Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group

Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.

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nymima 06/09/2016

My 90 yr. old mother has had afib for at least 20 yrs. She recently stopped eating wheat and she swears she hasn't had afib but maybe once or twice in 2 weeks. Oddly enough, we went ot the cardiologist today, and her pacemaker print-out showed only 2 afibs in the last 2 weeks. She went from having afibs for 20 hrs. a day sometimes, to nothing since she stopped eating wheat.

The reason she stopped the wheat was because she was experiencing extreme itching. My daughter has eczema and cannot eat wheat for this reason. My mother picked up on this and stopped the wheat. Her itching is lessened considerably - but an added bonus of no afib?

Anyone have thoughts on this?

duder 06/10/2016

If it seems to be working for her, keep it up.

DougL 06/11/2016

I've known that wheat gluten triggers my afib since 2004. It seems that if I've not had wheat for a long time, I can have something small, like a butter tart or two about once a month and have no problems. But if I have something like toast for breakfast 3 days in a row, I'll get afib. So I just stay away from gluten.

marikay234 06/11/2016

I am also gluten sensitive. I avoid wheat most of the time. An occasional cookie or a few crackers with wheat doesn't seem to bother me but a plate of pasta will cause my heart to speed up with palpitations and sometimes a fib. I am quite sure she has found one of her triggers.

wsopeddie 06/13/2016

Interesting. I and 2 of 3 siblings all are dealing with a-fib. My father suffered from too late diagnosis or treatment of celiac disease (gluten intolerance). It killed him at a young age. This is the first I've heard of a connection between gluten and a-fib.

Panicker 06/16/2016

Wheat or gluten will cause almost immediate afib for me. Unfortunately it is not the only cause, I've been wheat and gluten free for at least six years, but my afib is still progressing.

donsabi 06/17/2016

Are you sure it's the bread or what you are putting on the bread?

Much our wheat is harvested with the use if glyphosate. The negative reaction may be due to the glyphosate.

Commercial bread goes from flour to a finished loaf of bread in about three hours. That is done with the use of chemicals.
Three hours is not enough time for the yeast to process the flour.

Some folks are gluten intolerant but they are few. I suggest trying some home baked bread made without chemicals.

nymima 06/19/2016

Thank you all for your replies! Donsabi - whatever it is in the property of wheat sets her off. Gravies thickened with wheat flour, soups thickened with wheat flour, crackers made with wheat etc. As long as she stays away from anything wheat, she says she is fine. She eats organic, and doesn't eat anything with high sodium like cold-cuts. Most likely, she uses organic almond butter on her bread with organic jam. She made some whole grain pasta the other day. The pasta didn't have any wheat product in it. Just whole grain from other sources like amaranth and other ancient grains. No a-fibs at all. So it seems to be wheat related. Perhaps the glyphosate then that they harvest the wheat with. They don't use this with the other grains?

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