Our Perspective on “Wheat Belly”
Don’t be fooled by catchy terms like “wheat belly” and “bagel butt”….a fad diet is still a fad diet, no matter how you dress it up. That’s exactly the story behind the new book Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health that was released today.
In his book, cardiologist William Davis asserts that wheat consumption is solely responsible for Americans’ health ills and that cutting wheat from our diets is the cure-all solution to conditions like obesity, diabetes, celiac disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
As the old saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Cutting out one specific food is not only unrealistic, it’s dangerous. Omitting wheat entirely removes the essential (and disease-fighting!) nutrients it provides including fiber, antioxidants, iron and B vitamins.
Besides this, the advice dished out by Dr. Davis is completely counter to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the gold standard of scientifically-sound nutrition advice. The Guidelines call for the average healthy American to consume six one-ounce servings of grain foods daily, half of which should come from whole grains and the other half from enriched grains. Wheat is the basis for a number of healthful whole and enriched grain foods including breads, cereal, pasta and wheat berries that provide valuable nutrients to the American diet and have been shown to help with weight maintenance.
So, let common sense prevail. When it comes to nutrition advice, look to the real experts and remember that weight control is all about one key equation: calories in must equal calories out.
There’s actually quite a bit of actual SCIENCE about the harm found in gluten and other grains. And to state that “Cutting out one specific food is not only unrealistic, it’s dangerous” is foolish as legions of vegetarians have done just that while trumpeting how healthy vegetarianism is. A simple medline/pubmed search reveals DOZENS of actual research article on how harmful gluten is. The book has science, you appear to be stating your opinion as fact.
Ashley–
I’d like to engage you in a public debate on these issues.
Starting question: What do you make of the effects of the gliadin protein unique to wheat in people without overt celiac disease? The data suggest neurologic, skin, appetite, and behavioral effects.
1. Classic straw man argument. Calling Dr. Davis’ dietary recommendations a “fad diet” allows you the luxury of dismissing it without addressing its benefits. Just because you think of it as a “fad”, does not make it so.
2. The diet which Dr. Davis recommends was eaten for hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of years before humanity bred grains out of native (inedible) grasses. That’s the kind of fad that I would like to follow.
3. Ever since the government came out with its Dietary guidelines, Diabetes, obesity and heart disease have skyrocketed. We knew how to eat before the government got involved, but now schools, prisons, WIC, and other federally-sponsored food programs all shove grains down our throats like they are fattening us up for market.
4. There’s nothing, nutrition-wise, in grains which is not available in greater quantities without the phytates and other anti-nutrients locking them away in green leafy and colorful vegetables.
5. I’m sure the Grain Foods Foundation can be counted upon to provide a completely unbiased point of view on the grains debate without even a ghost of conflict of interest.
6. Dr. Davis has used his diet to personally help thousands of patients to cure their diabetes, lower atherosclerotic plaque (or even make it disappear entirely), lose weight, fix hypertension, among other things. It has stood the test of time and experience. How many patients have you personally treated with your daily bolus of starch?
7. Weight control is about where the calories go. If they go into the fat cells because you are eating sugar and starch which raise insulin, causing them to be stored, then you get fat or halt weight loss. If they go into the muscle cells you have energy to burn.
8. The fats found in grain products are polyunsaturated, so they will most likely be oxidized and rancid before you even get to eat them, and if not, they will likely become so shortly after you eat them through interactions with oxygen and free radicals in the body.
Don’t be fooled. Drop the grains from your diet and replace them with meat and vegetables, and you will see many health improvements.
Nice try, but this is not a “fad diet”. It is an intelligent, logical change in diet and lifestyle that has excellent results. We as a nation have had 40 years of this “good grain” nonsense, and what has it gotten us? A population of obese, lethargic couch potatoes with skyrocketing health issues.
While my results work for me, I pose this challenge to the Grain Food Foundation (paid for, no doubt, by the people standing to lose the most in a gluten free world, the special interest pushing it on us)why not encourage people to try a diet without grains of any type for thirty day, and see what happens? That means all grains, including corn based products (corn is not a vegetable) including all products with high fructose corn syrup. Try dropping sugar as well, or you will fall into the “jellybeans do not have wheat, I win” trap.
Do not take anyone’s word for it. Think for yourselves. Try it for 30 days. See if your food cravings stop. the 90-180 minutes hunger cycle still applies. How your energy levels are. Any medical issues you may have. Whole meats and fish, vegetables and some fruits. Natural oils (coconut or olive), not chemically produced ones. A little dairy if you have no issues with it. Nothing prepackaged, nothing precooked (or baked).
To use Ashley’s own words, let common sense prevail. Believe your own body, and how you feel. Calories in/calories out is not the answer. Feeding your body the right way is. As to the experts, well, ask yourself, where did they get their expertise from? The same people that have been pushing modified grasses on us for 40 years?
I doubt my comment will ever see the light of day. The last thing the GFF wants is a conflicting opinion. But I have to try.
Lol! Fool yourself but don’t expect the american citizens any longer to believe those propaganda. You can find everything from antioxidants, b vitamins, iron and fiber in a lot of other healthy foods.
Even more, anti-nutrients in wheat prevent us from absorbing those nutrients.
When farmers feed their chickens only wheat they suffer and eventually die from a lack of B vitamins. Quite the contrary to your propaganda that we need the b vitamins from wheat/cereals.
Wheat is superfluous. Go eat your wheat but don’t whine when you get ill.
So a cardiologist isn’t a real expert when it comes to heart health?
Wheat is at least one basis of increased triglycerides. There is no denying that.
Wheat raises blood sugar, which leads to insulin spiking. No denying that either.
Insulin spikes lead to fat storage and weight gain. Also no denying that.
Hence, wheat is detrimental to health. Simple.
Ok, so what about Dr. Esselstyn? He has a 20 year study done with people that had serious heart disease. Is his point not valid either? Because it’s the opposite of Dr. Davis.
i would love to read an analytical review of the book Wheat Belly.
http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2011/08/30/book-review-wheat-belly/
Consuming grain products is known to produce spikes in blood sugar. Eating grains consistently (six servings per day) makes that happen over and over again, which can give rise to insulin resistance, leading to a pre-diabetic condition, weight gain, and bad health.
“…Davis asserts that wheat consumption is solely responsible…” Solely responsible? Not having read the book yet, I can’t verify whether or not Davis really does assert this, but I find this claim highly suspect, bordering on a straw-man fallacy. From having read his blog, I could believe that Dr. Davis claims that wheat consumption is largely responsible for these things, but not solely so.
And so you’re claiming that a food type which has been a staple in the human diet for at most 10-15 thousand years is essential to human health? “Omitting wheat entirely removes the essential (and disease-fighting!) nutrients it provides including fiber, antioxidants, iron and B vitamins.” Really? One can’t get these nutrients from any other source? Are you claiming that grains, which are chock full of phytic acid (cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytic_acid), are a better source of iron and B vitamins than, for instance, beef liver?
Quoting from the abstract of a paper published in the Journal of Nutrition:
“Phytic acid is a strong inhibitor of iron absorption in both infants and adults… Iron absorption may be as low as 2-3% from porridge based on whole-grain cereals and legumes (phytic acid approximately 1 g/100 g) even in iron-deficient subjects.”
Hurrell RF (September 2003). “Influence of vegetable protein sources on trace element and mineral bioavailability” [http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=12949395]. The Journal of Nutrition 133 (9): 2973S–7S. PMID 12949395 [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12949395].
Rob, might I suggest reading the book before you comment? The argument against wheat is laid out quite clearly, but I will give you a hint, The wheat of today bears little to no resemblance to the wheat of 10,000 years ago. I t has been modified by tinkering to be something else altogether. But again, read the book for more details.
Also, do not quote Wikipedia. A definition that can be rewritten by anyone holds little strength in a discussion.
Jim C, I suggest you re-read my comment. I fully support Dr. Davis’ assertion that wheat, especially modern varieties, is harmful to human health.
Just another quick comment, aimed at the blogger and this comment. Dr. Davis nowhere claims that wheat is solely responsible. He gives many examples how grains in general, and what in particular, are one of the largest contributors to many illnesses and conditions. Full points for a strawman though!
“Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the gold standard of scientifically-sound nutritional advice…”
Wow. That is the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard. Take a look at a time plot of obesity, heart disease, type II diabetes…pick your poison, and they all had a marked increase in their slope around 1980. The link below is specific to Obesity [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_the_United_States]. What occurred in 1980? USDA recommendations came out… the gold standard you reference.
Go read ‘Good Calories Bad Calories’ by Gary Taubes and you will get a sense of just how much ‘scientifically sound nutritional advise’ went into the recommendations.
Video games also became prevalent about that time, starting with arcades and eventually consoles and computer games. If we removed all video games and TVs from homes, what would be the effect on obesity? Wheat had been a mainstay in diets for thousands of years before that. The claim that the gliadin profile of wheat changed suddenly with the introduction of semi-dwarf wheats is suspect. It takes a truth, the introduction of semi-dwarf wheat, and adds an unsupported hypothesis, using the true statement to give his claim credibility. Where is the data? If the pharmaceutical industry had used humans as guinea pigs like this doctor has done, there would be an enormous outcry.
I haven’t read Wheat Belly, but this quote strikes me as odd:
“Omitting wheat entirely removes the essential (and disease-fighting!) nutrients it provides including fiber, antioxidants, iron and B vitamins.”
What about the lectins, phytates, gluten, and blood-sugar elevation?
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but can’t you simply get more fiber, more antioxidants, more iron, and more B vitamins (amongst others) from fruits and veggies? Without them being fortified and bound up with the anti-nutritious phytates in our digestive system?
What about catchy terms like lectin and wheat germ agglutinin? Sorry, but the news is out and I don’t go with the grain.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/lectins/
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6823/5/10
I eliminated wheat from my diet 5 years ago and replaced it with protein and fats and eliminated vegetable oils and stick with beef tallow, butter and coconut oil. I lost 30 lbs in 4 months and cured my growing blood sugar problem. I gained energy I hadn’t seen since my early 20′s. If wheat is so important, why, 6 years later am I trim, healthy and in the best shape of my life?
And really, referencing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans? Because the government does so many other things right?
The good doctor is right. Modern wheat has not place in our diet.
Regarding the USDA food guidelines and pyramids:
I can’t find the references yet, but I believe another blogger reviewed the literature citations from the USDA that supposedly support the guidelines and found that many of the reports don’t really support what is recommended by the USDA – but of course that aspect was ignored. Our amazing government at work protecting the subsidies.
Jimmy,
I believe you might be referring to this page where Denise Minger carefully deconstructs the USDA’s library of studies:
http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/02/04/the-new-usda-dietary-guideline/
Very worth reading!
I eliminated wheat from my diet 3 years ago. 2.5 years ago, I was in the hospital with acute pancreatitis. Now I’m limited to 35g of fat per day on pain of, well, pain or death.
So there’s lots of wheat for me, thanks.
I should add… I lost 45 lb after I went back to eating wheat.
Seems that not eating fat goes a lot further toward weight loss, at least for me.
I don’t know if eliminating wheat provides health benefits, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t an essential food, as there are many cultures that don’t eat wheat, and the people of those cultures are perfectly healthy.
Sorry, but there is no reason to eat wheat. In fact is is harmful to more than just those with Celiacs disease. It has limited nutritional value and causes a glucose spike that is bad for everyone, not just diabetics. It causes arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, is linked with ADD & ADHD, autoimmune disorders, is suspected as a cause in MS, and promotes tooth decay. I have none of these health issues yet once I gut grain from my diet I lost my extra pounds and started feeling better.
Just because your government (via the UDSA) says it is good for you doesn’t make it true. Studies to NOT support the USDA position, but big Agriculture and interest groups like GFF do support it.
“When it comes to nutrition advice, look to the real experts”
Really? We’ve had decades of “experts” telling us to eat “hearthealthywholegrains”, and it’s the base of the old food pyramid, and yet we grow fatter and more diabetic each year. Wake up!
Yes, look to the experts everyone, they are far smarter than you. Don’t think or research for yourselves…
Eliminating wheat is “cutting out one specific food” only if you believe wheat is a food for humans. Evolutionarily speaking this is not the case. Only birds evolved to eat grass seeds.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans is written by a group beholden to industry lobbyists like the dairy and grain councils, so I don’t look to it as any reasonable source of guidance. I trust stringent, peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Meat and even almonds and apricots are better sources of iron. Fruits and vegetables are more nutritious sources of fiber (which isn’t really the necessity it’s made out to be). B vitamins can be had in meat, potatoes, bananas, and beans. Berries are a good source of antioxidants. None of these have phytates that reduce the absorption of said nutrients, nor the lectins and gluten that cause problems even for non-celiacs. Neither do most of these foods spike blood sugar in the same way as wheat, which is extremely easy to convert to sugar in the stomach (even whole wheat).
I hope everyone sees this site for what it is – a piece of propaganda to help grain producers make money.
But the problem is that the obesity crisis is getting worse year on year.
There is an interesting graph at a blog entitled
“The Lipid Hypothesis Has Officially Failed ”
showing how since dietary advice to eat low fat, low calorie meals with six servings of grain foods daily was introduced there has been an acceleration in the rate of obesity. Similar increases in diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancer incidence are also happening.
If it was the case that “official” dietary advice is correct then it would not be the case that “We spend more time sick now than a decade ago Despite longer life spans, fewer years are disease-free” nor would we find that
“The average number of healthy years has decreased since 1998. We spend fewer years of our lives without disease, even though we live longer.”
Those people who have tried eating less and exercising more find it’s hard to stick with it while consuming the recommended foods.
What has been found by those who have adopted a low carbohydrate based diet in Sweden is that health improves, cognitive function improves, lipid profiles improve, appetite is less so it’s easier to consume fewer calories and energy levels are higher so activity becomes easier.
Basing your eating on traditional foods humans evolved to live with should not be regarded as a fad diet.
There are no essential carbohydrates,
Cutting out one food is certainly not unrealistic – although it is hard as wheat utterly contaminates our food chain. If you’re gluten intolerant, it’s very hard to avoid hidden wheat and that hidden wheat can make you ill indeed. There’s also a vast number of undiagnosed celiacs and people who are gluten intolerant.
The Dietary Guidelines are not based on solid science, and studies have shown wheat consumption is linked to all manner of bad health. Common sense says wheat is not something man has eaten for most of his evolution, and the small amount of time he’s been eating it has not allowed him to adapt to it’s issues.
You all are ludicrously stupid. All calories are NOT the same in terms of metabolic effect. That’s the first thing you get wrong. #2 – you can’t out run a doughnut, you idiots. #3 if calories in must equal calories out, then there is no net loss, you fools.
Wow. The Grain Foods Foundation! Who’s paying you?
Actually cutting out one specific food is realistic since there’s a ton of other foods that can replace it that are much healthier. As for missing out on the fiber, antioxidants, and B vitamins, you can get those in lots of other foods, and in higher amounts for the antioxidants and B vitamins. As for the dietary guidelines for America being the gold standard, well, let’s just say we need a new gold standard . . . http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/02/04/the-new-usda-dietary-guideline/. Their recommendations aren’t based on good science, but on a bias towards the lipid hypothesis, even though the weight of scientific evidence points in the opposite direction, that a high fat diet is good, and a low fat and/or high carb diet is bad for your health for a multitude of reasons. My guess is if there are studies that show eating a significant amount of wheat helps weight maintenance, it’s because the researchers skewed the study to get the outcome they wanted or didn’t take into account confounding variables, as the studies on saturated fat showed. I think Dr. Davis convincingly shows that wheat increases weight problems instead of helps them, as we’ve been taught to believe by the “experts”. Health isn’t just about weight control, cause there are skinny people who are very unhealthy and there are people who are naturally heavier who are very healthy. The calories in calories out argument has been disproved because different kinds of foods might have the same amount of calories but have different effects on the body. Carbs such as wheat are much more likely to be stored as fat, whereas protein and dietary fat are more easily burned for fuel, especially the medium chain fatty acids found in foods like coconut oil, which bypass the liver and are burned immediately for fuel. Furthermore, you can become resistant to insulin and leptin, which means no matter how many calories you eat, your cells aren’t able to process them and you need to eat more and more to get the same calories as a normal person gets from less food. What foods cause insulin and leptin resistance? Foods high in starches and sugars, especially when eaten as a large percentage of your total daily calories. We all owe it to ourselves to look at the evidence with an open mind and ask, what is the sum of all this evidence telling me? If we do this collectively as a nation, we’ll realize that we’ve been tricked into believing a lot of false ideas and information. But now that the mask is pulled away, we can see the truth for what it is, and it’s not what we’ve been taught by the “experts”.
You say “Cutting out one specific food is not only unrealistic, it’s dangerous.” so being a Vegan or Vegetarian is unrealistic and dangerous? Have you ever made that statement anywhere else? Where can I find the “scientific studies to support that statement? I’m sure all the Vegans and Vegetarians would greatly disagree with you.
So, cutting wheat is not a cure all for coeliac disease??
Well, I have coeliac disease.
Sure, there are other sources of gluten in western diets, but wheat is by far the most important source…by a country mile.
So, maybe cutting wheat is not a cure all for coeliac disease, but it goes pretty damn close.
Steve L AUS 20110903.14.45
I’m sorry, but the data you present is simply false. Please take the time to read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes for the “calories in-calories out” argument.
There is nothing in Grains that can’t be had in other foods. There is no need for grains in your diet, fine as a treat maybe, but certainly not a necessary staple.
…further to my comment (above) regarding the nonsense in this article about coeliac disease, let’s also consider the value of wheat (and other grains) for various nutrients.
Look at nutrient density tables. Wheat is only a good/cheap source of energy/calories, especially if your government subsidises its production. Maybe fibre too, depending on how heavily its processed. As to other nutrients, its a pretty poor source compared to vegetables and meat (incl poultry and fish).
This is without getting into more contentious issues such as whether wheat (and other grains) damage the gut of even non-coeliacs, causing leaky guy syndrome and possibly being involved in the pathogenesis of some autoimmune diseases….
Then there is the high glycaemic load wheat provides in the diet, with metabolic consequences.
Remember too that there is not unanimity amongst experts regarding official dietary guidelines: far from it. So, you can’t reasonably appeal to a consensus among experts.
But leave that aside, and also the damage it does to coeliacs (I was VERY ill for 10 years because of wheat), wheat is a pretty poor source of nutrients apart from calories.
Steve L Australia 20110902.1500
Bwwwaaahahaha
Hilarious!
I especially liked the “gold-standard of scientifically blah blah” part
Nice
“Cutting out one specific food is dangerous” was funny too! Guess I`ll put all the sugar back on everything…
And as for the fiber and vitamin B….lucky wheat is here to save us! Cause theres no other foods you can get those is there?
But you would say that wouldn’t you being the grains food foundation.
If you’re going to argue with what’s said in this book, then maybe providing some scientific evidence to the contrary would make your case a bit stronger….
I agree with you. We should let common sense prevail. Eating vast quantities of wheat is great if you are a farm animal in need of fattening before slaughter. Otherwise, we would be much better off without it.
Avoidance of all wheat and gluten containing foods is by far the most effective and common sense approach to celiac disease! Eating bread occasionally was enough to hospitalize a friend of mine who has celiac disease.
As for B vitamins, iron, and other essentials for good health, take a look at a true nutrition powerhouse like liver. Wheat (and any other plant food) pales in comparison!
When it comes to nutrition advice, I think I’ll trust generations of healthy humans rather than the government, thanks!
I do appreciate you bring the book, Wheat Belly, to the attention of many who would otherise not have heard of it. I am awaiting my copy now.
If the wheat your orginization speaks for was the same as what our grandparents ate,there would be no problem, and no need for Dr Davis’ book. But it isn’t. The grain we have today is genetically so far removed from the ancient product that it is wheat in name only. Modern wheat has been a primary cause of many of today’s ills-including celieac disease,and diabetes. I am willing to trust the judgement of a Dr who has no financial links the the industry,and who has witnessed first hand the effect wheat has on our health.
The very dietary guidelines you praise are simply aiding the decline in the world’s health. The sicknesses associated with grains are now spreading in previously untouched-and healthy-third world countries…with diabetes reaching huge numbers as far afield as India and remote islands in the Pacific.
Could you define a “fad” diet? For more than 99.5% of our history, we were eating a diet devoid of grains. By evolutionary standards, wouldn’t a diet rich in grain foods be considered a fad? How is the avoidance of grains a fad and how is it unrealistic? And to call it dangerous because is ridiculous considering a diet rich in animals and plants is more dense in the nutrients cited. Is eating only animals and plants a “fad”? The same logic can be applied to the “danger” in eliminating a multi-vitamin from the diet.
Whatever YOU say, my husband’s blood sugars are now normal with no medications. He has also stopped his medication for rheumatoid arthritis and is pain free. All we did was stop the wheat.
I feel fantastic since giving up wheat (and other grains) last year. Fiber, anti-oxidants, iron and B-vitamins…what exactly am I NOT getting as I eat my daily quantities of meat, eggs, broccoli, sweet potatoes, spinach and numerous other fruits and veggies?
Saying that it runs counter to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans isn’t exactly proof. This could just as easily be shown as proof that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are wrong.
“the advice dished out by Dr. Davis is completely counter to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the gold standard of scientifically-sound nutrition advice.”
The same scientifically sound nutrition advice which isn’t based on science and runs counter to what leading experts and research in the field of nutrition report? The same dietary guidelines that come from the USDA? An organization that heavily subsidizes grain farmers.
Yeah, no thanks. I can do my own research and think for myself. No one needs to eat modern grain and we’re all a lot better off if we don’t. Grain only leads to a whole host of health issues, including obesity.
This is the most simplistic nutrition post I’ve ever seen. I’m a PhD student in nutrition, and one only has to do a brief scan of the literature to see the link between gluten/wheat germ agglutenin and things like autoimmune disease, intestinal problems, etc.
After having totally removed all wheat products from my lifestyle, I am no longer a type II diabetic. I no longer rely on insulin boluses. I have lost 80 pounds. I no longer have man boobs. I have not been sick or had anything resembling a cold in over two years. My arthritic knees have gotten so much better that my doc says I probably will not need knee replacements. I no longer have lower back pain. I am back to playing tennis again. I used to be a competitive tennis player in my age bracket…but that all went away 10 years ago. But now I am back. I am 68 years old.
The only thing I have changed in my life is avoidance of wheat and wheat products.
“Cutting out one specific food is not only unrealistic, it’s dangerous.”
Any studies that back up this statement?
NOPE
Cereal grains are unhealthy, just study a little about human evolution. You’re reasoning is based on modern junk science.
This is your review? To cite the Dietary Guidelines and imply that the only place you can get these nutrients, vitamins and minerals is from grains? This is it? This is your review, Ashley? Did you even read the book, or just flip it over and read the first few lines of the back?
Nothing good comes from eating grains, enriched or not. I have seen it in myself and countless others. I was a bread LOVER and the notion of giving up bread/grains was crazy talk. I gave it a try for 30 days anyway, and I have never looked back…18 months later and I have never felt better.
By the way, why do blog’s like yours exist? Why is there a need to promote the understanding of grain’s role in the diet? It all reeks of something very sketchy and money driven…
“Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the gold standard of scientifically-sound nutrition advice.” Really? Dietary guidelines which are not based on science, which ignored the viewpoints of the one scientist on the committee, which ask us to reduce our fat consumption even more than we already do and eat lots of starchy whole grains (How’s that working out for us? We have an epidemic of type II diabetes and obesity in our country that began when the first Dietary guidelines came out). I haven’t finished reading Wheat Belly yet, but I defy you to produce the SCIENCE that says we have to eat 6 servings of whole grains every day. I mean real science–RCTs, biochemistry, whatever. There is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate–our body can make whatever it needs from other substrates. There are essential fats and essential amino acids and filling up on whole grains while not eating fat, especially saturated fat, is a great way to not get enough of the essential fats we do need. The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans are creating a nation of people with metabolic syndrome. No thanks.
“Wheat Belly” is absolutely correct. Modern wheat is a very dangerous food.
Ok, seriously, you guys on this site need to get real. Humans for thousands of years before the start of agriculture never had problems like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. And do you know why? Oh that’s right, they were hunter-gatherers. They ate primarily animal meat and wild berries. So what you want us all to believe is that in order to be healthy again like humans thousands of years ago, we need to eat foods that have been around a very short time relatively. You all need to be objective and focus on actual science rather than working toward your own goal.
Honestly,
If you don’t start posting some of the comments coming your way from the folks that have been commenting about their experiences regarding wheat consumption, then people are just going to think of this organization as a bunch of intellectual cowards! What is so hard about defending your position?
Or, are you just having technical challenges?
Susan Moles
Hi! Nice, not posting comments that disagree. Very un-American and anti-intellectual.
So nobody finds these statements controversial? Nobody finds these claims lacking in scientific evidence? Nobody has fixed any medical problems, mild or severe, by eliminating wheat from their diet? Or are you just quietly deleting any feedback that goes against your grain?
As an individual who follows a wheat-free diet, I can say that when you replace grains with vegetables, meats, fish and other natural foods, there will be no loss of essential nutrients. Furthermore, to those who believe the USDA Dietary Guidelines are the gold standard of scientifically-sound advice, read this: http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/02/04/the-new-usda-dietary-guideline/
Can you explain to me which nutrient is in wheat and cereals in general which I can’t find in other food sources?
I am a physician and fully support the concept of Wheat Belly, and have personal experience with giving up wheat as have some of my physician colleagues, with dramatic results including lowering blood sugars, general well being, decreased small LDL particle numbers, and loosing the belly. I agree with Dr. Davis and others that the wheat/ grain industry and the Dieteary Guideline/ food pyramids etc have strong business interests that are counter to the health of Americans.
A grain heavy diet has no place in human nutrition if grain are replaced with vegetables, fruit, meats, eggs, and nuts. Please enlighten yourself reading about Paleolthic diet. I understand that is counter to your business interests and probabely counter to your traditional education in nutriiton as well, but i am confident you will realize the fallacies of your stance. In fact I urge you to follow it yourself, in fact you might already but want to feed everyone else grains!!!
The data is being gathered at the grass roots level, and just as it took years to bring the tobacco industry to its knees, so will happen with the wheat/ grain industry but it will happen in the end. BEWARE…
WOW, I must not get any “fiber, antioxidants, iron and B vitamins” since I haven’t eaten wheat in years due to celiac disease. I’m sure “the gold standard of scientifically-sound nutrition advice” can’t be wrong. I see now that I need to “let common sense prevail” and I should go back to being sick all the time just so I can eat SIX servings of junk a day instead of more vegetables, nuts, meats, fruits, eggs, legumes and dairy that fill my typical diet.
In the spirit of educational pursuit’s here are some facts.
Fact 1 – The human body naturally has less than 1 tsp of sugar in the body naturally. What this means is that if you eat the recommended amount of grains as your suggesting you automatically take your body out of a natural environment and force it into a cycle responsible for everything from diabetes, strokes, heart-attacks, impaired brain function, decreased hormone production, and countless others.
Fact 2 – The majority of the human body is composed of water, fats, and proteins. While yes, our bodies can burn glucose aka carbohydrates aka wheat’s, the most advantageous and efficient fuel for our bodies are ketones which are derived from fats. Fats are also responsible for yellow bone marrow, which in turn converts to red bone marrow, both of which are responsible for everything from healthy immune systems, various types of cell productions, right down to lubricating your joints. All of which if you follow the guidelines published by the American Heart Association and the various government ran health organizations, that keep your fats to a minimal which degrades all the functions I just listed that fats are responsible for.
Fact 3 – There a no nutrients found in any grain that are not found in fruits, vegetables, meats, and fats in a higher quantity and more bio-available. Look at it this way, your body is a giant highway system, if you put the essential stuff on it such as antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, proteins, and fats, minus your grains, the highway moves smoothly and efficiently. The second you put grains, and carbohydrates on the highway to the extremes that your sources deem acceptable, you begin to suffer from all the health conditions that american considers an epidemic today (heart disease, arthritis, auto-immune disorders, allergies, susceptibility to cancers, and the list goes on.)
Anthropologically speaking, if you look at ancient humans before the rise of wheat farming they died from physically (stabbed, bitten, crushed, drowning, cold, heat, starved, dehydration) means, or means not preventable even by today’s standards.
Please get your facts straight before publishing an article that is based off non-existent science tainted by corporate farming. Please and thank-you.
Fat, sick, obese America deserves the truth….is the current whole wheat product….the same grain people have been eating for centuries OR…was it re-engineered in the 1980′s. Please let us know….America deserves the truth.
Fat, sick, obese America deserves the truth….is the current whole wheat product….the same grain people have been eating for centuries OR…was it re-engineered in the 1980′s. Please let us know….America deserves the truth.
I never submitted this before or had an entry here before!
“Fat, sick, obese America deserves the truth….is the current whole wheat product….the same grain people have been eating for centuries OR…was it re-engineered in the 1980′s.” No, it is not the same. Yes, it has been re-engineered. For details and scientific data, read Dr. Davis’ book, “Wheat Belly”
The “Gold standard of scientifically-sound nutrition advice”. No doubt paid for and sponsored by the giant food conglomerates, no conflict of interest there… LOL. Saying that it is dangerous to limit/remove wheat from the diet is ridiculous. There are plenty of places to get the nutrients that you need in your daily diet.
I don’t believe that wheat is the demon Davis says it is, but I did test two of his ideas on myself. He was right that whole wheat does raise my blood sugar a lot, and he was right that when I tried quitting wheat, the bad kind of LDL particles dropped a lot (i took the NMR test before and after).
Hi there,
I am desperately wating for comments about Wheat Belly. I know that several people have posted on your blog but their comments never appeared. Where are they?
Unless you REALLY belief in communist style censorship of the last century, these comments should appear.
You are of course free, to respond.
Wonderung what kind of organization you are that you are afraid of a few comments on your wbsite about “wheat belly”???
On Twitter and Facebook there are many comments about your website, and why the wheat belly comments are not appearing. This is going to be big and each day you are hiding the comments, it will grow bigger and damage the reputation of your blog, your organization and your integrity.
I can’t tell you how much better I have felt since I started a wheat free diet. I think wheat, corn, and soy are better left as livestock food as they are not fit for human consumption. It’s well known that when farmers want to fatten livestock they “finish” and marble the meat of their livestock on a grain diet. I prefer not to participate.
We love you and support your message.
Cheese stands alone I guess
What exactly does wheat provide in the form of “fiber, antioxidants, iron and B vitamins” that other grains and vegetables don’t provide?
Attention six serving blog:
A lot of people that are being helped by the “Wheat Belly” book’s position wonder why you don’t leave our posts on or reply to them . I posted this yesterday and it’s gone, Also I never received a response?
Posted 9/5/11 :
“Fat, sick, obese America deserves the truth….is the current whole wheat product….the same grain people have been eating for centuries OR…was it re-engineered in the 1980′s. Please let us know….America deserves the truth.”
Where are all the comments posted?
Six Servings, I want to thank you for promoting Dr. Davis’ book. It’s a story that people need to read. Your lack of serious rebuttal to his comments and to the comments here just underscore the truth than most of us have already recognized. It’s not a new story to many of us of course. I’ve been no-grain since reading Dr. Mercola’s book several years ago and my health has been improving steadily ever since. I’ve been a promoter of paleo type diets and now will do my best to promote this book as well. Perhaps someday, the normal diet will be based on foods we are actually designed to eat, grown and produced in humane, sustainable conditions, free from the interferance of politicians and big business, big medicine, big pharmacy and big agriculture.
As an exercise physiologist, endurance coach, and human performance specialist, I can tell you that I see nothing short of amazing results when I take my athletes off of wheat. Their recovery times are faster, they lose body fat very quickly, and they’re energy is far more sustained. A few other things of note are positive changes in moods once off of wheat, less GI problems, and everyone seems to get sick less. I work with over 25 athletes at any given time and have been eliminating wheat for about 5 years… they are all eating more fruits and vegetables to replace the wheat, which are far more potent sources for vital nutrients.
So while you are trying to protect your industry, please realize you’re doing more harm than good to the people of this country.
Good post Joe.
I’m finding it hard to admit to being a Registered Dietitian anymore since so many march along like drones to the beat of the USDA’s propaganda drum. Research showed saturated fats/cholesterol was not linked to heart disease over 60 years ago. Studies have consistently shown the harmful oxidative damage of high intakes of omega-6 fatty acids. And yes, more and more research is showing the damaging effects of wheat on the GI tract and the rest of the body.
My entire family was sick, sick, sick until we stopped consuming gluten. It might seem like a fad to some, but illness isn’t a fad; it’s a reality of inflammation due to the body’s negative reaction. We’re just a part of a huge, growing group of consumers. Thank you for giving press to Wheat Belly! It’s an important book.
Well said, Jamie!
OK…made it to the second paragraph! Removing wheat is dangerous???? Seriously? That has to be one of the stupidest statements I’ve read lately!
As of yesterday, I have been eating a low carbohydrate diet for 16 years — a diet which, perforce, eliminates most wheat — and all grain — products. My health is just fine, and instead of a size 20 I’m a size 10. I’ve looked it up, and there is not a single nutrient in wheat that you can’t get from low carb sources. Refined wheat products — like your average bagel — aren’t a source of fiber at all, and even whole wheat bread is a poor source compared to, say, salad.
Sorry, Industry Shill, but there’s nothing dangerous about giving up wheat, or grains in general.
How about the China Study, which shows that the correlation between wheat flour and heart disease is 67%, with a 99.9% probability of this correlation not being a fluke. The book mentioned this correlation in passing, but did not dwell on it, I don’t know why.
A recent attempt was made by Denise Minger to try and find any other factor that might be causing this high correlation, but the attempt came out empty handed.
http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/09/02/the-china-study-wheat-and-heart-disease-oh-my/
Maybe you would fare better at it. You could do the same analysis with the China Study II data to get show wheat in a better light.
I have heart disease on both sides of my family, so I will not take a risk by eating wheat.
The literature shows a lot of ways in which wheat causes damage, and the China Study shows this is not only related to the newer grains as Dr. Davis thinks. I guess if a similar study was done now using the newer grains, the correlation will probably be much higher.
The outpouring of comments attesting to the incredible, substantial, consistent, and reproducible effects of wheat elimination–i.e., what is being sold to us under the guise of wheat–I believe you can see make the “eat wheat because the USDA says so” sound like the children’s chant it is.
Conventional “wisdom” has led us down the wrong path on many occasions. We need only to review the history of U.S. policy of the past 50 years in nutrition, international policy, and education to uncover many, many examples. The only rational response to this outpouring of wheat-elimination success stories from a wheat industry group can be “Perhaps we should explore these claims,” not just blowing them off.
Dr Davis send your book to Dr Oz. He needs some nutritional education.
With wheat in my diet, my triglycerides were almost 900 and I eventually had an ischemic stroke. One month after eliminating wheat from my diet, my triglycerides were 300, the quickest reduction my doctor had ever seen. I do not have celiac.
This is awesome! The gig is up, wheat must go!
Bravo to Dr. William Davis for sharing his important findings in his new book “Wheat Belly”. Even before this book was published, my wife and I both eliminated grains and all processed foods from our diet 9 months ago and our health and fitness has improved dramatically. We’re as fit as we were 20 years ago when we went off to college. Our blood sugar and cholesterol levels have moved from unhealthy to normal healthy levels. We used to exercised 3 to 5 times per week for a decade but continued to slowly gain weight. Since changing my diet as Dr. Davis suggests, we cancelled our gym membership and took up sports again. Thankfully anyone with a baseline level of intelligence will see through the shameful rhetoric in this post.
I’m sorry but this is the lamest and most feeble rebuttal I have seen in a long time. I think you just proved to everyone that you don’t have a leg to stand on.
LOL….literally every comment opposes the opinion of the original post. Looks like the “healthy whole grains” propaganda is fooling less and less people everyday.
I literally laughed out loud when I read this “article.” When selling an item it is assumed that you will want to squash any ideas that your product is dangerous; however, the fact that it IS dangerous is without question. Trying to hide behind the morons that make public food policy based on biased information, and a need to save face, isn’t exactly sound scientific logic. Wheat replaced with vegetables will INCREASE fiber intake, INCREASE vitamin intake, DECREASE insulin levels, and INCREASE health. I love bread, I really do, but I love my health and my body much more.
Besides, bare in mind that the wheat/grain free diet has been around for eons, wheat/grain diets are very new. To use your claims, the wheat full diet is a fad and must be avoided. I must state, once again, this “fad” you speak of is a straw man argument.
Anecdotal evidence: Grain free 2 years, down 50 pounds. Husband grain free 2 years, down 40 pounds. Grandmother grain free 1 year, down 40 pounds. Grandfather grain free 1 year, down 50 pounds. Kids grain free 2 years, leaner, stronger, less cranky, better learners, easier to calm down, more thoughtful when angry, less likely to be angry, less tired… Shall I go on? I can ALWAYS tell when they’ve had wheat (not just sugar, sugar affects them differently) as it makes monsters. It makes me an angry person. I can get down right mean when I eat wheat, yet when I’m off it I’m so much calmer and my emotions are more stable. I would get heartburn (3 tums a night) that is now gone, lethargy is gone, intestinal pain is HORRIBLE if I slip… I wouldn’t go back to the wheat diet if you paid me in gold.
And don’t get me started on the calories in/out thing. We are hormone based, and hormones are massively affected by wheat. We are not fires or furnaces, for all the alliterations to that affect.
So while we all appreciate that you are in business, we DON’T appreciate you trying to tell us that we are going to kill ourselves because you want us to buy bread. We KNOW the truth, and it is incredibly insulting to have you write that our lives are “unrealistic” and “dangerous”, because there are thousands of us that have seen nothing but benefits from losing the grains. You think differently, fine, but don’t you attack us and think we will all sit idly by.
Does anyone seriously believe that the overweight public gives any credence to dietary recommendations, or even that they know they exist? You can’t blame the problems on the recommendations. The question is, what have they been eating since 1980 that is different? Everyone used to eat bread and we didn’t have the problem. But since 1980 we have had an explosion in junk food. What else?
Lee – what have people been eating since the 1980′s “that’s different”? Wheat.
In the 1970′s, wheat was genetically engineered to a dwarf variety that is nothing like its predecessors. Unlike today, where a food would receive scrutiny before it would be accepted by the public, in the late 1970s very few people knew that wheat underwent genetic engineering. No labels were printed to tell you. Nearly every food you buy in a carton now has this frankenfood in it. Celiacs and others know how hard it is to find any pre-prepared food without wheat.
Dr. Davis provides the documentation for this change, including the genetic composition of modern wheat versus heirloom wheat, in his book. Reading it will answer many of the questions. Its a shame that the author of this blog evidently has not read the book.
I suffered from Crohn’s Disease for years. By eliminating wheat (actually grain entirely), sugar and starch from my diet, I immediately became symptom free and have been for three years. Grain is a problematic food that is not natural or necessary for humans. Many of us with IBD or other auto-immune diseases have had dramatically improved health by avoiding it entirely.
What a shame that grain is promoted as the basis of our diet. If it really was necessary, how did we survive the majority of our existence in the per-agriculture days?
I eliminated wheat from my diet and I never felt better.
Any doubts that wheat should not be in the human food system? Just list your physical complaints, and try wheat free for two weeks, (after Phil Maffetone)and look at your complaints again. That is two weeks with no wheat, absolutely none.
I expect that 1/3 of the population will not see any significant change (those who eat little wheat), and 1/3 will see weight loss, and improvement (obese and grossly obese). The addiction will be apparent to many who will be nearly unable to give wheat up.
Such is life wheat free.
A couple of things I have learned about the “pushers” of what is bad or good for us are as follows:
Fluoride: We’re told we need it in our water for our teeth. The reality is that fluoride is a poison. We are being poisoned when we drink tap water. This was my first big shock.
Sunshine: We’re told that being in the sun will give us cancer and to cover up and slather on the sunscreen (which most likely is giving us cancer). Never mind that all my life, any time I was out in the sun I felt so much better, so much more alive. Now vitamin D deficiency is the norm because everyone is scared to death to be out in the sun. The sun lie
Milk does a body good: Yes, I’m sure all the hormones pumped into the cows to make them produce more milk (which are then in the milk we drink) is really good for us. Girls are reaching puberty at alarmingly young ages. Any time I eat dairy products my body responds by producing lots of mucus. Real healthy indeed.
Eat your grains: This one is a real whopper. I was never a big grain eater until I was in my forties and then I got addicted and I did not know why. I started eating cereal out of the box as a “good snack.” I was never full and I could not understand it. I went from never having any fat on my stomach to having one of those flubby wheat stomachs Dr. Davis writes about. I greatly reduced my grain eating and my stomach flattened. So you cannot tell me it was not the grains. It was the grains.
So what I am learning is that the people placed in positions of authority who tell us what is good or bad for me are lying. It’s a hard truth to accept, but a REAL truth nonetheless. The people are waking up to the truth that the reality they have “created” for us is a lie.
I should add that I lost 70 lbs. over the course of a year when I reduced the grains from my diet and started to exercise regularly.
Dr. Davis cited quite a number of research studies to support his work. Where are yours? All you supply are words that are to be taken as axioms. That isn’t very convincing.
Of course, the lack of real research to support your claims may be the issue here. You can’t provide what doesn’t exist. It’s too bad the vast majority of Americans will never even consider that your advice is wrong.
I cut wheat and other grains from my diet two and a half years ago on the off chance that it might have been causing my severe hay fever. I had little hope of success, but after nineteen summers of taking antihistamine pills that never completely alleviated my symptoms I thought it worth a try. I haven’t taken antihistamines since that time – because I don’t get hay fever any more. Almost equally astonishing to me is that I don’t miss wheat products at all.
I stopped eating wheat about a year ago and all I know is that I’ve never felt better and will never eat wheat again.
Since the end of June I’ve lost 22 lbs by eliminating most wheat products and increasing consumption of good fats that were demonized for so many years – coconut oil, eggs with the yolks and butter. I hadn’t really increased my exercise level until the past week or so. I had to leave out all wheat for the first few weeks and I’d estimate a weekly cheat serving of wheat after that with some weeks completely wheat free. I noticed that when I cheat I can feel it later that evening and the next day, increased gas (unpleasant) and indigestion.
I’ve never been diagnosed with Celiac’s and have been a wheat eater my whole life. I’d also gained more and more weight over the years and struggled even when very physically active. I’d gotten more joint pain and less stamina. I would try to lose and my addictive hunger would get out of control, I felt horrible that I didn’t have more willpower. Removing wheat also removed that lack of willpower, lessened that addictive cycle.
I am moving with less pain, my advil consumption has also drastically decreased over the summer. My head is clearer, fewer allergy symptoms, etc. I’m motivated to continue living mostly wheatfree and increasing my exercise level to optimize my health.
If you want to promote wheat because it tastes good (like cigarette and alcohol manufacturers do), fine. Stop pretending it’s a nessicity or positive factor in good health.
If you are just removing one plant from your diet, surely you can supplement it with other sources. It should even be easier than those who exclude entire food groups. (Vegans, Vegetarians, and Paleos.)
Alls I knows is that when I gave up wheat, my heartburn went away, I lost 15 pounds, and saw slight improvement in my allergies.
It’s amazing that humans survived for millions of years without the help of enriched wheat! What were the chances??!!
What objective measure would you like to point to? I’ll stack my blood work (any nutrient/cholesterol/CRP, you name it), resting pulse, blood pressure, EKG, you name it against yours any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Wheat free, effortlessly, for one year and the only thing I’m missing is 65 pounds. At some point someone is going to lawyer up and wheat will be the new tobacco. In fact, I herewith trademark the phrase “wheat is the new tobacco” and look forward to joining the aggrieved class.
I’m waiting for those comments from people who added wheat to their diet and saw an improvement in health. Waiting …. waiting ….
“I’m waiting for those comments from people who added wheat to their diet and saw an improvement in health. Waiting …. waiting …”
I think you’ll be waiting until hell freezes over! I mean I know you’ll be waiting…
Seriously? What sort of propaganda is this?!?
I cut out wheat and overnight cured my years long battle with acid reflux, lost 2 pants sizes (36 to 34), and feel better than I have in years. Beyond my personal experiences, the scientific evidence proves that humans were not meant to eat grains, or more than about 100 g/day of carbohydrates. Read Taubes Good Calorie, Bad Calorie, if you want to know the truth. And as to your last statement about calories-in, calories-out…I hold multiple degrees in physics and engineering and that statement makes me want to wretch my morning bacon up with disgust, the body isn’t a closed system and trying to apply the laws of thermodynamics to an open system that digests different macros differently is ignorant and dangerous.
Post some statistics on the success of your (maybe your president, I see she is an RD) patients who have followed your grain heavy diets.
Dr Davis and many others have posted their success in eliminating grains from their diets.
I will add that by removing grains from my diet I lost 70 lbs & stopped medication for gerds.
I was diagnosed with clinical MS 3 years ago. I immediately gave up wheat and noticed an almost immediate improvemnet in my brain fog, lack of energy and various other symptoms. The few times I ate wheat (at the beginning) those symptoms immediately came back. I am not celiac according to tests, just gluten intolerant like a huge portion of the population. I do not take any MS drugs and have felt great and have had stable MRI’s since.
Wheat is extremely dangerous to me; it sparked an autoimmune attack on my thyroid. Now that I have eliminated wheat from my diet the attack has thankfully subsided. Unfortunately for my 18-year old daughter, wheat consumption has ignited the same autoimmune disease in her. My 16-year old daughter had lifelong digestive pain and bloating, which went away immediately upon wheat elimination.
Fad diets may be foolish, but wheat is toxic to me and my family.
Happy to say I am not only wheat free but also gluten free and have been for just over a decade and I am in phenomenal health. Weight maintenance – effortless.
Do yourself a favor and eat lots of natural fats (like real butter, EVOO, virgin coconut oil, nuts, avocados etc), proteins (like beef, eggs, poultry, pork, wild fish) and produce (in particular non starchy veg and low sugar fruits like berries).
Just say no to grains whole or not and all their processed and fortified junk!
Gotta love those “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” because they’ve been working so well for us! How in the world did we ever get by before these guidelines were developed? Gold standard of what?! Disease, obesity, diabetes, dimentia, childhood behavioral problems, arthritis, fatigue, heart disease, huge bellies, miserable lives, and multi-billions of dollars spent on diets? Yeah, some gold standard you’re promoting there!
But you’re right, we need to let common sense prevail. We need to continue to spread the word and ignore the “authorities” and listen to those that are genuinely experts in the field of nutrition. Common sense will tell to you to eliminate any food that makes you sick and wheat is at the top of my list.
Whoever is reading these posts from the SixServings gang: don’t dispair.
It’s not too late to investigate what people have been telling you in the above comments. It takes courage to admit your position may be faulty. And it takes courage, and energy, to study research from ‘the other side.’ But do yourself, and your wheat-eating supporters a favor, and do the work. You will benefit personally, and will be really helping people to good health instead of simply keeping them in their present state.
I know that all of us understand that you are working from ignorance in these matters, and that you are most certainly a caring person who wants the best for all your readers and supporters. So I urge you to take to heart all that you read here.
I was fooled by the get healthy by eating whole grains BS and have since suffered the consequences by triggering Celiac disease. I suffered for years with SEVERE gas, bloating and almost constant diarrhea from all those “healthy” whole grains. I was also low in vitamin D,B,and iron. I also have some thyroid issues due to wheat. Sure helped me lose weight though! You should start marketing wheat as a laxative! Because that’s pretty much what it’s good for, flushing down the toilet. The road to Hell is paved with gluten!
Thanks
Another question: I am curious why your Scientific Advisory Board is populated by experts with close ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Specifically, I would like to know how deep the connection between the drug industry and wheat lobby go. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans have led to the largest epidemic of diabetes and overweight the world has ever seen. I find it deeply bothersome that the inevitable beneficiary of this blunder is the pharmaceutical industry.
Sorry, but your statements about Wheat Belly being about a “fad diet” are completely erroneous, and someday when you develop gluten sensitivity or diabetes or heart disease, I hope you think back on this discussion, or even better, read Dr. Davis’ book. Our original diet was grain free for eons and believe it or not, but you can get more viable Bcomplex vitamins from beef and turkey. I quote from Wikipedia “B vitamins are found in whole unprocessed foods. Processed carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour tend to have lower B vitamin than their unprocessed counterparts. B vitamins are particularly concentrated in meat such as turkey and tuna, in liver and meat products.”
Of course, it is your business to sell grains, so a book like this that gives the real truth to people so that they can regain their health destroyed my grains, will definitely rock your world. But in the end, people are finally waking up to the truths about the food we eat and the meds that are pushed on us when our foods start killing us – you know, the foods that are so highly endorsed by your foundation. My husband’s 9 year diabetes did not finally start to resolve and disappear until I convinced him to rid wheat from his diet, his A1C test went from 7.9 to 6.5 in one year. ah huh, grains are great for you……………..
Sound like a new spin on the Adkin’s diet with the exception of milk & fruit. Don’t forget, he is making millions on this book. He also recommends avoiding gluten free food because of the other starches ie. potato starch, tapioca. My family eats 6 serving of wheat daily and we exercise regularly. We don’t have “wheat bellies”, more like “6 packs”. My thin children would waste away on this type of diet plan. It would not be at all practical to follow this type of plan. No more cereal, sandwiches, pasta, tacos, or pizza night. No Thanks! Oh, I too am a registered dietitian.