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Why we NEVER “cheat” on the Wheat Belly lifestyle

I’ve heard this many times over the years: “I allow myself one cheat day a week.” Or “I allow myself a cheat every Friday night.” Or “I have a couple of slices of pizza every Saturday.” Or the comments from naysayers such as “A little bit can’t hurt” or “Everything in moderation.”

I urge everyone to never cheat, however. But it’s not because I’m a control freak or because I like to make arbitrary rules. There are many reasons to never allow yourself such a cheat. And it has nothing to do with the few calories ingested. The implications are also far greater than the high-carbohydrate (amylopectin) exposure of a wheat and grain indulgence.

Among the reasons why it is important that you never cheat:

Appetite is stimulated for several days following the cheat, an effect I call “I ate one cookie and gained 30 pounds.” Re-exposure to gliadin-derived opiate peptides will erode your will, typically giving way to consuming a flood of junk.
Inflammation is re-ignited, an effect that typically lasts for about one week.
Small LDL particles are formed, the most common abnormality in people with heart disease. (No, it is not high cholesterol. This is a fiction of the drug industry who very skillfully duped a generation of physicians in order to grow the statin franchise.) Unlike large LDL particles that persist in the bloodstream for about 24 hours, small LDL particles typically persist for nearly a week, sometimes longer. This means that one indulgence per week of wheat/grains/sugar triggers yields an excess of small LDL particles 52 weeks a year–year-round risk for heart attack.

(For those of you with sophisticated understanding of coronary disease causality, people with genetic variants, apoprotein E2 and lipoprotein(a), can have persistent and high levels of small LDL particles for 2 weeks.)


People with autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, will completely turn off any hope of remission. Re-exposure after a long period of wheat/grain abstinence can also re-trigger autoimmune inflammation, swelling, and pain that can last for months–months from one indulgence.
You distort bowel flora. Given the incredible bowel toxicity of gliadin, gliadin-derived peptides, and wheat germ agglutinin, toxic to the esophagus, stomach, small bowel, and colon, you never fully regain the chance to restore healthy bowel flora

with occasional indulgences.

You can experience re-exposure reactions. The most common: joint pains, skin rashes, acid reflux/heartburn, diarrhea, bloating, anger, anxiety, mental “fog,” depression. These typically last from a few hours to several days.

You can see that, while some wheat/grain effects are perceived, many are not. You may feel just fine while you trigger oodles of small LDL particles that grow your coronary or carotid plaque. You may be perfectly happy while bowel flora is changed, or autoimmune inflammation is gathering steam.

The key is to never go back. If you are wanting a piece of pizza or two, a big slice of cheesecake, a cookie, or other indulgence, make them without wheat, without grains, without gluten-free junk replacements, without sugar–precisely the way that all Wheat Belly recipes are crafted. Also, if you are taking in sufficient quantities of fat and calories, you should not be experiencing cravings or hunger.

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Debbie’s Wheat Belly update

I recently shared Debbie’s photos and comments after the initial 4 weeks of her Wheat Belly lifestyle:

“The last three years my health had declined significantly. Rheumatoid arthritis and peripheral neuropathy diagnoses put me on a path of medications, doctors, and limitations due to pain. As a professor, it has made my job physically and mentally difficult.

“After years of trying to eat better with wheat bread and pasta, low-fat foods, and Diet Coke, I accidentally stumbled upon your Facebook page. I purchased your books and decided to give it a try. I went “cold turkey”: wheat-free, grain-free and soda-free.

“This is me today, after only one month. I feel better, have less fatigue, and have already eliminated one medication. Thank you for introducing me to this lifestyle!”

Debbie is back with an update, now 8 weeks into her Wheat Belly experience:

“My 8-week difference! Continued overall improvement in health and feeling great.

“After all these years, all it took was to eliminate wheat and grains. My rheumatologist was amazed at the weight loss and decrease in inflammation. And, thankfully, very supportive of continuing this lifestyle and working with me to reduce even more medication. What a blessing this entire experience has been, and will continue to be!”

Debbie feels better, she looks better . . . because she addressed the cause of her problems, not just masked the symptoms with drugs.

Inflammation is receding in a broad front for Debbie: from her joints, from the nerves in her limbs, even from her face. She is getting off anti-inflammatory drugs–this alone is a huge advantage, given the extraordinarily awful side-effects of these drugs. And thankfully Debbie has a rheumatologist who does not resent the fact that she is curing herself and will not need the toxic prescription drugs he prescribed previously.

And, to further stack the odds in favor of full remission, recall that we also address all the other issues that allow autoimmune inflammation, especially vitamin D, fish oil, and cultivation of bowel flora. This is also discussed at length in the book, Wheat Belly Total Health, with an entire chapter devoted to reversing autoimmune inflammation.

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Chicken Curry with Lentils (for GOS prebiotics)

In line with our discussions about cultivating healthy bowel flora with prebiotic fibers, we have been contemplating whether enriching the lifestyle with the galacto-oligosaccharide, or GOS, variety of fibers in particular is a healthy practice. If you choose to do so, you could purchase (exceptionally expensive) products available commercially, or you could simply add small servings (1/4 to 1/2 cup) of GOS-rich foods such as lentils or chickpeas/hummus.

Here is a recipe taken from the original Wheat Belly Cookbook but tweaked to include lentils. The original recipe was ultra low-carb with 3 grams net carbs per serving (5 grams total carbs – 2 grams fiber = 3 grams net carbs). Adding 1/2 cup (uncooked) lentils ups the carb count by 60 grams total, 32 grams net, distributed among the 6 servings, or an additional 5.3 grams net per serving. Each serving therefore provides 8.3 grams net carbs—still comfortably below our cutoff of no more than 15 grams net carbs per serving for ideal metabolic health.

I also increased the amount of chicken used in the original recipe to increase portion size as, on this retesting, I thought portion sizes were a bit small. Also, I used chicken breasts for convenience, even though I’d prefer fattier cuts. If you have the time and energy, feel free to substitute the meat, white and dark, you cut from a whole chicken that will add more fat.

And remember: adding prebiotics such as GOS is meant for those of you who have already taken all the steps to reverse the common dysbiosis that develops in grain-consuming people.

I believe you will be pleased with the end-result: rich and flavorful, bursting with the tastes of curry, ginger, and cilantro, while delivering around 3 grams prebiotic fibers per serving (some added by the onion and garlic), of which 1-2 grams will be the GOS form. Optionally, serve over “riced” cauliflower. Note that cooking times for the lentils can vary, given the size differences among different varieties, with larger varieties requiring a little longer to cook.

Makes 6 servings

1/2 cup dry lentils

2 cups water

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ cubes

3 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1/2 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup canned coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

1/4 cup white wine

In medium saucepan, bring water to boil and add lentils; cook covered until lentils tender, approximately 25-30 minutes. Drain.

In large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil, then add onion, garlic,and chicken. Saute for 5 minutes or until chicken and onion and lightly browned.

Add the curry powder, paprika, ginger, salt, tomato paste, coconut milk, red pepper, cilantro, and lentils. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add the wine and cook, covered, for an additional 2 minutes.

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Loading up on galacto-oligosaccharides

I previously discussed how galacto-oligosaccharides, or GOS, may provide unique or outsized benefits in cultivating healthy bowel flora, particularly bifidobacteria. Enriching bowel flora in bifidobacteria has been associated with a wide array of health benefits ranging from decreases in insulin to improved mental health. If you are interested in GOS and obtaining the beneficial effects of prebiotic fibers, note that these are strategies that should only be pursued if you are wheat/grain-free, have been taking a high-potency probiotic (e.g., 50 billion CFUs per day), and do not have dysbiosis. (Prebiotic fibers will make dysbiosis worse, signaled by abdominal pain, excessive bloating and gas, and diarrhea, since they feed undesirable microbial species as well as desirable.)

How do we go about increasing our intake of GOS? While there are nutritional supplements you can buy (though mostly also contain beta glucan sourced from oats, thereby risking exposure to oat proteins such as avenin that can cross-react with other grain prolamin proteins, such as gliadin of wheat), in the Wheat Belly lifestyle we try to obtain our nutrients from real, whole foods. (The supplement powders are also very expensive, while food sources are inexpensive.)

The food sources of GOS also tend to be digestible carbohydrate-rich: eating too large a portion size, while providing greater quantities of GOS, also can send blood sugar and insulin excessively high and can result in stalled weight loss or weight gain, insulin resistance if repeated many times, and all the phenomena of glycation over time, such as hypertension, heart disease, cataracts, senile dementia, and skin aging. So the key is small portion size. For every food listed, a safe quantity is no more than 1/4 to 1/2 cup cooked per meal. You will also see that the GOS-rich foods listed are all legumes and that, beyond their amylopectin content responsible for potential blood sugar havoc, also contain lectins (indigestible and potentially inflammatory in some people) and phytates (that bind calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc and make them unavailable for absorption). Once again, the key here is small serving sizes. (Some people also advocate extended soaking to reduce phytate content, but this also reduces the GOS content by around 25%, as well.)

Among the foods rich in GOS to include in your dietary habits are:

Lentils
Chickpeas/hummus
Green peas
Lima beans
Kidney beans

Of the 6 to 7 grams of total prebiotic fiber in each 1/2 cup serving of the above legumes, around 3 to 4 grams, or approximately half, are in the GOS form (Tosh 2013; Johnson 2013). From our previous GOS discussion, we know that maximum benefits and tolerability of GOS fibers occurs at an intake in the neighborhood of 5 grams per day, maximum total (GOS, FOS, etc., all summed up) prebiotic fiber benefits at 20 grams per day.

Given the lectin and phytate content of legumes, are we on balance better off by getting this quantity of GOS while staying low in serving size? I believe we are, particularly on the background of having eliminated the far worse effects of wheat and grains. I also believe it is important that, should you add GOS-rich foods to your regimen, it also occurs alongside other sources of prebiotic fibers, such as inulin, FOS, raw potatoes/raw potato starch, green bananas, etc. Is it important to obtain GOS every day if other such prebiotics have been incorporated into the diet? Unclear, but my gut sense (ha ha!) is that, as human habits over the millennia were characterized not by dietary monotony, but by variation, I suspect it is most important that you include varied sources of prebiotic fibers every day and that GOS-rich sources are just one ingredient in the overall effort but does not necessarily have to be a daily habit.

While I highlight the exceptional effects of GOS for bowel flora here, it is important to bear in mind that no single prebiotic fiber will suffice to fully cultivate a collection of healthy bowel flora because different microbial species “prefer” different fibers, depending on their genetic capacity to metabolize such fibers. While some prefer GOS, others prefer FOS, inulin, or other fibers. Variety is the key, as we are also trying to cultivate wide species diversity. In every study of the bowel flora of primitive people, such as the Hadza of sub-Saharan Africa, largely unexposed to antibiotics, plastics, pesticides, herbicides, grains and all the other factors that disrupt bowel flora composition, the one feature that stands out is a wide diversity of species, as compared to the narrower range of species in modern people. One way to cultivate species diversity is to vary your prebiotic fiber routine; GOS is simply another prebiotic fiber to add to the list, though one that may have special importance.

In coming weeks, I shall be posting some Wheat Belly recipes tweaked to include some of these fibers sources with portion sizes controlled in order to avoid all the adverse consequences of excessive carbohydrate exposure.

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Liz’s astounding first 13 days on Wheat Belly

Take a look at what Liz accomplished in the first two WEEKS of starting her Wheat Belly lifestyle:

“I’ve lowered all my blood sugars, including fasting blood sugars, to within normal range within a week of starting Wheat Belly! I was on 2000 mg of Glumetza [metformin]!”

The change in her face is also startling. Liz does not mention how much weight she has lost during these first 13 days, but she clearly has caused inflammation to recede dramatically. As many of you have seen in so many of these Wheat Belly successes, such facial changes can even occur in the absence of weight loss, reflecting the dramatic reversal of skin inflammation.

Recall also that skin inflammation is paralleled by reversal of inflammation elsewhere. Increased inflammation is part of diabetes; becoming non-diabetic therefore adds to the anti-inflammatory benefits.

This may sound harsh, but why did Liz have to learn how to turn her life around and become non-diabetic by reading a book–why didn’t her doctor tell her this was possible rather than resign her to medications? Had she continued on this path with her doctor, metformin would have only been the start. More medications, insulin injections, further weight gain from the insulin injections, higher blood sugars from the weight gain and inflammation, then complications of diabetes such as diabetic retinopathy/blindness, peripheral neuropathy/limb loss, coronary disease, stroke, and increased risk for cancer and senile dementia—all from a disease that is easily and readily reversed.

Regardless, Liz is on her way to changing the course of her life and changing her appearance . . . all accomplished in spite of her doctor.

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Gary Miller, founder of Wheat-Free Market, shares his Wheat Belly experience

Gary Miller, founder of Wheat-Free Market foods, the food company founded on Wheat Belly principles, shares his Wheat Belly experience now that he has invested four years into the lifestyle:

“Yesterday marked four years following Wheat Belly, without a single bite of bread, pasta, cookies, or cake containing wheat. I never cheated once and adopted the lifestyle quite easily. I weighed 176 lbs this morning and have maintained that weight, give or take 5 lbs either direction, since arriving at that weight after about 5 months following Wheat Belly. So that is over 3.5 years of maintenance without effort…nothing short of miraculous to me! I lost just over 75 lbs in the months after Labor Day 2011, when I began this journey.

“The health benefits are too numerous to list, with the biggies being increased energy, no more digestive issues, lower blood pressure and pulse rate, goodbye to regular headaches, and I HAVE NOT HAD A SINGLE COLD OR THE FLU SINCE 2011. To say this was life-changing is an understatement. It even changed my career as well, as I am now in the food business as the founder of Wheat-Free Market Foods, doing so to help others stay the course. I am 50 years old now and feel better than I did at 35.

“It has been wonderful to see so many people experience such positive results in so many facets of their lives over the years and I wish everyone well and hope to inspire people that may just be beginning their journey. To health!”

As you look at Gary’s photos that span more than four years from left to right, it looks to me that, with each photo, he is getting younger and more vibrant as the years pass. Removing grains means removing inflammation, puffiness, edema, gastrointestinal havoc, impaired immunity—all the health disruptions that accompany this awful notion of “healthy whole grains,” and it is visible on the face.

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been almost four years since I got the first phone call from Gary, telling me about his Wheat Belly experience and how he believed that this lifestyle was going to change the world of food. What if you could create foods like pizza, cake, muffins, and cookies that were not just indulgences, but healthy? It could truly revolutionize the world of food. We agreed that Gary would do the hard work, while I would stay on the sidelines and advise him and his crew on how to make sure that the products they produced were truly healthy and adhered to the principles advocated in Wheat Belly: no wheat, no grains, no gluten-free crap ingredients like cornstarch, nothing else unhealthy—only genuinely healthy ingredients, no added sugars, no synthetic ingredients, organic whenever possible. Not easy, when you think about it, if you hope to provide everyone with foods and mixes that help navigate holidays, entertaining, kids, grandkids, as well as create healthy, safe indulgences. I provided many of the starting recipes, while Gary and his staff, especially Jose Estrada, a master at formulating food products, improved on them, making, for instance, the recipes for Classic Granola and brownies better than my original conceptions.

Gary walks the walk and talks the talk of the Wheat Belly lifestyle and it shows in his photos and the products he and Wheat-Free Market provide. Happy 4-year Wheat Belly anniversary, Gary!

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Galacto-oligosaccharide: an extra special prebiotic?

All prebiotics or resistant starches that nourish bowel flora are fibers that humans are unable to digest: you ingest them through food or supplements, they pass through the stomach, upper small intestine, then reach the farthest portions of the small intestine and colon and are then consumed by various microbial species. These bacteria, in turn, metabolize these fibers to fatty acids, such as butyrate, that nourish and heal the delicate intestinal lining and exert some pretty spectacular health effects, such as reduced insulin (which thereby contributes to loss of visceral fat and weight loss), reduced blood sugar, reduced blood pressure, reduced triglycerides, and rise in HDL. There is a growing appreciation for the brain and emotional effects of healthy bowel flora, also, with improved mood, reduced depression, reduced anxiety, deeper sleep with more vivid dreams. The bowels themselves also benefit with improved bowel regularity, reduced intestinal inflammation, and reduced potential for colon cancer.

Prebiotic fibers differ based on what sugars (all fibers are made of sugars) make up the chain. Cellulose from plants and wood, for instance, largely indigestible by humans, is made of chains of glucose sugar molecules, while fructo-oligosaccharides, or FOS, and inulin are made up of fructose sugars (FOS contains 10 or less fructose molecules, while inulin contains greater numbers).

Galacto-oligosaccharides, or GOS, are a collection of prebiotic fibers made up a chain of galactose sugars of variable length. It is one of the prebiotic fibers found naturally in human milk, suggesting a potentially beneficial role in breastfeeding infants and onwards. GOS has been shown to exert some of the most potent and beneficial effects among prebiotic fibers. Among the recent findings in studies with GOS supplementation:

GOS added to infant formula (4 grams/liter) given to formula-fed infants was associated with changes in bowel flora that approximated the bowel flora composition of breast fed infants: increased bifidobacteria and lactobacillus, decreased clostridia: Giovannini et al 2014. Incidentally, colic was reduced in the group receiving the prebiotic. (A higher concentration of galacto-oligosaccharides of 8 grams/liter were not as well tolerated with more water stools and spitting up: Williams 2014.)
GOS combined with FOS and omega-3 fatty acids modestly decreased the number of respiratory infections in children: Chatchatee 2014.
GOS 5.5 grams per day reduced several markers of inflammation, such as tumor necrosis factor and c-reactive protein: Vulevic 2008 (In this study, a somewhat different form of GOS, a trans form, was used.)
GOS, 4 grams twice per day (total 8 grams per day), given to adults over 50 substantially increased the numbers of bifidobacteria: Walton 2012.
GOS, 2.5 grams three times per day (total 7.5 grams per day) partially mitigated the adverse effects of the antibiotic, amoxicillin, on bifidobacteria populations: Ladirat 2014.
GOS 5 to 10 grams per day, but not 2.5 grams per day, increased bifidobacteria populations: Davis 2014.
In an experimental mouse model of colitis, GOS dramatically reduced colon inflammation and increased bifidobacteria populations: Gopalakrishnan 2012.
GOS given to children, 2 grams per day, doubled the population of bifidobacteria over 3 weeks: Pirainen 2008.
GOS, 5.5 grams per day given to people over 64 years old, increased bifidobacteria and was associated with significant improvements in several aspects of the immune response: Vulevic 2008.
More than inulin, GOS may exert greater nutritive effects on some beneficial bacterial species: Watson 2013, Rycroft 2001. However, there is yet much more work to be done to decipher the differences among the variety of prebiotic fibers available.

In the Wheat Belly Blog post, Cultivate the garden called “bowel flora,”  I discussed some of the ways we can nourish and cultivate bowel flora using prebiotic fibers. However, there may be additional benefit in specifically increasing intake of the GOS form of prebiotic to the 5 grams per day or so range that will compound the benefits of, say, using inulin, FOS, or raw potatoes. We also, you will recall, aim to achieve species diversity: blocking the proliferation of undesirable species while cultivating a large array of healthy species, much as primitive humans unexposed to modern life display.

In the next Wheat Belly Blog post, I will discuss how to go about increasing your intake of this important prebiotic fiber. Remember: virtually everyone begins their Wheat Belly experience with some degree of dysbiosis, or abnormal distortions of bowel flora. After you remove all wheat and grains and their gastrointestinal toxic effects, it is a wonderful time to begin the process of “seeding” and “watering and fertilizing” bowel flora to establish a healthy population that furthers your health efforts.

 

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Low-tar cigarettes, low-fat yogurt, healthy whole grains and other half-truths

Followers of the Wheat Belly books and lifestyle understand a basic truth in logic: Just because something is less bad does not necessarily make it good.

Low-tar cigarettes have less of the toxic compounds that leave the brown residue–“tar”–after tobacco is burned, but smoking low-tar cigarettes does not reduce risk for lung cancer, mouth/throat cancer, or cardiovascular disease.

From Stanford.edu on the impact of tobacco advertising:

Claims of low ‘tar,’ less ‘tar,’ or even lowest ‘tar’ have been circulating in cigarette advertisements for decades. This theme features ads which revolve around deceptive low tar claims which try to out-do each other, some going as far as to claim less than 1 mg of tar per cigarette. By ‘tar,’ tobacco companies are referring to the brown, sticky accumulation of chemicals amassed when tobacco is burned. This residue is considered to be one of the most damaging components of smoking, as it contains a multitude of identified carcinogens and causes harmful build-up in the lungs. It is therefore no surprise that, early on, tobacco companies began to make their cigarettes appear less harmful by advertising reduced tar levels. Low tar cigarettes are intended to keep concerned smokers from quitting by providing these smokers with what appears to be a healthy alternative. Unfortunately, lower tar ratings have no bearing on the safety of the brand in question. As internal tobacco documents have revealed, tobacco companies have been fully knowledgeable that lower tar cigarettes were not actually safer or healthier.

Something might be less bad, or contain less of an undesirable ingredient, but that does not necessarily mean that the product in question is therefore good.

Low-fat yogurt may have most or all the fat removed (the one truly healthy component of dairy products, by the way), but is typically loaded with sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and has the whey protein that stimulates weight gain or blocks weight loss via insulin provocation. Low-fat yogurt is not a health food, but has the appearance of being less bad.

Likewise, 14 epidemiological studies that graded consumption of white flour products (bad) versus whole grain products (less bad because of greater B vitamin and fiber content) demonstrated reduced weight gain, less type 2 diabetes, less heart disease, and less colorectal cancer with greater whole grain consumption–that is indeed true. But those studies did not demonstrate that such conditions are less likely compared to NO grain consumption: less bad is not necessarily good. There are indeed many studies that compare grain consumption with no grain consumption, even if they haven’t received the sort of press given to, say, some new robotic surgical procedure or cancer treatment. But such studies demonstrate dramatic health benefits when no grains are included in diet, the sorts of benefits we see play out every day in the Wheat Belly community. (References can be found in Wheat Belly and Wheat Belly Total Health.) By removing grains entirely, we remove the appetite-stimulating, inflammatory, autoimmunity triggering, blood sugar raising, and hormonally disruptive effects grains exert on humans.

This seems like a straightforward, common sense sequence of logic: remove something that is less bad from the diet and there will be benefit. Yet the flawed logic of replacing bad with less bad has thrown off an entire generation of dietitians, physicians, and government agencies charged with providing nutritional advice who have all embraced the less bad whole grains, going as far as urging all of us to make them the dominant ingredient in diet every day. In the Wheat Belly lifestyle, we eliminate the bad–white flour products–and the less bad–whole grains of all types. That’s when wonderful things happen.

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What a difference 3 weeks on the Wheat Belly lifestyle can make

Ben shared his 3-week experience living the Wheat Belly lifestyle after being diagnosed with celiac disease:

“My family doctor diagnosed me with celiac and wheat allergies. These pictures were taken 3 weeks apart: prior to the diagnosis and three weeks later, a photo of me after following the Wheat Belly books that my doctor recommended I get.

“I still feel like I eat like a king. I am just a lot more cautious about what I put into my body and I am seeing the results!”

You can see that Ben’s face shows the changes we expect to see as inflammation recedes: reduced cheek and around-the-eyes edema, larger, more prominent eyes. Celiac disease is a disease of the small intestine but, just like people without celiac disease who experience reversal of body-wide inflammation, we can see the reversal of Ben’s facial inflammation.

Of course, most people who follow the Wheat Belly lifestyle and experience huge successes in reversing health problems and losing weight do not have celiac disease. People without celiac disease can have, for instance, cerebellar ataxia, peripheral neuropathy, temporal lobe seizures, migraine headaches, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, dysbiosis, fibromyalgia, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune pancreatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, seborrhea, rosacea, psoriasis, hypothyroidism, asthma, chronic sinus infections, depression, paranoia, anxiety—yet not have any sign of celiac disease. Celiac disease is a condition that has been the focus of most research on the toxic effects of wheat and related grains. But that should not be interpreted to mean that, if you don’t have celiac disease consumption of wheat and grains must therefore be safe.

Ben is more likely, by the way, to experience complete relief from his celiac disease than by just following the misguided “gluten-free” diet prescribed by gastroenterologists who never bothered to study the agricultural/biological aspects of this advice. By following the Wheat Belly lifestyle, rather than the gluten-free lifestyle, Ben will:

Avoid any potential for prolamin protein cross-reaction. The gliadin protein of wheat, the avenin protein of rye, the hordein protein of barley can be mimicked by the zein protein of corn and the avenin protein of oatmeal, for instance, because there is overlap in the amino acid sequences among grain prolamin proteins. This is why I say that gluten-free is not good enough; grain-free is better.
Avoid the junk carbohydrates of gluten-free processed foods. In the Wheat Belly lifestyle, we reject all gluten-free foods made with cornstarch, rice flour, tapioca starch, and potato flour because they send blood sugar sky-high, cause weight gain, distort bowel flora, and dramatically increase risk for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cataracts, heart disease, cancer, and senile dementia. Ben will also avoid the potential contamination of cornstarch with the zein protein of corn.
Correct vitamin D deficiency. People with autoimmune diseases like celiac start with lower vitamin D levels than people without such conditions. Vitamin D deficiency does not cause an autoimmune condition, but vitamin D deficiency allows it, a “permissive” effect. Restoration of healthy vitamin D levels therefore protects Ben further from recurrences or flare-ups.
Cultivate healthy bowel flora. People with celiac disease or any other inflammatory bowel disease or autoimmune condition all begin with disturbed bowel flora, dysbiosis, that, like vitamin D deficiency, makes the inflammation worse. As the gastrointestinal tract heals minus wheat and grains, it is time to restore bowel flora by “seeding” with healthy species of bacteria, then “watering and fertilizing” with prebiotic fibers, discussed at length in the Wheat Belly Total Health book and summarized here.

Don’t make it tougher than it is: just say good-bye to all grains, then take the handful of steps to restore your body to the way it was supposed to be all along.

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Chocolate Coated Green Banana Bites

Green, unripe bananas are an excellent source of prebiotic fibers that are crucial for your bowel flora management program. But they are tough to eat due to their chalky texture when truly unripe. You can conceal that texture by including a green banana in your smoothie or shake, or you can make these simple but tasty little Chocolate Coated Green Banana Bites. If each banana is cut into 6 pieces, each Bite can yield as much as 4-5 grams of prebiotic fibers to add to your daily goal of 20 grams per day.

Purchase bananas as green as possible and store in the refrigerator, where they will stay green for around 5 days. Once you make your Bites, also store in refrigerator.

Because I believe it is important to minimize (not necessarily altogether avoid, as they can occur naturally in foods, as well) exposure to emulsifying agents in processed foods, since they alter bowel health and bowel flora, look for high cocoa chocolate without emulsifying agents, such as Lindt or Green & Black.

Makes 12 bites

2 green bananas

1 four-ounce bar of 85% or higher cocoa chocolate (e.g., Lindt 85% or 90% cocoa chocolate)

Peel bananas by cutting skin lengthwise, then shelling out the pulp. Cut each banana into 6 or so pieces.

Break chocolate into pieces, then either place in microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, repeat until melted, or use double-boiler setup to melt.

Using toothpicks, dip each banana segment into chocolate, turn to coat. Transfer each to large plate covered with wax paper. Cool and store in refrigerator until eaten.

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