therapist to keep me in check. I also have a couple of my friends who are keeping up with me on this journey, but I am not a talker. I feel like it must be annoying to listen to anything to do with my health struggles. In the past I have asked people to not talk about these things around me. I know now that was an avoidance tactic. I hope your journey has started well and is going strong. Thanks for writing!

          Reply ·
  55. Colleen

    how do you know whether your a cucumber or a pickle? Is there a test for it?

    Reply ·
    1. Diane Dickinson

      Go to Bright Line Eating website–there is a Susceptibility Quiz!

      Reply ·
  56. Helen

    Great blog but have always wondered what can we substitute for a good slice of bread???

    Reply ·
    1. Silvia

      Hi, Helen! I make now my avocado toast for breakfast with rice cakes, allowed in BLE… it´s not the same, but it works. And they are really delicious…

      Reply ·
    2. Christie Carlson

      Some BLE eaters can do Ezekiel bread in their food plan. It has no flour and is tasted. Find it in the freezer section.

      Reply ·
      1. Sylvia

        So you can et This bread with BLE ? Or not ?

        Reply ·
        1. Jennifer

          Yes, you can have Ezekiel muffins or bread on this plan. For some people it’s a trigger, but it’s not for me. I have it for breakfast multiple times per week and am still losing weight.

          Reply ·
  57. Margaret Terris

    Yicks !!!!!

    Reply ·
  58. Jody

    Great vlog,,Susan! Love the cucumber/pickle analogy. Really helpful explanation. Thank you!

    Reply ·
  59. Dilia

    Thank you for the great explanation.
    I agree… the neckline looks awesome Susan!

    Reply ·
  60. Debi

    Loved the vlog, but I’m a little sad to be a forever “pickle.”

    Reply ·
    1. Cathie

      LOL… Me too Debi, but I got picked by poptarts around the age of 6. Who knew?! My Grandma was just grateful I would eat something,,,anything for breakfast.

      Reply ·
  61. Gegi Cluck

    I have been on a journey to better my health, I lost 120 lbs and have kept it off for 2 1/2 years but have been stuck, I think this vlog gave me an Ah ha moment. Thank you. I may have just realized although I am maintaining at this weigh why I am not continuing my weight loss. Thank you. Now to continue to learn and make changes to better health.

    Reply ·
  62. Stefi

    SUPER VLOG!! Tnanks Susan😊

    Reply ·
  63. Ron Greenstein

    Check out the difference between Einkorn wheat and dwarf wheat, which was developed and eventually took over as “wheat” in around 1960. As I have heard the dwarf wheat has much higher percentage content of starch and gluten. It is perhaps tastier an easier to grow and probably more addictive.

    Reply ·
  64. Paul

    3 Millions years ago wheat had 24 chromosomes. 30 years ago they GMO’d wheat. It now has 146 chromosomes which cant be metabolised properly . 3 days before harvesting wheat they spray the millions of acres of wheat with Roundup to get rid of excess plant matter. The carbs which turn into Amylopectin A are twice as sweet as the equivalent amount of white table sugar. 100,000 years ago we used to have carbs once a year, now we have them every day. No wonder there is so much sickness in the world!

    Reply ·
    1. Greg

      Thank you, Paul. I was thinking along those same lines myself.

      For a good overview of the difference between modern American dwarf wheat and the staple food of our ancestors, take a look at https://grainstorm.com/pages/modern-wheat

      Reply ·
      1. Cathie

        Hi Greg
        Thx for the link. Normally I don’t like it when people put up links that ultimately sell products, but this provided info and I wouldn’t have found it. Ultimately if people don’t band together and support businesses and farmers who are selling non-GMO, healthy, whole food products than we will all be stuck. I’m going to try the 1869 oatmeal for sale at the site.

        Reply ·
      2. Robin

        Thank you for this information! I had these thoughts in the back of my head, but now realize how very true they are.

        Reply ·
  65. Samuel DuBois

    Thank you for another brilliantly penetrating, moving, understandable metaphor!

    I think I understand that “once I’m a pickle, I’m stuck being a pickle” means that (like when one pushes oneself into any other kind of addiction) “one is two many, and 100 are not enough” (drinks, brownies…).

    Some people might have interpreted “pickled” to mean “ruined” (especially brain-wise). I know that neuro-neogenesis has kept me functional after over a half-century of really high (brain-shrinking) blood sugar. And now things are looking up, largely thanks to your insights, Susan.

    Do you have research on how long it takes to get one’s mind back? (Like the time it takes to clear your lungs after quitting tobacco, or the time it takes to get your ability to walk back after being bedridden, or the famous story about the Alzheimer’s patient who was already getting better the day after he had some coconut oil…?) What can you tell those of us who are pickled (sugar addicts) but our brains are still working, about getting them working really well again?

    Thanks, greetings from Ecuador,

    Sam

    Reply ·
    1. Vicki Girard

      I’d be interested in the answer to that question too. I’m on day 5 the 14-day Food Freedom challenge. I’m finding it to be easier than I thought it would be and I’m enjoying eating good healthy food again. The foggy brain and memory problems are the main reason I wanted to do the bright line eating because it was only one that really made sense to me. I think total elimination is the only way for this sugar, cookie loving Queen to get better. Thanks Vicki

      Reply ·
    2. Vee

      I believe she has said a couple of months of pure Bright Line eating before the dopamine receptors have healed substantially.

      Reply ·
  66. Martha

    Great Vlog! Yup, once an addict always an addict being a carbaholic/flouraholic here! I’m so happy going back to three meals a day, no snacking, wholesome meals from scratch. Breaking the cycle is the lifelong challenge. With BLE I now have the tools, in addition to the desire to cut the cycle of addiction with the knowledge and research giving.

    Reply ·
    1. Vee

      “ Breaking the cycle is the lifelong challenge.” Yes, boy did she make that clear – it’s mever over for us. I’m pickled for sure. Thanks for that sentence. I’m going to frame it to remind myself this is never “over”.

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  67. RONDA S.

    Perfect explanation! Thanks. Also, love the neckline…you look so pretty!

    Reply ·
  68. Carol

    Good vlog, Susan…when I started on BLE May last year I didn’t know if I could maintain not eating sugar and flour together. I am a sugar-aholic for 40+ years. I tried not drinking my pop and eating candy bars but it didn’t help much but when I cut out the sugar AND flour together I lost 25 lbs within in a few months and it actually wasnt hard and was even on vacations during that first 3 months. Another 5 and have now stabilized. But unfortunately the old holic in me has gone astray. So I am trusting in myself to get on the bandwagon again with your knowledgeable vlog and words of encouragement. My son is my biggest/only supporter in encouraging me…he wants me to be healthier…lucky mom to have such a caring son. Keep up the good work, Susan — thank you!

    Reply ·
  69. gp anderson

    Really good vlog! I wonder if I am low on the susceptibility scale because I was never a big sugar or flour eater and I was born before the big reliance on processed food. To use your metaphor, I never became a pickle. It’s a chicken or egg question. Does one start an addict or become an addict?

    Reply ·
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