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Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health Paperback – June 3, 2014
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Every day, over 200 million Americans consume food products made of wheat. As a result, over 100 million of them experience some form of adverse health effect, ranging from minor rashes and high blood sugar to the unattractive stomach bulges that preventive cardiologist William Davis calls "wheat bellies." According to Davis, that excess fat has nothing to do with gluttony, sloth, or too much butter: It's due to the whole grain wraps we eat for lunch.
After witnessing over 2,000 patients regain their health after giving up wheat, Davis reached the disturbing conclusion that wheat is the single largest contributor to the nationwide obesity epidemic—and its elimination is key to dramatic weight loss and optimal health. In Wheat Belly, Davis exposes the harmful effects of what is actually a product of genetic tinkering and agribusiness being sold to the American public as "wheat"—and provides readers with a user-friendly, step-by-step plan to navigate a new, wheat-free lifestyle.
Informed by cutting-edge science and nutrition, along with case studies from men and women who have experienced life-changing transformations in their health after waving goodbye to wheat, Wheat Belly is an illuminating look at what is truly making Americans sick and an action plan to clear our plates of this seemingly benign ingredient.
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherRodale Books
- Publication dateJune 3, 2014
- Dimensions6 x 0.74 x 8.99 inches
- ISBN-101609614798
- ISBN-13978-1609614799
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Dr Davis' comprehensive, readable and witty book reveals that wheat, far from being the staff of life, is in fact the stuff of nightmares. Take his advice to lose wheat from your diet and you'll likely be paid back many times over in the form of a slimmer, healthier body and a better functioning brain.” —Dr. John Briffa BSc MB BS nutritional physician and author of Waist Disposal
“Davis makes a compelling case” —Fort Worth Star Telegram
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
WHEAT: THE UNHEALTHY WHOLE GRAIN
CHAPTER 1
WHAT BELLY?
The scientific physician welcomes the establishment of a standard loaf of bread made according to the best scientific evidence. . . . Such a product can be included in diets both for the sick and for the well with a clear understanding of the effect that it may have on digestion and growth.
Morris Fishbein, MD, editor, Journal of the American Medical Association, 1932
IN CENTURIES PAST, a prominent belly was the domain of the privileged, a mark of wealth and success, a symbol of not having to clean your own stables or plow your own field. In this century, you don't have to plow your own field. Today, obesity has been democratized: Everybody can have a big belly. Your dad called his rudimentary mid-twentieth-century equivalent a beer belly. But what are soccer moms, kids, and half of your friends and neighbors who don't drink beer doing with a beer belly?
I call it wheat belly, though I could have just as easily called this condition pretzel brain or bagel bowel or biscuit face since there's not an organ system unaffected by wheat. But wheat's impact on the waistline is its most visible and defining characteristic, an outward expression of the grotesque distortions humans experience with consumption of this grain.
A wheat belly represents the accumulation of fat that results from years of consuming foods that trigger insulin, the hormone of fat storage. While some people store fat in their buttocks and thighs, most people collect ungainly fat around the middle. This "central" or "visceral" fat is unique: Unlike fat in other body areas, it provokes inflammatory phenomena, distorts insulin responses, and issues abnormal metabolic signals to the rest of the body. In the unwitting wheat-bellied male, visceral fat also produces estrogen, creating "man breasts."
The consequences of wheat consumption, however, are not just manifested on the body's surface; wheat can also reach deep down into virtually every organ of the body, from the intestines, liver, heart, and thyroid gland all the way up to the brain. In fact, there's hardly an organ that is not affected by wheat in some potentially damaging way.
PANTING AND SWEATING IN THE HEARTLAND
I practice preventive cardiology in Milwaukee. Like many other midwestern cities, Milwaukee is a good place to live and raise a family. City services work pretty well, the libraries are first-rate, my kids go to quality public schools, and the population is just large enough to enjoy big-city culture, such as an excellent symphony and art museum. The people living here are a fairly friendly bunch. But . . . they're fat.
I don't mean a little bit fat. I mean really, really fat. I mean panting- and-sweating-after-one-flight-of-stairs fat. I mean 240-pound 18-year-old women, SUVs tipped sharply to the driver's side, double-wide wheelchairs, hospital equipment unable to accommodate patients who tip the scales at 350 pounds or more. (Not only can't they fit into the CT scanner or other imaging device, you wouldn't be able to see anything even if they could. It's like trying to determine whether the image in the murky ocean water is a flounder or a shark.)
Once upon a time, an individual weighing 250 pounds or more was a rarity; today it's a common sight among the men and women walking the mall, as humdrum as selling jeans at the Gap. Retired people are overweight or obese, as are middle-aged adults, young adults, teenagers, even children. White-collar workers are fat, blue-collar workers are fat. The sedentary are fat and so are athletes. White people are fat, black people are fat, Hispanics are fat, Asians are fat. Carnivores are fat, vegetarians are fat. Americans are plagued by obesity on a scale never before seen in the human experience. No demographic has escaped the weight gain crisis.
Ask the USDA or the Surgeon General's office and they will tell you that Americans are fat because they drink too many soft drinks, eat too many potato chips, drink too much beer, and don't exercise enough. And those things may indeed be true. But that's hardly the whole story.
Many overweight people, in fact, are quite health conscious. Ask anyone tipping the scales over 250 pounds: What do you think happened to allow such incredible weight gain? You may be surprised at how many do not say "I drink Big Gulps, eat Pop Tarts, and watch TV all day." Most will say something like "I don't get it. I exercise five days a week. I've cut my fat and increased my healthy whole grains. Yet I can't seem to stop gaining weight!"
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
The national trend to reduce fat and cholesterol intake and increase carbohydrate calories has created a peculiar situation in which products made from wheat have not just increased their presence in our diets; they have come to dominate our diets. For most Americans, every single meal and snack contains foods made with wheat flour. It might be the main course, it might be the side dish, it might be the dessert--and it's probably all of them.
Wheat has become the national icon of health: "Eat more healthy whole grains," we're told, and the food industry happily jumped on board, creating "heart healthy" versions of all our favorite wheat products chock- full of whole grains.
The sad truth is that the proliferation of wheat products in the American diet parallels the expansion of our waists. Advice to cut fat and cholesterol intake and replace the calories with whole grains that was issued by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute through its National Cholesterol Education Program in 1985 coincides precisely with the start of a sharp upward climb in body weight for men and women. Ironically, 1985 also marks the year when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began tracking body weight statistics, tidily documenting the explosion in obesity and diabetes that began that very year.
Of all the grains in the human diet, why only pick on wheat? Because wheat, by a considerable margin, is the dominant source of gluten protein in the human diet. Unless they're Euell Gibbons, most people don't eat much rye, barley, spelt, triticale, bulgur, kamut, or other less common gluten sources; wheat consumption overshadows consumption of other gluten- containing grains by more than a hundred to one. Wheat also has unique attributes those other grains do not, attributes that make it especially destructive to our health, which I will cover in later chapters. But I focus on wheat because, in the vast majority of American diets, gluten exposure can be used interchangeably with wheat exposure. For that reason, I often use wheat to signify all gluten-containing grains.
The health impact of Triticum aestivum, common bread wheat, and its genetic brethren ranges far and wide, with curious effects from mouth to anus, brain to pancreas, Appalachian housewife to Wall Street arbitrageur.
If it sounds crazy, bear with me. I make these claims with a clear, wheat- free conscience.
NUTRI-GROAN
Like most children of my generation, born in the middle of the twentieth century and reared on Wonder Bread and Devil Dogs, I have a long and close personal relationship with wheat. My sisters and I were veritable connoisseurs of breakfast cereal, making our own individual blends of Trix, Lucky Charms, and Froot Loops and eagerly drinking the sweet, pastel-hued milk that remained at the bottom of the bowl. The Great American Processed Food Experience didn't end at breakfast, of course. For school lunch my mom usually packed peanut butter or bologna sandwiches, the prelude to cellophane-wrapped Ho Hos and Scooter Pies. Sometimes she would throw in a few Oreos or Vienna Fingers, too. For supper, we loved the TV dinners that came packaged in their own foil plates, allowing us to consume our battered chicken, corn muffin, and apple brown betty while watching Get Smart.
My first year of college, armed with an all-you-can-eat dining room ticket, I gorged on waffles and pancakes for breakfast, fettuccine Alfredo for lunch, pasta with Italian bread for dinner. Poppy seed muffin or angel food cake for dessert? You bet! Not only did I gain a hefty spare tire around the middle at age nineteen, I felt exhausted all the time. For the next twenty years, I battled this effect, drinking gallons of coffee, struggling to shake off the pervasive stupor that persisted no matter how many hours I slept each night.
Yet none of this really registered until I caught sight of a photo my wife snapped of me while on vacation with our kids, then ages ten, eight, and four, on Marco Island, Florida. It was 1999.
In the picture, I was fast asleep on the sand, my flabby abdomen splayed to either side, my second chin resting on my crossed flabby arms.
That's when it really hit me: I didn't just have a few extra pounds to lose, I had a good thirty pounds of accumulated weight around my middle. What must my patients be thinking when I counseled them on diet? I was no better than the doctors of the sixties puffing on Marlboros while advising their patients to live healthier lives.
Why did I have those extra pounds under my belt? After all, I jogged three to five miles every day, ate a sensible, balanced diet that didn't include excessive quantities of meats or fats, avoided junk foods and snacks, and instead concentrated on getting plenty of healthy whole grains. What was going on here?
Product details
- Publisher : Rodale Books; Reprint edition (June 3, 2014)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1609614798
- ISBN-13 : 978-1609614799
- Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.74 x 8.99 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #80,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #32 in Gluten-free Diet
- #494 in Weight Loss Diets (Books)
- #763 in Other Diet Books
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Dr. Davis provides solutions to health problems by addressing the microbiome, massively disrupted in modern people. He shows readers in his Super Gut book, for instance, how to restore important lost microbes lost such as Lactobacillus reuteri, restored by using a unique method of yogurt fermentation that smooths skin and reduces wrinkles, restores youthful muscle and strength, deepens sleep, reduces appetite and provides many other youth-preserving and anti-aging effects. In Super Gut and in his website, www.DrDavisInfiniteHealth.com, he provides additional do-it-yourself-at-home strategies for benefits such as improved mood, improved athletic performance, better sleep, heightened immunity, and improved body composition.
Dr. William Davis is also responsible for exposing the incredible nutritional blunder made by "official" health agencies: Eat more "healthy whole grains." The wheat of today is different from the wheat of 1960, thanks to extensive genetics manipulations introduced to increase yield-per-acre. Eliminating wheat yields results beyond everyone's expectations: substantial weight loss, correction of cholesterol abnormalities, relief from inflammatory diseases like arthritis, better mood, reduced blood sugar with many type 2 diabetics being freed of insulin and other drugs, all articulated through his Wheat Belly series of books. He is also a champion of individual self-directed health, as discussed in his Undoctored book.
Dr. Davis lives what he preaches, not having indulged in a wheat-containing bagel, ciabatta, or pretzel in many years, while consuming various fermentation products that yield unexpected health benefits. Dr. Davis lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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I actually GAINED weight and started to feel horrible- tired, fuzzy-headed and unable to think clearly, and stomach problems. I had no idea what was wrong, and after 3 blood tests, neither did my doctor. So I started reading- all kinds of nutrition and health books. Nothing made any sense till this popped up as a recommendation on Amazon- thanks no doubt, to the search engine that remembers what you've been looking at. When I read the reviews for this book, I KNEW what the problem was. I had more than doubled my intake of wheat! (I have never liked bread much and rarely order sandwiches when eating out. So I bought it and read it. It was intriguing, horrifying, and it made entirely too much sense. Now this book IS technical, but for the first time in my life I feel like I understand how food affects my health and my weight. I decided to try it.
Update- in the first month I lost 9 lbs. That doesn't sound like alot, except that I wasn't really very heavy to begin with. I am five feet tall, generally considered slim even at my heaviest, and my goal was 16 lbs which is two dress sizes. I lost 3 more pounds in the next 2 weeks, and 3 more in the next month. My husband says I look hot, and my parents were slack-jawed at my transformation. Here are the pros and cons of this diet:
Pros- I count NOTHING- not carbs, not fat grams, not calories. I eat all I want of the unlimited foods, some of the limited foods, and avoid the forbidden foods. It's easy and it sure beats calorie counting. I am never hungry. I feel great- I have tons more energy- even when I didn't get enough sleep for whatever reason. I don't crave carbs or sugar anymore- I eat out quite a lot, have gone to parties, baked cookies with my kids and had little urge to cheat. I have even reduced my caffeine- I just don't need an after lunch pick-me-up anymore. And I finally know what food is right for my body- because I feel it on this diet. I can eat chocolate, bacon, and butter, and drink wine with no guilt. My IBS and allergies are 90% better. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to wake up with a clear head and no sinus headache every morning. The difference in my allergies is so marked that my eye doctor asked if I had changed allergy meds because my eyes were not red and irritated as usual. He couldn't believe it when I told him it was a result of giving up wheat.
Cons- The food on this diet is expensive. Sugar and wheat are cheap filler foods and when you stop buying them you will feel it at the checkout. You will have to change the way you cook- and you will nearly have to cook if you aren't already. It's hard to wrap your head around the concept of this diet- its hard to believe that fat is better for you than fat-free products (which are generally loaded with sugar and wheat) but I know its true because I feel so much better. I thought I would fit back into my old clothes but I lost so much weight, I have to buy new clothes because all of my old ones are now too baggy. Is it worth it- YES!!
***Final update- its been more than two years now. It took me only 3 months to lose 17 lbs- a pound more than my goal of 16, and 14% of my body weight. I am now a pound lighter than I was when I graduated college- nineteen years ago! I am not planning on quitting my diet- ever. This is just how I eat now. I feel healthy, energetic, and younger than I did two years ago. I am getting a better feel for what I can and can't eat. Rice and steel cut oatmeal is okay for me, and a few corn chips or tacos now and again don't bother me either. Fruit is fine except bananas, which make my stomach hurt. I haven't gained back a single pound- and I threw all the "fat" clothes away. I have never felt this good- I am never going back to eating wheat.
Tips- you will want to buy a glycemic index counter to go with this, so that if you are going to cheat you can do it wisely. I have an occasional fun sized snickers bar or Reeses Peanut butter cup and maintain my weight easily. Nobody can be good all of the time!! Before you run out and buy bunches of snacks- I have a cabinet full of diet-safe snacks that I haven't eaten because I'm not hungry between meals anymore. Save your money and buy them as you need them.
While Dr. Davis concentrated on just eliminating GMO Wheat because is is such a big contributor to many health problems (I have no doubt in this regard), I made a major decision to eliminate 100% of all processed carbohydrates, and their derivative components used in so many other food products. Also I eliminate all processed sugars and sweeteners. I read labels carefully, if their are any trace of wheat, its components, sugar, I don't buy it. That is a lot of food I won't touch ever again.
I have now dropped 47 pounds in 90 days. and lost 6 inches around my middle, and the pain in my knees is much less. My blood pressure before starting on this life change in eating was 168 over 95. After 30 days it was 124 over 80. That's a 40 point drop. Amazing. Yeah, I was way overweight. I take zero prescription meds. I am only 18 pounds from my final goal of 190. I was 255. I am 79 year old, and feel great.
All I have done is totally eliminate (100%) all wheat and other common gluten producing grains, and all the products it gets put into... also other high starch items like white rice and potatoes. I cleaned out my shelves of all the high carbohydrate processed products ... macaroni, spaghetti, plus everything with high fructose corn syrup and sugars ... ketchup, sauces, gravies, all breads, crackers, bagels, sandwiches ... so I am down to very low wheat and grain carbohydrate intake. I feel great ... I have no craving for bread, pasta in any form. There is zero nutrition in sugars and sweeteners. I also eliminated all dairy. I have found Chia, flax, quinoa, sesame seeds, and a variety of nuts, and lots of avocado's. Live foods (fruits, green leafy vegetables, etc)... some fish and organic chicken, maybe a filet once in a while. less meat more vegetable, nuts, high omega 3 products like Krill Oil... protein powder from yellow peas,and hemp seeds. Smoothies are a wonderful way to provide excellent nutritional combination using almond or coconut milk and papaya or cherry juices, berries, and bananas.
I don't consider this a diet ... it is a new way for me, of eating to obtain a much more healthy body. I am exhilarated and freed from all the bad hype on low fat, counting calories, cholesterol bally-hoo, etc.
This book by Dr. Davis is a god-send and a wake-up call to everyone. Get the real story about how our bodies operate.
Read and understand the real message of this fabulous book. We have been grossly mislead by today's nutritionists, medical community and news media. They all hype the marketing methods of the food industry that is making millions of dollars at the expense of the health and well-being of all of us. Read this book, change your misleading ideas of so-called healthy eating of processed and packaged foods (focusing on low fats and cholesterol) ... Yes, I realize that as individuals we react differently to various foods, etc. Watch how your body reacts. It never lies.
Eat real food loaded with all the essentials ... fresh, not processed. Natural, not enhanced. Lots of herbs and spices. I turned to Plant based eating ... Berries, nuts, fruits (not high is sweetness) ... some fish and some chicken ... not much red meat ... no dairy, no soy, Sound tough to do ... not when my health is at stake. My vitals are excellent ... all well within optimal ranges.
Yes, I am really sold on the tenants that Dr. Davis offers. They are sound, and I am an example of how quickly the turn around of stubborn weight loss can be. It works, I no longer crave anything with food industry processed contents. Since I don't crave, I don't stuff myself anymore. Buy the book, it will improve the quality of your life if you will follow the guidelines presented. Variety is also important. Drink lots of water ... lemon or Apple cider vinegar is also helpful (needed to help detox the gut).
I am continuing to learn and investigate other complementary health contributions by other medical scientists ... i.e. Dr. Alejandro Junger re: "Clean Gut" and his detox program. Read more on Leaky Gut syndrome, etc. Insightful and important.
I am learning that flax and almond flour can be used for many bread like items. But, no wheat, barley, rye, ever again. Corn is also GMO. I don't do potatoes, but brown rice is fine for me. FWIW
Top reviews from other countries
I like that the author backs up every fact with the corresponding scientific study. He clearly has done a lot of research on this subject.
I even bought a copy for my mom and recommend it every time I get a chance, provided I find people who are actually open-minded enough to listen.
I can only recommend that you read this book. Your body will thank you, as mine is already doing.
What is stated I tried it out and it actually works. I became healthier and looks young!
a lire avec Zapped de Gittleman, et Jack Kruse l'epi paleo diet et le blog de Kruse qui recommande ce bouquin
I've read most of the popular diet books written over the last 40 years. Some were very good and others led me in the wrong direction, such as the low fat books of the 80's that helped trigger the obesity and diabetes epidemic we see today. Wheat Belly, written in a very easy to understand manner and sprinkled with humour throughout, takes the position that wheat is chiefly responsible for these and other maladies. I had no idea that wheat, modified from what it was 50 years ago, is not completely broken down by the body and that the peptides produced actually cross the blood brain barrier like an opiate drug would, causing addiction and false food cravings. At first I found it difficult to accept. Then I tried it and lost 50 pounds in 6 months, without counting calories, by adopting a Mediterranean style of diet without the wheat. My cravings disappeared and so did the brain fog. Within 2 or 3 weeks my diabetes numbers were vastly improved and are now in the normal range. I found through taking my glucose readings after meals in isolated trials that bread or cereal, whether it is whole grain or not, spikes my blood sugar readings like nothing else, not even a candy bar. It isn't just the gluten, but the wheat itself. Why diabetics are told by their nutritionists to eat more "healthy whole grains" is a mystery to me. It seems to only aggravate the condition. The book cautions about falling for the allure of gluten free products that are just made of junk carbohydrates like potato starch and do just as much damage as wheat. Dr. Davis states that there is no such thing as "healthy whole grains" and based on my own experiences, I believe he is right. The proof is in the pudding. I'm down 50 pounds, off high blood pressure medication and control my diabetes without the use of drugs. Real food minus the wheat and getting some regular exercise form my prescription for good health. My doctor is in total agreement.
This is easily the best book I have ever read on nutrition. It helped me identify and correct a lifelong problem. If you need to lose weight and especially if you have diabetes, I strongly recommend this book and the book that follows it, Wheat Belly Total Health.