I am a 41-year old busy mom and I have been wheat-free (and gluten-free) for 12 weeks. My results are dramatic! I found out about Wheat Belly from a friend. I looked it up on Amazon and started going wheat/gluten free the second I pressed the “buy” button! That was 12 weeks ago.


I had a dozen or so health issues that I never thought could be connected. My doctors didn’t help me at all. I read your book and helped myself. It was the wheat/grains/gluten after all. Thank you for writing this book, Dr. Davis. You changed my life!


The event kicked off with a roast by Tom Naughton of Fat Head fame, who entertained with his insightful low-carb humor and predictions of my demise at the hands of Monsanto!

Among the most important lessons provided:

Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt of the Diet Doctor blog discussed how Sweden is leading the world as the nation with the most vigorous low-carbohydrate following, witnessing incredible weight loss and reversal of carbohydrate-related diseases way ahead of the U.S. experience. I spent several hours with Dr. Eenfeldt who, besides being an engaging speaker, is a new father and an all-around gentleman. At 6 ft, 7 inches, he also towered high above all of us.

Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University and author of The New Atkins for a New You debunked low-carbohydrate myths, such as “low-carb diets are high-protein diets that make your kidneys explode.”

Dr. John Briffa, creator of the popular blog, Dr. John Briffa: A Good Look at Good Health, and author of the wonderfully straightforward primer to low-carbohydrate eating, Escape the Diet Trap, stressed the importance of never allowing hunger to rule behavior. Dr. Briffa’s serious writing tone conceals an incredible charm and wit that took me by surprise, having spent several thoroughly engaging hours over breakfast, lunch, and dinner with him over the week.

Fred Hahn, exercise expert, founder of Serious Strength and author of Slow Burn Fitness Revolution and Strong Kids, Healthy Kids, debunked a number of trendy exercise methods, boiling many of the purported benefits of exercise down to that of increased strength.

Dr. Chris Masterjohn of The Daily Lipid and supporter of the Weston A. Price Foundation program, provided a comprehensive overview of the data that fails to link saturated fat with heart disease. He also helped me understand the analytical techniques used in studies of advanced glycation end-products.

Denise Minger, brilliant young usurper of China Study dogma and blogger at Raw Foods SOS, proved an engaging speaker and a truly real person (since some critics of her analyses have actually questioned whether there was even such a person!). She also proved every bit as likable as she seems in her captivating blog discussions.

Dr. Jeff Volek, prolific researcher from University of Connecticut, author of over 200 studies validating low-carbohydrate diet effects, and author of the recently released book with Dr. Stephen Phinney, The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living, debunked myths behind carbohydrate dependence and “loading” by athletes. He also talked about how assessing blood ketones may be the gold standard method to ensure low-grade ketosis on a long-term low-carb effort.

Over a bottle of wine, Jimmy Moore and I reminisced over how his modest start with no experience in blogging or media has now ballooned to an audience of over 100,000 readers/viewers.

All in all, Jimmy’s Low-carb Cruise experience was worth every minute, with many wonderful lessons and memories!

Looking for something hot and crunchy?

These chili sesame crackers are perfect for dipping into hummus or salsa. As written, the recipe yields a moderately spicy cracker that you can modify readily by increasing or decreasing quantities of cayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce.

This recipe uses sesame seeds as the “flour.” Either brown sesame seeds or the lighter version work, though the lighter seeds yield a slightly less bitter flavor with the spices.

For ease of baking, a shallow baking pan measuring 11 x 17 inches works best, as it allows the batter to fill the pan and spread to a cracker thickness. With a smaller pan, you may have to bake in two batches.

Makes approximately 30 chips

2 cups raw sesame seeds
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1¼ cups water

Preheat oven to 350º F.

In food chopper or food processor, grind 1¼ cups sesame seeds to fine meal. Remove and place in large bowl.

Place shredded Parmesan cheese in food chopper or food processor and pulse briefly until reduced to granular consistency. Add to sesame seed meal and mix. Stir in olive oil.

Add remaining (unground) sesame seeds, chili powder, cayenne pepper, onion and garlic powder, mustard, sea salt and mix thoroughly. Add Tabasco sauce and water and mix. Add additional water, if necessary, one tablespoon at a time, to obtain a consistency similar to pancake batter.

Pour mixture into baking pan and smooth to fill pan and obtain a thickness of a cracker. If too thick, remove some batter and re-smooth. Optionally, roll a clean cylindrical glass or bottle over top to smooth and yield a consistent thickness.

Bake for 30 minutes or until edges browned and center firm. If a dry, extra crunchy cracker is designed, bake an additional 10-15 minutes at 250 degrees F.

Remove and allow to cool. Cut with pizza cutter to desired size.

Almond Flour Bread Giveaway! – Wheat Belly Certified!

We are pleased to announce Wheat-free Market Foods LLC, a company with a mission to provide the best, natural, “Wheat Belly”- friendly food products at the best prices possible. All recipes are tested and approved by Dr. Davis and the company will be run by Wheat Belly followers!

Over the next month, we will be doing small baking runs of our delicious bread and wish to give these initial loaves away in exchange for your filling out a brief 8-10 question feedback questionnaire via email, covering issues like taste, texture, functionality, and the integrity of the shipping. Recipients will be selected by random drawing.

If you are interested in participating, please email your name and address to wheatbelly@comcast.net. We will follow-up with you by email with the questionnaire and details if you will be receiving one of the samples.

USA only . . . for now. The bread will come in “generic” packaging so the focus will purely be on the bread itself. We think you’ll like it!

But perhaps you’d sure like a few muffins or cookies once in a while . . . without paying a health price.

What “flours”–non-wheat and without gluten-free junk carbohydrates–are truly safe and provide reasonable baking characteristics? Here’s my list, the flours I use in my recipes:

Almond meal–Also called just “ground almonds,” the meal ground from whole almonds is versatile and yields a great texture, though heavier than wheat-based flour. Shop around, as prices vary widely. I am in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and I can pay anywhere from $3 to $18.99 per pound from local grocery stores.

Almond flour–Though the terminology is a bit confusing, almond flour usually refers to flour ground from blanched almonds that may or may not have had the excess oil pressed from it. This yields a fine flour but minus much of the fiber and perhaps the oil. It is also more costly. I therefore reserve the use of almond flour for when a lighter texture is required, e.g., layer cake.

Ground pecans–A coarser flour than that from almonds, ground pecans can be used in place of almond meal or flour. However, I find it best for pie crusts. Anyone allergic to almonds may find ground pecans useful.

Ground walnuts–Similar to ground pecans, ground walnuts are coarser and best used as pie crust or in recipes in which a coarse texture is desired. As with ground pecans, ground walnuts may be useful for almond-allergic individuals.

Coconut flour–The flour ground from coconut meat has a wonderful taste and scent (surprisingly not coconutty, for those of you who do not like coconut). However, it yields an exceptionally dense and hygroscopic (water-absorbing) product. It is so water-absorbent that it can even become lodged in the throat if used as the sole flour. I therefore prefer to use it–for both texture and safety–as a secondary flour to modify the taste and texture of a primary flour, such as almond meal. Typically, I use 8-12 parts almond meal to 1 part coconut flour, e.g., 2 1/2 cups almond meal + 1/4 cup coconut flour.

Ground golden flaxseed–It’s the golden flaxseed you want, not the more common brown, when you desire a flour replacement. The golden yields a finer texture. Used by itself, the ground golden flaxseed tends to be too crumbly, so it is best used as a secondary flour along with almond meal or other nut meal.

Pumpkin seed meal–Easy to grind, pumpkin seed meal is dense. I’ve not played around with it enough to know just how well it performs, but I’ll bet it yields a great brownie, perhaps combined 50:50 with almond meal.

Sesame seed meal–Sesame seeds yield a surprisingly light flour. I’ve been making sesame seed crackers with ground sesame meal, whole sesame seeds, mustard powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper to dip in hummus–wonderful!

Sunflower seed meal–Like pumpkin seed meal, sunflower seed meal is something I have not yet had much opportunity to experiment with. But I suspect it will yield another oil-rich and dense flour replacement.

Garbanzo bean flour–This almost didn’t make the list due to higher carbohydrate content. However, this is among the lowest of the various bean flours available. Yeah, sure, there’s the phytate anti-nutrient issue with garbanzo beans, but if consumed occasionally as a flour I don’t believe there is a real issue. Like coconut flour, I find garbanzo bean flour useful as a “lightening” flour to make nut flours a bit lighter and less dense.

Chia seed meal–I made brownies with chia seed meal the other night, cut 50:50 with almond meal, but it yielded too heavy a texture. It also soaked up the stevia sweetener, increasing need 3-fold. It may prove useful in future recipes, but so far I’ve not quite figured out how to use this linolenic acid-rich flour.

There are indeed many other flours and meals you can purchase or grind yourself, but I’ve crossed those off the list for a variety of reasons, such as the unacceptably high carbohydrate content of chestnut flour, teff flour, amaranth flour, and sorghum flour. If you play around with the sunflower seed, pumpkin seed, or chia seed flours and find a useful application, please come and let us know what you did.

And don’t sweat the linoleic acid/omega-6 content of these flours. After all, our diets should be rich in vegetables, fish, poultry, beef, pork, avocados, olives and olive oil, while the foods we prepare from these flours are simply additions to a diet of real foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, monounsaturates and saturated fats. Have your three egg omelet, for instance, with olive oil, Romano cheese, spinach, and mushrooms, followed by a couple of chocolate chip cookies. You’ll come out just fine!

But chief among the changes in wheat were changes in the gliadin protein molecule. We know, for instance, that the Glia-alpha 9 sequence, absent from traditional wheat, can be found in virtually all modern wheat. This is likely the explanation underlying the four-fold increase in celiac disease over the past 50 years, since Glia-alpha 9 predictably triggers the immune reaction that leads to the intestinal destruction characteristic of celiac disease.

But modern wheat also stimulates appetite . . . not a little, but a lot. The introduction of modern high-yield, semi-dwarf wheat was accompanied by an abrupt increase in calorie consumption of 440 calories per day, 365 days per year. This is because modern gliadin in wheat is an opiate. But this opiate doesn’t cause a “high” like heroine; it causes appetite stimulation.

Big Food companies, commanding tens of billions (not millions, but billions, or 1000 millions) of dollars of revenues per year, employ some very smart food scientists. Among their many responsibilities, food scientists are charged with observing the eating behavior of humans who eat their products, often conducting taste tests and trials to observe eating behavior. (Anyone read Brian Wansink’s Mindless Eating? Great stories of food experiments with human subjects.) Surely food scientists noticed that, somewhere around 1985, appetite was enormously triggered by consumption of crackers, breads, pretzels, bagels and the multitude of other test products made of wheat making entry into the marketplace. After all, the business of food scientists is to observe eating behavior.

So why didn’t they sound the alarm? Why didn’t we hear food scientists declare “We think there’s something wrong in some of the new foods we are creating. Specifically, it appears that foods created from the new high-yield strains of wheat are triggering appetite substantially”?

Perhaps they couldn’t, being employed by Big Food companies with a need to maintain proprietary inside information. Or, perhaps they said something like “Shhhhhh! Don’t tell anybody! Let’s just put it in . . . everything!” How else can we explain the fact that, in the 1970s, wheat was only in primary wheat-based foods like breads, cookies, and cakes, but now wheat is in everything: It’s in canned and instant soups, salad dressings, licorice, granola and candy bars, virtually all fast food . . . you name it, wheat’s there. (Remember: Big Tobacco did precisely this kind of thing when they used to dope their cigarettes with higher nicotine content to increase addictive potential. As with many things wheat, tobacco showed us in how many ways big corporations can bend products and issues to their own agenda, your health be damned.)

Unfortunately, this is just my speculation, given the incredible and difficult-to-explain ubiquity of wheat. So I’m hoping to identify a whistleblower, someone from inside the walls of Big Food, preferably back in the 1980s when this phenomenon got underway. If you have such insights, please post a comment here, anonymously if you prefer.

In other words, it would be priceless to be able to prove that, not only did food scientists in Big Food know about the appetite-stimulating effects of modern wheat, they used this knowledge to increase revenues.

Modern wheat is an opiate.

And, of course, I don’t mean that wheat is an opiate in the sense that you like it so much that you feel you are addicted. Wheat is truly addictive.

Wheat is addictive in the sense that it comes to dominate thoughts and behaviors. Wheat is addictive in the sense that, if you don’t have any for several hours, you start to get nervous, foggy, tremulous, and start desperately seeking out another “hit” of crackers, bagels, or bread, even if it’s the few stale 3-month old crackers at the bottom of the box. Wheat is addictive in the sense that there is a distinct withdrawal syndrome characterized by overwhelming fatigue, mental “fog,” inability to exercise, even depression that lasts several days, occasionally several weeks. Wheat is addictive in the sense that the withdrawal process can be provoked by administering an opiate-blocking drug such as naloxone or naltrexone.

But the “high” of wheat is not like the high of heroine, morphine, or Oxycontin. This opiate, while it binds to the opiate receptors of the brain, doesn’t make us high. It makes us hungry.

This is the effect exerted by gliadin, the protein in wheat that was inadvertently altered by geneticists in the 1970s during efforts to increase yield. Just a few shifts in amino acids and gliadin in modern high-yield, semi-dwarf wheat became a potent appetite stimulant.

Wheat stimulates appetite. Wheat stimulates calorie consumption: 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year, for every man, woman, and child. (440 calories per person per day is the average.) We experience this, sense the weight gain that is coming and we push our plate away, settle for smaller portions, increase exercise more and more . . . yet continue to gain, and gain, and gain. Ask your friends and neighbors who try to include more “healthy whole grains” in their diet. They exercise, eat a “well-balanced diet” . . . yet gained 10, 20, 30, 70 pounds over the past several years. Accuse your friends of drinking too much Coca Cola by the liter bottle, or being gluttonous at the all-you-can-eat buffet and you will likely receive a black eye. Many of these people are actually trying quite hard to control impulse, appetite, portion control, and weight, but are losing the battle with this appetite-stimulating opiate in wheat.

Ignorance of the gliadin effect of wheat is responsible for the idiocy that emits from the mouths of gastroenterologists like Dr. Peter Green of Columbia University who declares:

“We tell people we don’t think a gluten-free diet is a very healthy diet . . . Gluten-free substitutes for food with gluten have added fat and sugar. Celiac patients often gain weight and their cholesterol levels go up. The bulk of the world is eating wheat. The bulk of people who are eating this are doing perfectly well unless they have celiac disease.”

In the simple minded thinking of the gastroenterology and celiac world, if you don’t have celiac disease, you should eat all the wheat you want . . . and never mind about the appetite-stimulating effects of gliadin, not to mention the intestinal disruption and leakiness generated by wheat lectins, or the high blood sugars and insulin of the amylopectin A of wheat, or the new allergies being generated by the new alpha amylases of modern wheat.

Kim posted her story of her decades-long struggle for health, but a story with a happy ending of rediscovering health within days:

I am a 51 year old female. I am a former dancer, and all my life had been very lean, and had lots of muscle. Of course when I stopped dancing I gained a little weight, but was still lean by most standards.

My energy level is up, my concentration is better, my skin looks great . . . I am amazed at the changes in just 3 days! I can’t wait to see what happens after a couple weeks! I think there should be a skull and crossbones on everything containing wheat, because THAT is how I see it now!

Eliminate the gliadin protein of wheat and it can no longer trigger activation of inflammatory T-lymphocytes in the intestinal lining. Eliminate the lectin of wheat, wheat germ agglutinin, and this direct intestinal toxin can no longer destroy intestinal villi, increase intestinal permeability to foreign substances, and enter the bloodstream itself (and generate wheat germ agglutinin antibodies). (Interestingly, in experimental models, administration of wheat lectin alone is sufficient to generate celiac disease-like destructive changes.)

The majority of people who eliminate wheat therefore experience relief from symptoms of acid reflux and heartburn, relief from the gas, cramps, and diarrhea of irritable bowel syndrome, and marked reduction–occasionally cure–of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

But not everybody.

What about the relatively smaller number of people who eliminate wheat and feel a bit better . . . but don’t return to normal, happy intestinal health? Putting aside the odd possibility that an entirely separate condition is simultaneously present, such as gallstones or duodenal ulcer, why would someone experience, say, 70% relief from acid reflux or irritable bowel symptoms, but not 100%?

Here are some possibilities:

–Wheat-eaters have different bowel flora (bacteria) compared to non-wheat consumers. When a wheat-consuming individual does away with all wheat, there is a necessary shift in the numbers and species of bowel bacteria. (Dysbiosis, or bacterial overgrowth, i.e., marked increases in the numbers of bacteria, a shift in composition away from normal and favoring some uncommon species, and greater numbers ascending higher in the intestinal tract into the ileum, jejunum, and duodenum, is common in wheat-eating individuals.) But, for unclear reasons, some people struggle with the shift back to a more normal bacterial profile. After eliminating wheat, they may be left (most typically) with constipation or excessive gas.

Some people therefore experience a smoother transition in bowel habits by supplementing with a probiotic preparation, e.g., 50 billion CFUs, preferably containing species of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus. Most people experience relief within days to weeks to initiating a probiotic regimen. (Incidentally, yogurt preparations do not work for this purpose, no matter how long you consume them.)

–Impaired pancreatic enzyme release–The pancreas produces enzymes required for digestion. Also for unclear reasons, some people develop less than optimal release of pancreatic enzymes and, while enjoying partial relief with wheat elimination, are left with some residual cramping, gas, and diarrhea. Some people describe (and this can be assessed formally) remnants of partially-digested food in their bowel movements (e.g., meat fragments, oil droplets). Perhaps it’s from low-grade repetitive pancreatic injury/inflammation from gliadin/lectin. Or maybe it’s from glucotoxicity and lipotoxicity from the metabolic derangements so common in the wheat-eating individual (e.g., high blood sugar, high triglycerides, postprandial lipoproteins). Or maybe it’s from the small intestinal lymphocytic infiltration or villous atrophy (destruction of the intestinal lining) of the wheat-eater.

While this is an undoubted oversimplification, some of these people simply respond to a several month course of pancreatic enzymes, especially one that contains the fat-digesting enzyme, lipase.

The wheat eliminating experience for us non-celiac people is growing rapidly and widely. Should you be among those who struggle with full recovery of bowel health after elimination of all things wheat, please speak up and report your experience!

BakingBusiness.com posted this press release about the Grain Foods Foundation’s new initiative to “educate” schoolchildren about “healthy whole grains”:

This is war. Because they share the message of the USDA and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (read “effective deep-pocketed lobbying”) to eat more “healthy whole grains,” they appear to be on the side of right. Hook these kids with the opiate in wheat, gliadin, and they have eager customers for life. And, if they gain plenty of weight and become diabetic at, say, age 16 or 24, they have a new customer for the diabetes drug industry–you know, the people who have been vigorous financial supporters of the Wheat Lobby for 20 years. Everyone wins! . . . except your kids.

In my mind, this is unconscionable, despicable, downright dirty. It’s like Bernie Madoff showing up in your child’s classroom one day to pitch his latest hedge fund opportunity, all with the blessing of the SEC.

Anyone wishing to at least let educators know that this is not the good news it pretends to be is invited to send a letter to your child’s school to at least voice your opinion. Here’s a sample letter. Feel free to use it.

Dear Principal ______________:

I have become aware of an initiative by an industry-representing trade and lobbying group, the Grain Foods Foundation, to provide “Grain Education Packets” to teachers of Grades 3 through 6, which may include the ____________ metro area. I personally disagree with the message that modern grains are in fact a part of a healthy diet. But irrespective of that, I do not think it is appropriate for “private industry” to lobby their message to children in public schools.

With the increasing prevalence of celiac disease and gluten intolerance – an estimated 90% of which is undiagnosed – wheat flour should actually contain a warning message! And it’s not just about gluten. Two slices of whole wheat bread will spike blood sugar higher than a Snickers bar, due to its extremely efficient-digested carbohydrates. Additionally, the lectins in wheat play havoc on the gastrointestinal system. There are studies exploring the link between the gliadin protein in wheat and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, as gliadin can penetrate the blood-brain barrier. There is an entirely new frontier in exploring the effects of modern, hybridized wheat and its effect on health and obesity. I think, as with the tobacco industry, in 10 years or so we will look back on these past 3-4 decades and say, “what were we thinking???”

I am trying to wean my own ___________-grader off of wheat products, and would resent private industry lobbyists effectively reaching ______her/him in our schools. To me this is the equivalent of allowing Joe Camel to pitch cigarettes in schools, with “whole grains” hearkening to a time when “low tar” or “filtered” cigarettes were considered less bad, so they were pitched as healthy.

As a parent with a child attending __________, I would appreciate your staff dumping any Grain Foods Foundation material it receives in the incinerator. And, at a minimum, I would ask that ____ not participate in any “activities” related to this.

Sincerely yours,

_______________________________