"Wheat Belly" anyone???

[sweetpoison]

Originally Posted by Brendajm

Well I did get in downloaded and read a bit of it before work. i mentioned it to the girls here at work and I was immedialtely blasted with the "are you serious.. so are cows, and chickens and you eat that,,blah blah" well,, I didnt expect that..

To heck with them...... to each his own. Do what works best for you and when you are healthy, happy, and thinner..... who will the joke be on!!!

[Clabbergirl]

Originally Posted by Brendajm

Well I did get in downloaded and read a bit of it before work. i mentioned it to the girls here at work and I was immedialtely blasted with the "are you serious.. so are cows, and chickens and you eat that,,blah blah" well,, I didnt expect that..

Cows and chickens are what? Genetically modified in the last 50 years in such a way that they contain DNA which doesn't exist in the cows of their great-grandparents, let alone resembles it?

You will find skeptics everywhere, and that's a great thing because it keeps us from believing everything we read. But if you cut out wheat and your problems go away without creating any new ones, that's all that matters - finding a solution.

[Star73]

Originally Posted by Clabbergirl

Cows and chickens are what? Genetically modified in the last 50 years in such a way that they contain DNA which doesn't exist in the cows of their great-grandparents, let alone resembles it?

You will find skeptics everywhere, and that's a great thing because it keeps us from believing everything we read. But if you cut out wheat and your problems go away without creating any new ones, that's all that matters - finding a solution.

[Brendajm]

Good Point.. I thought I was cutting out wheat when I bought some GF bread, but I just found out I have still been eating wheat..,,g rrr. I am so mad. So tomorrow starts another day....

[DezzySmith]

Loved the book. It really explains the issue very well. I follow his blog also...good stuff.

[sweetpoison]

Well....have the book on CD. Interesting... Alot of meaningless science for me... but after you get passed that.... makes alot of sense. Worth buying it.

[DustinShane]

I am very interested in reading this book and I hate that I have to wait until I have a little extra money. I am curious to know exactly how wheat effects our bodies in a negative way. The author seems extremely competent and knowledgeable in his discussion.

[sweetpoison]

I do have to say, while I have only listened to maybe alittle over half of the book so far and it does make sense, BUT if I had bought the regular book and not the CD version, I would have stopped reading long ago..... WAYYYYYYYYYYY to much scientific jargen for me.... way way to much.

[mamax6]

I just bought the book via Kindle yesterday. I really like it so far.

[spirilis]

I'm most of the way through this on the Kindle (kindle app on android phone ) and at this point I'm wondering if my great Atkins stall is due to cheating on wheat. I thought it was ok since I'd get back to low-carbing shortly after, but perhaps the deleterious effects of wheat required a longer period of "recovery" until I start losing weight again. I was completely wheat-free for the first ~2-3 months of Atkins, since then totally stalled and now gaining weight (due to carb creep).
That stall is now about 7 months long... so the elimination of wheat will be a good experiment. Dr. Davis mentions in the book that he has seen Low-Carbers fail due to wheat. I do have the mentioned "wheat acid reflux" and took Prilosec OTC for 5 years straight until beginning Atkins when I noticed the problem magically disappeared literally overnight... adding wheat seems to be the trigger that brings it back. So clearly I have evidence of some wheat sensitivity.

[green team]

I've just finished reading Wheat Belly, and it's a serious and substantial addition to the low-carb library, in the tradition of Life Without Bread and Cereal Killer: Davis is not the first to finger wheat as a dietary villain, but he goes into the most detail and speculation of any author as to why. I'm not a diabetic (I hope), but this book is essential reading for diabetics in particular--Davis suggests that diabetes can be effectively prevented and cured ... yes, cured.

I'm not a blind fan of the book, however. For the normal person, without health issues, wheat in moderation will do little harm, I'm sure. The real danger, I believe, starts only when wheat is overconsumed; along with other semi-narcotic foods, such as sugar, it pushes the insulin response into overdrive--and we all know by now what ills that leads to.

Also, for me, Davis's writing varies in quality and lucidity. At times he is compelling and crystal clear, but in other places he lapses into laborious and often difficult-to-follow scientific detail (in contrast, the better low-carb writers such as Taubes and Bowden always make the science, however complex, readable and cogent). Davis also often adopts a propagandising voice, as if we need beating over the head with his message, and a touch of arrogance sometimes creeps in. Nevertheless, though I don't buy the notion that wheat is some kind of poison, I don't doubt that Davis is essentially correct about its dangers--in fact, I'd already given up wheat before I read the book.

In a section of particular interest to low-carbers (who are always wrestling over the amount of vegetables they dare to eat), I wish he'd followed through further with the implications of his argument. This is where he is talking about the acidifying properties of wheat, which he argues is bad for bone health, in which discussion he also implicates meat and cheese. Davis is not the first to suggest that meat and cheese can unbalance the body's PH levels to the detriment of bones, nor the first to say that an ample intake of vegetables will compensate. The problem for a low-carber is to know what level of intake is ample--because, however much we approve of vegetables, we are obliged to restrict our carbohydrates. It's difficult to tell from Davis whether our intake of meat protein, etc., negatively affects our bone density (those foods are good for bones, he says, but only if balanced by enough vegetable protein).

Davis says this, referencing research on osteoporosis:

The higher the ratio of protein intake from vegetables to the protein intake from animal products, the fewer hip fractures occur. The magnitude of difference was substantial: While a vegetable-to-animal-protein intake ratio of 1:1 or less was associated with as many as 200 hip fractures per 100,000 population, a vegetable-to-animal-protein intake ratio of between 2:1 and 5:1 was associated with less than 10 hip fractures per 100,000 population--a reduction of more than 95%. (At the highest intakes of vegetable protein, the incidence of fractures practically vanished.)

So although he elsewhere supports the role of animal protein in bone health (in the presence of sufficient vegetables), Davis leaves one worried by these figures, whose consequences for a low-carb diet he does not follow up. Few low-carbers eat the proportion of vegetable protein to animal protein that he refers to as bone-healthy. It would be very hard to, on the ratios mentioned, without cutting down on meat, even if you ate a larger proportion of vegetable carbohydrates than most of us do.

[Star73]

Great book review Green! I still haven't read the book. I can't have wheat or gluten products as it's toxic for me. It hasn't always been. I could eat anything as a young child and I did fine. It was in my teens that i started having problems, although I never knew that was causing my problems. My DD has no problems with wheat or gluten. If she starts having problems later then at least I will know what it is and we can fix it. I was told I had IBS and was given medicine and was never told to change my diet. A lot of years went by before I knew what was causing my problems.

I'm glad more and more doctors are seeing the dangers of wheat and gluten. I think they also must clarify that not all people have problems with it. I know most of us have seen the 80 or 90 year old person who eats wheat products and are very healthy. I don't think it's dangerous for all of us. I know it is for MANY of us though.

[pertifly]

Originally Posted by errihu

Many of us are wheat free, but wheat free isn't by definition low carb unless you also stay out of the traditional 'gluten free' flour substitutes like rice flour and tapioca. I know a number of other celiacs who lost 30 lbs upon eliminating wheat, but gained it all back plus some when they discovered all the 'wondeful' celiac baked goods.

FWIW, the "Wheat Belly" plan advocates not using the gluten free products for the most part. Under "Consume rarely or never" it lists "Gluten-free foods—specifically those made with cornstarch, rice starch, potato starch, or tapioca starch."

[spirilis]

Originally Posted by pertifly

FWIW, the "Wheat Belly" plan advocates not using the gluten free products for the most part. Under "Consume rarely or never" it lists "Gluten-free foods—specifically those made with cornstarch, rice starch, potato starch, or tapioca starch."

Yeah, Dr. Davis is generally a fan of low-carb and has "seen the light" I guess in regards to high-carb diets' potential role in heart problems... so he's an advocate of not only removing wheat for its various deleterious effects, but keeping all refined carb products out of your diet (for weight loss).

[RobbyC]

I just ordered this book, can't wait for it to arrive.

[JJLove]

I just put a hold on it at the library, I'm number 111 for 26 copies. Should take a month or two.

[dawnyama]

Originally Posted by JJLove

I just put a hold on it at the library, I'm number 111 for 26 copies. Should take a month or two.

That is why I ordered the book Didn't want to wait too long for my copy. I hope that the long waiting list means that lots of people are catching on!

[dawnyama]

Originally Posted by Eliza_Jazz

I consciously eliminated grains from my diet after reading The Paleo Solution, Robb Wolf gave a great overview of how grains negatively affect us. I, too, lost my acid reflux, most of my allergies with exception of hay fever disappeared (hayfever convinces me even more that my body is allergic to anything that is a grass), skin and energy also improved. Can't wait to read Wheat Belly for the science, but need no convincing to eliminate wheat....I am already 100% convinced that grains have no place in my diet.

My 2 eldest sons are allergic to grass. One of them is highly allergic to many things and has the worst skin ever. Very dry and scratches all over because he scratches himself at night. He is also the worst carb eater in the house. After getting this book (originally got it because my DD has type 1 diabetes--that WON'T ever go away, along with other auto-immune issues) I think it will help more than just DD School is out next week and I have all 4 of my kids home 24/7. So feeding them gluten free will be a tad easier. Still hard because when you are feeding teenagers 24/7 they want the easy, tasty typical American food. Will expect a bit of resistance as we switch over, but we will do our best!!

[speds]

Amazing book - makes you really distrustful of the PTB's who "promote our health". I struggled a little bit with my ability to stay paleo (even though it made sense to me) but after reading this book, I was able to give up wheat products/glutens the same day and haven't looked back. It's terrifying the damage they do to the system. Once he starts explaining how eating those foods kills cells that can't be replaced, I was done. It was like some threw on a light switch for me.

[bettycooker]

The Wheat Belly Cookbook is coming out in December. Also if you go to the Wheat Belly website, Dr. Davis posted that he will be on a national TV show and needs people to contact him with weight loss stories.

[Worldchanger]

Originally Posted by bettycooker

The Wheat Belly Cookbook is coming out in December. Also if you go to the Wheat Belly website, Dr. Davis posted that he will be on a national TV show and needs people to contact him with weight loss stories.

He was on Dr. Oz today very interesting. I always thought 100% whole wheat bread was the best. But guess I was wrong. I think Im going to try this.

[lil.trubl]

The Wheatbelly Cookbook is fantastic! Great information and fantastic recipes, I cook with almond meal all the time but I never knew the difference between almonds meal and almond flour, one paragraph and I knew the difference

A worthy purchase

[lc-chica]

Originally Posted by Worldchanger

He was on Dr. Oz today very interesting. I always thought 100% whole wheat bread was the best. But guess I was wrong. I think Im going to try this.

if i remember correctly, in the book he explains how better doesnt = good. yes ww is better than white refined but that doesn't mean ww is healthy.

i read this book a couple months ago and really liked it. i thought it was a pretty easy read.

[Rosie Posie]

I have both his book Wheat Belly and the Cook Book. I like how the recipes in the cook book include nutritional information. However, while the recipes are low carb in comparison to the SAD, for me in my weight loss phase right now they're a bit too high carb for me. I think they make great maintenance recipes of a 1 meal/day but not 3xday like he suggests with his sample menu. But that's just my body. Apparently lots of others have successfully lost weight eating his recipes 3xday.

[Rosie Posie]

P.S. The recipe for grainless granola is soooo yummy

[Rosie Posie]

Originally Posted by errihu

Many of us are wheat free, but wheat free isn't by definition low carb unless you also stay out of the traditional 'gluten free' flour substitutes like rice flour and tapioca. I know a number of other celiacs who lost 30 lbs upon eliminating wheat, but gained it all back plus some when they discovered all the 'wondeful' celiac baked goods.

So true! I lost 20lbs after eliminating gluten and then put on about 30 after I started eating lots of "GF" breads, crackers, pasta, cookies, pizza etc.