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Nina Teicholz’s Surprise: Fat is good for you

Investigative journalist Nina Teicholz’s new book, The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet, is now available.

Nina’s eat-the-fat message fits like hand-in-glove with the Wheat Belly lifestyle. You will especially find her chronology of the historical blunders made along the way to the “low saturated fat for heart health” advice enlightening and liberating. It was, as she discusses, the low total fat and saturated fat mistakes that led us down this more “healthy whole grain” detour, the worst nutritional misjudgements ever made on a worldwide scale.

I asked Nina to provide a bit of discussion about her book and she provided this Q&A.

How did you come to write this book?

NT: I was a faithful follower of the low-fat, near-vegetarian diet, but when I started writing a restaurant review column, I found myself eating things that had hardly ever before passed my lips: rich meals of pâté, beef, cream sauces and foie gras. To my surprise, I lost the 10 pounds that I hadn’t been able to shake for years, and to boot, my cholesterol levels improved. To understand how this could be possible, I embarked upon what became a decade of research, reexamining nearly every single nutrition study and interviewing most of our top nutrition experts. What I was shocked to find were egregious flaws in the science that has served as the foundation of our national nutrition policy, which for more than 50 years has all but forbidden these delicious and healthy foods.

You write, “Almost nothing we commonly believe today about fats generally and saturated fats in particular, appears, upon close examination, to be accurate.” How did we get here?

NT: Our distrust of saturated fat dates more than 50 years, and can be traced to just one man: a bullying, charismatic but revered pathologist named Ancel Keys, whose quest for fame caused him to run roughshod over basic scientific standards. His deeply flawed “Seven Countries” study was the “Big Bang” of all our nutrition recommendations today. In an effort to quickly address the terrifying heart-disease epidemic, Keys persuaded the American Heart Association and ultimately the U.S. government to subscribe to the notion that saturated fat was our chief dietary culprit. Fat generally — and saturated fat specifically — came to be blamed for causing heart disease, obesity and cancer. Eventually this unfounded belief became ingrained as our national dogma, and many of our most esteemed nutrition scientists today endorse this idea based on the same kind of soft science that originated with Keys.

What are the unintended consequences of the low-fat diet that resulted from this flawed thinking?

NT: Avoiding fats has led to eating more carbohydrates—25% more since adopting the low-fat diet—and this shift (not only to more sugar but also more whole grains and fruit) has led to today’s diabetes and obesity epidemics. Cutting back on saturated fat has also meant that we are now eating far more vegetable oils, like soybean, canola and corn. These oils didn’t even exist in 1900 and now are 7-8% of all calories we eat. They have always been associated with health problems, including cancer. When heated, they oxidize and cause inflammation and gastric damage. These oils are now being used much more commonly in restaurant fryers, ever since the big fast-food chains like McDonalds and Wendy’s announced their shift to trans-fat free oils.

A bigger story: How did bad science become the foundation our national dietary policy?

NT: This larger story is at the heart of the book. It begins in the 1950s, when the desperate need to solve the heart-disease epidemic caused experts to jump the gun, launching dietary guidelines based on weak, incomplete science. As research dollars and institutions became invested in the idea, it became harder to reverse course, until, ultimately, the U.S. government’s adoption of the diet enshrined it in our federal bureaucracy. Biased science became a necessity. A once-loud group of critics was silenced (one, in particular, has come to be considered the “Cassandra” of nutrition). Big Food has played a role too (though less than is commonly thought) by buying off our most esteemed authorities and the science itself.

Many readers might be surprised to learn that the low-fat diet is especially harmful to women, which is scary because women tend to diet more. Tell us why.

NT: Women have been especially hard hit by the low-fat diet recommendations, which they have followed more religiously than anyone else over the past few decades. It turns out that women’s “good” cholesterol (HDL) drops dramatically on this diet (it does for men, too, but less so), thereby increasing their risk of heart disease. Even in the 1980s, it was found that middle-aged women with high cholesterol lived longer than those with low cholesterol, but researchers ignored this result, because they were focused on middle-aged men. In fact, all of our diet and cholesterol recommendations for decades have been based exclusively on data from men.

Who else is at special risk?

NT: Children are another population who were never tested before the U.S. government recommended putting them on the low-fat diet. Plenty of pediatricians objected that this diet, designed for middle-aged men, was inappropriate for growing children, but their voices were ignored. Only a few small trials were ever conducted on children and low-fat regimens, and these studies show that the diet increases the risk of nutritional deficiencies. Children grow better on higher fat diets. Our current school lunch and WIC-program policies of feeding them skim milk rather than whole are therefore alarmingly bad for their health.

It seems the prevailing thinking on fat is that some fats, like olive oil, are the best for our health. You discovered in your research that the Mediterranean Diet is not what it’s cracked up to be. How did it come to pass that we all worship at the altar of olive oil?

NT: The Mediterranean Diet originated from a survey of the eating habits of long-living Cretan peasants in the 1950s, who seemed to eat very little meat or dairy. However, they were surveyed shortly after WWII, when their economy was in ruins. Also, their diet was sampled during Lent, when animal foods were severely restricted. The data was therefore not any good and never grew any better. In fact, the reason that the Mediterranean Diet became celebrated and famous is that researchers fell in love with the sun-kissed, enchanting Mediterranean—and most of their studies and travel were funded by the olive-oil industry.

It’s amazing how researchers, including some of the most respected people in the field today, thrived on the Mediterranean Diet conference junket. The actual science is far from impressive: it can only show that this diet is superior to the failed, low-fat diet (and what diet isn’t?). Tested against a higher fat diet, the Mediterranean regime looks far less impressive for weight loss or heart disease. Also, no one’s ever been able to pinpoint any special, disease-fighting powers of olive oil—which turns out not to be an ancient foodstuff after all but a relatively recent introduction to the Mediterranean diet.

What about tropical oils? Are they OK?

NT: Coconut and palm oil were condemned in the 1980s for being high in saturated fats. Yet the main campaign against them was really a trade war, organized by the American Soybean Association (ASA), to drive out the foreign competition. For years, there was a feud between the Malaysians, who are the world’s largest producers of palm oil, and the ASA. The ASA appeared to be winning, but when the Malaysians threatened to expose the trans-fat problem in hydrogenated soybean oils, the ASA decided to call a truce–and stopped its slander campaign against the tropical oil producers. These oils are good for health and are now enjoying a comeback.

What about cholesterol? Doesn’t saturated fat raise people’s cholesterol levels and contribute to heart disease?

NT: The evidence against saturated fat amounted to: 1. Very poorly controlled trials from the 1970s (whose flaws have since been revealed) and 2. The fact that saturated fats raise total cholesterol. In the late 1980s, it was discovered that total cholesterol is not, actually, a reliable predictor of heart disease, so the conversation shifted to LDL cholesterol, which saturated fat also raises. However, over the past decade, many studies have shown that LDL-C has also failed to be a reliable predictor of risk. The new science shows that certain subfractions of LDL are more accurate—and saturated fat has a good effect on these. Plus, saturated fat is the only kind of food that is known to increase HDL, the “good” kind of cholesterol. In short, saturated fat was condemned when the science was still primitive. The science has evolved, but experts are stuck in old paradigms due to longtime biases and support from the statin industry.

Robert Atkins vs. Dean Ornish (or fast forward to Gary Taubes vs. Mark Bittman) —What’s the truth?

NT: Robert Atkins, who was an early proponent of a high-fat diet, and Dean Ornish, who espoused a plant-based diet, were the two most famous diet doctors of their day. Speaking out against the low-fat dogma that had already infiltrated the popular imagination, Atkins was seen as a quack. He was curmudgeonly and ornery—the worst possible advocate for the low-carb diet.

Compared to him, Ornish came across as a scientific man of reason. But it turns out that the studies Ornish conducted were too small to be meaningful. And in fact, most of the scientific literature shows that very low-fat diets, vegan and near-vegetarian diets, such as the kind Ornish recommends, lead to obesity and greater heart-attack risk. Meanwhile, Atkins has been vindicated. When he was alive, there were few scientific studies to back up his ideas,but the last decade has seen an explosion of rigorous clinical trials on the high-fat, low-carb diet. These trials have been ignored by the low-fat obsessed mainstream, but they show, definitively, that a high-fat diet is the best for health.

So what are the implications of your findings? How should we eat differently and how should national policy change?

NT: The most rigorous diet trials clearly show that a high-fat, low-carb diet is better for fighting obesity, diabetes and heart disease. The question is: what kind of fat should you eat?

If you want to get your fat from red meat, eggs, whole-fat dairy or coconut butter, there’s no data to show that’s not perfectly safe—and very likely healthier than vegetable oils. Our government should change its dietary recommendations to reflect the scientific evidence. Two immediate action items: It should let whole milk back into the WIC and school lunch programs. And it should not ban trans fats without first weighing the problems of toxic oxidation products from vegetable oils in restaurant fryers.

The post Nina Teicholz’s Surprise: Fat is good for you appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

Surprise! Fat is good for you

Investigative journalist Nina Teicholz’s new book, The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet, is now available.

Nina’s eat-the-fat message fits like hand-in-glove with the Wheat Belly lifestyle. You will especially find her chronology of the historical blunders made along the way to the “low saturated fat for heart health” advice enlightening and liberating. It was, as she discusses, the low total fat and saturated fat mistakes that led us down this more “healthy whole grain” detour, the worst nutritional misjudgements ever made on a worldwide scale.

I asked Nina to provide a bit of discussion about her book and she provided this Q&A.

How did you come to write this book?

NT: I was a faithful follower of the low-fat, near-vegetarian diet, but when I started writing a restaurant review column, I found myself eating things that had hardly ever before passed my lips: rich meals of pâté, beef, cream sauces and foie gras. To my surprise, I lost the 10 pounds that I hadn’t been able to shake for years, and to boot, my cholesterol levels improved. To understand how this could be possible, I embarked upon what became a decade of research, reexamining nearly every single nutrition study and interviewing most of our top nutrition experts. What I was shocked to find were egregious flaws in the science that has served as the foundation of our national nutrition policy, which for more than 50 years has all but forbidden these delicious and healthy foods.

You write, “Almost nothing we commonly believe today about fats generally and saturated fats in particular, appears, upon close examination, to be accurate.” How did we get here?

NT: Our distrust of saturated fat dates more than 50 years, and can be traced to just one man: a bullying, charismatic but revered pathologist named Ancel Keys, whose quest for fame caused him to run roughshod over basic scientific standards. His deeply flawed “Seven Countries” study was the “Big Bang” of all our nutrition recommendations today. In an effort to quickly address the terrifying heart-disease epidemic, Keys persuaded the American Heart Association and ultimately the U.S. government to subscribe to the notion that saturated fat was our chief dietary culprit. Fat generally — and saturated fat specifically — came to be blamed for causing heart disease, obesity and cancer. Eventually this unfounded belief became ingrained as our national dogma, and many of our most esteemed nutrition scientists today endorse this idea based on the same kind of soft science that originated with Keys.

What are the unintended consequences of the low-fat diet that resulted from this flawed thinking?

NT: Avoiding fats has led to eating more carbohydrates—25% more since adopting the low-fat diet—and this shift (not only to more sugar but also more whole grains and fruit) has led to today’s diabetes and obesity epidemics. Cutting back on saturated fat has also meant that we are now eating far more vegetable oils, like soybean, canola and corn. These oils didn’t even exist in 1900 and now are 7-8% of all calories we eat. They have always been associated with health problems, including cancer. When heated, they oxidize and cause inflammation and gastric damage. These oils are now being used much more commonly in restaurant fryers, ever since the big fast-food chains like McDonalds and Wendy’s announced their shift to trans-fat free oils.

A bigger story: How did bad science become the foundation our national dietary policy?

NT: This larger story is at the heart of the book. It begins in the 1950s, when the desperate need to solve the heart-disease epidemic caused experts to jump the gun, launching dietary guidelines based on weak, incomplete science. As research dollars and institutions became invested in the idea, it became harder to reverse course, until, ultimately, the U.S. government’s adoption of the diet enshrined it in our federal bureaucracy. Biased science became a necessity. A once-loud group of critics was silenced (one, in particular, has come to be considered the “Cassandra” of nutrition). Big Food has played a role too (though less than is commonly thought) by buying off our most esteemed authorities and the science itself.

Many readers might be surprised to learn that the low-fat diet is especially harmful to women, which is scary because women tend to diet more. Tell us why.

NT: Women have been especially hard hit by the low-fat diet recommendations, which they have followed more religiously than anyone else over the past few decades. It turns out that women’s “good” cholesterol (HDL) drops dramatically on this diet (it does for men, too, but less so), thereby increasing their risk of heart disease. Even in the 1980s, it was found that middle-aged women with high cholesterol lived longer than those with low cholesterol, but researchers ignored this result, because they were focused on middle-aged men. In fact, all of our diet and cholesterol recommendations for decades have been based exclusively on data from men.

Who else is at special risk?

NT: Children are another population who were never tested before the U.S. government recommended putting them on the low-fat diet. Plenty of pediatricians objected that this diet, designed for middle-aged men, was inappropriate for growing children, but their voices were ignored. Only a few small trials were ever conducted on children and low-fat regimens, and these studies show that the diet increases the risk of nutritional deficiencies. Children grow better on higher fat diets. Our current school lunch and WIC-program policies of feeding them skim milk rather than whole are therefore alarmingly bad for their health.

It seems the prevailing thinking on fat is that some fats, like olive oil, are the best for our health. You discovered in your research that the Mediterranean Diet is not what it’s cracked up to be. How did it come to pass that we all worship at the altar of olive oil?

NT: The Mediterranean Diet originated from a survey of the eating habits of long-living Cretan peasants in the 1950s, who seemed to eat very little meat or dairy. However, they were surveyed shortly after WWII, when their economy was in ruins. Also, their diet was sampled during Lent, when animal foods were severely restricted. The data was therefore not any good and never grew any better. In fact, the reason that the Mediterranean Diet became celebrated and famous is that researchers fell in love with the sun-kissed, enchanting Mediterranean—and most of their studies and travel were funded by the olive-oil industry. It’s amazing how researchers, including some of the most respected people in the field today, thrived on the Mediterranean Diet conference junket. The actual science is far from impressive: it can only show that this diet is superior to the failed, low-fat diet (and what diet isn’t?). Tested against a higher fat diet, the Mediterranean regime looks far less impressive for weight loss or heart disease. Also, no one’s ever been able to pinpoint any special, disease-fighting powers of olive oil—which turns out not to be an ancient foodstuff after all but a relatively recent introduction to the Mediterranean diet.

What about tropical oils? Are they OK?

NT: Coconut and palm oil were condemned in the 1980s for being high in saturated fats. Yet the main campaign against them was really a trade war, organized by the American Soybean Association (ASA), to drive out the foreign competition. For years, there was a feud between the Malaysians, who are the world’s largest producers of palm oil, and the ASA. The ASA appeared to be winning, but when the Malaysians threatened to expose the trans-fat problem in hydrogenated soybean oils, the ASA decided to call a truce–and stopped its slander campaign against the tropical oil producers. These oils are good for health and are now enjoying a comeback.

What about cholesterol? Doesn’t saturated fat raise people’s cholesterol levels and contribute to heart disease?

NT: The evidence against saturated fat amounted to: 1. Very poorly controlled trials from the 1970s (whose flaws have since been revealed) and 2. The fact that saturated fats raise total cholesterol. In the late 1980s, it was discovered that total cholesterol is not, actually, a reliable predictor of heart disease, so the conversation shifted to LDL cholesterol, which saturated fat also raises. However, over the past decade, many studies have shown that LDL-C has also failed to be a reliable predictor of risk. The new science shows that certain subfractions of LDL are more accurate—and saturated fat has a good effect on these. Plus, saturated fat is the only kind of food that is known to increase HDL, the “good” kind of cholesterol. In short, saturated fat was condemned when the science was still primitive. The science has evolved, but experts are stuck in old paradigms due to longtime biases and support from the statin industry.

Robert Atkins vs. Dean Ornish (or fast forward to Gary Taubes vs. Mark Bittman)—What’s the truth?

NT: Robert Atkins, who was an early proponent of a high-fat diet, and Dean Ornish, who espoused a plant-based diet, were the two most famous diet doctors of their day. Speaking out against the low-fat dogma that had already infiltrated the popular imagination, Atkins was seen as a quack. He was curmudgeonly and ornery—the worst possible advocate for the low-carb diet. Compared to him, Ornish came across as a scientific man of reason. But it turns out that the studies Ornish conducted were too small to be meaningful. And in fact, most of the scientific literature shows that very low-fat diets, vegan and near-vegetarian diets, such as the kind Ornish recommends, lead to obesity and greater heart-attack risk. Meanwhile, Atkins has been vindicated. When he was alive, there were few scientific studies to back up his ideas,but the last decade has seen an explosion of rigorous clinical trials on the high-fat, low-carb diet. These trials have been ignored by the low-fat obsessed mainstream, but they show, definitively, that a high-fat diet is the best for health.

So what are the implications of your findings? How should we eat differently and how should national policy change?

NT: The most rigorous diet trials clearly show that a high-fat, low-carb diet is better for fighting obesity, diabetes and heart disease. The question is: what kind of fat should you eat?

If you want to get your fat from red meat, eggs, whole-fat dairy or coconut butter, there’s no data to show that’s not perfectly safe—and very likely healthier than vegetable oils. Our government should change its dietary recommendations to reflect the scientific evidence. Two immediate action items: It should let whole milk back into the WIC and school lunch programs. And it should not ban trans fats without first weighing the problems of toxic oxidation products from vegetable oils in restaurant fryers.

Following the Wheat Belly lifestyle in Italy: Non c’e problema!

My wife and I just returned from a week-long trip to Rome, Italy. It was a great opportunity to follow the Wheat Belly wheat-free lifestyle and see just how practical it was, particularly in a city where wheat products figure prominently.

I found that, by following a few simple rules, navigating food was pretty straightforward:

1) Avoid foods listed under “Primo piato”–first course, as these are traditionally pastas.

2) Enjoy Italian charcuterie–The creation of meats, including aged raw meats, is quite advanced here. It includes salamis, prosciutto, bresaola, pancetta, mortadella and many others. This is a great way to begin a meal alongside some olives and a glass of red chianti.

3) As in North America, always ask whether a meat is breaded–”impanato.” I neglected to do this once and got a plate of breaded fried seafood.

4) Enjoy the salads–Salads can be a bit different in Rome. A “seafood salad,” for instance, that my wife ordered contained a variety of seafoods in a light sauce but no vegetables. Of course, the wonderful varieties of Italian extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegars are provided at every table. (I don’t think you can get Ranch dressing here!)

The tomatoes, salad greens, and fruit were especially wonderful, tasting much like the fresh-picked ones from your own garden, not the bland stuff often passed off as produce in U.S. supermarkets. Eggs with breakfast were orange when scrambled or with orange yolks when hard boiled or fried, suggesting that their chickens are better fed, perhaps truly free-range and thereby richer in beta carotene and other nutrients.

And you know what? Italians in Rome do indeed have a weight problem. While not to the degree experienced here in North America, you can indeed see plenty of overweight and obese people. Sadly, the weight affliction appears to be worst in children, of whom many have reached obvious and sometimes extreme degrees of excess weight. Yes, the adoption of semidwarf strains of wheat is a worldwide phenomenon. It hasn’t spared North America, it hasn’t spared Italy, it has essentially spared nobody.

Wheat Free Market: A Look At The First Year!

It’s been around a year since Gary Miller of New Jersey launched Wheat Free Market foods. Because he recognized a need for foods that are convenient and consistent with the Wheat Belly message, he sought my help in getting these products into the hands of readers.

Accordingly, I examine and approve all ingredients and recipes used in their products. They are confidently wheat-free and healthy!

Since launch, they have introduced wheat-free cookies (Almond Spice, Chocolate Chip, Shortbread), Wheat-Free Baking Mixes (Chocolate Chip Muffin Maker, Ginger Spice Muffin Maker, Mixed Berry Muffin Maker, Pizza Crust Mix, All Purpose Baking Mix), a grainless “Granola,” a sugar-free sweetener (monk fruit, erythritol), and Hot Sauces.

Yet we haven’t yet seen any WFM products on store shelves. So I thought I’d get an update from Gary himself.

WB: It’s been almost a year since WFM has launched foods consistent with the Wheat Belly message. Can you fill us in on what has happened over the past year — products, popularity, how widely they have been purchased?

GM: It has been a terrific experience serving the Wheat Belly community that continues to grow and grow. The impact we’ve had has been nationwide: We have shipped our products to people in all fifty states and the Virgin Islands. We are in the process of getting Canadian compliant labels so we can ship there, as well.

WB: What sort of feedback have you received for your products?

GM: The feedback has been terrific and we have been contacted by many stores this past year wanting to carry our products. I would say that our grain-free granola is our #1-selling, hallmark product and it has been the beneficiary of consistently stellar reviews. We can barely keep it stocked on the shelves!

WB: The Wheat Belly wheat-free audience is always looking for safe products that are convenient, tasty, and remain consistent with a wheat- and grain-free philosophy without resorting to any unhealthy ingredients. What are your near-term plans in the way of such new products?

GM: Over the next few months, we are planning to introduce some “bread” products, a line of crackers, and another flavor of granola.

We have just started wholesale operations, meaning we will place our products on store shelves for greater accessibility. This will also open up opportunities for all kinds of new products. Right now, shipping retail orders through the mail puts some restrictions on what can be offered.

WB: Where do you see WFM in the next 5 years? Do you predict that you will be able to compete against the big gluten-free companies that, I believe you would agree, are selling products that none of our readers should be consuming?

GM: I believe we have reached a tipping point and that wheat-free and even grain-free eating will become much more mainstream. I am sure some of the big companies will get on board, but they’ll have to wipe off a little egg on their face. Consumers are focused on health now more than ever and, when consumers change, companies have to change. We hope that we will be thought of as pioneers in the food revolution.

WB: What can we do to help?

GM: Well, if you like our mission and our products, please keep supporting us by continuing to order online, as it will take some time for us to get into local stores. Also, please ask your local health food store or natural grocer to reach out to us about carrying our products.

WB: Thanks, Gary!

Wheat Free Market foods can be found at their website, here, and conversations on their Facebook page.

The post Wheat Free Market: A Look At The First Year! appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

Wheat Free Market: First year!

It’s been around a year since Gary Miller of New Jersey launched Wheat Free Market foods. Because he recognized a need for foods that are convenient and consistent with the Wheat Belly message, he sought my help in getting these products into the hands of readers. Accordingly, I examine and approve all ingredients and recipes used in their products. They are confidently wheat-free and healthy!

Since launch, they have introduced wheat-free cookies (Almond Spice, Chocolate Chip, Shortbread), Wheat-Free Baking Mixes (Chocolate Chip Muffin Maker, Ginger Spice Muffin Maker, Mixed Berry Muffin Maker, Pizza Crust Mix, All Purpose Baking Mix), a grainless “Granola,” a sugar-free sweetener (monk fruit, erythritol), and Hot Sauces.

Yet we haven’t yet seen any WFM products on store shelves. So I thought I’d get an update from Gary himself.

WB: It’s been almost a year since WFM has launched foods consistent with the Wheat Belly message. Can you fill us in on what has happened over the past year–products, popularity, how widely they have been purchased?

GM: It has been a terrific experience serving the Wheat Belly community that continues to grow and grow. The impact we’ve had has been nationwide: We have shipped our products to people in all fifty states and the Virgin Islands. We are in the process of getting Canadian compliant labels so we can ship there, as well.

WB: What sort of feedback have you received for your products?

GM: The feedback has been terrific and we have been contacted by many stores this past year wanting to carry our products. I would say that our grain-free granola is our #1-selling, hallmark product and it has been the beneficiary of consistently stellar reviews. We can barely keep it stocked on the shelves!

WB: The Wheat Belly wheat-free audience is always looking for safe products that are convenient, tasty, and remain consistent with a wheat- and grain-free philosophy without resorting to any unhealthy ingredients. What are your near-term plans in the way of such new products?

GM: Over the next few months, we are planning to introduce some “bread” products, a line of crackers, and another flavor of granola.

We have just started wholesale operations, meaning we will place our products on store shelves for greater accessibility. This will also open up opportunities for all kinds of new products. Right now, shipping retail orders through the mail puts some restrictions on what can be offered.

WB: Where do you see WFM in the next 5 years? Do you predict that you will be able to compete against the big gluten-free companies that, I believe you would agree, are selling products that none of our readers should be consuming?

GM: I believe we have reached a tipping point and that wheat-free and even grain-free eating will become much more mainstream. I am sure some of the big companies will get on board, but they’ll have to wipe off a little egg on their face. Consumers are focused on health now more than ever and, when consumers change, companies have to change. We hope that we will be thought of as pioneers in the food revolution.

WB: What can we do to help?

GM: Well, if you like our mission and our products, please keep supporting us by continuing to order online, as it will take some time for us to get into local stores. Also, please ask your local health food store or natural grocer to reach out to us about carrying our products.

WB: Thanks, Gary!

Wheat Free Market foods can be found at their website, here, and conversations on their Facebook page.

Step 1: Wheat Elimination To Take Control Of Your Health

Debra’s story highlights a common issue in our wheat-free experience: Eliminating wheat is an exceptionally powerful way to take back control over weight and health.

But many people have had their health so disrupted by grain consumption, as well as other factors such as endocrine disruption from exposure to industrial chemicals, that additional steps need to be taken to fully recover health.

In Debra’s case, she had to battle Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and the resultant hypothyroidism (commonly caused by wheat consumption via autoimmunity), depression and anxiety, and get off medications before she began to feel and look good again.

“2011 was a year of personal heartache and extreme stress: I had to quit my job because of a nervous breakdown (I now know that it was an under-treated Hashimoto triggered meltdown). My anxiety was through the roof and my body was miserable.

After taking the summer of 2011 off and trying therapy, I finally was calming down enough to see things differently and thought I was getting better mentally. But then I fell back into another episode around Thanksgiving in which I got the flu and they forced me to take Zoloft to calm down. I had just eliminated wheat on November 4, 2012 after my husband read your book and said, “You know, these symptoms sound like you.” My joint pain went away within a few weeks of eliminating wheat, my eyes were white and my nails got strong. I lost a few pounds, but not much and I got stuck. My endocrinologist had told me I had Hashimoto’s, but said it didn’t mean anything and that taking the medication would be enough. I believed her for too many years.

I still had a lot to learn about nutrition, autoimmune disease and a fatty liver. Dropping wheat was only the first step, but I saw enough improvement that it encouraged me to keep seeking answers. I worked hard in the first 6 months of 2013 to get off Zoloft and I did.

After doing some reading about Hashimoto’s on your site and listening to an alternative health summit where a presenter made an off hand comment about functional medicine, I decided to pursue that. I found a functional medicine facility in August, 2013 and a doctor who validated all my symptoms.

It took us a few months to dive into everything and my doctor determined that I was being under treated for my thyroid (the numbers my endo said were “good” she said were not good enough). At the same time I had tried to work with my endocrinologist to see if she could be enlightened by my new found knowledge; instead, she told me that medication like Armour was not a good option for me and my numbers were fine. I spent most of October, 2013 as a walking zombie and sleeping whenever I sat down.

In December, 2013 my new functional medicine doctor started me on Armour and I felt good within a few weeks. After getting the right medication and doing a month long medical liver detox program I finally started to feel better. Also, for the first time since getting a fatty liver diagnosis 3 years ago, my number are moving down. I haven’t eaten refined sugar in 6 months and I noticed my skin cleared up and is softer than a baby’s bottom.

I am particularly in awe of the changes from September, 2013 to now: Who is that person? December, 2011 to now I look like I lost 100 lbs! I’ve only lost 35 actual pounds from my heaviest weight.

I now see food as medicine and I annoy everyone I know about it and tell them to read your book. I have more work to do and more weight to lose, but I am so happy to be feeling better and getting my life back. Thank you for being the catalyst to my journey back to health. I don’t think I would have questioned my endocrinologist if you hadn’t written those blog posts.”

Ah, the lessons learned in the nearly 3 years since Wheat Belly first threatened the nutritional status quo and caused Preparation H sales to skyrocket among grain executives.

The process must begin with wheat elimination, as wheat underlies so many of the problems someone like Debra started with. Just taking Armour thyroid, for instance, without eliminating wheat permits the original trigger for Hashimoto’s to continue, even triggering other autoimmune diseases, since the greatest risk factor for an autoimmune disease is another autoimmune disease. Just taking antidepressants is also clear not the answer.

The answer begins with wheat elimination. It just doesn’t always end there.

Because there are so many different facets of health that need to be addressed in the wake of wheat removal, I have written a new book called Wheat Belly Total Health to be released September, 2014. Until, continue to follow these discussions as we discuss all the strategies open to us after we remove the most poisonous grain ever created in a laboratory.

The post Step 1: Wheat Elimination To Take Control Of Your Health appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

Wheat elimination is step 1

Debra’s story highlights a common issue in our wheat-free experience: Eliminating wheat is an exceptionally powerful way to take back control over weight and health. But many people have had their health so disrupted by grain consumption, as well as other factors such as endocrine disruption from exposure to industrial chemicals, that additional steps need to be taken to fully recover health. In Debra’s case, she had to battle Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and the resultant hypothyroidism (commonly caused by wheat consumption via autoimmunity), depression and anxiety, and get off medications before she began to feel and look good again.

“2011 was a year of personal heartache and extreme stress: I had to quit my job because of a nervous breakdown (I now know that it was an under-treated Hashimoto triggered meltdown). My anxiety was through the roof and my body was miserable.

“After taking the summer of 2011 off and trying therapy, I finally was calming down enough to see things differently and thought I was getting better mentally. But then I fell back into another episode around Thanksgiving in which I got the flu and they forced me to take Zoloft to calm down. I had just eliminated wheat on November 4, 2012 after my husband read your book and said, “You know, these symptoms sound like you.” My joint pain went away within a few weeks of eliminating wheat, my eyes were white and my nails got strong. I lost a few pounds, but not much and I got stuck. My endocrinologist had told me I had Hashimoto’s, but said it didn’t mean anything and that taking the medication would be enough. I believed her for too many years.

“I still had a lot to learn about nutrition, autoimmune disease and a fatty liver. Dropping wheat was only the first step, but I saw enough improvement that it encouraged me to keep seeking answers. I worked hard in the first 6 months of 2013 to get off Zoloft and I did.

“After doing some reading about Hashimoto’s on your site and listening to an alternative health summit where a presenter made an off hand comment about functional medicine, I decided to pursue that. I found a functional medicine facility in August, 2013 and a doctor who validated all my symptoms.

“It took us a few months to dive into everything and my doctor determined that I was being under treated for my thyroid (the numbers my endo said were “good” she said were not good enough). At the same time I had tried to work with my endocrinologist to see if she could be enlightened by my new found knowledge; instead, she told me that medication like Armour was not a good option for me and my numbers were fine. I spent most of October, 2013 as a walking zombie and sleeping whenever I sat down.

“In December, 2013 my new functional medicine doctor started me on Armour and I felt good within a few weeks. After getting the right medication and doing a month long medical liver detox program I finally started to feel better. Also, for the first time since getting a fatty liver diagnosis 3 years ago, my number are moving down. I haven’t eaten refined sugar in 6 months and I noticed my skin cleared up and is softer than a baby’s bottom.

“I am particularly in awe of the changes from September, 2013 to now: Who is that person? December, 2011 to now I look like I lost 100 lbs! I’ve only lost 35 actual pounds from my heaviest weight.

“I now see food as medicine and I annoy everyone I know about it and tell them to read your book. I have more work to do and more weight to lose, but I am so happy to be feeling better and getting my life back. Thank you for being the catalyst to my journey back to health. I don’t think I would have questioned my endocrinologist if you hadn’t written those blog posts.”

Ah, the lessons learned in the nearly 3 years since Wheat Belly first threatened the nutritional status quo and caused Preparation H sales to skyrocket among grain executives. The process must begin with wheat elimination, as wheat underlies so many of the problems someone like Debra started with. Just taking Armour thyroid, for instance, without eliminating wheat permits the original trigger for Hashimoto’s to continue, even triggering other autoimmune diseases, since the greatest risk factor for an autoimmune disease is another autoimmune disease. Just taking antidepressants is also clear not the answer. The answer begins with wheat elimination. It just doesn’t always end there.

Because there are so many different facets of health that need to be addressed in the wake of wheat removal, I have written a new book called Wheat Belly Total Health to be released September, 2014. Until, continue to follow these discussions as we discuss all the strategies open to us after we remove the most poisonous grain ever created in a laboratory.

Change the lives around you

Lydia posted this wonderful comment describing her unexpected and profound wheat-free experience and how she is using it to change the lives and health of those around her.

I started Wheat Belly 56 days ago. Since then I have learned so much about food, about not basing my life around the scale and counting calories. I have ALWAYS been overweight and for 10 years the medical issues that come with it: thyroid, insulin resistance, depression.

In this short amount of time, I have lost 23 pounds and 2 prescriptions. I have never felt this clear minded or positive about anything before. Every ‘diet’ I have ever been on (and that is A LOT) has failed. Wheat Belly was the first way of eating in which I’ve felt free of normal dieting restrictions. I am confident that this is a lifestyle and doesn’t require ‘cheat days.’

Along with changing my outlook and health, I’ve managed to help my 57-year old mother who has not been well my entire life. Four back surgeries, every kind of arthritis, migraines, thyroid, high blood pressure, adult onset diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux, and the list goes on. She was on 16 different prescriptions with multiple doctors and specialist who do not have answers other than more pills.

In the first two months, she’s had relief for the first time. 43 pounds lighter, standing straighter, more energy, life and color back to her face and voice, control over muscles. It’s absolutely outstanding.

I’ve been such an advocate for your book that 17 of my friends now own both of your books and are starting their journey. They come to me for advice and motivation. This group of people includes my brother, who is a pharmaceutical scientist! He’s now a firm believer that your body is capable of healing and maintaining health when fueled by the right foods. My life is changed and my mother got hers back.

The Wheat Belly movement continues to grow and grow. Had Wheat Belly just been a book, first released in August, 2011, it would have enjoyed–at best–a few months in the spotlight and then, as with all books, fizzle out of public attention. Instead, the Wheat Belly wheat-free movement has grown larger and larger, now growing faster and faster.

And this has little or nothing to do with me. While I got the discussion going, exposing modern semi-dwarf wheat for the poisonous food it is, it’s people like Lydia and her mom that keep spreading this message. Think how profound this revelation is: We do the OPPOSITE of what we are advised to do by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, we go against the Food Pyramid and Plate of the USDA, ignore the advice of the Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition and the absurd teachings of the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association. . . and lives and weight are transformed. Not just losing a few pounds, but getting rid of long lists of nasty prescriptions, being freed from pain and mental fog, reclaiming energy and happiness that many thought were long gone.

Following the wheat-free lifestyle not only changes your life–it also ripples through the lives of the people around you.

Sarah no longer counts calories

Sarah relates this story of how, after years of struggle with health and weight, she finally found the answer. Her story is especially interesting as she worked in the weight loss industry.

“I have struggled all my life with my weight and food was always my comforter.

“In my late 30′s, I managed to lose 40 kg [88 lbs] and reach my goal weight with a major weight loss company in which I became a consultant. But, if I was previously fat and unhappy, I was now thin and unhappy. My years of chronic low-fat dieting led me to develop binge eating disorder. I felt like such a fraud and I was struggling to maintain my weight and was unhappy thinking I would have to eat like this forever to maintain my goal weight.

“I had also developed acid reflux and was regularly taking Nexium. I’m also on the cusp of perimenopause and really struggling with hormonal changes. Doctors just kept prescribing more hormone pills and birth control.

“After much research and reading your book, on December 26th, 2013 I decided to do the complete opposite and cut out all grains and eat more fat. My acid reflux disappeared in one day, my athletes’ foot gradually disappeared and also my fungal nail infection. I’ve come off all my hormone meds and birth control. Skin and nails are amazing. I just feel incredible.

“But by far the biggest thing for me is I no longer feel ruled by food. The cravings are gone. I never feel the need for a carb binge. I know I will never go back to eating by the dietary guidelines ever again.”

By eliminating grains, Sarah reversed the gastrointestinal disruption, inflammation and autoimmune distortions, hormonal disruptions, nutrient deficiencies, and mind effects (cravings) that they cause. Counting calories does not accomplish this. Cutting fats does not accomplish this. Reducing portion sizes and using smaller plates and bowls do not do this. Lap-band and gastric bypass do not accomplish this. To remove the appetite stimulation that originates from the gliadin derived opiates from wheat, rye, barley and to a lesser extent, corn and oats, we remove grains and their prolamin proteins (the source of gliadin and related proteins). Only then does someone like Sarah regain control over appetite and is able to control weight effortlessly.

Sarah’s experience also highlights the importance of fat for satiety. Low-fat eating is torture, with satiety a transient experience. High-fat eating, in contrast, is a pleasure, with satiety and freedom from cravings lasting much of the day after, say, a full, high-fat breakfast. Compound this with the absence of gliadin derived appetite-stimulating opiates from grains, with no more two-hour cycles of blood sugar highs and lows caused by grain amylopectins, unblocking of the leptin hormone by grain lectins, and our eating habits revert back to the way humans are supposed to be: eating occasionally with hunger only experienced as a soft reminder many hours after your last meal.

How to become diabetic

It’s so easy, anyone can do it!

Becoming diabetic and proudly having to finger stick your way to blood sugar control is patriotic, as it builds revenues for Big Pharma. What better way to support your country than to help successful industries grow larger, increase shareholder value, and increase the salary and perks for hard working executives?

So if you want to join the growing ranks of people who are becoming diabetic, now the largest epidemic of chronic disease ever witnessed in the history of the world, here’s what you do:

–Cut your fat intake–Because it leaves you unsatiated and hungry, you will be left with cravings and the loss of resolve to consume healthy foods, making those chips and cookies irresistible. Celebrate with Frito Lay and Oreos!

–Consume high-glycemic index foods–By “high,” I mean any food with a greater than zero or single-digit glycemic index, such as grains and sugars. Also eat more “low-” and “moderate-” glycemic index foods, because they raise your blood sugar to high levels, too!

–Consume modern wheat–Because the gliadin protein yields opiate peptides that stimulate appetite and increase calorie intake by 400 calories per day, every day, making you want more to eat all throughout the day, paving the road to a wonderful and proud collection of visceral fat.

–Listen to your doctor’s advice to not supplement vitamin D or supplement at low-dose and be content with a 25-hydroxy vitamin D level of 30 ng/ml, the level you would have with minimal sun exposure and no consumption of animal organs. Ignore the fact that healthy, young, sun-exposed people typically have 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels of 70, 80, or 90 ng/ml. And ask your doctor to take the less effective, non-human form of vitamin D available by prescription!

–Give into the joint pain, lethargy, and depression caused by grains. This allows insulin resistance to gain a foothold, sending up blood sugars. And, anyway, think of all the TV you can catch up on not having to worry about exercising.

–Eat processed foods made with grains and sugars, also filled with herbicides like glyphosate and imizamox, that cause changes in bowel flora. Cut back on those healthy Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria species and give equal time to E. Coli , maybe even Clostridium difficile!

–Eat gluten-free foods made with cornstarch, tapioca starch, rice flour, and potato flour, since they have the highest glycemic indexes of all foods–there’s nothing higher! Your doctor will be shocked at how high your HbA1c can go just by following this simple strategy. Gluten-free foods might even earn you your very own insulin pump!

You’ll know when you’ve succeeded when you have to shop for larger and larger pants and dress sizes and, best of all, your doctor feels good about himself because he is able to do his job and hand out more prescriptions to treat your high blood sugars, high blood pressure, joint pains, skin rashes, acid reflux, and high cholesterol. Maybe he will even have to put you on antidepressants! Think how much you will add to the bottom line of your friendly neighborhood pharmacy alone.

You can find a number of roadmaps to accomplish this lifestyle. One way would be to not read nasty books like Wheat Belly that could actually harm the profit making potential of grains and drugs. Another way would be to just follow the advice of the American Diabetes Association and all their friendly supporters in the drug and processed food industry.

After a number of years of diabetes, think how much more you can contribute to the nation’s economic success when you need a heart catheterization, stents, or bypass surgery, carotid artery surgery, stents in your femoral arteries, hemodialysis, and foot amputations? Your doctor is happy, high-fiving you for all the terrific fees you generate, the hospital adds your name to its mailing list to keep up-to-date on all its new services, while dietitians congratulate you on how well you adhere to their low-fat, grain-based advice.

See how easy it is?