Many of you know that the Wheat Belly concepts got their start when I was trying to help patients in my cardiology practice obtain better control over risk for coronary disease. An exceptionally common combination of abnormalities in people with heart attacks, survivors of sudden cardiac death, those who have undergone stent implantation or bypass surgery, or have high coronary calcium scores (an early quantifier of coronary atherosclerotic plaque): large quantities of small LDL particles and high blood sugars (high fasting glucose and/or hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c, reflecting long-term blood sugar fluctuations).
Because wheat is the most dominant grain in the modern diet as well as the most offensive, being a major contributor to formation of small LDL particles and raising blood sugar, I asked my patients to remove all wheat products from their diet. As seasoned Wheat Belliers know, this can be a tall order, as it means eliminating all bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, bagels, pretzels, breaded meats, breadcrumbs, rolls, and other popular foods. I also asked people to not seek replacements in the form of gluten-free products, as they also extravagantly trigger small LDL particles and rises in blood sugar.
Everyone here now knows what happens next: Yes, small LDL particles plummeted, HDL cholesterol levels increased, triglycerides dropped dramatically, blood pressure dropped, c-reactive protein dropped to zero, visceral fat shrunk, postprandial (after-meal) lipoproteins normalized–all adding up to dramatic reductions in the factors that cause coronary disease. Indeed, many people obtained reversal of coronary disease by this route, including reduction in coronary calcium scores and putting a stop to the need for repeated heart procedures (when combined with other strategies including vitamin D and fish oil supplementation, normalization of thyroid status, and some others). I did this in nearly everybody coming through my office at the time, anyone who was willing and able to follow such a dietary change.
As time passed, I also witnessed other changes outside of coronary disease that people reported to me. In addition to the often astounding quantities of weight loss, people asked me why their migraine headaches disappeared, why their seborrhea and psoriasis went away, why acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome were gone within the first week, why their joint pain was gone . . . This prompted me to ask questions to understand why such health changes developed, questions such as “How has wheat changed?” and “What is in modern wheat that, upon removal, could account for such health changes?” answered by conversations with agricultural scientists in universities and the USDA. As I came to understand these issues better–that agribusiness and geneticists had introduced extensive changes into modern wheat, that the genetics of wheat overlapped considerably with other grains, that current dietary advice overlooked an amazing body of clinical data documenting the adverse health effects of wheat and grains–I urged more and more people to engage in this lifestyle. And I continued to see extravagant, life-changing results.
But it was one woman who persuaded me that delivering this message through my cardiology practice and my then modest online presence was not enough, that it was time to broadcast these issues to a larger audience and raise questions about the wisdom of modern dietary advice. It was the same woman I talked about at the start of the Wheat Belly Total Health Public Television Special. This woman was a 38-year old schoolteacher and mother of two children who was referred to me for evaluation of palpitations, a flip-flop feeling of her heart that was annoying and frightening. EKGs and Holter monitors (24-hour recordings of heart rhythm) and other basic assessments only revealed a benign heart irregularity in the form of premature atrial complexes, benign extra beats that can be annoying but are harmless. Because part of any cardiac evaluation is a full medical history, she also told me about her ulcerative colitis. She’d been struggling with this condition for 12 years, suffering daily around-the-clock abdominal pain, cramps, bloating, diarrhea, and bleeding in her bowel movements. The bleeding was bad enough that she required blood transfusions every 2 to 3 months. She was being treated with two oral medications and a (toxic and expensive) intravenous drug, but without improvement. Her gastroenterologist therefore recommended a total colectomy (complete removal of the colon) with creation of an ileostomy, i.e., a surface orifice cut into the abdominal wall to pass stool, rather than the colon and rectum, the usual route. It meant having to affix an adhesive bag to the abdominal skin, tolerating the noises that come from such a device (recall that she was a schoolteacher), risking infection of the artificial stoma (orifice), as well as the nutritional and health implications of no longer having a colon. The change in the self-perception of her body would also be irretrievably changed. In short, an awful path for a young woman.
I had not discussed diet with her up to this point, as I had viewed her consultation as limited only to an opinion about her benign palpitations, case closed. But when she told me all this about her colitis and her anticipated colectomy/ileostomy, I said to her,”I know you’re not here for your colitis, nor for nutritional consultation, but let me tell you about the diet approach I use for people with coronary disease but provides benefits in other areas of health. We start with elimination of all wheat.”
She looked at me, puzzled, and declared “My doctor tested me for celiac disease, did two biopsies and ran the blood tests. I don’t have celiac disease!”
“Yes, I understand. But there is more to this lifestyle than celiac disease. I don’t think you’ve got anything to lose. They are going to take your colon out, after all.”
So she reluctantly acquiesced, accepting the simple two-page handout that I had written detailing how to go about this process of wheat elimination.
She returned 3 months later, no ileostomy in sight nor any such sounds audible, with a big smile on her face. I asked her what happened. “Within a week, the bloating and pain stopped. Then the bleeding stopped. Every day I felt better and better. I’ve already stopped two of the drugs. And I lost 38 pounds and I wasn’t even trying!”
Indeed, she looked far healthier, alive, and vibrant than she had before, as well as thinner, now clearly at normal weight, no longer intermittently clutching her abdomen in pain. She returned to her gastroenterologist and said “Look at me: I’m essentially cured, off my medications, lost weight, and feel better than I have in years!”
Her gastroenterologist, the one who had prescribed the drugs and performed the biopsies, shrugged his shoulders and responded, “It’s just a coincidence. Go back to what you were doing.” In other words, confronted with an impressive remission of a dangerous and debilitating condition, rather than probing her experience with questions to understand the why and how, he dismissed it, even telling her that her efforts were pointless. I knew this gastroenterologist. He wasn’t a bad person, wasn’t stupid, and was honest. But he was afflicted with a disease that plagues many of my colleagues: If it doesn’t involve prescription drugs or procedures, or if it did not involve his/her advice (since many doctors are control freaks), then it must not be of any consequence–even if apparent cure is witnessed.
This pi—- me off so much, nagging at me for weeks, that I wanted to confront and shame this gastroenterologist into recognizing his enormous blunder. But I also understood that this disease-of-the-mind, this narrow-mindedness and indifference to genuine health, plagued most of my colleagues, not just this one gastroenterologist. And confronting him would make an enemy for life, not an enlightened convert.
So this was when it became clear that these issues needed to be discussed publicly, not just in my cardiology practice. More science required? The science already existed. All I did was put it all together and ask,”If we already have a substantial body of clinical evidence that associates wheat consumption with a multitude of diseases, if we know that the changes introduced into modern wheat amplified the problems they create for humans who consume it, now coupled with repeated, large scale anecdotal evidence that reverses hundreds of health conditions, why not broadcast these concerns?” This is what led me to write Wheat Belly, first a blog post on my old Heart Scan Blog (back then, I used to write extensively for people in my program showing them how heart scans to obtain coronary calcium scores could be used to track, even reverse, coronary atherosclerotic plaque), followed by Wheat Belly, the original book.
For me, the extraordinary experience of that one woman who had suffered from ulcerative colitis without relief for 12 years, who experienced cure of her disease (now off all medications, by the way), yet encountered the yawn of indifference of a conventionally-thinking gastroenterologist more interested in revenue-generating endoscopies rather than the welfare of his patients, the frustration and disappointment I felt towards conventional healthcare and notions of healthy eating–that’s what set me on this course of discussing this contrary lifestyle, but continuing to see thousands and thousands of other people also experiencing impressive turnarounds in health and weight.
Beyond stunning . Beyond incredible. Almost too hard to grasp that such a misery producing substance is hiding in plain sight right here in front of us. I was in Greece for a month recently. Those ultra-healthy Mediterranean Diet eaters? Forget it. They are fat, sick, inflamed. And I was in a US Walmart yesterday. Everybody in there was fat, sick, inflamed. I was surprised how similar the two populations looked.
So it’s a global phenomenon. Keep going, there are ears listening at very senior levels. It might take 20-50-100 years but this is so important.
-john d
Thank you, John. That has been my experience, also. Just back from France where I saw that this notion of no fat French people was clearly and obviously incorrect.
Did the school teacher’s palpitations cease, along with the colitis?
So glad GOD blessed us with a MD willing to think outside the box and get to the real root of the problem that is helping MILLIONS and Millions get healthy and lose weight too. I only wish I had known about you BEFORE my stent in 2004, BEFORE my Quad BYPASS in 2012 … I am working on living the wheat free lifestyle, and although I am not there 100% yet, I am seeing vast improvements in my Lab numbers, and when anyone asks me why, I simply tell them WHEAT BELLY, READ the book!!! Recently, I had a knee replaced, and my lab numbers were the best i’d had in years, and I owe it all to a simple 2 months of avoiding wheat and sugar laden items. Heck, my Liver panel numbers were better than normal levels in over 15 years! Thank you Dr. Davis, and I am a crusader for you and your Books because they are what EVERYONE needs…a wake up call to get healthy and STAY THAT WAY.
Terrific, Cyn!
BTW, Doc, a guy I met reckons WB caused his MS. After he said that I didn’t want to argue with him so wished him well.
But I postulate that he had already contracted MS -is that correct ? – by the time he started the WB diet and concluded therefore that he got MS from WB.
Is it even remotely possible that WB could kick off MS?
re: But I postulate that he had already contracted MS …
That’s the more likely theory.
re: After he said that I didn’t want to argue …
If you run into him again, tell him to try the Wahls Protocol for reversing MS. Let him figure out by himself, after the MS is remissed, that WP and WB are extremely similar.
ABSOLUTELY!!
Dr Davis, we need you cloned, STAT!!
Far too few practitioners around who use what few brain cells they possess.
I have had ulcerative colitis for 30 years. My colonoscopys are every 2 years. I just had the most recent one and was told by my doctor that I am 2 years in remission. I have been following the wheat belly eating style for a year and a half now… I believe it has made me healthy! I am off all meds too! I couldn’t be happier :) I also feel no arthritis pain… I highly recommend this lifestyle change!
Thank you !!!!
Judie
Good work, Judie!
And don’t neglect vitamin D and bowel flora–crucial for long-term protection.
Dr Davis, I have experienced the “cure” that is Wheat Belly first hand. My diabetes has been reversed. Following a double bypass and a diagnosis of congestive heart failure I’m now off all heart medications except for Losartan. My Fibromylagia symptoms are gone. My osteoarthritis symptoms are much improved. My collogenous colitis that got worse at first but is now under control without meds. And I’ve lost 22 lbs in five months. What is even a greater improvement for me is the sciatica pain that I’ve endured for years. Born with spondylolisthesis and following a failed back surgery to repair that I have suffered great pain for most of my life. My sciatica is so severe it twists my legs and feet and splays my toes apart. I was just about to have a neurostimulator implant placed when I found and started Wheat Belly. I no longer need it and cancelled the surgery! Grains also affect neurological problems. I’ve been spreading the Wheat Belly message on my Facebook page and have had little feedback from people. Now, as time has gone by I am seeing people who have read about my Facebook posts passing on the info I shared and strangers are now contacting me for more information. I gladly pass on what I know and refer them to your books. One by one you are changing lives and changing the world. I could not be more grateful to you for changing my life!
Hi – Your story is inspiring. I was wondering if I could ask if you went off all grains or just wheat. I am off wheat – believe I am celiac. But, I have not removed all grain from my diet. Just wanted to know about you.
I’m off all grains and sugars.
This is terrific, Rose! Keep spreading the word, as you recognize that, despite your extravagant results, NO doctor ever even suggested this path for you but were very willing to share toxic drugs and procedures.
Wow! Reminds me of a very recent conversation with a cardiologist during a checkup for my heart murmur. The doctor was amazed at my cholesterol level, and even made the comment that it was so much better than his. Well, what better opportunity to say that if he ditched the grains, it would really help. He then said that we’re set up to eat that way, and my reply was “then we’re set up to fail”. I recommended he read “Wheat Belly”. I’m happy to say at the end of the visit he asked me again for the name of the book. Keep doing what you do so well Dr. Davis!
re: I recommended he read “Wheat Belly”.
The book to recommend today is Wheat Belly Total Health.
re: … at the end of the visit he asked me again for the name of the book.
Now THAT’S unusual.
I have been following the Wheat Belly for several months now and am very pleased with the results, thank you Dr. Davis. I have watched you on PBS several times and am amazed each time of your awesome knowledge. I have all three of your books and have made many of your recipes. I do not have wheat concerns but wanted to follow a healthier way of living and eating, I do like to share with others how my life has changed since I started on being wheat/grain free but I feel I am alone in my journey, I have found some people do not seem to be interested in this healthier lifestyle, for the life of me I cannot understand this!!! I am currently on Weight Watchers and am able to combine the two with more healthy choices, I tried sharing my success and recipes with members at WW but they were not interested. So I thank you Dr. Davis for your wonderful website, knowledge and members to encourage me and others to keep moving forward to enjoy our new life, thank you for giving me mine back:) You are truly a blessing from above……..
Thanks, Kathy.
The Weight Watchers people are quaking in their point-counting boots because they are beginning to understand how wrong their approach is. It’s not your imagination!
Can you have collagen peptides?
re: Can you have collagen peptides?
Marine or “pasture” (animal hide) sourced?
And what brand/product?
This question hasn’t arisen on the blog previously, but a little looking around suggests that if you are consuming bone broth or any “nose to tail” foods, like oxtail soup, you don’t need collagen supplements.
Pasture
Vital Proteins
Dr. Davis,
Thank you for your continued quest to share this with the world! I have also found myself feeling frustrated with my own colleagues and the health care teams at my clinic where I practice as a clinical psychologist. I have patients who are on 30 medications, diabetic, overweight, in poor health, not sleeping, depressed, and anxious. And when I read the chart, after meeting with dieticians, it says “Consume a low fat, high fiber diet.” How frustrating!! So, whenever I get the opportunity, I talk to my patients about reading the books, or looking at the blog, or just taking some step towards a Grain-Free lifestyle, and I tell them, “What do you have to lose?” It’s bittersweet to know the effects of this lifestyle but to continue to see people poisoning themselves and feeling like victims. Here’s to optimism for the future, and to more people learning how to take back control of their health!
I’ve had great results going gluten and grain free, but that’s all I’ve given up completely. I still have a little dairy and way too much sugar. I have Lupus and Lupus Nephritis and Fibromyalgia. Going gluten and grain free have greatly improved my labs (kidney labs) and has helped reduce some of my other symptoms, but I know I’ve got to take it to another level and get off the sugar (chocolate and ice cream) as I’ve been fighting oral candidia for 4 months and can’t get rid of it. My question is, do you think the Wheat Belly Plan will help me get rid of my Candidia problems?
re: … do you think the Wheat Belly Plan will help me get rid of my Candidia problems?
Make that the Wheat Belly Total Health plan, which incorporates gut flora remediation. It may or may not bring the Candida under control by itself, but is key to keeping it at bay once under control. C. albicans is a normal component of human gut biome. When it gets out of control, it suggests some independent pathology in the gut biome. The Candida is merely taking advantage of that.
Having followed some net traffic on Candida, it can be tough to reduce to normal levels. If the WBTH approach alone doesn’t reverse it, the next steps I might consider would be a probiotic enema (for which there is a protocol in Perlmutter’s new book Brain Maker), and if that didn’t do it, FMT (which is not yet approved in the US for Candida, but only for C.diff, so you might have to go elsewhere or enroll in a trial).
Trying to nuke it with prescription anti-fungals would be a last resort. Research extensively, and be your own case manager. And sure, stop eating Candida candy :).
Candida colonizes guts where beneficial bacteria are killed off through diets of things like wheat and dairy. Candida thrives on fructose. Fructose represents the natural taste of sweetness. If it tastes sweet then don’t eat it.
The opiates in wheat and dairy drive you to keep seeking fructose. It should be easier to drop the fructose now that you’ve given up wheat. However, it should be easier yet after you give up dairy.
Uncle Roscoe, does the same concept apply for yeast?
Hi Elizabeth. Candida albicans is a species of yeast bacteria, although a very persistent and disease-causing one. It’s worth repeating. Candida thrives on fructose, and fructose is responsible for the taste of sweetness. Nothing which tastes sweet should be exempt from an anti-candida diet. Candida also thrives when foods like wheat kill off competing good bacteria.
The property which makes candida most persistent is its ability to go dormant by retreating into tiny protective spores. The property which makes candida most invasive is its propensity for extending spike filaments, and propagating spores along them.
If you place the symptoms of gluten sensitivity next to the symptoms of candidiasis it’s hard to tell them apart.
re: Candida thrives on fructose, …
There’s a major Wheat Belly connection there, too: fructans.
There are bacteria that can convert fructans to fructose in the gut.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3576823/
These bacteria may be over-represented in the guts of people with metabolic syndrome and obesity. If someone is overweight, it’s worth considering.
The #1 dietary source of fructans? Wheat, and #2 is, no surprise, rye.
Alas, other apparently innocuous foods also contain fructans, including onions, garlic, artichoke, and chocolate. These might need to be avoided until weight has settled to desired levels.
re: … and fructose is responsible for the taste of sweetness.
And is a real hazard in so-called “low GI” “natural” sugars. Fructose fools a glycometer. It doesn’t fool your gut, liver or waistline.
Thank you again, this is good to know, am going to check my self for candida, coz i have a crazy sweet tooth! Since i started WB (29th May 2015)though, no sugar except for Stevia and some dark chocolate i have had, this week though i had some blue berries and strawberries with fresh cream only. Onion and garlic is a staple in the food that i consume, marination of meats often has garlic in it.
SO in order to stave off my hunger and sweet tooth i will have to stop: dairy, onions, garlic :-(, tomatoes, squash and bell peppers too.
What about almonds & almond meal/flour, coz of WB cooking involves almonds in. This return of hunger and craving for sweet started after i followed on of the WB recipes to cook pancakes and used almond meal, flaxseeds flour and baking soda(market purchased, had it at home, it had a component of corn flour) could this have caused the cravings?
Re: “This return of hunger and craving for sweet started after i followed on of the WB recipes to cook pancakes and used almond meal, flaxseeds flour and baking soda(market purchased, had it at home, it had a component of corn flour) could this have caused the cravings?”
Besides watching what you shouldn’t eat, you should watch what you should eat. You should eat lots of fat and fatty meats, and quit trying to find an on-diet recipe for pancakes. Unstated, it’s the next level in Wheat Belly dieting. Nuts? I can’t eat them because of phytate and opiate effects. I can’t eat eggs either, but I’m not totally clear on what content is harming me.
You need to test yourself on everything. Eliminate lots of foods at once. Live on a diet of meat, fish, ghee, broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, cabbage and lettuce for three weeks. You probably should supplement with 250 mg per day of vitamin C just in case. Start into an exercise regime. You choose the regime. Your cravings should subside within three days. Your symptoms should stabilize within two or three weeks. Start adding back the foods in question one at a time. If your body and brain don’t tell you when a food harms you, your exercise endurance will slap you in the face with it. If a food sets you back then re-eliminate it, and stabilize before introducing the next food.
If you are affected by more than one food, and you try eliminating one food at a time, then it won’t work. If you eliminating only one of the foods which harms you, it will fail to relieve your symptoms, and you will keep the harmful food in your diet.
Here’s how to clarify butter for ghee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quHSdDcaVP0
I clarify two pounds at a time. It lasts me about a week. By the way, unsalted butter usually has flavor additives which can be harmful, but not salted butter. Good luck.
Brilliant! am going to try as suggested and work through this,eggs haven’t bothered me so far, as it has kept me full. Nuts am not so sure(so giving them up in this elimination process).
Will follow the process as suggested and see how this works out.
Thank you Uncle Roscoe! I’ll keep you posted three weeks from now.
Cheers!
re: … it had a component of corn flour) could this have caused the cravings?
Possibly. What was the product?
To provide some context for the diverse reader advice here, if when following the WB Total Health recommendations, someone finds that they aren’t getting textbook results, that just means they aren’t a textbook (mainstream) case.
What’s at variance in any particular case, varies. What Uncle Roscoe is dealing with, for example, may not be what someone else needs to work through. His approach to it is still valid. Doing a major elimination trial is always worthwhile, as long as you avoid deficiencies in critical nutrients. Major elimination trials are the core of most auto-immune protocols. The foods least likely at be at cause can be carefully re-introduced and tested later.
If an AI condition is present, and was triggered by wheat or other known adverse food you never expect to consume again, it is often possible to re-introduce even some of the other formerly troublesome foods once the antibody titer has subsided. Titers can take months to years to recede.
If dairy is eliminated, I would suggest re-challenging it starting with caprine (goat) dairy. If that is trouble-free, bovine (cow) dairy might be tried, but in our household, we decided, why bother, given that bovine dairy as so many problems.
Thanks Bob.
The product was baking powder – Mr. Bakers or so..
I mentioned earlier about PCOS, I’ve done some more reading on it, it may have certain AI features, especially as insulin triggers this particular disorder. Also the bowel movements arent as normal as i would want them to be. Now
Now if you look at all the testimonials on the blog, there are loads of people who have serious AI issues and still saw a major change/weightloss etc. Hence wen i came across WB it was very refreshing to be able to do a more substantial diet.
I’ve currently taken Uncle R’s advice and gone on a complete elimination of most food items with a few exceptions( i totally miss onions and garlic- love them). Also no dairy for now…as you suggested i’ll start of with goat milk.
Theres also a lot of research and talk about how nuts or nut meals aren’t healthy because of oxalates produced by them and also phytate( info from- empowered sustenance blog). Also Dr. Atkins diet closely ties in with WB recommends not to eat nuts at all for the first 3 weeks.
SO am still a little confused, if you look at the WB cookbook…a lot of almond meal is used? is it dangerous?unhealthy? For the moment elimination is the game and movement/some form of exercise, coz its been 3 weeks and i don’t see change :-(!!
re: SO am still a little confused, if you look at the WB cookbook…a lot of almond meal is used? is it dangerous?unhealthy?
See:
https://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2015/03/wheat-belly-meals-flours-baking/
Some people cannot handle almond, particularly those with a chronic or transient nut allergy, so the flours list includes alternatives. Dr. Davis has also described using nut flours is a pick-your-battles matter.
Keep in mind that cookbooks almost by definition over-represent preparation of multiple-ingredient foods, and ancestrally-biased-diet cookbooks tend to contain many modern-mimic foods to aid dietary transition. If you are eating basic single-ingredient foods, prepared nut-based dishes and treats won’t be on the table that often.
True that Bob! I actually forgot about the alternative flours…its there in the WB books!
I just tried the almond meal pancake in the third week as an alternative breakfast to eggs! That’s really set me.back…post that the cravings started.
You are corect…single ingredient meals dont really include anything in it but spices for seasoning. So am going go stick to it till I lose weight! I need to shed almost 90 pounds! It’s frustrating at times wennu read so many successes and in ones case its taking so long!
* Oops…Candida
That’s fantastic! Colitis tends to be a disease often mentioned, even in alternative health ideas, as not responding or responding well to dietary changes. I’ve seen in a number of mentions that not being the case though, such as this. It seems many with colitis do better when different dietary ideas are tried, such as avoiding wheat and grains.
I have a form of colitis myself, that responds to diet. Years ago I had an open minded GI doctor that, despite tests coming back negative for celiac, tell me I should avoid wheat since I felt better when I did. This is back in the day, before all the gluten free foods were available or paleo and low carb diet eating were well known. I can remember having a chore figuring out what to eat. I discovered brown rice noodles in a store. That became a staple in the diet, high fiber rice noodles, hamburger and spagetti sauce. Looking back it probably not the wisest choice for me to make.
I can recall originally, after the GI doctors diagnosis, eating wheat free not helping as much as I wished. In part I didn’t realize how much fiber can also be a problem for me. An inflamed colon doesn’t want fiber in it. The good news for me is that over the long run avoiding wheat and grains has helped improve a really bad situation. The severe frightening stomach attacks haven’t returned since avoiding wheat.
In my case there seems to be other foods that cause me problems. I’m working that out as best I can. Pumpkin were easy to recognize as an avoid food. The latest food to avoid is olives and olive oil! So far so good. It’s hard to believe how much energy I’ve had of late! The gut is doing very well most of the time too. If this is how normal bowel people feel, I can get used to this! As usual time will tell though.
I can’t believe the wonderful effect that WB has had on so many people!
I personally am not following the WB Lifestyle, for many reasons.
I have been on the WB lifestyle from 2012 – 2014, until I started gaining weight like crazy. I developed KP on my arms and my face, and I had a major problem with my bowel movements. I did not grow one inch (I am right now 13 years old) during those two years, even though I was following the WB books word-for-word. I was very confused as to why this was happening, and I felt very slow and depressed.
March 2015, I decided to go back on wheat and grains. I was totally amazed – I lost 3 lbs the first week! I had more energy, but all that went downhill when I listened to the “fat is good for you” message.
April 30, I watched a video about animal cruelty, and decided to go vegan (HCLF).
This is probably the best decision I have ever made.
I started eating high carb, low fat, and within a week the KP on my face disappeared. I’ve lost around 10 lbs. so far, and I grew 1/2 an inch the first month! I have WAY more energy than before, and my grades have gotten so much better. I now have a daily bowel movement, and my hair has regained a lot of its lost shine.
Please don’t take this comment the wrong way – the rest of my family has had excellent results with WB. The reason I wrote this is because, after a long time of trying different diets, I have finally realized that not everbody benefits from the same diet. So thank you for helping my family get better, and thank you for helping so many others live a fuller life.
re: I have been on the WB lifestyle from 2012 – 2014, …
Based on the original book or Wheat Belly Total Health? The gut flora topic added in WBTH may have significant involvement in your situation.
re: … until I started gaining weight like crazy. I developed KP [Keratosis pilaris] on my arms and my face, and I had a major problem with my bowel movements.
I see that you mentioned KP back in Feb. Otherwise, none of these have been reported on the blog before (nor on the Cureality forum), although brief intestinal upset is common during wheat withdrawal.
Doing some searching on KP, I don’t see any common thread in KP onset, with some claiming “XYZ diet caused my KP” and others in the same discussion saying “XYZ diet cured my KP”. And as you saw back in Feb., a user said WB helped. I’m therefore inclined to think that this cluster of ailments wasn’t from following WB per se, and you need to consider that going forward.
re: March 2015, I decided to go back on wheat and grains.
You need to do what works for you, but you also need to keep in mind that wheat is a multiple threat stealth toxin, which has long and growing rap sheet of adverse effects, some irreversible, coming to a future near you.
re: … but all that went downhill when I listened to the “fat is good for you” message.
Yep. High fat only works low carb. The human body preferentially metabolizes digestible carbs when they are available (which, ancestrally, was not often and not full time as today).
re: April 30, I watched a video about animal cruelty, and decided to go vegan (HCLF).
Vegetarian and vegan are exceedingly hard to do properly due to a long list of crucial nutrients not easily available from plant sources. If CAFO is the motivation (and there are indeed multiple problems with CAFO), the fix is getting plugged into regional pasture-raised/pasture-finished organic.
My 35 year old daughter lives with CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy) an autoimmune disorder that is basically inflammation of the peripheral nerves. She has monthly infusions of very expensive IVIG to help control this incurable disease, with limited success. I’m convinced that WBTH would benefit her greatly, but I am afraid to recommend it to her for this reason: two years ago she had very risky bariatric surgery (a duodenal switch) to help her lose weight. She had gained about 150 pounds. She has lost all of the excess weight, but at a high cost–repeated blockages in her intestines, some caused by scar tissue and others caused by severe constipation. She has had three surgeries to correct the problems.
I’m concerned that she might have severe bowel problems with the withdrawal symptoms of going wheat free. She already takes a probiotic. Could she safely switch to a wheat free diet? I’m sure her surgeon and his nutritionist would say no, because of what Dr. Davis refers to in his post…a narrow minded approach to overall health. I’d love Dr. Davis’ opinion on this.
re: Could she safely switch to a wheat free diet?
Can she safely stay on a diet that includes gluten-bearing grains? This stuff is a potent intestinal toxin. Fasano has shown that it causes intestinal porosity in everyone, and not just in the rising number of celiacs.
One of the methods of damage was just identified in a recent paper (linked from my user name due to link count limits) and discussed at:
https://rosemarycottageclinic.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/the-chemical-warfare-on-your-plate/
One of the implications is that wheat seed is really only a “food” for creatures that express enzymes that can break down gluten early during ingestion, i.e. not humans.
Beautifully written, Dr. Davis.
I am so thrilled the Wheat Belly lifestyle is taking off. I wish I knew about it a few years ago when my four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. She was on every med possible with no luck. She was very ill and had a total colectomy a couple of years ago when she was six. A month after her surgery, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s and they wanted to put me on Humira right away. Seeing what my daughter went through with it I knew I wanted to look into other options and cut out gluten, dairy and sugar. It was so hard the first week but I noticed immediate results. I had a scope done to shoe my skeptical GI how awesome I was doing. He attributed it to luck but my daughter’s GI was impressed with my results and is very supportive now that my daughter has gone WB as well. Thank you for very possibly saving my colon and for my family’s improved health. Even our toddler is WB and has never known a different life!
Dr. Davis. I hope you realize you not only saved her life but mine also and many others! Thank you for trusting yourself and leading us out of the misery that is the Wheat Mindfield or mindset. Finally a doctor who could lead and not just be lead…..
What have we got to lose when the alternative is so final and irreversible is the best question! My doctor has added his comment to me by asking “is it sustainable”? The answer will always be yes. No addictive Gliadin to cause a relapse.
I am eternally grateful.
Thanks for sharing her comments and her success.
Sharon Buck
Thank you for sharing these insights William. You set the benchmark for ethics and morality.
I had all the classical symptoms Dr. Davis mentions in his book. Migraines, skin rashes, joint pain, debilitating fatigue, bowel issues and on top of that two cardiac ablation procedures for recurring atrial fibrillation. Symptoms went on for 15 years. My naturopathic doctor recommended a total wheat free diet. Within days I was feeling better and now owe him getting my life back on track. Interesting though, I just returned from Germany and tried their non-GMO wheat products….I had no symptoms whatsoever. We must continue to demand that our government, put in place long overdue food labeling which informs the consumer what is and isn’t GMO free.
re: I just returned from Germany and tried their non-GMO wheat products…
There is no GMO wheat on the market anywhere [yet].
Most of the wheat on the market, however, is runt mutant goatgrass (sold to you as semi-dwarf hybrid wheat). It is a frankengrain; it was just mutated by means other than explicit gene-splicing (such as radio-mutagenesis, chemo-mutagenesis, crossing with non-wheat crops, embryo rescue and accelerated seasons). This recklessly random gene insertion was actually less controlled than GMO™.
re: …I had no symptoms whatsoever.
So how might what you had there differ from US wheat?
• no glyphosate uptake (from “dessication),
• more likely to be organic, and lack other toxin uptake,
• no bromide fumigants in storage and transport,
• bread dough more likely to be aged,
• possibly from older or heirloom wheat strains, and
• perhaps more likely to be whole wheat.
In my view, even if all these are true, it still only turns the hazard dial from 11 down to 8 or so, but these differences do help. Consuming it is still a mistake, just one with slower consequences.
re: We must continue to demand that our government, put in place long overdue food labeling which informs the consumer what is and isn’t GMO free.
Might be useful. Will be gamed, starting with a significant battle over the very definition of GMO, a term that has already been co-opted by industry.
In the US, at least, we already have much of what we need to avoid toxic food-like substances. Wheat must be listed both when an ingredient and where cross-contamination is possible.
love this story. I just thought back to when I broke out into a full body rash, itchy as heck. It was around 1977. I do believe that was when wheat started to change. I was diagnosed with eczema. After suffering for decades I went wheat free and I have no more “eczema”. There is no doctor who believes me on this except, of course, Dr. Davis!
I went wheat free on Sunday after seeing Dr Davis on Saturday. I felt the difference on monday. I have rheumatoid arthritis. Fibromalga high blood pressure and sugar diabetes . And siactic pain in my lower back when on my feet for more than 15 minutes . I usually get very fatigued easily. Today June 15th. I cleaned my balcony. Went to Y and did water aerobics. Did my laundry in the laundry room which is a walk to me. Kept all the dishes washed up. And I’m still awoke. I just ordered your wheat belly book. My only question is can I still eat oatmeal being it is a grain but not wheat. I was already eating pretty healthy so wheat is no problem to give up. Thank you so much. Dr. Davis.
I really felt so much better and my disposing was even calmer.
Eleanor Smith
re: … can I still eat oatmeal being it is a grain but not wheat.
Strongly discouraged:
• very high glycemic (highest of the non-gluten grains)
• adverse avenin lectin (gliadin mimic)
• unless credibly claimed to be GF, assume it’s cross-contaminated with gluten-bearing grains