William Davis's Blog: Dr. Davis Infinite Health Blog, page 87

Does Being Gluten-Free Make You Fat?

People often claim that going gluten-free made them gain weight–is this true?

It absolutely is true! That’s why–contrary to popular misconception–we eat NO gluten-free foods on the Wheat Belly lifestyle. I explain in this video.

#wheatbelly

The post Does Being Gluten-Free Make You Fat? appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

DIY Thyroid, Part 2: Lab Interpretation

This is part 2 of the Undoctored DIY Thyroid video series that shows you how you can manage much of your thyroid health on your own. In this video, I discuss how to interpret the 6 thyroid lab tests and put them to use.

If doctors did their job and helped you achieve ideal thyroid status and thereby control over weight, energy, and health, then this would not be necessary. But, because doctors have abandoned the idea of providing health and favor misuse/overuse of prescription drugs and procedures tailored for maximum generation of revenue, we take back control over issues like thyroid health–we are Undoctored and take on Do-It-Yourself Thyroid health.

In case you missed DIY Thyroid Part 1, find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKB96...

About Undoctored:

We are entering a new age in which the individual has astounding power over health–but don’t count on the doctor or healthcare system to tell you this.

We draw from the health information of the world, collaborate, share experiences, collect data, and show how to apply new health tools to achieve levels of health that you may have thought unattainable. We do all this at a time when conventional healthcare costs have become crippling.

The result: personal health that is SUPERIOR to that obtained through conventional means. We are Undoctored.

The post DIY Thyroid, Part 2: Lab Interpretation appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

Become An Unpatient

Living your life Undoctored requires you to take on a unique new perspective, what I call the Unpatient.

It means insisting that your doctor act as collaborator in your health and not the dictatorial, paternalistic “I’m the doctor, you’re the patient; do what you are told” that worked when the public knew nothing about health. With the new and exciting tools of the Information Age–information, collaboration, health tracking tools–the doctor should now view the relationship as a partnership. And you should no longer submit unquestioningly but insist on answers and participate in all decisions.

About Undoctored:

We are entering a new age in which the individual has astounding power over health–but don’t count on the doctor or healthcare system to tell you this.

We draw from the health information of the world, collaborate, share experiences, collect data, and show how to apply new health tools to achieve levels of health that you may have thought unattainable. We do all this at a time when conventional healthcare costs have become crippling.

The result: personal health that is SUPERIOR to that obtained through conventional means. We are Undoctored.

The post Become An Unpatient appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

The Keto Trap

Achieving ketosis and living a ketogenic lifestyle is a terrific way to accelerate weight loss, reverse health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension, and to improve mental and physical performance.

But too many people are not aware that, because a ketogenic lifestyle means virtual elimination of carbs, you will deprive bowel flora of crucial prebiotic fibers. Long-term deprivation of prebiotic fibers will lead to metabolic distortions such as higher blood sugar and blood pressure, insulin resistance, higher triglycerides, sleep and mood disturbances, abdominal pain, constipation, and increased risk for colorectal cancer.

You MUST therefore address prebiotic fibers, as discussed in the Undoctored book.

About Undoctored:

We are entering a new age in which the individual has astounding power over health–but don’t count on the doctor or healthcare system to tell you this. We draw from the health information of the world, collaborate, share experiences, collect data, and show how to apply new health tools to achieve levels of health that you may have thought unattainable. We do all this at a time when conventional healthcare costs have become crippling. The result: personal health that is SUPERIOR to that obtained through conventional means. We are Undoctored.

The post The Keto Trap appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

Celiac Disease: Gluten-Free Is Not Enough

People diagnosed with celiac disease are typically advised to follow a “gluten-free” diet, unaware that gluten-free foods not only cause extravagant weight gain and high blood sugars, but can also reignite the celiac process.

They are also not told that there are several essential steps to take that need to be addressed if there is hope for full recovery.

Add these simple few changes and you stack the odds heavily in favor of full reversal of celiac disease.

The post Celiac Disease: Gluten-Free Is Not Enough appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

How important is Vitamin D?

FACT: A vitamin D deficiency may result in as much as a 50 percent increased potential for diabetes.

FACT: A vitamin D deficiency puts you at a higher risk for cancer, especially breast, prostate, colon, ovarian, and melanoma.

VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY is a widespread phenomenon with significant implications for health. In modern society vitamin D deficiency is the rule, rather than the exception. While we can blame more severe cases of deficiency on grains, it also commonly occurs independent of grain consumption. The restoration of vitamin D levels is second only to grain elimination when considering the most powerful healthy lifestyle strategies.

Modern lifestyles have compromised our vitamin D status. How? Over the centuries we began inhabiting cold climates depriving ourselves of year-round sunlight, wearing clothes that cover our skin, and increasing out time spent indoors. This is crucial since exposure to sunlight is necessary to activate the vitamin D in our skin. We have also adopted an aversion to organ consumption. Many organ meats contain high levels vitamin D, especially liver.

Let’s not forget aging, which is associated with a progressive loss of the ability to activate vitamin D in the skin. An interesting fact is that, after age 40, the majority of us experience decreased ability to activate sufficient amounts of vitamin D in our skin from the exposure to sunlight. Living in the tropics is no guarantee of adequate vitamin D status. A recent assessment of elderly males living in a tropical climate revealed that 66.7 percent were vitamin D deficient.

Vitamin D deficiency allows a number of abnormal health phenomena to occur:

Greater inflammation, as is reflected in higher C-reactive protein levels, tumor necrosis factor, and others
Higher blood sugar and resistance to insulin (conditions that lead to diabetes)
Injury to pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin
Weight gain
Greater risk for osteoporosis and fractures
Periodontal disease
Higher risk for cancer, especially breast, prostate, colon, ovarian, and melanoma
Higher risk for heart attack, heart failure, and cardiovascular mortality
Preeclampsia and eclampsia during pregnancy
Depression and seasonal affective disorder
Autoimmune/inflammatory diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis)

For many of these, the association between lower levels of vitamin D and disease is powerful. For example, a vitamin D deficiency may result in as much as a 50 percent increased potential for diabetes. Accordingly, all of the above phenomena are improved or reversed with the restoration of vitamin D to healthy levels, including the facilitation of weight loss.

Please note that achieving an ideal level of vitamin D is key— not too low, but also not too high. The ideal level of vitamin D, measured as 25-hydroxy remains open to debate. However, applying epidemiological observations to the above diseases, combined with studies that demonstrate vitamin D’s relationship to minimizing unhealthy levels of parathyroid hormone that can impair bone health, suggest that 60 to 70 ng/ ml is the ideal range.

Too much vitamin D is also not a good idea. Besides provoking abnormal calcium deposition in tissues, vitamin D levels that exceed 100 mg/ dl are associated with increased potential for the abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation.

The majority of people require vitamin D doses of 4,000 to 8,000 international units (IU) taken in an oil-based gelcap form to achieve the target value of 60 to 70ng/ ml.

Vitamin D should be taken as D3, or cholecalciferol, which is the form that naturally occurs in the human body and is widely available as a nutritional supplement. You do not want the form found in mushrooms (D2 or ergocalciferol), which is also the form in prescription vitamin D. In this instance, the nutritional supplement form is superior to the prescription form.

Ideally, your vitamin D level should be reassessed every 6 to 12 months to maintain desired levels, as your needs may change over time. And, if you have an uncooperative or uninformed doctor, you can do it yourself, as discussed in the video above.

The post How important is Vitamin D? appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

The next Wheat Belly 10-Day Detox Challenge begins Wednesday, June 21st. Join us!

The next Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox Challenge is scheduled to start Wednesday, June 21st!

Through my New York Times bestseller, Wheat Belly, millions of people learned how to reverse years of chronic health problems by removing wheat from their daily diets. Now, I have created an easy and accessible 10-Day Detox Program.

The Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox supplies you with carefully designed meal plans and delicious recipes to fully eliminate wheat and related grains in the shortest time possible. Perfect for those who may have fallen off the wagon or for newcomers who need a jump-start for weight loss, this new addition to the Wheat Belly phenomenon guides you through the complete 10-Day Detox experience.

In addition to the brand-new quick-start program, I’ll teach you:

How to recognize and reduce wheat-withdrawal symptoms,
How to avoid common landmines that can sabotage success
How to use nutritional supplements to further advance weight loss and health benefits

The Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox also includes:

Inspiring testimonials from people who have completed the program (and have now made grain-free eating a way of life)

Exciting new recipes to help get your entire family on board

To join the Detox Challenge:

Step 1

Get the book. And read it (at least the first 5 chapters). Detox Challenge participants should be informed and active in order to get the most out of the challenge and private Facebook group.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1JqzMea

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/wheatbelly10daygraindetox-bn

Indiebound: http://bit.ly/1KwcFTQ

Or grab the course from Rodale.

https://www.rodaleu.com/courses/wheat-belly-10-day-grain-detox

(The PLATINUM level INCLUDES the book.)

Using the code DETOX saves you $20+ when you checkout.

Step 2

Come join the Private Facebook Group.

http://bit.ly/WheatBelly-PrivateFBGroup

Step 3

Head back to the Private Facebook Group starting Tuesday, June 20th (the day before the official start of the Challenge) and onwards for tips, videos, and discussions to help you get through your detox and reprogram your body for rapid weight loss and health. Dr. Davis will be posting video instructions and answers to your questions.

Need support? Lapsed and want to get back on board? Join the thousands of people who are losing weight and regaining health by following the Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox. Join us if you desire support through the sometimes unpleasant process of wheat/grain detoxification and withdrawal or if you are among those who previously followed the program but lapsed, and now want to get back on board as confidently as possible—this Detox Challenge was made for you.

Yours in grainless health,

Dr. William Davis

The post The next Wheat Belly 10-Day Detox Challenge begins Wednesday, June 21st. Join us! appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

I will be LIVE on the Undoctored Inner Circle

I shall be LIVE again on the Undoctored Inner Circle Virtual Meetup on Tuesday June 13th at 4 pm Central/5 pm Eastern/3 pm Mountain/2 pm Pacific.

Let’s discuss the Undoctored program: pitfalls, difficulties, and ways to succeed. The Virtual Meetup function allows us to meet as a group to discuss issues or questions via live video.

(The Undoctored Inner Circle is a paid membership site that includes features such as the live Virtual Meetup, webinars, the Undoctored Health Network video collection, and a Discussion Forum.)

To join, go to the Undoctored Inner Circle and sign in.

The post I will be LIVE on the Undoctored Inner Circle appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

DIY Fatty Liver

Fatty liver is a common and potentially dangerous condition that is miserably mismanaged because doctors are still waiting for a drug to “treat” it–but YOU can do a terrific job on your own using safe, effective, natural methods and reverse the condition completely within weeks to months: DIY Fatty Liver.

This is no small matter: Between 75 and 100 million Americans are believed to carry the condition, most of them without knowing it. And many of these people will, over time, develop cirrhosis that can be fatal unless liver transplantation–a horrible procedure that, at best, buys a few years with monstrous reliance on the healthcare system–is undertaken. Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other modern diseases of lifestyle all afflict people with fatty liver, as well.

Your doctor tracks the AST/ALT liver blood tests and/or liver ultrasounds, lamenting the fact that there is nothing he can do for your fatty liver because doctors are useless when it comes to nutrition and natural solutions. The doctor is right: There is no drug or medical procedure to treat the disease before cirrhosis develops. But if the doctor were expert in nutrition and natural methods, he/she would tell you that there are effective solutions in simply shifting your choice of foods and a handful of natural practices such as supplementing omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil, purposeful cultivation of bowel flora, and intermittent fasting.

In fact, I have not yet encountered someone who could NOT reverse fatty liver if these simple steps were followed.

These are the sorts of conversations I introduce in the new Undoctored book:

Undoctored: Why Healthcare Has Failed You and How You Can Become Smarter Than Your Doctor

Available in all major bookstores and Amazon.

The post DIY Fatty Liver appeared first on Dr. William Davis.

“Nothing Personal—It’s Just Business”

Here’s an excerpt from chapter 3 of my new book, Undoctored: Why Health Care Has Failed You and How You Can Become Smarter Than Your Doctor.

“Nothing Personal—-It’s Just Business”

That’s how math whiz Otto Berman, who figured out how to rig bets for the gangster Dutch Schultz, viewed the world in 1930s New York. If you had a cinder block tied to your ankles and found yourself at the bottom of the Hudson River, well, that’s just business. If you get saddled with bags of prescriptions and crippling medical debt, don’t get all weepy and snivel about it—-that’s just the business of health care.

If the answer to this unfairly stacked deal is to spend more money on health care, then it would be no different than trying to fix a crooked gambling game by placing larger bets. But that is what we are doing if we allow insiders in health care to continue expanding the status quo driven by self-interests.

Money in health care is like trying to wash something awful off your hands: No matter how much you wash, you just can’t seem to erase the filth. Whenever money and favors of corporate sponsorship are part of the equation, it inevitably influences the message, no matter how much the recipient tries to stay clean; it’s human nature. No person or organization that embraces the easy money of commercial interests is immune to this bias. The American Diabetes Association, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and American Heart Association may claim that they are unfazed by the millions of dollars flowing to them, a researcher may defend his $500,000 of shares in the company whose drug he is testing, or a medical center may claim that it uses a technology only because of its advantages and not because it owns some of the company, but that is not what the scientific data on bias argue, that is not what human nature dictates. Scrub all you want, but you cannot rinse it off; it’s everywhere, even under the fingernails. And it smells bad, too.

You have therefore been exposed to health advice heavily influenced by commercial interests for decades, leaving you wondering why you still have problems with high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, or type 2 diabetes. You have them, in large part, because it is profitable for you to have them. Like Dutch Schultz’s rigged numbers rackets, the health-care system is a game rigged in favor of the insiders, leaving you as the sucker at the gambling table. It’s time to fold and play an entirely different game, one in which the odds are stacked in your favor because the rules are open to you.

The worst news for a health-care system rigged for its own financial gain? Healthy people. And that is how you can opt out of this game: by not placing any bets and just being healthy.

I hope that, by now, you have been disavowed of the idea that the health-care system only has your best interests at heart, provides only unbiased scientific information, and works for your health. It doesn’t mean that the system is evil or out to screw you; it means that its goals are not aligned with yours, despite the public face it provides. You now understand why we must turn to other sources for unbiased, reliable health information—-yes, they are indeed out there, though often not as publicly visible or well-funded—and why, outside of injury, infection, and some other exceptional situations, you are healthier by opting for the Undoctored path.

The post “Nothing Personal—It’s Just Business” appeared first on Dr. William Davis.