William Davis's Blog: Dr. Davis Infinite Health Blog, page 131

Look what Wheat Belly and losing 70 lbs did for Amanda and husband

Amanda engaged in her wheat- and grain-free experience along with her husband:

“Down 70 lbs in 7 months. I’ve been on the diet since December and the right pic is July. Big difference in the round face. I feel better, too. No more limping and moaning. No more pre-diabetic issues. My skin and overall health is better.

“I have gained a measure of control over my downward-spiraling health and I want everyone to become informed and have that same relief. I would also like the medical and educational authorities to honestly educate students and patients alike on the proper means of diet to attain health. The pyramid is inverted in terms of grains and proteins. It must be overhauled! NO GRAINS of any kind, ever!

You can see the loss of inflammation quite clearly in Amanda’s closeup: not only is she thinner, but the around-the-eyes swelling and swollen cheeks are now replaced by sharp features without edema. Not only do she and her husband look healthier, they also look younger. And Amanda has been freed of pre-diabetes and joint paint/inflammation.

Yes, thumbing your nose at dietary advice to eat more “healthy whole grains,” 6-11 servings per day, “for B vitamins and fiber”–it is all a grand fiction, or at least half-truths, that, when rejected wholesale, yields astounding experiences like that of Amanda and her husband, now vigorous, youthful, and healthy.

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Ritchie’s 4-week facial transformation on Wheat Belly

Ritchie posted his “before” and “after” photos after just 4 weeks of banishing wheat and grains from his life:

“Fourth week of Wheat Belly–it’s now my new lifestyle!”

Remember: the changes we witness on the face are paralleled by internal metabolic benefits. Had Ritchie had such measures obtained, he would have seen triglycerides drop, blood sugar drop, insulin plummet, inflammatory measures drop. There is also a reduction in intestinal irritation and inflammation, a reduction in endogenous glycation, and clearing of the mind from removing gliadin-derived opiates. Perhaps that explains why Ritchie just looks brighter and clearer.

I’m hoping that the two posts from guys today, Ritchie here and Thad, will encourage some more of the guys to post their photos!

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Thad’s no-nonsense Wheat Belly experience

Thad posted these no-nonsense “before” and “after” photos:

Wheat:

No wheat (Thad in center):

Surely Thad shocked friends and family when they saw his “no wheat” version: it’s truly an astounding transformation!

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Titania is losing her Wheat Belly!

Titania shared her wonderful Wheat Belly photo results with us:

“I started my Wheat Belly journey on Sept 24, 2014.

“The pic on the left was June 24, 2014 and the one on the right was June 25, 2015. I’m proud of how far I’ve come: 46 lbs down and still going. Thanks, Wheat Belly.”

You can see the dramatic reduction in waist size that Titania has experienced: the loss of deep, inflammatory visceral fat that we see on the surface as a reduction in waist size, a reduction in the “muffin top.”

Losing all that visceral fat has huge implications for Titania’s overall health. In joint health, for instance, the loss of visceral fat means that the inflammatory mediators previously released (adipocytokines) are much reduced, reducing joint pain and inflammation. The inflammatory proteins of wheat and grains are also eliminated, the gliadin, gliadin-derived peptides, wheat germ agglutinin, and others that can, even by themselves, cause joint inflammation. The amylopectin A of wheat and grains, responsible for extravagant high blood sugars that trigger the irreversible process of endogenous glycation that makes cartilage brittle (cartilage cannot regenerate) is now gone. The loss of 46 pounds also reduces the physical load that joints like hips and knees have to bear–imagine what 46 pounds feels like if you had to carry that around in your arms, practically the weight of a bag of cement.

And that’s all just with joint health.

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In The War on Wheat, this enlightened physician fights back

A University of Toronto physician speaks out about the Fifth Estate production that purports to have debunked the Wheat Belly arguments:

To the producers of the above named show.

I did not find that you presented the issue fairly to the public. The show was basically about which guru people should follow—Dr. Davis and a host of glamorous hucksters or the skeptical debunkers. A debunking of a popular movement always feeds into people’s cynical nature and makes good, entertaining TV and a smug audience.

Unfortunately, the truth took a big hit. So did an opportunity to educate Canadians to some important issues Dr. Davis raises in his book.

I read the book some time ago but here are some points I think it would have been worthwhile to have discussed:

Bread is basically “empty” calories with no nutritional value beyond the calories, so in the presence of other sources of calories, it is not an essential food and fair game for risk analysis. This is a simple point and should have been the take-off point of the show: given it provides no value, what evidence is there for harm? And then proceed to look at the risk of harm. But the discourse in the show did not address a single such point.
The large number of calories consumed from baked goods make a huge contribution the epidemic of obesity and its complications such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular de-conditioning, obstructive sleep apnea, acceleration of atherosclerosis, increased risk for surgery, childbirth, and many more. If one looks as the secondary effects of each one of these, such as the complications, for example, of diabetes, and so on, Dr. Davis’s statement that wheat is killing more humans than all wars combined is very poignant. I felt he was ridiculed for this on the show.
Baked products, including all breads are highly glycemic resulting in unnaturally large glycemic surges (high rises of blood sugar after meals) which are known to stress the insulin producing cells, and possibly lead to their exhaustion and the person becoming diabetic. The blood sugar surges result in widespread damage, including to hemoglobin. The tests on the hemoglobin are universally accepted as indicators of blood sugar control in diabetics. Other cells in the body are damaged as well, as Dr. Davis points out in his book, with scientific citations. You did not raise or examine this issue in the program.
There is no question that the amino acids from the breakdown products of the gluten are biologically active. They may induce allergic responses, act as neurotransmitters or have other unintended effects. This is a very legitimate concern. The quality of your show would have been much greater had you chosen to examine this issue rather than spend the time telling the audience which famous gurus advocate what.

The fact that this-and-that association has not ‘endorsed’ Dr. Davis’s contentions is neither here nor there. All of these organizations mentioned are slow, cumbersome, and take years and years to take any stand and continue to endorse positions long abandoned by advanced, and even mainstream, practitioners. They have never been idea leaders, and they won’t be so now. So little should be read into their ‘failure’ to endorse Dr. Davis’s concepts. Yet on your show you emphasized this as validating your ‘debunking.’

Good TV, perhaps, but otherwise did not serve the public discourse.

No, I have no conflict of interest: I have no axe to grind; I am not a food faddist: I eat a wide variety of foods including meat and do occasionally eat baked goods and pasta. I write this email because my wife didn’t want me to just tell her what I thought of the show—’tell the producers.’ So I did.

In summary, I think Dr. Davis has begun a needed dialog in our society. I feel being the publicly funded broadcaster, your show should have followed up by providing a forum for this dialog. Sorry, but none of your ‘debunkers’ addressed the real issues. I was totally unconvinced by the show.

Sincerely,

Joseph A. Fisher M.D. FRCP(C)

Department of Anesthesiology, University Health Network

Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Candada

Senior Scientist , Division of Advanced Diagnostics, Cardiovascular,

Toronto General Research Institute

Chief Scientist, Thornhill Research Inc.

Ah, thank you, Dr. Fisher. The producers of The Fifth Estate chose a peculiar and misleading path, as Dr. Fisher points out. Rather than examine the arguments, they found supposed “experts” who were nothing of the sort–a chemist?–who essentially just said, “There is no such evidence” while not even looking for the evidence nor exploring the questions raised by Wheat Belly.

That is among the most eye-opening aspects of the Wheat Belly arguments: There is plenty of evidence that, at the very least, should give us pause in considering whether or not we should consume wheat, particularly modern semidwarf wheat, or other grains at all. (There are 40 pages of scientific references in Wheat Belly Total Health–just a sample.) As Dr. Fisher points out, the producers completely ignored the issue of the extravagant blood sugar raising potential of the amylopectins of wheat and grains: this alone is a huge issue and beyond contention. (The original study exploring the glycemic indexes of foods came from Dr. Fisher’s institution, the University of Toronto, first published by Dr. David Jenkins’ team in 1981, corroborated thousand of times since.) Fill a diet with wheat and grains and you will experience high blood sugars with each episode of consumption, a process that leads, over time, to insulin resistance, visceral fat accumulation, inflammation, and the phenomena of endogenous glycation, i.e., irreversible glucose-modification of proteins that leads to cataracts, hypertension, coronary heart disease, accelerated skin aging, cancer, and dementia.

And what about the published evidence that:

Wheat gliadin initiates the intestinal permeability that starts the process of autoimmunity? Nearly 200 autoimmune conditions have been found to be associated with wheat consumption.

Wheat gliadin is associated with neurological diseases such as cerebellar ataxia, temporal lobe seizure, and peripheral neuropathy in people without celiac disease?

Wheat and grain phytates are the second most common cause for iron deficiency anemia in the world (according to the World Health Organization)?

And I love that Dr. Fischer understands that the “official” providers of dietary advice are deeply flawed. How long, for example, have the Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, as well as Health Canada, advised us to limit dietary cholesterol and total fat–only to retract that advice just a few weeks ago, even though the evidence was weak in the first place, retraction coming only after 30 YEARS of evidence to the contrary?

Ignore the science, then claim there is no science, but looking to official sources of dietary advice as arbiters. Thankfully, there are thinking people like Dr. Joseph Fischer who do examine the evidence and come up asking some tough questions . . . including why The Fifth Estate would bungle a production so badly.

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Autoimmunity: Drug Abuse

The Wheat Belly lifestyle that begins with elimination of the worst and most dominant of all grains in the diet, semidwarf wheat products, followed by elimination of its closely-related brethren in other grains, is a powerful start in reversing the 200-some diseases of autoimmunity.

We now know that the gliadin protein of wheat and related proteins in other grains initiate the increased intestinal permeability that begins the process, as highly inflammatory compounds, such as lipopolysaccharide from bacterial cell walls, are permitted entry into the body. We also know that gliadin itself gains entry into the bloodstream and lymph system. Gliadin contains amino acid sequences that (in a peculiar intersection of biology when humans incapable of fully digesting the components of the seeds of grasses try to do so) overlap in structure with human proteins. The synapsin protein of the brain, for instance, overlaps in structure with gliadin. The antibody/immune response launched against gliadin therefore also attacks structures containing synapsin, initiating some of the various forms of autoimmunity of the central nervous system, such as cerebellar ataxia, temporal lobe seizures, and some forms of dementia.

Unfortunately, conventional “treatments” of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis ignore these data, as well as ignore all the other factors that permit the emergence of autoimmune phenomena, such as vitamin D deficiency and dysbiosis. Here are some of my comments from Wheat Belly Total Health concerning the conventional approach by rheumatologists and other specialists in the diseases of autoimmunity:

The conventional medical approach to autoimmune diseases ignores disturbances of intestinal permeability, molecular mimicry, immunomodulation by vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, composition of bowel flora, exposures to industrial chemicals or metals, and the notion that components of diet can initiate and perpetuate the immune system gone wrong.

Instead, modern healthcare chooses to focus only on turning off the immune responses with drugs. Some treatments are imprecise and non-specific drugs, such as steroids like prednisone, which, by shutting down the entire immune system, also make us susceptible to infections. Other treatments are more specific, such as tumor necrosis factor blockers, Enbrel and Humira. These intravenous agents only work occasionally with incomplete success, are extraordinarily expensive, and are accompanied by the potential for tuberculosis, viral and bacterial infections, liver damage or failure, and activation of viral hepatitis. They even allow other autoimmune diseases to develop—-an imperfect solution, to say the least.

The wonderful thing about addressing the potential contributors to autoimmune processes, such as eliminating grains, restoring vitamin D, and correcting disruptions of bowel flora, is that they help restore health in many ways, not just reductions in inflammation or autoimmunity. Eliminate grains, for instance, and depression can lift, blood sugars drop, visceral fat is lost–and autoimmunity can recede. Raise vitamin D blood levels to 70 ng/ml and your thinking becomes clearer, bone density increases, insulin levels drop–and autoimmunity can recede. And such interventions are safe and inexpensive, costing little compared to the thousands of dollars per month you’d spend for autoimmune drugs.

Take such natural steps appropriate for a species of the non-grass-consuming member of the species Homo sapiens, and allow your immune system to distinguish friend from foe.

The Wheat Belly strategies therefore provide a powerful collection of strategies that 1) prevent autoimmune diseases, 2) reverse many forms of autoimmune diseases, and 3) minimize or eliminate the need for drugs that never address the initiating cause. While these strategies cannot be expected to reverse all instance of autoimmunity, there is no downside and plenty of upside from the broad wave of positive health changes that develop.

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Couple down 80 pounds by rejecting wheat and grains

Stephanie shared her photos and Wheat Belly lifestyle experience after 6 months:

“Our latest before and after picture. The left is exactly one year ago, July 2014 on the San Antonio Riverwalk. The right is today, July 12th, 2015 after 6 months of my hubby Mark and I following the Wheat Belly lifestyle. Total of about 80 lbs lost between the both of us.”

Those of you who’ve been following these conversations know that you will NEVER encounter advice such as cut your calories, push the plate away, reduce portion sizes. In fact, I tell people to eat more fat, to never sweat the calories, and exercise for health but not for weight loss.

And, though Stephanie does not mention it, the effortless weight loss is paralleled by reversal of numerous metabolic distortions and health conditions. This ain’t no diet; it is an effort to set eating straight and follow the path that humans should have followed all along despite the mistake we made in desperation 10,000 years ago when we turned to the seeds of grasses for survival.

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Nick loses his Wheat Belly and regains energy

Nick shared his “before” and “after” photos, along with these comments about his Wheat Belly lifestyle experience:

“I’ve been following the Wheat Belly lifestyle since March 1st, 2014 based on my best friend’s recommendation. I started this weighing 295 pounds, wearing a size 44 pants and feeling tired, worn out, and overall just not healthy at all.

“Now, almost 19 months later, I’m down to 218 pounds and wearing a size 36 pants and feel healthier then I have ever have!”

Weight down 77 pounds, waist size 8 inches smaller, renewed energy–not too shabby for thumbing your nose at the conventional dietary advice to eat wheat and grains at every sitting. Had we tracked metabolic markers (as I have done for thousands of people), we would have observed:

A rise in HDL, drop in triglycerides, reduction or elimination of small LDL particles
A drop in fasting blood sugar and insulin
Reduced excursions of after-meal (postprandial) lipoproteins such as VLDL particles
A drop in inflammatory measures such as c-reactive protein (CRP)
A reduction in blood pressure
Increase in testosterone, reduction in estrogen
A reduction in liver enzymes, AST and ALT

Such is the power of removing a collection of “foods” that fatten, inflame, hormonally-distort, and disrupt human metabolism, even without counting calories, without limiting portion size, without extreme exercise.

But don’t expect everyone around you to embrace this lifestyle. After all, we are fighting against a TRILLION dollar industry that is the cornerstone of agribusiness and the national economy. But we do this because it is right for health.

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Jill’s astounding Wheat Belly facial transformation

Jill shared this stunning chronicle of changes of her face and skin on the Wheat Belly lifestyle:

“These are all approximately 1 year apart.

“2013 pic- felt horrible. Looked horrible. Started with a hormone specialist who said ‘Read Wheat Belly and try to cut it out of diet.” Um, ok. Never did it. Started a candida cleanse (did 2 rounds) and started taking bio-identical hormones and all vitamins I was deficient in. Honestly, that’s where I needed to start. I was mean and tired and ate my feelings.

“2014 pic- 6 months of diet changes. No wheat was goal, but hard to do and I didn’t make my stand.

“2015 pic- this is one year wheat-free and 9 months grain-free. I am not skinny. I am healthy and strong. I could lose more weight and I may try later this year. But my body has reshaped and is smaller naturally than it’s ever been. I don’t count calories. I eat all I can and rarely overeat. Inflammation gone. The truth is in the eyes and the skin coloring. I have good energy and rare cravings. I am healthy and that’s where it is.”

Jill’s face underwent a dramatic change. Look at her skin color: she has lost the redness on the cheeks, the characteristic rash of wheat and grain consumption, as well as the edema (swelling) around the eyes, cheeks, and chin. Changes visible on the face are paralleled by internal health changes, such as relief from body-wide edema/water retention; reduced inflammation of joints, gastrointestinal tract, and other organs; changes in mental and emotional health, including freedom from incessant hunger and moodiness.

Experiences such as Jill’s are why we often say that the Wheat Belly lifestyle is not a “diet” in the sense that you follow a program and lose a few pounds. The Wheat Belly lifestyle is about setting food choices right and eliminating a class of “foods” that should never have been regarded as food in the first place: wheat and grains, the stuff chewed happily by ruminants equipped to digest the components of grasses, but not Homo sapiens.

Even though all official providers of dietary advice urge us to eat as much of them as we can, doing the opposite and eliminating the seeds of grasses–“grains”–from your dietary menu yields astounding changes, much as you can see on Jill’s face.

By the way, we are hearing more and more stories like Jill’s in which a doctor recommended the Wheat Belly lifestyle, a sign that healthcare practitioners are becoming open-minded and recognizing what a powerful healing force this lifestyle can be. Isn’t that terrific?

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Magnesium Water: From Wheat Belly Total Health

Below is an excerpt from the recipes in Wheat Belly Total Health. The recipes in Wheat Belly Total Health are not conventional recipes, such as those for soups or entrees; they are functional recipes that provide some specific health benefit, from electrolyte restoration to bowel flora cultivation. Here, I reproduce the recipe for Magnesium Water, the best form of magnesium supplementation available that you cannot buy.

While the best form of magnesium supplement is magnesium bicarbonate, in solid form is highly hygroscopic, or water-absorbent, such that it turns to a hard solid, then crumbles, in short order. For this reason, no manufacturer will sell you a magnesium bicarbonate supplement.

But you can make it yourself quite easily in liquid form and at very low cost using common materials. This form of magnesium is so well absorbed that I prescribed this mixture for patients over the years who had severe, life-threatening magnesium deficiencies (from such things as prior chemotherapy or specific magnesium-losing nephropathies, or kidney defects of magnesium reabsorption) that were chronic, requiring them to go to an emergency room or clinic every week for an intravenous infusion of magnesium to avoid the sudden cardiac death (via Torsade des pointes or ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation) that can result. But the weekly infusion was an awful experience, as getting an IV is no fun, it’s a major inconvenience, and costly. Using this Magnesium Water, I was able to keep magnesium blood levels in a safe range using this convenient oral mixture–no more IVs, no more weekly trips, far less cost, and less fluctuation of magnesium levels, since it could be supplemented every day, rather than once per week. This formula is perfectly safe even if you don’t have a life-threatening magnesium deficiency, though your needs will be less.

Magnesium water

This simple recipe yields magnesium bicarbonate, a highly absorbable form of magnesium to restore tissue magnesium with least potential for diarrhea. A 4-ounce serving provides 90 mg of elemental magnesium; 4 ounces twice per day thereby adds an additional 180 mg of elemental magnesium to your diet.

Note that the milk of magnesia must be unflavored, as flavorings block the reaction. Be sure to label your bottle to prevent any unexpected guzzling by someone (which results in diarrhea). Magnesium water does not need to be refrigerated if consumed within 1-2 weeks.

2 liter bottle of seltzer (not club soda)

3 tablespoons unflavored milk of magnesia

Uncap the seltzer and pour off a few tablespoons. Shake the milk of magnesia, then pour out 3 tablespoons. (Most brands come with a handy little measuring cup.) Pour into the seltzer slowly.

Cap securely, then shake until all sediment has dissolved. Allow to sit for 15 minutes and it will clarify. Drink 4 ounces twice per day. Label the bottle to keep others from inadvertently drinking it (and experiencing diarrhea by drinking too much).

If rapid restoration of magnesium is desired, e.g., chronic migraine headaches or atrial fibrillation, I’ve had patients drink 8 ounces twice per day to provide 360 mg elemental magnesium per day. Just be aware that even this great preparation has potential to cause loose stools.

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