Wheat Belly | my special interview with Author William Davis, MD

Dr. Davis reveals that his decision to stop eating wheat didn’t occur overnight. In fact, his personal experience in college, his startling blood sugar and triglyceride levels on a low-fat vegetarian diet, and his patients’ remarkable results all informed his decision to cut out wheat. Compared to other common, everyday foods, whole wheat products are high on the Glycemic Index (GI). In other words, wheat consumption significantly raises blood sugar. Unfortunately, repetitive high blood sugar is inflammatory. When Dr. Davis’ patients eliminated wheat from their diet, not only were they able to lower their blood sugar, he found that patients consistently reported weight loss. Even more impressive, conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, respiratory problems, inflammatory bowel disorders, mood disorders and food cravings drastically improved or were eliminated. These remarkable results led Dr. Davis to ask why. Click here to watch Part 1.

Dr. Davis discusses why Health Canada’s Food Guide is unnatural and explains to me why wheat is the perfect provoker of inflammation. He discusses the gliadin protein and how its breakdown produces increase intestinal permeability, leading to inflammatory and immune responses, even if you don't have Celiac Disease.¹ He also notes that wheat germ agglutinin² is a potent bowel toxin and reveals about how consuming wheat alters bowel flora, which can lead to gastrointestinal problems and yeast overgrowth. Click here to watch Part 2.

While he recognizes that we may want to whip up fun, whole food recipes of mock grain-containing comfort foods during the holidays or on special occasions, Dr. Davis certainly doesn’t believe that there is any room for commercial imitations. In this video, he explains the five ingredients (potato starch, tapioca starch, rice flour, oat flour and cornstarch) in pre-packaged, gluten-free foods that disrupt blood sugar and raise insulin beyond imaginable levels. Starch is a complex carbohydrate used by plants to store energy. It’s made of long chains of sugar molecules. Starchy foods such as oats, corn, potatoes, and wheat make up a large part of the Western diet, though all starch isn’t created equally. Whole beans and sweet potatoes are an excellent source of fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, while rice flour and tapioca starch have been stripped of any beneficial nutrient-rich and fibre-rich parts during processing and, thus, raise blood sugar more quickly. Click here to watch Part 3.

Beyond the issue of gluten, gliadin and agglutinin, the grains of grasses (wheat, spelt, oats, rye, etc) can spike your blood sugar. This compounds the effects of the grains and contributes to some of the leading diseases in the world today. Click here to watch Part 4, and for more information on the importance of keeping your blood sugar balanced, click here.

In this video, Dr. Davis gives a list of recommendations to heal your gut from the use of grain. A change in diet is the first step on the road to healing, and there are other supplements that we can use to repair and regenerate tissue. High-dose probiotics, Omega-3, Vitamin D... these are products that I use with my clients every day! Click here to watch Part 5.

Dr. Davis claims that "...if the grain discussion was about nothing else but auto-immunity, that alone would be a huge issue." Dr. Davis goes on to speak about the work of Dr. Alessio Fasano, a medical doctor and author of Gluten Freedom. Dr. Fasano is a world-renowned Celiac Disease expert and director of the Center for Celiac Research & Treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children. He explores topics from the myths being spread about Celiac Disease to the search for markers of gluten sensitivity, how research is zeroing in on the gut “microbiome” and the Center’s ground breaking work into Celiac Disease prevention. Click here to watch Part 6.

Dr. Davis speaks about the development of bowel permeability from consuming various grains and how that can lead to multiple food sensitives to otherwise healthy foods. Click here to watch Part 7.