I recently finished reading a fascinating book by William Davis, MD called Wheat Belly (click on RESOURCES ) to find in my bookstore under Diet and Nutrition). In it, he outlines his carefully researched reasons that he advises his cardiac patients (he is a preventive cardiologist) to avoid wheat at all costs. His facts are compelling and I was shocked to discover that the results of the famous China Study, that encouraged us to eat a more plant-based vegetarian diet and avoid meat and saturated fat, was not properly interpreted! In other words, if you took wheat as a separate risk factor, it had the highest correlation to being overweight and having heart disease…NOT animal protein.
In fact, animal protein correlated even LESS than plant-based protein, with heart disease! Go figure!
OK, I’m back to eating meat (chuckle!). No seriously, I actually feel better and am slimmer and more energetic eating saturated fat and meat (only local meat, no antibiotics etc. whenever I’m home).
Dr. Davis shares in Wheat Belly that:
- Wheat is actually addictive. After digestion, a component of wheat actually attaches itself to narcotic receptors in your brain, and this effect can be blocked by using a drug called Naltrexone (what we use in heroin addicts to get them off their “high” quickly)
- Wheat causes inflammation in the body. Dr. Davis has thousands of cases of patients whose cholesterol levels dropped back to normal after taking wheat out of their diets. High cholesterol is a symptom of inflammation (and not a direct cause of heart disease). Thus dropping the inflammation, drops the cholesterol naturally…without drugs.
- Two slices of whole wheat bread raises your blood sugar more than two TABLESPOONS of table sugar! Yikes! Even I didn’t know this. The sugar spike is even worse than eating white bread (which I don’t recommend either because it is devoid of nutrients). So pre-diabetics and people with blood sugar-handling problems like me, will actually store the sugar very quickly as FAT through the efficient action of insulin from the pancreas. Eventually though, the pancreas can “poop” out from all that work and BAM! You get diabetes.
- His overweight, diabetic patients actually lose a ton of weight and become cured of their diabetes often when they cut out wheat and high glycemic carbohydrates out of their diets (corn, potato etc.)
My significant-other, James, was thoroughly addicted to wheat, and wasn’t convinced that wheat was bad for him until we went on a colon clease together. For eight days he didn’t eat wheat. To his shock and surprise, when he introduced it into his diet (thanks to his boss who bought the guys a bunch of freshly made donuts!) the joints in his hands swelled and his back was “killing him” the next day when he woke up. I also noticed in skating he wasn’t as strong and would get injured easily.
So do yourself a favor and try cutting wheat out of your diet. And you might even try going gluten-free (not by buying a bunch of gluten-free boxed food but eating more whole live food) if you have chronic pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, psoriasis, eczema, acne or asthma. All are linked with gluten-sensitivity. In case you don’t already know. Gluten is a protein component of wheat products.
James is doing well with gluten-free. When he gets pain, he then investigates why…and usually it is from a soup or something that he didn’t know had gluten in it. Now, when he buys freshly made food from a store, he’ll ask if it has wheat in it. Way to go James!
Happy Eating,
Dr. Karen Kan
{ 57 comments… read them below or add one }
Man, this sucks! I eat Ezekiel bread but even the stuff at the store has Gluten in it. There are days when I feel really weak on the ice. Maybe this is it! Thanks for the article Karen. Keep up the great work!
My pleasure Greg! I recently bought Organic Quinoia bread from Little Stream Bakery in Canada (they ship to the U.S.) http://www.littlestream.com. Maybe you can get your local health food store to carry it or something similar? It is dense, filling but very yummy! thanks for commenting.
Karen
Great stuff here, Doc! Got many of the same facts from (cardiologist) Steven Gundry’s book, Diet Evolution. Processed grains convert rapidly to sugar and tell our body that it’s summer and we should store that as fat for winter. Thanks for this article!
Hey my pleasure Bill! Thanks for posting a comment!
Karen
Ah, my dear James is not happy and in pain again! He just discovered one of his favorite natural ice creams (least processed that we found at the grocery store) had wheat in it! He figured it out ONLY after waking up in pain again. The good news is that he’s checking out labels now! Cool or what?
Dr. Karen
It’s interesting that the author of the wheat belly diet, seems to carrying a few extra pounds himself, i guess he’s addicted to wheat
Seriously, this book is yet another attempt to sell books by making shocking statements, without any real research, other than observations….
People today are more obese that before by the simple fact than they eat more calories and do less activity!
“wheat addiction” please!
Robert, guess you didn’t read the book., otherwise you wouldn’t have commented this way. Either that or you have never been schooled in science or research. And I doubt that you have written a book yourself (because if you’d have done the latter, you’d know for a fact that authors don’t make much money from a non-self-published book – it is just an expensive “business card”.) Nevertheless, in your case, eat as much wheat as you want. Nobody will stop you.
Dr. Karen
Mayb u shld try not eating wheat for 30 days n then mayb ur statement might hav sum merit. U sound angry that ppl r questioning the mindless wheat eating that takes place in practically every meal of everyday and is snuck into almost all prepackaged foods. I can’t believe it has taken this long to start to figure out why everybody is sick all around us.
Wonder of wonders! The Uhe Method (www.uhemethod.com) has helped James and I turn down our sensitivities to wheat and gluten! No more belly and back pain. Whoo hoow! Thanks Gretchen Uhe!
Thank you for this summary and sharing your personal input – easy to understand and follow.
Although there is lots of conflicting information already on the net, one should use their logic and common sense. This looks very logical to me and worth to try.
Also, not everyone is willing to share the info unless they gain from it.
All the best to you and James.
Weird. I eat 4 slices of whole wheat bread a day and I’ve never felt a craving for it.. I eat it out of necessity to meet a daily protein quota, and would never think to myself “hmm, damn, I need me some wheat bread!” if I stopped eating it altogether.
I just eat it for the extra protein and fiber, and I’ve never had back pains or swelling and I’m 130 lbs, 5’7. I guess it doesn’t affect me negatively? No obesity, no pains, no swelling. The bread I’ve got says it’s only got 3g of sugar, so I doubt there’s more than two tablespoons of sugar in it.. hmm
You’re very fortunate. Approximately one in three people are gluten sensitive, but sometimes the symptoms can be skin problems, forgetfulness, and even severe neurologic issues (gluten encephalopathy). Why would you eat bread for protein. It is a carbohydrate rich food. If you want more protein you should eat vegetable protein sources, eggs, meat or fish. Just ask any nutritionist or dietician and they’ll tell you bread is a relatively poor source of protein. Lastly, if you read the book, you’ll understand that bread does not contain two tablespoons of sugar. It CONVERTS to sugar quickly when you digest it and it increases your blood sugar as much as two tablespoons of sugar. In other words it has a high glycemic index. Just Google glycemic index of whole wheat bread and then glycemic index of table sugar. You’ll see the numbers. Hope that clarifies things for people.
Dr. Karen
Thanks for this great article Karen. My husband has the same issues as James. I will let him know and hopefully he will want to avoid it. As for me I will avoid whole wheat for a while and see what happens. You mention quinoia……….isnt that a grain ? Just a little confused into what is a good grain to eat.
Linda, thanks for commenting. Yes Quinoia is “safe” for people on gluten-free diets. Gluten appears in any wheat, barley and rye products. Rice has a bit, but usually is well tolerated. Believe it or not the Paleo Diet is the best diet to lose weight I find. No grains, No dairy I think. I bought the book but haven’t delved into it yet, but I heard about it because in Germany they opened their first Paleo restaurant! We need one here in Lake Placid!
Dr. Karen
Hi Karen, is Brown rice/ millet ok to eat,
I have a question!
If wheat is bad for you, and i want to eat a sandwich, what bread do I use??
Gluten-free bread or wraps (Sonoma). There are a ton of companies. You just have to type in Gluten-free bread in Google or go to the gluten-free isle in your local grocery store. Try each out and see what you like best. Most of my patients actually bake their own with gluten-free bread mixes. Yum.
Dr. Karen
i lost 7 lbs by eating healthy and exercising and then at 172 hit a wall and it stopped so i thought ok this is good 5/10 medium build but then 6 weeks ago i cut wheat out after i read how bad it is and wow my skin looks great my nails are looking great and growing not that i care about nails im just saying what i noticed but the best part i weighed in at 166.8 yesterday and wow thats my lowest healthy weight of my adult life . and i only workout cardio for 20 min mon thru fri and weights mon wed and fri its really great without wheat in my body ty for confirming everything cause nobody in my own family even believes its the wheat that is bad for us.
Tony, THANKS for sharing! This is going to help a lot of people believe it enough to try it. Congratulations on your amazing results!
Dr. Karen
Hi Karen, Are you saying that Ezekiel bread is not OK to eat? I am not gluten sensitive, but I understand about the conversion of wheat bread to sugars. So my morning eggs I would be better off eating them with vegetables and no Ezekiel bread? Or eggs and slow cooked oats?
I have had kale shakes for breakfast, maybe I should just switch to those full time.
Ezekiel has gluten, yes, but sprouted wheat is usually better tolerated overall. However, if you have Celiac Disease, then NO don’t eat it. I would muscle test a patient for tolerance in my office. Morning eggs with spinach would be good. Gluten=free oats slow cooked would be OK as well. Kale shakes? If no diarrhea with such greens, then GREAT! more power to you!
Dr. Karen
There are too many doctors, researchers and nutritionists in US and that is why there are too many unwise ideas. I am from India and North Indians almost exclusively survive on wheat. Wheat is the single best carbohydrate in the world for those people who live in places where physical activity is high, I mean whole wheat. Americans live a low activity life style and yes, most Americans do not need much wheat. I think these experts should try to work a field on veggies and meat, they will not be able to. Italians eat lots of Pasta and most of them are in very good shape. Gluten Free is just another FAD, eat organic grains, veggies, fruits, reduce or eliminate meat, be very active and most people will be just fine, but then doctors will be out of work and they do not want that, so good luck getting the correct information from them.
“North Indians almost exclusively survive on wheat”. “Survive” is not the same as “thrive”. Just because they eat it on a daily basis doesn’t mean it isn’t doing them harm.
With all due respect… being obese is not “thriving”.
Ash, you may want to have a look at this link.
Northern India is called the celiac belt. This does not even account for all those merely gluten intolerant.
http://icmr.nic.in/ijmr/2011/january/editorial2.pdf
Is rice Bread good? Iam 23 days no meats, dairy or sugar trying to find the right bread
Bread in general is not good because grains are pro-inflammatory. That said, if you can find a sprouted rice or quinoa bread, that is organic, that would be great! Eat sparingly. Even great bread can pack on the pounds! Enjoy!
Karen, someone shared a link to this article on my Quitting Sugar Facebook page. I thought you’d like to know that.
I’m reading Wheat Belly right now. Great book…and scary, right? I recently conducted an experiment to compare the results of my blood sugar after eating two slices of wheat bread versus drinking a 12-ounce can of Coke. The results were surprising. I’m working on a blog post about it. However, I’m a curious person, so I’m not finished exploring this topic.
Also, I’m soon conducting a 30-day challenge at work where interested employees will give up bread (including rolls, buns, and biscuits, etc.) and sugary beverages for 30 days. Also, they’ll exercise daily during the 30 days. It’s designed to be challenging but not impossible.
So how long have you been off wheat? Can you feel an obvious difference? Anyway, thanks for sharing the dangers of wheat with the world.
Cheers!
I’ve been off for about 2 years, but gluten free for only 1. Yes, I definitely feel a difference! My joints are more flexible and less achy for sure. Also my skin has improved. Thanks for your comment!
Dr. Karen
ok so if i cant eat 100% whole wheat bread
what can i eat????
what about brown rice???
are they any whole wheat bread that are good for you?
Do yourself a favor and skip the bread
You don’t need it and grains in general aren’t pro inflammatory. The occasional gluten-free bread is OK. I like the Quinoa bread from Little Stream Bakery in Canada. Best, Dr. Karen
You almost had me going there until you mentioned colon cleansing, one of the biggest quack procedures in the world!
Matt, I don’t think he mentions it in the book. I used to think it was really quackery too, but that was based on personal opinion not on any experience or research. Now that I have a good friend in the healthcare field that shared how doing this procedure literally saved her life years ago when she was in her twenties, and she is now a totally healthy 50 something, I was definitely intrigued. Then I met and interviewed a local gal who was trained and had a thriving practice in Colorado. Given who she is and the cases she’s had, I would have no reservation sending my appropriate patients to her for a “cleansing”. I wish we had one in town so I could try it!
Dr. Karen
It’s not the same thing but a home colon cleansing kit is great to have and can be very beneficial, you feel so clean afterwards and often don’t weight as much! These can be purchased in pharmacies or online.
I am going to try this. I do not eat fried foods, rarely snack ( chips, cookies ) eat a lot of grilled fish and chicken and veggies. I am at my highest weight of 193lbs. I used to compete in pageants where is one of them I was in the top 5 for swimsuit, was a competitive runner and was very active growing up. i am 40 with no kids. I used to work nights which caused me to eat very late. it was the norm for me to sit down and eat at 1 or 2 am in the morning because that was dinner time . Not so much anymore though. I noticed an extreme problem of constipation and I am currently working where my shift starts at 4am and have heard other people of having this issue. I still exercise a few times a week. I have changed over to wheat pasta in the late 5 years and beleive this may be it.
I just found out that my herbal coffee has barley (gluten) in it. Even those trace amounts seem to have caused some unwanted weight gain in me of late since I’m drinking it nightly! Although I don’t have full blown wheat pain symptoms anymore, thanks to doing the Uhe Method http://www.uhemethod.com, I still would rather not have a spare tire. LOL. Good luck to you and let us know what happens!
Dr. Karen
So basically this article is just saying that wheat is bad because of various allergic reasons. Which means that if you happen to not be allergic to wheat/gluten, then it should be healthy like all whole grains are. Right?
No, actually it means that most people cannot assimilate the gluten found in today’s organic or non-organic wheat because it has been hybridized over and over (genetically altered in a natural way) and you should avoid eating wheat if you have any health problems at all including excess weight. Our genes are not designed to digest wheat (today’s wheat).
Dr. Karen
I have 2 problems with this post. Number 1: “Wheat is actually addictive. After digestion, a component of wheat actually attaches itself to narcotic receptors in your brain.” It seems Dr. Davis speaks of this as fact for everybody. I’m pretty sure people that don’t have any problems breaking down gluten don’t have this problem (There’s nothing left to pass to the brain, correct?). Number 2: If a person actually exercises regularly after consuming whole wheat bread (given that they aren’t diabetic, have blood sugar problems, or are gluten sensitive) then I don’t think there really is much of an issue here. And on a side note, as I was reading through your responses, you talked about rice bread. Doesn’t brown rice contain high levels of arsenic in the United States?
Also, in your post when Dr. Davis says wheat causes inflammation, is that due to the gluten, or other various wheat allergies?
So is multi grain bread supposed to be better than whole wheat bread?
OMG…you people are off your rocker! Some of these posters sound like they’re 10yrs old! “is multi grain bread better then whole wheat?” Really? To all others who also posted who are purrrrrrrrrrrrfect and are contesting Dr. Karen, are YOU a doctor? Did YOU read the book? Why would you even read or comment on this article if you are not insulin resistant?? Go back to eating your wheat bread and a big cup of ….
This book is for people who have a gut and who have high cholesterol and every time they get their blood checked, it comes back worse after their doctors told them to stay away from fat and eat “heart healthy grains”. ALL GRAINS ARE BAD FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE INSULIN RESISTANT I DO NOT CARE WHAT PART OF THE WORLD YOU LIVE IN. It is not about “calories in and calories out” it is a genetic disposition. The same reason a skinny person can eat 5,000 calories a day and still not gain a pound or hold onto that pound if they tried to…because of their bodies genetic disposition! If you read Wheat Belly then you must Why We Get Fat. All you naysayers…go troll on another page.
Not eating bread is NOT EASY and anyone who says otherwise is a liar. But leaving the carbs behind does feel good, not bloated, not pigging out AFTER I have dinner, not binge eating because I don’t have those carb triggers. Bread is everywhere on everything. If you have a gut or have any internal issues…stop eating bread for 7 days and after the withdrawals…see how you feel and look. There are no carbs in cheese, if you’re like me and can’t get rid of all the food groups, cheese has helped me stay low carb.
Doc Karen…thank you!
It’s actually not the gluten that’s the issue for all of us w/out gluten intolerance. It’s gliadin we have to worry about:
::Davis said that the wheat we eat these days isn’t the wheat your grandma had: “It’s an 18-inch tall plant created by genetic research in the ’60s and ’70s,” he said on “CBS This Morning.” “This thing has many new features nobody told you about, such as there’s a new protein in this thing called gliadin. It’s not gluten. I’m not addressing people with gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. I’m talking about everybody else because everybody else is susceptible to the gliadin protein that is an opiate. This thing binds into the opiate receptors in your brain and in most people stimulates appetite, such that we consume 440 more calories per day, 365 days per year.”::
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57505149/modern-wheat-a-perfect-chronic-poison-doctor-says/
Read the article above. Get the book if you want. Just get the wheat out of your diet & see how much better you feel! If you don’t see/feel a difference, just go back to wheat and no harm, no foul. Right?
My husband and I felt the difference in just a week.
iI am new to all of this info about whole wheat being bad for a body and i am reading more about glutent. can you please tell me if wheat can cause constipation
Yes, it can. That is what happened to me!
I Want to thank you Dr Karen for the education that you are giving to me!! I Have learned so much from you on how to start taking better care of my 52 year old body. Now, if you could only motivate me to start to exercise I would be so much better off!! Thanks again and keep up the good work!!
Is there only one type of wheat they sell these days? I mean, what if wheat on this country is good? What if wheat on that country is bad.. And there were like thousands of research and studies already that wheat and grains are good. Its so confusing. Nothings safe anymore
I have found that it is much easier to keep yourself at your desired weight if you do not eat wheat products. It’s amazing to think how long we humans have considered wheat a dietary staple.
My rheumatologist pulled me off wheat due to me being in pain with my arthritis and me slowly gaining weight each time I saw her. She also cut potatoes, rice, all grains and all other carbs.
I eat all kinds of meat and vegetables, nuts and only fresh fruit that isn’t too sweet and still in very small quantities. I have lost eleven pounds since Thanksgiving and dropped four during the Christmas holiday, even when I was not being very strict with what I ate.
Due to my multiple autoimmune issues I am unable to exercise. Yes, that’s right – I have dropped weight without exercising AND without having a thyroid! Cut the carbs and you will be amazed how quickly the pounds fall off.
If you have arthritis, you have to go gluten-free to feel better. My generalized pain is almost non-existent now. I still have localized painful areas being handled by lots of medication.
When I cheat and eat something like a pasta salad, rice noodle Pho or gumbo, my digestive tract is not very happy and I start aching again. Next time I get rice noodle Pho I am going to tell them to half the rice noodle serving and add more bean sprouts.
Get away from wheat in all forms, especially whole wheat, which studies are now showing is not the good food they thought it was. I can’t stand whole wheat – I’m a sourdough fan – and I have less flare problems with sourdough.
Everyone’s body chemistry is different, but definitely get away from wheat, and if you can, start weaning yourself away from the rest. Yes, you will be grumpy the first week, but it will be worth it!
Onna, many thanks for your inspiring story!
Dr. Karen
please answer this question; are you saying not just wheat but also cornmeal (polenta) “porridge” oats, rice flour, buckwheat, barley flour to name a few are ALL BAD and should be eliminated from ones diet???
One third of the population is gluten sensitive according to research using more sensitive gluten intolerance testing (see The Gluten Connection by Shari Lieberman). Oats, buckwheat and barley flour contain gluten which may cause inflammation in people. Cornmeal is bad for you unless it is organic. Organic does not mean it is good for you either. It just means it won’t harm you. Watch In Search of the Perfect Human Diet (www.perfecthumandiet.us). I just interviewed the filmmaker. Basically before we began agriculture and eating grains, humans were taller, healthier and had no bone/teeth disease. Grains are NOT necessary for good nutrition. Meat and fat on the other hand (quality sources of course) are irreplaceable sources of nutrition for HUMANS. Dr. Karen
I understand what your saying about wheat being bad for you I just feel that i am running out of options on what to eat!! I have been trying to watch my calories and exercise and I am just confused…. What kind of bread can I eat?
It depends. You might be intolerant of any bread. There are lots of things to eat besides bread and cereals which are only very recent additions to the human diet. Watch the movie Perfect Human Diet http://www.perfecthumandiet.us and you’ll understand that we were taller and healthier before we added grains to our diet. Fermented/soaked grains made into REAL sourdough bread is the best if you’re not gluten intolerant. I believe Nourishing Traditions cookbook has recipes or you can search online. Dr Karen
I get fresh wholewheat bread for a bakery in Connecticut (ingredients are few, one being honey). I never buy wheat bread from the store. I never have a problem with it. But maybe it’s because I try to ONLY eat whole foods and never ever ate bread all day long with every meal.
Also, I don’t have packaged and boxed foods in my house. And I jice fruits/veggies for breakfast AND dinner. Maybe people feel bloated after wheat because they are eating a whole bunch of other stuff too. I’m still in the two digits (I’m short) and my belly is FLAT and I have a kid.
Maybe try whole wheat from a bakery, fresh. Does that make a difference? Because the ones in the stores tend to have so many ingredients on the back. I never believe the 100% whole wheat on the front of packaging.
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