Book review: Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis, MD
Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season! It’s hard to believe it has been over 6 months since my last blog post. Where does the time go?! Well I suppose it’s good that I’m not inundating people with too many emails, right?
Since it’s New Year’s resolution time, I wanted to take this opportunity to share some information about a book I recently read, called Wheat Belly, by Dr. William Davis, MD. It has garnered quite a bit of press lately, and since it’s the time of year that people tend to refocus on healthy dietary habits, it’s a perfect time to talk about it!
Basically, Dr. Davis, who is a cardiologist, believes that modern hybridized wheat and gluten-containing grains are responsible for (or at least contributing to) a wide range of health issues, far beyond just celiac disease. In fact, he labels wheat as a poison that can cause all sorts of woes, and not just digestive ones. He believes the modern dietary advice of “eat more healthy whole grains” is a complete sham. Modern hybridized wheat is not the amber waves of grain that we envision from centuries past. It is more like something from science fiction and Frankenstein, unable to survive without extensive human intervention. Here are some interesting facts about wheat that he mentions:
- it is an appetite stimulant, literally making you more hungry as you eat it
- it operates on a similar neurochemical pathway as opiates like morphine and heroine, creating strong cravings and withdrawal symptoms when you stop eating it
- it causes visceral fat accumulation, especially in the belly area
Yes it’s true, those delicious gluten-containing foods like bread, pasta, crackers, cookies, pizza, etc. are really not good for us. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s white Wonder Bread, or a fancy organic, fresh-baked whole wheat loaf of bread. It’s all wheat. It has been linked to a long list of diseases, including:
- diabetes
- heart disease
- ADD and ADHD
- high LDL cholesterol (especially the small LDL)
- peripheral neuropathy
- cerebellar ataxia
- hair loss
- loss of skin elasticity
- acne and skin rashes
Dr. Davis goes on to recommend that people eliminate wheat and gluten abruptly and completely. There will likely be a short period of discomfort and strong cravings, but that this is a necessary transition in the body from fat deposition to fat burning. The book has many recipes and further advice for planning a divorce from the daily wheat addiction. Davis also notes that heirloom varieties of wheat don’t seem to cause the same problems.
Overall the book was quite interesting and definitely worth a read. It will have you wanting to quit eating wheat every day! I won’t say that I’ll never have it again, because it’s just too delicious for that. But I’m not going to eat it everyday, and get caught in the cycle of addiction and craving for it that happens when you eat it everyday. While I personally have no overt adverse reactions to wheat and gluten, I do find that I’m just generally healthier and happier without it in my daily life.
I welcome your questions or comments! If you have been thinking of making some dietary changes, and aren’t quite sure where to start, give me a call and we can talk about it. Hope to see you soon!
