Wheat Belly?

The theories and scare mongering in the book are total bunk and have been disproven many times over. If you quit eating a lot of wheat products (carbs) and don't replace them with gluten free substitute products (which usually contain even more calories) then you may lose some weight just based on the fact you are eating fewer calories.

Cutting out wheat or gluten without having an allergy or celiac disease is pointless. This guy made a fortune selling his book which is about the only good thing he did.

I don't know about the book or what he has to say. I can tell that my joint pain in my knees was so bad I could barely make it through a 7 hour shift at work.. when I'd get home I'd have to put my legs up for several hours. I couldn't close my hands all the way. I had reflux. I decided to try a juice fast and I felt a MILLION times better. The joint pain in my knees was reduced so much that I was able to start walking after work.. my hands felt so great I was able to start crocheting again. So I added back regular wholesome foods into my diet and continued to juice to supplement.. The joint pain returned so I figured it must be something in my diet.. I blamed dairy. So i did an elimination diet and discovered that it WASN'T dairy making me feel so bad.. it was WHEAT! I was shocked and really disappointed.. oh how I loved wheat!

So, I've been wheat free since December. My joint pain is nearly gone. I no longer have any reflux. My T3, T4and TSH levels are now normal without any synthroid. Just to be clear, I am not celiac.. my problem was not in my gut.. it was in my whole body. Also, I've had traces of gluten in my diet as I don't avoid gluten in the same way a celiac must.. I simply avoid the obvious sources of wheat.. but I don't worry about cross contamination exposure to wheat or gluten... for example, I'll make wheat tortillas for my boyfriend and then make my corn tortillas in the same kitchen without washing my hands or cleaning my tortilla pan in between. If I was celiac, I couldn't do that. Heck, I don't even know if it's the GLUTEN in the wheat that's the problem for me.... It could be some other part of the wheat for all I know.. I mean I haven't had Rye or Barley either, I suppose I could try introducing them to see how I feel.. but they're just not things I normally eat anyway.

My advice would be, if you suspect that wheat may be a problem for you.... try doing an elimination diet to see if you feel better without it.

Glad to hear that. I also have knee problems. My knee is so bad that I cannot do any form of physical activity without extreme pain. I have been on every prescription drug you can think of and nothing has helped. I have been going to physiotherapy for over 3 years and have had 2 procedures done to my knee. If this helped your joint pain that is a large reason for me to try it. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

It took a few weeks to start noticing a difference in my joints.. my hands improved first followed by my knees. They're still not 100% but I'd say they're about 85% better than before. My reflux went away almost immediately. The thyroid levels took the longest to change.. that took 8 months before I was completely off the synthroid. I was lucky because my actual thyroid was in perfect condition... if it had been damaged, there's NOTHING that can fix it.

I got it from the library out of curiosity but didn't even finish it. I've been gluten free for over a year because I am intolerant to it and have a variety of issues when I eat it. I didn't lose a single pound when I went gluten free though. That's why it was hard to read and I didn't finish, because he was making claims that I knew from personal experience weren't true. I'm still gluten free and now I'm trying grain free to see if it helps me further because I have some health issues that I'm hoping to address but I don't expect going grain free to magically make the weight disappear.

I do not have an intolerance to wheat....but. I tried it for the weight loss - didn't work, may be my thyroid or some other issue is mucking up my weight loss.

But what I did notice was that my hip that hurt off and on for years, stopped hurting. The "bible bump" on my wrist went away. And my sinus headaches are WAY down. (I used to worry about buying too much sudaphed - that the cops would come and think I was a meth head.) After the initial brain fog went away, I no longer had the 3 pm shakes that only seemed to go away with crackers. If I miss a meal now, no big deal. Before I would get classic low blood sugar symptoms if I was late eating a meal.

If I eat a bunch of wheat now, like for a week if we go on vacation and are eating fast food and people are feeding us pizza every night, then I tend to feel much achier all around.

To me the whole concept makes sense. Grains are high calorie. When I was actively losing weight 10 years ago, severe limits on the amounts of grains I ate really helped the weight come off. I don't worry about missing certain vitamins - I eat lots of different types of food, I will get them. When I don't eat the grains I can have LOTS of other foods that are much more filling, lower calorie and better for me in the long run.

As far as feeling deprived...not really. This coming from a woman who made her own bread from wheat and grains I ground myself. I still (really!) eat about the same as I did before. Most of my meals in the past were a mixture of pasta, rice or whole grain dishes with lots of vegetables. Things like stir fry, curry and one pot meals. I still make the same things, only I don't add the pasta or rice, I just add more vegetables. I still eat spaghetti with my kids, only I slice and roast zucchini topped with cheese that I put my sauce on. I make quiche...but don't put in a crust. As I am trying to lose weight, I am trying not to eat sweet stuff. But that said, I have made a few things with coconut flour (pancakes) and other things that are very tasty. Just not really low calorie.

If you have a legitimate gluten intolerance, like Celiac Sprue, then yes, cut out gluten. If you're allergic to wheat, then stop eating it.

Otherwise, why cut out wheat? It's a good source of complex carbohydrates, B vitamins, etc (if you eat whole wheat … if you use refined wheat, then not so much unless it's "enriched"). There is no real evidence that wheat is bad for you in any way (with the exceptions I already mentioned). It's propaganda. 10 years ago it was corn. In another decade, the scaremongering industry will have moved on to some other food.

I was informed by a nutritionist and my doctor to stay away from enriched wheat. They told me that they are just full of chemicals that can be harmful. And to especially stay away from enriched white bread. Just thought I'd let you know.

Oh, believe me, I avoid white flour products as much as possible! Notice, the enriched is in quotation marks. My point was that the nutrients occur naturally in wheat, but are lost when you use refined (white) flour, so they shove them back in by "enriching" the flour.

I was on prescription medication for acid reflux too and it went away within a week or so of cutting out most gluten from the diet. Forgot about that. I have not taken the pills since.

Its been pretty well debunked (see http://noglutennoproblem.blogspot.com/2012/03/wheat-belly-busted.html; http://www.thebestgrains.com/the-truth-about-wheat-belly-and-fad-diets; and many others).

Unless you have a specific intolerance or allergy to wheat and gluten, are diabetic, or have some other disorder, there isn't a real reason to cut out wheat, gluten, or carbs.

If you are doing it for weight loss only, its best to instead follow a plan you know you can stick to forever.

One of your sources is a Wheat growers union of some kind. There is propaganda on every side, keep your eyes open.

My other source was a gluten free blog...both have the same opinion.

But it was a google search, I just grabbed the top two things. You are free to do your own research.

I have found out that I have an intolerance to wheat and gluten. I removed it from my diet last summer and within a week felt much better. I had more energy, wasn't bloated anymore and my joints didn't hurt. This did not cause me to lose all the weight I've lost but made it possible for me to move/exercise in order to lose the weight. I will still have the odd wheat product because it is not an allergy I have, but I can tell you that if I eat too much, I'm in rough shape for several days. It definately effects my body in a bad way. I don't believe you should use it as a weight loss tool, however. If you think you have an allergy or intolerance to it then by all means get tested. Note that if you remove it from your diet yourself for an extended period of time and then get tested, results may not be very accurate. Good luck on your journey.

There is another board called Wheat Belly - this is a copy of my post from there.

I have read the book.

I know, another fad - but I started this in mid-June….and I have to say the results have been wonderful for me.
I have lost 14lbs (yes I have also reduced other carbs and sugars as well - but that was much easier after I eliminated wheat).

Beyond the weight loss - even more important to me has been:

I am never Hungry!!! Snacking between meals does not occur to me anymore
90% reduction in chronic joint pain (wrists, elbows, knees and back) = Amazing!!!
100% reduction in acid reflex (I thought it was because I was drinking so much homemade wine - I’m still drinking the wine and the Acid Reflux is gone!)
100% better sleep, fall asleep faster-stay asleep
No more brain fog
Much more energy.
I can breath through my nose! I had horses growing up and always thought I was slightly allergic to either hay, grain dust or the horses themselves but I loved them more than dealing with not being able to breath through my nose. After horses were gone I just thought I had never learned to breath through my nose so that is why I still could/did not..... Now I breath through my nose and take deep breaths - all happened without my even noticing until one day Eureka I realized I was!

I have not completely eliminated wheat but I try to avoid any obvious sources and do read lables very carefully. I am not particuarly intolerant - I can have some wheat and not experience the severe digestive issues some people do.

However, I have noticed that when I do choose to or inadvertanly eat wheat these symptoms reappear almost immediately:
joint pain
increased cravings for more carbs
stuffy head

To each their own but reducing wheat has been good for me.

Its been pretty well debunked (see http://noglutennoproblem.blogspot.com/2012/03/wheat-belly-busted.html; http://www.thebestgrains.com/the-truth-about-wheat-belly-and-fad-diets; and many others).

Unless you have a specific intolerance or allergy to wheat and gluten, are diabetic, or have some other disorder, there isn't a real reason to cut out wheat, gluten, or carbs.

If you are doing it for weight loss only, its best to instead follow a plan you know you can stick to forever.

This.