William Davis, MD, is a preventive cardiologist whose unique approach to diet allows him to advocate reversal, not just prevention, of heart disease.
He is the founder of the 
Elimination of wheat is a wonderfully effective way to lose weight. Because saying goodbye to wheat means removing the gliadin protein of wheat, the protein degraded to brain-active exorphins that stimulate appetite, calorie consumption is reduced, on average, 400 calories per day. It also means eliminating this source of high blood sugar and high blood insulin and the 90-minutes cycles of highs and lows that cause a cyclic need to eat more at the inevitable low. It means that the high blood sugar and insulin phenomena that trigger accumulation of visceral fat are now turned off. It may possibly also mean that wheat lectins no longer block the leptin receptor, undoing leptin resistance and allowing weight loss to proceed. And weight loss usually results effortlessly and rapidly.
But not always. Why? Why are there people who, even after eliminating this appetite-stimulating, insulin-triggering, leptin-blocking food, still cannot lose weight? Or stall after an initial few pounds?
There are a list of reasons, but here are the biggies:
1) Too many carbohydrates–What if I eliminate wheat but replace those calories with gluten-free breads, muffins, and cookies? Then I’ve switched one glucose-insulin triggering food for another. This is among the reasons I condemn gluten-free foods made with rice starch, cornstarch, tapioca starch, and potato starch. Or perhaps there’s too many potatoes, rices, and oats in your diet. While not as harmful as wheat, they still provoke phenomena that cause weight loss to stall. So cutting carbohydrates may become necessary, e.g., no more than 12-14 grams per meal.
2) Fructose–Fructose has become ubiquitous and has even assumed some healthy-appearing forms. “Organic agave nectar” is, by far, the worst, followed by maple syrup, honey, high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose,and fruit–yes, in that order. They are all sources of fructose that causes insulin resistance, visceral fat accumulation or persistency, prolongation of clearing postprandial (after-meal) lipoproteins that antagonize insulin, and glycation. Lose the fructose sources–as much of it as possible. (Fruit should be eaten in very small portions.) Watch for stealth sources like low-fat salad dressings–you shouldn’t be limiting your fat anyway!
3) Thyroid dysfunction–A real biggie. Number one cause to consider for thyroid dysfunction: iodine deficiency. Yes, it’s coming back in all its glory, just like the early 20th century before iodized salt made it to market shelves. Now, people are cutting back on iodized salt. Guess what’s coming back? Iodine deficiency and even goiters. Yes, goiters, the disfiguring growths on the neck that you thought you’d only see in National Geographic pictures of malnourished native Africans. Number two: Exposure to factors that block the thyroid. This may include wheat, but certainly includes perchlorate residues (synthetic fertilizer residues) on produce, pesticides, herbicides, polyfluorooctanoic acid residues from non-stick cookware, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (flame retardants), and on and on. If you are iodine-deficient, it can even include goitrogenic iodine-blocking foods like broccoli, cauliflower, and soy. Thyroid status therefore needs to be assessed.
4) Cortisol–Not so much excess cortisol as disruptions of circadian rhythm. Cortisol should surge in the morning, part of the process to arouse you from sleep, then decline to lower levels in the evening to allow normal recuperative sleep. But this natural circadian cycling is lost in many people represented, for instance, as a flip-flopping of the pattern with low levels in the morning (with morning fatigue) and high levels at bedtime (with insomnia), which can result in stalled weight loss or weight gain. Cortisol status therefore needs to be assessed, best accomplished with salivary cortisol assessment.
5) Leptin resistance–People who are overweight develop an inappropriate resistance to the hormone, leptin, which can present difficulty in losing weight. This can be a substantial issue and is not always easy to overcome. It might mean assessing leptin levels or it might mean taking some steps to overcome leptin resistance.
Okay, that’s a lot. Next: More on how to know when thyroid dysfunction is to blame.
Dear Dr. Davis,
Love your book and think it’s amazing. I’ve been mostly wheat free (+grain and sugar free) for six weeks now, save for the occasional cheat. Don’t miss it at all and I feel really good. BUT, like many on here, I have seen virtually no weight loss. Granted I don’t have a ton to lose. I’m 5’9″, 47 year fit and active female (work out ~ 5 x week), carrying an extra 15 lbs. at 150 lbs. that has just crept on over the last 10 years. Initially, I lost 5 lbs. but it has come right back on, despite my limiting the nuts, and I don’t eat any gluten free products either. I seriously wonder if my thyroid could be the issue as I do have more hair loss than normal, however as a self employed person I do not have health insurance good enough to cover the costs of TSH testing and doctor’s visits just to figure this out.
My question is, is there any safe, rather natural remedy one could try to boost thyroid functioning, just assuming that my thyroid is sluggish? Sort of an odd question, but I’m at my wit’s end but have been fighting this extra 15 lbs for years and just want to feel comfortable in my own skin again. I would have thought that eliminating wheat and keeping my carb intake less than 100 g per day would have surely done the trick! Or maybe it just takes a lot longer than six weeks?
Thanks so much for any advice.
H.
Well, Holly, first of all I would regard a 100 gram carb per day diet as a HIGH-carb diet, not low. Low-carb is more like 40-45 grams per day.
Second, iodine can help hypothyroidism but only if iodine deficiency is present. I have my patients take 500-1000 mcg per day from an iodine supplement, e.g., kelp. Beyond this, there is really nothing we can do beyond wheat elimination except thyroid hormone tablets. There are plenty of “thyroid support” supplements, but they do not work.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Perhaps I’m confused but I’m not sure I understand how a diet of LESS than 100g of carbs per day – which all come from vegetables, protein, and the occasional fruit (ie, berries, pears) – could be considered to be a high carb diet? According to various Paleo guidelines this is considered to be optimal ‘fat-burning range’. As I said, I am almost entirely wheat, grain and sugar-free (think I’ve had ice cream twice in six weeks and organic sprouted bread once, plus I’m not avoiding things with traces of wheat like soy sauce).
However, I will try your suggestions to increase my probiotic intake, which I had not done, as well as intermittent fasting. Then I will put my scale in the closet, where no doubt it belongs, and concentrate on more important things like endeavoring to wean my 12-year-old athlete son off of his high carb/wheat-based diet which still includes all those bagels and pizzas!
Cheers,
H
Okay, Holly: We are talking about slightly different things.
I am referring to “net” carbs, i.e., total carbs – fiber. It sounds like you are talking about total carbs that includes fiber.
I find it difficult to regulate carb intake using total carbs, as healthy, desirable foods like broccoli and asparagus can appear high-carb but their “net” carb content is low.
I believe it is more instructive to follow the “net” carb rule.
I have been wheat free for over three weeks now. I’m reading everything trying to figure out why I’m not loosing any weight. I even thought maybe it was my thyroid but I had that tested and all my results were normal. T3 -3.10 / T4-1.4 / TSH 2.46 / Thyroxin 8.1. I initially lost 4 lbs. then immediately gained it back now I’m holding steady at 197 lbs. I’m 42 and in menopause. Is this reason alone for not being able to lose weight? I am doing everything by the book but still no results. Should I just learn to live with the fact that I’m going to be fat? I’m active for my age I am not a couch potato. What am I doing wrong? I recently lost 30 lbs. by practically staring myself and doing HCG shots. I was eating 500 calories a day and even then It took three weeks for the scales to budge. Of course that all came back in three weeks that’s right it took me three months to lose it and I gained it back in three weeks of course this when I was still eating “healthy” whole grain. This diet really makes sense to me and I love having control of my eating and being able to go five and six hours and not be starved. I’m probably eating a third of what I use to eat and I’m satisfied but it would be nice to have some visual results. I measured myself before I started and have not lost a pound or an inch. What else can I do?
> I have been wheat free for over three weeks now.
What is your net carb intake per day? If you don’t know the number, chances are it’s higher than you might guess. That’s why it’s the #1 thing to check in Dr. D’s list in the article above.
The WB targets are 50 grams or less per day, 15 grams or less per meal or 6-hour period. Net carb is total carb minus fiber carb.
we are in the same boat. It is impssible for me to loose anything. Dramatically changed diet-improved intake, no wheat, grain, sugar, no bananas, oranges…seems one thing I need to eliminate is yogurt-who would have thought, such a high carbohydrate content-my highest carb regular in my diet. Next will be smoothies, the 8 g carbs from the frozen berries are my next highest single item carb food in the diet…thyroid always tests fine…tried that before at inability to loose weight. Increasing in strength….did an annual push up test-last year had 15, this year, up to 37…but I sure wish some of the excess 35 lbs would shed…let me know if you figure it out!
I have given up wheat and grains and for the most part, sugar, though when I do “cheat’ it has been with sugary foods (5 days total over the past 2 months, and 2 of these days were this past weekend. I cheated with my first “gluten-free” mix-brownies–and, gained 2.2 lbs in 3 days). Over 2 months now. Increased vegetables, meats, nuts (almonds, pecans and walnuts) seeds (flax, hemp, sunflower, pumpkin and pinyon)…not a whole lot of dairy (but some-1/2 & 1/2 in my organic decaf and a serving of yogurt a day) and no weight loss at all. At first, I did loose 4 lbs in about 4 weeks, but back to increasing. My in-law quit eating wheat and has lost ’2 pant sizes’ in less time. It is very frustrating. I can stand to loose 35 lbs, so it isn’t like I have nothing to loose. I hadn’t been able to loose with increasing exercise (walking 19 miles a week plus stretching every morning and often fluidity or ballet dvd’s),and eating healthy, so I thought perhaps it is wheat and grains, and I simply switched into being a person who is not eating them, or craving them either. I feel fine, but not getting the results I was looking for, like many others posting here. I wish I could figure out what I am doing wrong.
net carbs are between 50-70 a day, it was 55 yesterday, with the yogurt. That has to go, it is the only thing I eat with over 10 g…other then that, the unsweetened fruit in the smoothie is the big carb intake of the day (8 g)
Need help with weight loss. I started the wheat free diet two weeks ago and have not lost any weight. It’s very frustrating because I’m doing a protein and vegetable at every meal. No snacks, I walk daily and drink plenty of water. I am on Synthroid for thryoid problems, but last lab, my thyroid was at 2.0. I would love to know what I can do make this program a success for me. I don’t believe I could eat any less and would hope to even add more food to my diet. An example of eating daily would be: Sausage & banana at breakfast; chicken salad with hot sauce for lunch, chicken or steak and veggies for dinner.
Thank you.
> I started the wheat free diet two weeks ago and have not lost any weight.
What is your net carb intake per day? If you don’t know the number, chances are it’s higher than you might guess. For example, that banana is your entire day’s worth of net carbs on WB guidelines: 50 grams/day 15 per meal or 6-hour period.
Also, there’s a newer version of this “didn’t lose” article at:
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2012/10/i-lost-the-wheat-but-didnt-lose-weight-2/
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About to eat an apple and saw how many grams of carbs it has—22! Well, I may still eat it, but that brings my carb intake up to 55 grams today and it is only 4 PM! Somehow I have a hard time believing an apple could be the cause of me not loosing any weight. I did “loose” the 2.2 lbs I gained over the weekend, “cheating” with a gluten free brownie mix (between a half dozen people–no, I didn’t eat much, just two small pieces in 2 days) so that brings me to where I was last week wt wise, or the week before, heck, the same as last month!
With apples, the carbs are largely sugars, and adverse sugars at that. Wiki says: “apples and pears contain more than twice as much free fructose as glucose”. Fructose is a fat magnet. See:
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2011/11/goodbye-fructose/
By the way, there’s a newer version of the “I didn’t lose the weight” article. Click my user name or search for “I lost the wheat, but didn’t lose weight: 2″.
It’s good to hear there are others experiencing the frustration I am. I need to lose 25 lbs and have been working to follow the Wheat Belly way. I haven’t been “in the know” with net carbs, however, if an apple is “out”, I’m in trouble. I’m not someone with a wide palette for many fruits and vegetables and after 3 weeks am getting bored, and have lost 2 lbs total. My story isn’t anything close to those in the book or on this website. I ordered the cook book from Amazon and am going to try some of the recipes. I like to have smoothies in the morning and have been doing a mixed berry, coconut milk and my whey protein. Sometimes I add a banana and spinach. My thyroid is fine, have had that checked. Any help is appreciated.
I have no words of wisdom, other then my wt loss has stopped at 6 lbs. two and a half months of no wheat/grains very little sugar, very few beans, tofu, cut down on dairy, but still eat butter, coconut oil, I do eat eggs and vegetables, nuts and seeds, low carbs, usually somewhere around 50 though the online program I use doesn’t count fiber content, so as far as “net” carbs go, it has to be lower since the nuts and vegetables I eat do have fiber content. I drink unsweetened green tea, 2 cups of organic decaf , lots of water and sparkling mineral water for a treat….I walk between 3-4 miles daily, garden, exercise, keep fit….no wt loss, same as the past 20 years of being on a low fat, high carbohydrate mainly vegetarian regime. The best thing I can say, is I have lost the fluctuations of weight….gain some, loose, gain, gain, loose….the wt is remarkable steady….I keep thinking one of these days things will change, but so far, not much. Inches are the same, wt the same….hard to not be discouraged when I have friends on weight watchers loosing weight every single week and meeting 40 lb goals, and then some when my weight loss plan isn’t showing results…