I have long suspected that wheat did not like me as much as I liked it - so, I decided to kick it to the curb for an experiment. This book was the first one I found in my search to back up my assertions, and I learned a lot from it.

Davis is a cardiologist, and the book is filled with stories of patients who gave up wheat under his guidance and have seen complete 180s in their health: people who couldn't walk because of severe arthritis, others who were extremely obese and depressed, and those who had unexplained aches, allergies, and ailments. The book is not just for celiacs or gluten intolerant individuals - he states clearly that everyone can benefit from getting rid of this grain, which is not what it used to be even a hundred years ago.

In several pointed chapters, Davis lays it out about wheat's effect on the brain, the body's pH balance, the skin and aging, and links to obesity and a number of other chronic ailments, chief among them diabetes and arthritis. Some of the most convincing and telling arguments he makes for getting rid of wheat are the blood sugar tests: how two slices of whole grain bread can spike blood sugars more than regular old sugar.

My one criticism of the book is how Davis shows harmful correlations (most notably that of meat consumption in the body in terms of pH balance) yet, advocates meat and dairy as "EAT IN ALL QUANTITIES" in his food plan. Why spend a whole chapter talking about pH balance in the body, and *THEN* advocate meat consumption? You just said that meat was acidic, and our bodies want neutral/slightly alkaline - just eating MORE leafy greens isn't enough to cancel out the acid of meat consumption. I found that information inconsistent with everything else he was trying to prove. I eat a strict plant-based diet so I have strong ethical feelings about this, but that aside, he doesn't make a case WHY meat should even be included in this plan at all.

In many ways this book seems to be a "repackaging" of the popular and ubiquitous PALEO food plan - just in a lighter and more palpable format. He doesn't say to get rid of rice and beans, for instance, but says to limit their consumption. Agriculture is not painted as the "fall of civilization" here.

The book isn't perfect, but it has some good tidbits, and I'm a sucker for testimonials.

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Personal note:

Just a few days into my no-wheat / no-gluten experiment, and things are going very well. The fuel to continue comes from the general "good" feelings I have now. Of course, it is the things that only YOU would notice and that are hard to quantify: no more stomach/intestinal aches after eating (this was my big problem with wheat consumption), deeper quality sleep, increased energy (a "hop in my step" that I haven't felt in a long time), and less hunger pains in between meals. An added bonus: down a few pounds on the scale. We'll see how this continues, as I am committed to continuing this "experiment" and possibly making it a lifestyle change.