William Davis's Blog: Dr. Davis Infinite Health Blog, page 162

Mucous flows where wheat goes

We’ve heard from many readers who have noticed marked changes in their upper respiratory health, including relief from chronic sinus congestion, repeated sinus infections, and asthma. Here’s another observation from Kayla, who describes relief from nasal mucus production.

My name is Kayla. I am a 26 year old mother of one and I live in Ontario, Canada. In January of this year, I was given a copy of your book, Wheat Belly, along with the cookbook.

6 years ago, I went from being extremely fit, playing college volleyball and many other sports in my spare time, including basketball and soccer. I was an athlete my whole life and never struggled with weight. I am 5’9 and I was 155 lbs. To some, that may sound heavy, but my muscle mass was large and even at 155 lbs I had a six-pack.

I stopped playing volleyball at a competitive level and went to Culinary school. A double negative! Although I loved cooking, within two and a half years time I had gained nearly 40 lbs.

In January of 2011, I became pregnant with my daughter. I was 192 lbs when I got pregnant with her. By the time I gave birth, I was 212 lbs. Within a week of having my daughter I was back down to 192 lbs. I carried my weight well. No one would have ever guessed I actually weighed what I did, but I still felt awful. Wearing a size 12 was not me. I had absolutely no confidence.

After receiving your book and reading it, I became completely enlightened. I was 100% committed to taking wheat out of my life. Within the first 8 days, I was absolutely amazed to step on the scale and see that I had lost 9 lbs!! I could not believe my eyes. Even my mind felt more clear.

When I moved in to our house in May of 2012, I seemed to constantly be congested with mucus. I thought it must be the pine trees upfront or possibly old cigarette smoke from people that lived there 7 years prior. 5 weeks after cutting wheat, I lay in my bed and suddenly I realized “Hey: I have no more mucus. What is different?” It only took me a minute to realize exactly what was different: I had no more mucus because I no longer ate wheat!

Today, I am happy to say that I have lost 33 lbs. I weigh in at 159lbs and I feel amazing! All this in just 6 short months! Last summer I was a size 12 and now I am a size 6!

In October of 2012, I started at a bootcamp. It was not until I eliminated wheat that I truly started to see the results. Today, I go to bootcamp 3-times a week, I eat well for the most part. A diet of low carb, moderate-high fat and high protein.

I can honestly say I never want to go back to eating wheat. Any time I have had a small amount here and there, I pay for it. I feel foggy, dizzy and, of course, the mucus comes back.

Thank you very much for helping change my life!

Nobody yet knows exactly what component of the Evil Grain is responsible–gliadin, wheat germ agglutinin, unique allergenic proteins such as alpha amylase inhibitors or omega-gliadin–for the peculiar increased flow of mucous, congestion, infection, airway sensitivity. After all, wheat has SO many undesirable components that it could be any one or some combination. (This also highlights how silly it is to genetically-modify wheat to remove the most destructive forms of gluten–it’s still full of other bad stuff!)

The reduction in mucous production in sinuses and airways is among the more common observations among the wheat-free, along with return of mucous in all its glory with re-exposure. Slender, energetic, freedom from excessive nasal discharge–the wheat-free life is good!

Interview with Wheat Free Market Foods

To help everyone get better acquainted with Wheat Free Market Foods, the company commercializing foods consistent with the Wheat Belly arguments, I asked Gary, founder and CEO, to tell us more.

WB: What made you decide to start this company?

Gary: Well, I happened to be one of the early readers of Wheat Belly back in 2011 and experienced tremendous success with it very quickly. In a matter of months, I dropped 55 lbs, but before that I was most amazed by the lack of hunger I was experiencing. I soon realized that this was a game-changer. I posted this on your blog on September 22, 2011.

The health benefits I experienced are too numerous to list, but included many of the “typical” things, like vastly improved energy, better sleep, no afternoon fog, hip pain went away, and clearer and smoother skin. But, most of all, I experienced relief from what must have been irritable bowel syndrome. Heck, I didn’t even know I had it until I realized what “normal” felt like. I tell people I would give it all back, even the weight loss, if I could just keep the digestive relief! At the end of the day, I thought that, if a guy like me could have this kind of life-changing success, many others could as well, but people would need help with convenient food products and there were just none out there, thus Wheat-Free Market Foods.

WB: How is the launch going?

Gary: It is going very well and the response on the whole has been very favorable and we are getting repeat orders, which is very validating A few people have some issues with sweeteners, generally, and we are working on products using different sweeteners or even none at all.

WB: Which product is the biggest hit?



Gary: I’d have to say either the granola or the chocolate chip cookies. The response was so positive for the granola that we are currently working on adding another flavor, a blueberry vanilla. People have been coming back and ordering anywhere from 4 to even 10 bags at a time!

WB: Why hot sauces?

Gary: I am originally from Texas and spicy and flavorful foods are a way of life for me. But the longer and further I went down this path of healthy eating, I realized that I was getting reactions to many of the hot sauces and other condiments and dressings out there and they are just ripe with chemicals such as dyes, preservatives like sodium benzoate, and thickeners like modified food starch and maltodextrin. As much as I like all of our products, I would have to say that my favorite is the Chipotle Hot Sauce. It is simple and natural and that really comes through in its flavor. One woman wrote to me that her husband said it is one of the best hot sauces he has ever had.

WB: What is next?

Gary: In the next week or two, we should have some real Wheat Belly favorites: a flaxseed wrap mix and three “Muffin Makers.” They are all single serving mix packets and are ready in minutes if you use the microwave. Our “Muffin Makers” are based upon the muffin-in-a-minute recipes that so many people enjoy. The flaxseed wrap mix is cool in that you can make a wrap, or double the cooking time and have pita crisps, or re-bake it with your favorite toppings for a small pizza. We are also working on crackers and a baking/coating mix.

WB: Do you plan to be in stores?

Gary: Absolutely, but we have to learn to walk before we can run, and it takes a lot of capital to have that kind of production capacity. With the support of Wheat Bellyers on our retail online platform – and may I repeat, WITH THE SUPPORT OF WHEAT BELLYERS (did I say that loud enough?) – we should be able to get the necessary capital to broaden products and get into stores. That is, that we can show there is a demand for our products.

WB: What about shipping to Canada?

Gary: We are trying to get a handle on that – costs, shipping times, etc. In some respects, it’s easy to just box something and mail it to another country, but what are the ultimate costs to the consumer? If it takes much longer, are there product integrity issues related to shipping? So there is a lot to consider. We just shipped a few cookie packs to a well-known Wheat Bellyer from the Facebook page to see how things would go. It took seven days, but all arrived in good condition and he and his wife loved the products. But it cost roughly $13 in postage for what amounts to $15 of cookies. We are exploring shipping our products in bulk to either Toronto or Montreal (where my son and Wheat Free Market Foods order fulfillment summer laborer extraordinaire will be in college in the Fall) and then handling shipping by Canada Post. That may ultimately make it a more affordable proposition for Canadian customers. I recognize our Canadian friends’ contribution to the Wheat Belly movement, and I really want them to have access to our products, but we just happen to be in the US as that’s where I live.

WB: Is there anything you want your customers to know?

Gary: That we hate shipping charges as much as anyone and that we do not make any profit on shipping. We made a decision early-on to price our products where they need to be relative to how much they cost us to make. There is a propensity for e-commerce businesses to trump up prices and then not charge for shipping. But we would like to be in stores so we believe the retail price point needs to be what it needs to be, regardless of how the product gets to the consumer. We decided to just charge a flat rate and see what happens. On average, we are spot-on postage-wise, but subsidize a couple of dollars on most orders either on excess postage or packaging materials.

WB:Thanks, Gary. Congratulations on your successful launch! The Wheat Free Market Foods website can be found here.

Wheat Belliers share their wheat re-exposure experiences

How do we associate cause and effect? How do we KNOW when acid reflux, bowel urgency, depression, anxiety, asthma, joint pain and myriad other health complaints are due to consumption of modern wheat?

Simple: When you can turn them on, turn them off, turn them on, turn them off, repeatedly and at will. For instance, avoid wheat, enjoy freedom from bowel urgency and the inconvenient and embarrassing searches for the nearest toilet. Have wheat, explosive return of symptoms. On again, off again: It is the consistent association that establishes a cause-effect relationship in an individual.

Read the incredible descriptions from readers who have experienced regrettable “on-again” moments:

Linda:

Back in April, I was helping serve meals at a retreat. I had prepared food to take with me, knowing the meal I was helping with was baked ziti, but I forgot to bring it along. I really had no options at that point, so I had a small dessert-sized bowl–of the ziti. Within two hours, my stomach bloated, I had heartburn and gas pains, and I felt like I was hit by a Mack truck. My reaction was a good lesson in being prepared and a strong defense against the temptation to take just one bite!

Ali:

My hub was very skeptical. He joined me in wheat/gluten free as an experiment, but it took him getting ‘glutened’ on at least three occasions before he finally accepted he was better off without it!

If he gets inadvertently glutened he turns into ‘Attila the Hun’ for the best part of a week and is not nice to be around. Depression, anxiety, extreme irritability, frustration, pain and brain fog so thick you can cut it with a knife! I weep when I think of all the years he, I, and the kids had to cope with his moods and all the gluten-induced misery.

If I get glutened I don’t usually get the IBS-D I suffered with for 12 years prior to dumping the stuff (the diarrhoea stopped within hours!), but I do get revisited by the raging restless legs that was also a long-term issue. I am also still trying to rectify the damage to my body it caused all those years. After 5 years, I’m better, but still not totally fit and well.

I just hate it, and I hate what it does to people without them realising. I see the pain family members are in who won’t accept the wheat they consume may well be driving it, so great is the addiction.

Julie:

Wow! I didn’t even connect this. Have been grain-free for a month, and had company this week — delicious Filipino food. Nose bleeds, appetite return with vengeance, weight gain, congestion, lethargy. Did not make the connection until now. Hopefully will be enough to make me politely decline next time.

Beth:

I thought 1 tortilla couldn’t hurt after I’d been off grains for several months. My right hip (joint) hurt nonstop, throbbing for 4 days. Every time I have that thought, I recall those sleepless nights with that pain, and I can turn away.

Mia:

I went wheat-free (and grain-free) in the fall of last year, as wheat caused me to have asthma problems and an asthma attack so severe that I was sent to the ER. I now strictly avoid all things wheat and wheat-facility contaminated, and am extremely vigilant about avoiding re-exposure. I have become more and more sensitive to wheat-exposure, as the slightest trace amount will cause almost instantaneous wheezing. Occasionally, I have eaten something that should be wheat-free, such as dates, only to find that they were processed in a facility that handles wheat products. Or, I have consumed a small amount of jam (which had dextrin in it–I had thought that ingredient was safe–apparently not.) It has come to the point where any food that has had contact with wheat at some point down the line will cause asthma for me. So, I rarely buy any packaged foods anymore, and instead bake and cook everything myself (eating out is absolutely out of the question, as something will inevitably have been contaminated.)

Oddly enough, hubby has developed re-exposure phenomena too, of the GI kind. He reluctantly went wheat free this spring when he heard me talking so much about it, and thought to give it a try. He honestly scoffed at first at all of the side effects I described to him about its consumption. However, he noticed that when he did eat something “wheaty,” he would suffer on the toilet. He eventually decided that it was definitely wheat causing his distress, and now he tries hard to avoid it. So, even skeptics, when they try eliminating it from their diet, will most likely find that wheat has been wreaking havoc on their health, unbeknownst to them, and will find themselves better off without it.

Rosemary:

With me it is rage first, then extreme depression. The level of depression ranges from just down to homicidal/suicidal so we don’t eat anywhere but at home these days. It just isn’t worth it. I also don’t lick envelopes any more, ever.

Sandy:

A very timely post for me. I did an intentional “Awwww, how much could it hurt?” when I devoured a couple spinach wheat wraps earlier in the week after being wheat free for almost a year and a half. Oh man, it hurt a LOT. My asthma flared up and OMGosh (knee and wrist) joint pain returned with vengeance, making my morning runs very difficult. It took me a couple days for the light bulb to turn on but after I figured out what it was, I am sworn off wheat again–FOREVER. Wow! I read the book and it warns of this, but I guess I didn’t take it as serious as it really is. Now, almost a week later, the pain has subsided and my asthma much improved, but my memory won’t forget this “wake up call”.

Roxie:

OMG I had 3 x sourdough rye slices + 1/4 apple pie on the weekend at my boyfriend’s. That night I had this dry cough similar to asthma. I thought it was the cold night air and his relative’s smoking. Then the next day (Sunday) I had a progressively worsening migraine. I woke this morning with the same migraine PLUS a nosebleed PLUS diarrhea. I never get nosebleeds! Admittedly, I have been (in the last few weeks) sneaking a little biscuit or two with my coffee, but after reading your post I’m thinking that the nosebleed has come directly from the toast and apple pie PLUS the build up of biscuit wheat in the last few weeks. Normally I’m very strict with my diet and I only eat white rice or potatoes and NEVER grains, and I’ve been so well and so energetic.

I’m determined now to never do this again to myself!

Jan:

This is a noteworthy post for newcomers to the WB lifestyle because re-exposure symptoms can range from unpleasant to debilitating.

When I’m inadvertently glutened, my first indication is that my nose starts running like a faucet, later followed by gastric issues, neither of which I find pleasant!

Patricia:

I have been wheat free for about a year and half. Last summer I was at a party where I was absolutely vigilant about what I ate. One of the appetizers was salmon on a skewer. I thought perfect. High protein and wheat free!

The next morning when I got out of bed I could hardly move because my joints were so stiff. My hips were aching and I knew that I had inadvertently ingested wheat.

A month later when I was making the said salmon skewers for my own party I happened to read the label on the soy sauce. WHO knew there is wheat in soy sauce. Culprit identified and wheat free soy sauce sourced!

Alvin:

I gave up wheat and other high carb foods about 18 months ago. Yesterday I had meatloaf that was made with whole wheat crackers. Within minutes, I was flushed, sweating profusely and having trouble breathing. This lasted for about 30 minutes and then eased off. Everything else in the meatloaf I had eaten often since I started my new lifestyle except the wheat. (p.s. I’ve lost 77 pounds!!)

Charla:

Yep: That’s exactly what happens to me when I get glutenized, every last one of the symptoms mentioned, and it takes me a very long time to get back on track from the food cravings being so severe. Crazy! It does seem that the attacks from re-exposure are so much worse than what I was experiencing before going gluten-free.

Ann Marie:

Last year before I read Wheat Belly and went wheat free, I was on a low carb diet, (salads, naked juices, cheese, meat) but no breads or starches. Then a few weeks into it, not even realizing I was wheat free, I ate a large plate of spaghetti. A few hours later and for 2 to 3 days I was running to the bathroom and washing clothes more than once. I did not know what this was till several months later when I was reading Wheat Belly. I am now very careful and read all the labels. Soo scared that this could happen again if I don’t. Soo comfortable now that I am wheat free, I’ll never go back to that garbage.

Christy:

We’re all grain free now and feeling so much better, but we all have Deja ewww stories!

I went gluten free in March of 2005. That August we were cleaning out my parents-in-law’s house in a hurry to put it on the market. After a very long day, I took my son, who was not yet gluten free, through a KFC drive through and got him some chicken and potatoes. In a moment of sheer delusion, I grabbed a spoonful of potatoes with gravy, then spent the next five days having severe GI symptoms, respiratory symptoms, a migraine, muscle and joint pain, anxiety, insomnia, and irritability. It’s a wonder I survived the constant state of those symptoms and more for years before that. And it’s amazing that I didn’t do anything drastic during so many years of feeling so very, very miserable.

My oldest child always had fewer GI symptoms than others of us, and when she accidentally eats gluten she becomes depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, antisocial, and irritable, plus she gets a little sore throat, burning eyes, and puffs up a little. And she has nightmares. Luckily this doesn’t happen often, and it usually lasts for 3 to 5 days. My youngest, though not a celiac, suffers for MONTHS afterward. GI symptoms, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, head aches. Several times she’s barely gone to school for an entire spring semester after some gluten fiasco around Christmas or after the new year, even some minute and totally accidental ingestion.

During the first year I was grain free I thought I’d just try a little organic cornmeal to see what would happen. Toasted some in a pan, added a little honey, and just ate a little bit. Had diarrhea for five days and took two weeks to recover.

Stefanie:

After being wheat free for about a week, I ate some German licorice wheels I saw in the store. They reminded me of home, so I couldn’t resist buying a bag. I really didn’t think that wheat would be in there, so I devoured the bag during the evening hours. The next morning I woke up with stomach cramps and resulting diarrhea. I couldn’t figure out where this sudden belly issue is coming from since no one else in my family was sick. I checked the licorice bag, and sure enough, it contained wheat flour!

Lynda:

I get severe arthritic pain in my hands with wheat exposure. There may be other things happening but that pain is too distracting to notice them. I have had three hamburger buns in the last 1.5 years and it happened every time. Makes me wonder what else may be going on.

Heather:

I just got back from Vegas, where I did my best to avoid anything that looked like it could contain wheat, but was obviously exposed. I sneezed a lot while there, and now am dealing with what will hopefully only be about a week of depressive/suicidal thoughts. My brain is a complete mess with constant anxiety and worry about the tiniest things. I have linked corn to the anxiety as well, as it has an almost exact gluten protein. Without the wheat, I am happy and calm, take away any corn derivative and I am calmer than I ever thought l possible for someone like me who seemed to just be anxious by nature.

Sheri:

I was wheat free for exactly 7 days when I decided to eat a sub. BIG MISTAKE. Within an hour, I started sneezing pretty much non-stop. Within a couple of hours, I thought I was getting a head cold. I was still sneezing and my nose was running. 5 hours later, I was so congested, I literally could not breathe without my mouth being open. I had the worst headache / sinus pain of my life. No amount of over the counter medicine would bring relief, and I am surprised I didn’t OD on something. It was that bad.

I seriously do not ever remember being sick like that before. It lasted 2 days before I could breathe normally again with “just” regular cold symptoms. It took a week before I was back to normal. Never again. I am not exaggerating when I say I really wanted to cut my own head off – it was that bad.

Lori:

I’ve been basically wheat free for almost 2 years now. Just got back from vacation and my husband made cookies (he bought the dough from the dance team who was selling it door to door). In a moment of weakness, I had a couple – well maybe a few more than a couple, and ended up with a bad headache for 2 days and felt so depressed I didn’t want to do anything.

Thankfully I feel better now, but it was a sure fire reminder of what I felt like before Wheat Belly came into my life!

Deja ewww!

It’s peculiar but instructive: re-exposure phenomena triggered by wheat exposure after being confidently wheat-free. The exposure can be intentional, as in “Just one won’t hurt!” or it can be inadvertent, as in “That gravy looks okay.”

Typically, someone will be wheat-free for at least a week. Re-exposure from, say, salad dressing or seasoning mix then triggers wheat re-exposure fireworks.

The most common re-exposure phenomena to are:

–Gastrointestinal distress, bloating, and diarrhea that can last hours to a couple of days. (People with celiac disease can have problems for months, however.) This response resembles food poisoning.

–Joint pain–characteristically in the fingers and/or wrists

–Upper airway phenomena such as asthma and sinus congestion

–Emotional effects such as anxiety in females, irritability or rage in males

–Appetite stimulation–What I call the “I ate one cookie and gained 30 pounds” effect. Eating one cookie does not, of course, cause 30 pounds of weight gain. But just one exposure can set the appetite-stimulating machinery in motion and days or weeks of increased appetite for junk carbohydrates can result, thanks to the gliadin-derived opiates of wheat.

And the symptoms that initially went away with your wheat-free adventure can return in all their glory, such as migraine headaches, depression, mental “fog,” sleep disruption, and seborrhea.

The longer you are wheat-free, the more violent the reaction. It is a fitting reminder of just how inappropriate modern wheat is for humans. It reflects our inability to consume the seeds of grasses.

On again, off again; on again, off again: Like pushing a button, you can start or stop the process at will. This represents incontrovertible proof of your individual intolerance to the Evil Grain.

Anyone want to share their re-exposure story?

That’s a mouthful!

This is the skull of a specimen of Homo sapiens recovered from the Fertile Crescent, specifically Qafzeh, Israel, and dated to around 100,000 years ago (photographed through glass, on display at London’s Natural History Museum). We don’t know the age of the specimen at time of death, but it is clearly adult.

Note the full mouth of teeth, intact and apparently without decay. This is typical of the specimens recovered prior to the incorporation of grains into the human diet: perfect teeth without decay, without abscess, without tooth loss, and without tooth crowding that we see so often today. Substantial tooth loss in primitive life was potentially life threatening, as eating the coarse foods of the age require effective mastication.

This is another photo from the same collection, this one a Neandertal from Kebara, Israel, dated to 60,000 years ago (approximately 30,000 years prior to their extinction). Note once again the full mouth of teeth without apparent decay or crowding. Although we are not descended from Neandertals, Homo sapiens are extremely close relatives, genetically close enough to allow crossbreeding. As with Homo sapiens specimens, tooth decay in Neandertal specimens are uncommon.

What makes this so fascinating is that neither Homo sapiens nor Neandertal had toothbrushes, toothpaste, fluoridated water, dental floss, dentists, or orthodontists, yet less than 1% of teeth recovered show evidence of decay. That all changed with the incorporation of grains–einkorn and emmer wheat in the Fertile Crescent, maize and teosinte in the Americas, sorghum and millet in sub-Saharan Africa: explosive tooth decay appeared, typically affecting 16-49% of all teeth recovered (varying depending on location and age). The Egyptians, among the earliest of civlizations of Homo sapiens, famous for their wheat, barley, and corn consuming ways, were the first to have dentists, some of whom developed techniques to drill into the mouth to remove cavities.

There’s more to health than dental health. But it is one powerful line of evidence that suggests that grains are not, nor never were, appropriate for human consumption. When we do consume them, we pay a substantial health price in the teeth and elsewhere. The evidence is pretty bad for grains in general, now exaggerated by the manipulations of geneticists to create modern high-yield, semi-dwarf wheat.

Wheat and grains are maladaptive. The seeds of grasses, i.e., all grains consumed by unwitting humans, are the food of the desperate or the ignorant.

London Belly

People successfully navigate a wheat-free lifestyle while at home. But what about while traveling?

We’ve heard from many readers how they have traveled different parts of the world. It can take some effort, but most people have found they can travel safely with minimal to no inadvertent wheat exposure.

Pictured is a meal I recently had in a small restaurant featuring Argentinian cuisine in the Westminster area of London, England. I enjoyed several meals over the course of a week and had no problem whatsoever in avoiding wheat. Yes, it was offered in the form of dinner rolls, cookies and scones, and the many other familiar forms, but avoiding the obvious and hidden sources proved relatively easy and little different from navigating wheat landmines in North America. Stopping in several London pubs along the way, I enjoyed an occasional glass of Stella Artois lager, a wheat-free beer (but not necessarily gluten-free). (Pubs typically now offer substantial lists of open bottles of wine, too, if you wish to be absolutely gluten-free, as well.)

In the countryside, I saw many fields of closely-spaced stalks of wheat. As harvest time is drawing near, most fields stood the expected 18 or so inches high, representing the semi-dwarf creation of genetics research.

London, by the way, has no shortage of wheat bellies. While the population of the city are surprisingly youthful, I spied many, many overweight people among the crowds (and, yes, speaking with English accents).

Wheat Watch: Benefiber

Popular fiber supplement, Benefiber, produced by pharmaceutical company, Novartis, is sourced from wheat.

It is a fiber in the form of wheat dextrin and should therefore not be consumed by anyone wishing to be wheat/gluten-free.

Are there better sources of fiber than wheat dextrin if you are interested in regular and effortless bowel function? There certainly are:

Vegetables, nuts, seeds, chia, flaxseed, chicory inulin, fruit, i.e., real foods rich in natural fibers and mimicking the way humans have eaten for millennia. The dextrin fiber and bran from wheat are most definitely NOT necessary for perfect and regular bowel health.

Seeing is believing

Read this wonderful tale of freedom from the bonds of wheat’s grip over appetite, as well as relief from decades of Crohn’s disease.

I am 42 years old and I work as a flight attendant. I eat an excellent diet, I exercise regularly and I live a very active lifestyle. I run approximately 30 km [about 18 miles] a week. I am 5’7” and weighed 160.2 lbs.

I have been tracking my calories using the “MyFitnessPal” app on my iPhone for over a year and I have not been able to lose the 15-20 lbs that has crept up on me in the last 10 years. I carry the extra weight from the bottom of my rib cage to my mid-thighs. I thought this was normal for a woman my age but I always wished I could have that whole area sucked out and then my body would be perfect to me.

After discussing my weight-loss issues with a co-worker, she lent me the book “Wheat Belly.” I read it on my vacation and I decided to take the 4 week challenge of eliminating wheat from my diet. The first few days were not pleasant. I had a constant headache, I was irritable and felt achy all over. I had a sore throat and I thought I was coming down with a cold. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to find anything to eat that wouldn’t have wheat in it.

I have now been wheat-free for 13 days. I cannot believe the difference. I have lost 5% of my body weight in a week and a half. I now weigh 152 lbs. The most significant difference I have noticed is that I am no longer on the feast or famine rollercoaster I previously lived with. I am rarely hungry, I don’t have the massive starvation-like episodes if I didn’t “feed the monster” every 2 to 3 hours. I used to get shaky, irritable, cold, and completely obsessed with food and carbs if I didn’t have constant access to snacks. This has miraculously disappeared. I am taking in fewer calories because I am not starving hungry all the time but I am not taking in so few to warrant such a massive loss in weight in such a brief period of time. It is most curious.

My “skinny jeans” are looking fantastic on me, my belly is flat, I have this calmness and peacefulness about me that feels very foreign but wonderful. I don’t dream about food or wake up fantasizing about what I will have for breakfast like before. It’s like I went to bed fat and woke up skinny. I do not miss wheat nor do I crave it. I am drinking more water for some odd reason. I don’t know how to describe it but I genuinely feel thirst and hunger, whereas before I was just manically putting stuff in my mouth. It’s hard to forget what you’ve learned about nutrition and how to “eat well” when the Canada’s Food Guide Pyramid has been turned upside-down. To eat avocados, raw nuts, eggs, lean meats, healthy oils, etc. and not worry about the caloric implications is weird but wonderful. I eat carbs. I enjoy reasonable quantities of rice and potatoes and sweet potatoes and red wine and fruit and it doesn’t seem to matter.

The only thing I have changed is I have eliminated that one ingredient from my diet: wheat. It is in a lot of what we commonly consume. Every can of tomato soup, every salad dressing in the fridge, every chicken bouillon granule, every cereal, etc. contains wheat, wheat flour and/or hydrolyzed wheat protein. Even some ice cream and packaged oatmeals have wheat. I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist but it sure makes you wonder whether food manufacturers are fueling our addictions to wheat by making sure it is in everything.

There are many products available that are easy substitutes for the wheat-laced food that makes up such a large percentage of our diets. With a little creative swapping, you really don’t miss it. I made the flax wraps in the book and they were awesome. The local Bulk Barn store has all the ingredients you need to make all your favorite foods without wheat. I have a smoothie in the morning, lots of veggies everyday and a healthy normal supper. Last night, I made a beautiful roast beef dinner, mashed potatoes, veggies, etc. just watch out that the gravy doesn’t have flour or Bistro!

My story is interesting but my Mom’s is astounding. My Mom is 64 years old, she is 5’2” and 107 lbs. She has suffered terribly from unmanageable Crohn’s Disease for 25 years. She has had 3 major bowel surgeries to remove blockages and has very regular bouts of extremely urgent explosive diarrhea. Her doctor threatened that one more blockage and she will have to have a colostomy bag.

Even though she is up at 6 a.m., she doesn’t leave her house until mid-morning because she has to be near the washroom for 5-10 bathroom visits. She has been on prednisone, Asacol and many other medications. She is anemic and gets regular iron shots because the Crohn’s basically leeches vitamins and minerals out of her. She has osteoporosis due to calcium loss. She gets Vitamin D shots and she is unable to take some of the newer drugs on the market for Crohn’s because her vitamin levels are not what they need to be to make her a good candidate. She has always looked like she was 5 months pregnant even though she is a very petite woman.

I asked her to read the book and several of the ladies in her apartment building were reading it so we decided to try the 4-week challenge together to support each other. We listened to Dr. Davis on CBC’s Maritime Noon a few weeks ago and we were further convinced.

The changes in my Mom’s health are unbelievable. After 25 years of her body being wracked with uncontrollable diarrhea, she has not had an episode in 13 days. This has not happened in 25 years. Her stool is firm and she is able to control her bowel urges. Her stomach is completely flat. All her pants are loose and comfortable at the waist. It is nothing short of a miracle.

She was tested for celiac years ago and tested negative. She tried eliminating sugar and dairy with no success. She has suffered so much and the cure is seemingly so easy. She couldn’t continue working as a bank teller because she had to run to the bathroom constantly and without warning. She has been on a disability pension due to her medical issues. I am feeling angry at the medical community and society in general that no one ever suggested to my Mom to eliminate wheat.

I am having a hard time believing that these miraculous changes will be sustainable. I don’t crave wheat. I am not tempted to eat it for some odd reason, even though two weeks ago I fantasized constantly about multigrain bread, crackers and nachos. I can’t imagine it being this easy to lose weight. If I continue at the rate I am going I will have lost 10% of my body weight and reached my goal weight in 4 short weeks. I’ll keep you posted.

Grateful in Nova Scotia

Is it possible to overstate the enormity of these responses? Can you appreciate how different this is from just reducing carbohydrates?

This is about eliminating this grain that has worked its way so deeply into the human experience, endorsed by official agencies, blessed by the dietary community, become the currency of international trade, yet wrecks health in so many ways. Rid it from your life and, more often than not, you will be astounded.

Wheat elimination: A first week experience

Patti posted this wonderful description of her and her son’s experience in their first week of wheatlessness:

One week on the Wheat Belly diet has come and gone. Here is how it is working at our house:

I (mom) feel so good. I no longer need an afternoon nap, I have lost the squishy fat around my middle (I am not overweight, so the squishy thing was driving me nuts!). I’m drinking more water; because now I can tell when I am thirsty and hungry. Best of all, my thoughts are more positive and my emotional resilience has increased. This is particularly good because I have a 14-year old son.

The 14 year old son is following the diet and is quickly losing the beginning of a spare tire. He now recognizes when he in genuinely hungry and does not snack after dinner or between meals. His focus is stronger for household tasks, music practicing, and homework and he is also emotionally more even. Finally, his bad acne is receding. Good bye tetracycline.

I’m shamelessly telling everyone I meet about the wheat belly world; who could eat the awful engineered wheat, once they know what Dr. Davis has revealed!? Thank you so much, Dr. Davis!

We often hear from critics that wheat elimination is nothing more than a low-carbohydrate approach. If this were true, we should not expect amazing reductions in appetite, freedom from depression and increased well-being and happiness, better concentration, less acne and skin rashes like seborrhea and psoriasis, relief from joint pain, etc. Yes, cutting carbs can accomplish some of these phenomena, but not to this degree and with this wide a range of benefits.

Compared, say, to gumdrops (sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, flavorings, food coloring), wheat contains a spectrum of unhealthy components that go far beyond that of sugar and carbohydrates. No other food contains the gliadin protein that yields appetite-stimulating opiates and increases intestinal permeability leading to autoimmune conditions. No other food contains the powerful lectin of wheat, wheat germ agglutinin, that is a direct bowel toxin, mimics the effect of insulin upon absorption into the bloodstream, and triggers inflammation powerfully. No other food contains unique allergenic proteins created by the genetics manipulations of the 1970s that changed the amino acid structure of alpha amylase inhibitors and others that underlie asthma and skin rashes (though soy, corn, and peanuts may have similar allergenic issues).

And followers of the Wheat Belly arguments recognize how limited the “gluten-free” notion is. The Wheat Belly concepts are not about being gluten-free; they are about being free of all the awful health effects of all the components in modern wheat, just as Patti and her son experienced in their first week.

Hot flashes no more!

Deb posted this comment in response to the Smarter, Faster, Better post describing the transformations in her brother’s life and her own health minus wheat:

After watching my 52-year-old brother drop 53 pounds in 6 months, I knew he was onto something BIG! For years he had experienced severe digestive issues, was turning into a recluse, he complained constantly about aches and pains, and he was depressed. A friend turned him onto Wheat Belly and it changed his life. Thank you for giving me my brother back! After eliminating wheat, he no longer has any digestive-colitis issues, his depression is gone (without medications) and the weight is flying off. He also never feels hunger and feels completely satisfied by the amount of food he eats each day. He is dedicated to losing another 90 pounds. I truly believe this goal is in sight. His doctor is overjoyed with his results.

As I watched this happen, I thought, why not do this myself? After struggling with 30 extra pounds for years–taking it off, putting it back on, excessive exercise routines, Weight Watchers, reduced caloric intake–nothing ever stuck. I eliminated wheat 4 weeks ago and the changes have been dramatic: My thinking has cleared, my aches and pains are gone (thought I had arthritis – no), my sudden outbursts are gone, and much to my husband’s surprise (after 25 years of marriage) I have libido (not sure I ever had it to begin with, poor guy).

However, the absolute best thing that happened: my debilitating hot flashes are gone! I struggled most of my life as a hot person, but after menopause I was having severe hot flashes, soaking wet, at least 10 times an hour. When my doctor suggested HRT [hormone replacement therapy], I went along with her, as I was not living. When she said my time was up on HRT, I had to stop, I was terrified. For 8 months, I was back to the severe state of hot flashes again. She prescribed numerous medications that seemed to help, but I was in a state of stupor.

Oh, did I mention I have lost 8.5 pounds in four weeks as well? I am 55 years old and I truly believe I have never felt better.

I am spreading the word to whoever will listen and will ignore the raised eyebrows. After they see my transformation, they will come around! Thank you so much!

PS: The stomach pouch I have had since I was 18 is even gone!

Experiences like Deb and her brother’s illustrate what I mean when I say that there is a drug for every facet of wheat consumption:

Depression–antidepressants

Menopausal hot flashes–horse estrogens

Acid reflux–proton pump inhibitors and antacids

Colitis–Asacol, prednisone, and others

Joint pains–Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, prednisone, immune therapy agents

Just to name a few. Deb experienced a hormonal transformation with wheat elimination, evidenced by relief from hot flashes and heightened libido. Because we don’t have actual hormone levels to assess, we might surmise that she has experienced reductions in excessive estrogen levels, perhaps increased progesterone, increased DHEA and testosterone. In other words, consumption of modern wheat disrupts hormonal status, resulting in unnatural and perverse situations that we experience as hot flashes, reduced libido, and man breasts. (This is not to say that all menopausal hot flashes nor all man breasts are caused by consumption of modern wheat, but an important and substantial subset are. After all, what other foods can be eliminated and realize such benefits?)