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 
Jon, an attorney, left this wonderful story of newly-discovered relief from the plagues of acid reflux sans wheat:
I have been wheat-free for the last 6 weeks since reading your book.
I am a 43-year old male and have suffered from acid-reflux for the last 20 years (maybe longer). I first noticed severe symptoms in my first year at law school. For approximately the last 5-years (prior to reading your book) I “managed” my reflux by eating frequent small meals, taking Nexium and avoiding triggers such as raw onions, chicken fat and caffeine.
Within days of going wheat-free the reflux left and has not returned! No longer do chicken fat and raw onions cause excess acid and my esophagus to cramp and spasm in terrible pain. In fact, none of the paleo foods I have tried have bothered my stomach. After 6-weeks, I think it”s safe to assume that it was the wheat in combination with the impugned foods and not the impugned foods in and of themselves that were the problem.
Not only did going wheat-free alleviate a chronic discomfort, it has allowed me to re-pursue my avocation with renewed vigor. I am an opera singer in my spare and sometimes not-so-spare time. Both the fear and the real effect of reflux on my vocal chords often wreaked havoc on my physical and mental preparation for concerts and shows. I am thrilled to say that both the fear of reflux and the reflux itself are gone. I recently performed a Bach cantata while wheat-free and there was no trace of reflux before, during or after the show. For me, that was remarkable.
Needless to say, I am singing the praises of your book.
Relief from acid reflux is among the most consistent observations of the wheat-free. The $100 billion–Billion–annual market for acid reflux-suppressing drugs, among the biggest selling drugs ever made such as Prilosec, Nexium, and Protonix, has been an incredible cash cow for the pharmaceutical industry. Imagine this market drying up as more and more people go wheat-free and spare themselves from the long-term side-effects of osteoporosis, vitamin B12 deficiency, and increased potential for pneumonia characteristic of this class of drugs.
Sorry, Jon, if you are not a tenor. But I’d love to hear some of your performance. Any links to recordings?
I’ve been making my own kefir from raw whole milk. It has done wonders for my digestive system. I am gluten intolerant and also lactose intolerant but able to drink kefir because I let it ferment for 36 to 48 hours which give the good bacteria enough time to gobble up all the lactose. Kefir is easy to make, no special equipment needed. There is a lot of information online about the benefits and how to make it.
It certainly helped me with acid reflux. Better than taking a pill. However, I must warn you that kefir is an acquired taste. It’s hard to describe. . . Sour, tart . . . Similar to real yogurt but more intense. I love it and drink about a cup a day.
By the way, taking a lot of pills, even vitamins can be hard on the stomach. I discovered taking any pill or supplement just before bedtime would cause my stomach to hurt the next morning. Now I take my supplements with food and/or plenty of water and it solved the problem.
Hi Dr. Davis,
I have been living wheat-free for 7 weeks now and have experienced reasonable success. I’ve also convinced about 12 people (so far) to live wheat free as well I love how I feel now (no bloating, no mental, more energy, weight loss, etc.) except for one thing. My stomach tends to be upset right before lunch time almost every day. It’s somewhat similar to an acid reflux but not quite as I don’t feel it in my esophagus, just in the stomach (upset). My typical daily diet consists of this:
Breakfast: small handful of fruit (cherries, raspberries, pomegranate seeds, blueberries, blackberries), some walnuts and almonds
Lunch: salad with spinach, leafy greens, 2 hard boiled eggs, some cherry tomatoes, flax seeds, a small amount of cheese, cucumbers and uncured sausage (all natural, no preservatives… is this ok?).
Dinner: fish (or chicken or beef) with veggies (asparagus, broccoli, spinach) and juice drink (consists of celery, parsley, cilantro, spinach, leafy greens, carrots, cucumbers, limited frozen fruit like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and a small 2oz amount of cranberry juice and water)
Sometimes for dinner, my wife and I will also make wheat-free pizza or other wheat-free goodies from the wheat belly cookbook. So to summarize, I feel like I’m a great place now for the most part and I thank you greatly for show people like me the way! However, I really want to curtail this stomach issue sooner than later, so I can be stomach-pain free too! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks for your time!
-Tyler
Correction: “no mental” supposed to say “no mental fog”
Also, I wanted to mention that I do have usually 2 cups of coffee with a tsp of raw honey in the morning as well as 2 cups of green tea in the afternoon.
Gee, not sure, Tyler.
It’s odd that it occurs at the same time every day and not, say, before breakfast or dinner. It makes me wonder whether there is something that you are not tolerating well in breakfast. It may require a one-by-one elimination process to pinpoint.
If it weren’t for the consistent timing, I’d say look at other factors, such as pancreatic issues. But the consistent timing is odd and makes me wonder whether it therefore something induced by your choice of foods. There may be some form of intolerance you are experiencing.
Dr. Davis thanks so much for your response. I should add that I have experienced discomfort after dinner as well but it most commonly occurs before lunch. Im actually experiencing discomfort as I write this. It’s interesting to me about your one by one elimination strategy because I’ve done that for two specific foods I’ve suspected. First I eliminated avocados (which I absolutely love eating) but the pain continued, next I eliminated plain Greek yogurt. Actually, after eliminating the yogurt for a few days, I went and tried a smoothie with the yogurt again and experienced terrible stomach pain for a few hours. So I’m not eating that anymore. Lastly, my sister just had her gallbladder removed due to gall stones (I don’t necessarily think I have gall stones but I’m considering everything at this point) … could you possibly elaborate what you mean by pancreatic issues? Again, thank you so much for your time, I truly appreciate it!
Hi Tyler,
Just a suggestion:
Try organic bacon and eggs for breakfast and see if this happens. In short: skip the nuts and berries.
J.
Good suggestion James. I was going to suggest that too, plus “”Where’s the fat?” Breakfast is very important – and probably the best time for adding quality fats to the diet:
- organic, pastured Butter
– for cooking
– in eggs
- organic or Certified Humane eggs
- Non-Factory-Farm meats, like uncured bacon, sausage, ham
- heavy whipping cream:
-in coffee (with a little raw sugar or honey)
– in eggs
- raw Coconut oil – to cook with and to Drink!
– drink it – try 1 tsp at first, work way up to 1 tbl spoon
– microwave it for 15-20 seconds in cup
– then I add some cinnamon and turmeric to cup
You don’t get a high-fat diet by accident – work it! Be creative – try different ways to “up the fat”.
Bill
Working the high-fat, low-low carb diet for a year
Tyler – I bet the nuts could be to blame. I had stomach pain from raw nuts or commercially roasted nuts. However, once I learned to soak/sprout raw nuts and low-heat roast them myself (I actually use a food dehydrator to do it – it is a cinch) I had no more stomach issues from the nuts.
Um, also, if you saw all of the dirt that comes off walnuts when you soak them, you would want to do it just because of that. Yikes!
Just a thought. . . good luck.
I have suffered from acid reflux for the past 5 years. I tried everything. Cutting dairy, homeopathic medicine, pills , cut everything out my diet – who was to knew it was wheat and other gluten infested grains all along! THANK GOD for this wonderful doctor!
doctor i have a question – ive always been quite slim – despite having the painful reflux which is now gone since the wheat elimination. is it safe for me to drink milk and eat products like gluten free cornflakes ?> i dont want the acid reflux to return at any cost. the pain is unbearable.
lots of love – your big fan
I went to the book store to purchase a gluten free cook book when I saw you book “Wheat Welly Cookbook” on the end counter. I opened it up and began reading it and returned my first selection back on the shelf. I have had heart burn and acid reflux or about 2 years and it was getting worse by waking me up at 3:00 am with stomach acid in my mouth. I took pepsid AC and Tums and a tsp of Baking Soda with warm water. Nothing worked! Now, since I started the Wheat Belly way I have NO acid problems. All I can say is “THANK YOU”
Good Thoughts,
Dorothy
I’ve suffered from acid reflux for nearly 20 years.
I always had to take tums and prevacid every day, still the pain was there everyday.
I thought something was wrong with me, after all, how could a bowl of organic brown rice be bad for you?
How could that organic sprouted twelve grain bread be bad for you?
If only I had known.
My last bottle of prevacid and tums have not even been open, I am drinking coffee and tea without fear.
Losing weight too, but the heartburn?? cured??
If I had not experienced for myself I probably would never have believed it.
Sincere thanks!
My reflux is gone too. I went to the ER for the pain and got put on nexium. I want to shout it from the rooftops that eliminating wheat is all it takes! No more gas. No more tums. No more burn. Whoooop!!! Whoop!