Wheat Belly
by William Davis, M.D.
“Lose the wheat, lose the weight,” promises the author of Wheat Belly. He builds a case for eliminating wheat in all its forms from our diet – completely. Dr. Davis, practices “preventive cardiology” when he is not promoting his diet plan. His arguments are anti-establishment and anti-AMA (American Medical Association), and he is shouting his message anywhere and everywhere.
Wheat, he claims, has been genetically modified over the past 50 years or so to enhance productivity while keeping costs down. The wheat available today, he asserts, is not the same product our grandparents ate. Where once wheat provided nutrition with no adverse health effects, today’s wheat, he repeats, is a health hazard.
The author states emphatically that eliminating wheat from the diet will prevent, and in many cases cure, just about every health problem, from acne to cancer and schizophrenia to Alzheimer’s. The dieter can expect to lose 10 pounds per month and more simply by avoiding all wheat. He cites study after study to back his theories and provides his own theories, conclusions, and predictions where no studies are cited. Much of the information he spouts sounds like doubletalk, with use of medical and chemical language the average person would likely not understand or even be able to repeat. One chapter he titled “Who Needs Nair.” He does not explain that Nair is a hair removal product. In fact, he does not mention Nair again, only in the title. That chapter turns out to be about hair loss, and of course elimination of wheat will result in vigorous hair regrowth. Later, he talks about a “wheatectomy.” If wheat is not ingested, there is nothing to remove. I doubt he means liposuction, but what could that mean? Doubletalk. It does not make sense.
After progressing through most of the book, the author leads us to the real diet. Eliminating wheat apparently is only the beginning. He is advocating a paleo diet, a diet maintained by the hunters and gatherers in the stone age. In addition to eliminating wheat, he insists we also eliminate potatoes (including yams), rice, all pre-packaged and prepared foods, even bananas and mangos. His list is much longer.
I have eliminated wheat from my diet when I began reading this book eight days ago. I had no side effects, although side effects were to be expected, according to the author in elaborate detail. Tomorrow is my weekly weigh-in. I will update this blog entry with the results.
As I See It 