Wheat Belly Book Review

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A while back, I interviewed Dr. William Davis, MD, author of the New York Times bestselling book Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health. He’s a preventive cardiologist whose surprising approach to a heart-healthy diet allows him to not only help people prevent heart disease but potentially even reverse it. One of his biggest dietary recommendations is to remove wheat from the diet. 

You may be wondering… what about organic wheat? Is it any better for us than conventional wheat? After all, humans have been eating wheat for thousands of years. Isn’t the main problem the pesticides we now use in agriculture, not the actual wheat? While pesticides like glyphosate are certainly inflammatory and toxic, the wheat we now consume is very different from the wheat people consumed generations ago, including what they ate in biblical times

The wheat we have today isn’t even genetically the same, and that’s what Dr. Davis reveals in his book. Modern agriculture has changed the wheat we consume so much that it’s almost unrecognizable by the body. The modern wheat we eat is actually harmful, and as a result, the body reacts with inflammation and disease. It is not a “heart-healthy whole grain” at all.

About Dr. William Davis

While working with patients, cardiologist William Davis realized that wheat products were raising their blood sugar worse than Snickers bars. 

After recommending his patients avoid wheat to balance their blood sugar, he found they were able to lose 25 to 30 pounds over several months and experienced relief from several other health conditions, which we’ll discuss below. 

How Dr. Davis Learned Wheat Was Causing Health Problems

Dr. Davis learned just how bad wheat was when he asked patients in his cardiac practice to remove it from their diet. He did this because 80% of the people who came into his office were either diabetic or pre-diabetic, which doubles or triples the risk for heart disease. Since the glycemic index of whole wheat bread is among the highest of all foods, he decided to make bread a key food to remove from their diet. 

Did you know that eating two slices of whole wheat bread raises blood sugar higher than six teaspoons of sugar? 

He asked his cardiac patients to remove wheat from their diet and see how it affected their blood sugar. After 3-6 months, he found that their blood sugars and HbA1c (a measure of blood sugar over the last 60 days) were much lower. Amazingly, some people with diabetes were no longer diabetic. 

But that wasn’t all they reported. There are lots of other health benefits after removing wheat:

At first, Dr. Davis dismissed these improvements as just a coincidence. But the effects became so frequent and consistent that the conclusion became unavoidable: Wheat was the underlying cause of an incredible array of health problems and weight gain, and eliminating it from the diet was key to health.

It’s important to note that this was not just the result of gluten avoidance for the gluten-sensitive or those with Celiac disease. This was wheat avoidance for everybody. Gluten-sensitive or not, almost everyone who took wheat out of their diet experienced at least some measurable improvement in health, if not an outright transformation. 

Dr. Davis now recommends that everyone who wants to regain control over their health and lose weight completely avoid wheat.

The Wheat-Heart Health Connection

So, how exactly is wheat consumption linked to heart health? As it turns out, wheat consumption causes heart disease. It’s not cholesterol or saturated fat that’s behind the number one killer of Americans—it’s wheat.

When we eat wheat, its unique carbohydrate, amylopectin A, triggers the formation of small, dense LDL particles more than any other common food. These LDL particles are the number one cause of heart disease in the U.S. The majority of adults now have an abundance of small LDL particles because conventional dietary advice has been to cut their fat and “eat plenty of heart-healthy whole grains.” 

These excessive small LDL particles can appear on a conventional cholesterol panel as higher levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, along with low HDL cholesterol and higher triglycerides. Many doctors will prescribe statin drugs for this. An integrative cardiologist or a functional medicine doctor, on the other hand, can order a more sophisticated lipoprotein testing to drill down on the problem.

Another reason wheat is to blame is that it triggers an increase in small, dense LDL and the gliadin protein that increases appetite. This causes weight gain. Unfortunately, the weight gained usually happens in the abdomen, in the deep visceral fat that triggers inflammation, or what Dr. Davis calls a “wheat belly.” Wheat belly visceral fat is a hotbed of inflammation, sending out inflammatory signals into the bloodstream and resulting in higher blood sugar, blood pressure, and triglycerides, all adding up to an increased risk for heart disease.

When we say goodbye to wheat, the small LDL particles plummet, which allows for weight loss from the wheat belly visceral fat. Inflammation subsides, blood sugar stabilizes, and blood pressure goes down. Based on his research, the elimination of wheat is among the most powerful means of reducing the risk of heart disease.

Other Health Conditions Connected to Wheat Consumption

Over time, Dr. Davis noticed quite a few other conditions associated with wheat consumption. More conditions are linked to wheat consumption than aren’t linked. Here are just a few categories:

Gastrointestinal Conditions

Some gastrointestinal problems you might experience from wheat consumption are acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Those symptoms usually include:

  • Gas
  • Bloating
  • Cramps
  • Constipation
  • Diarrhea 

People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, also experience improvement and sometimes even complete relief from symptoms, including pain, diarrhea, and intestinal bleeding when they go wheat-free.

Brain and Nervous System Conditions

Wheat can affect our brain and nervous system in a variety of ways, including mood disruption, depression, behavioral outbursts in children with ADHD and autism, hallucinations in people with schizophrenia, and mania in people with bipolar disorder. Wheat can also directly damage the brain and nervous system and can cause conditions like cerebellar ataxia, the progressive loss of balance and bladder control, and peripheral neuropathy, the loss of feeling, usually in the feet and legs. 

A British research group found that 50% of unexplained peripheral neuropathy can be blamed on wheat. It can also cause gluten encephalopathy, also known as dementia from wheat. Only an autopsy can diagnose this condition after death. In 2020, the journal Nutrients published a systematic review of this condition

Joint Pain and Arthritic Conditions

Joint pain and swelling are often connected to wheat consumption. The most common form involves the wrists and fingers. Some people experience relief from back, hip, and knee pain when they eliminate wheat, especially if they also lose weight around their abdomen since this belly fat serves as a repository for inflammation. When we lose the wheat belly, the inflammation subsides.

Skin Conditions

Skin conditions also typically improve or disappear when wheat is eliminated. Common conditions like acne improve, as well as a long list (enough to fill four pages) of other skin conditions from granuloma annulare, to allergic dermatitis, to gangrene.

What You Should Know About Eating Wheat

One of the most crucial things to know about the wheat conversation is that the gliadin protein in wheat acts as an appetite stimulant. People who consume the gliadin protein in wheat consume 400 more calories per day on average. People who eliminate wheat (and therefore gliadin) consume 400 fewer calories per day, even if calories, fat grams, or portion sizes are unrestricted. 

Big Food has used this to their advantage. If you put wheat flour, and thereby gliadin, into every product you can, you increase appetite, increase consumption, and increase sales. It makes sense that this is why companies put wheat flour in processed foods, including tomato soup and licorice, when they don’t need to.

The gliadin protein in wheat has this effect because the body breaks it down into a group of compounds called exorphins, or exogenous morphine-like compounds. Opiate-blocking drugs can block these effects. Yes, the appetite-stimulating effect of wheat can be completely disabled by administering the same drugs that heroin addicts take to block their “high.” Wheat acts as an opiate drug on the brain.

Studies have demonstrated that when volunteers were administered opiate-blocking drugs, their desire for cake, cupcakes, and cookies greatly decreased. 

Scientific evidence confirms that as long as wheat remains a part of your diet, you will not have full control over your hunger and cravings since it causes calorie consumption to be higher, especially for carbohydrate foods. As a result, you start putting on weight, particularly around the middle. You might get a pair of “love handles” or a “muffin top,” if not a wheat belly. Unfortunately, wheat is a major cause of the obesity epidemic that is spreading worldwide. Eliminating wheat goes a long way to help you regain normal control over hunger.

Why Modern Wheat Is Harmful

Modern agriculture has changed the wheat we consume now from what our ancestors ate, like einkorn, spelt, and emmer. Einkorn is said to be the “great granddaddy” of all today’s wheat. It is genetically much simpler than our modern wheat, which farming practices have genetically altered over time. Einkorn wheat has 14 chromosomes, while modern wheat has 42. 

Einkorn is also a diploid, which means it has two sets of chromosomes, similar to many other plants. Modern wheat, on the other hand, has six sets of chromosomes, making it more complex and therefore more difficult to digest. Similarly, einkorn is lower in gluten, and the type of gluten it has is much less triggering to the immune system compared to our modern wheat. 

Einkorn is rich in inflammation-lowering nutrients, while modern agricultural practices have stripped wheat of much of its nutrition. There’s a reason for fortified flours on the grocery store shelves. Essentially, modern wheat retains all the negatives, like altered genetics, high levels of gluten, and low levels of nutrients, while missing out on all the positives of the genetically-recognizable, mineral-rich grains of the past. 

What to Eat: Should You Go Gluten-Free?

If a person decides to eliminate wheat, they often turn to gluten-free alternatives. But is that a good idea? First, Dr. Davis believes we should return to real, unprocessed foods as often as possible. That means eating vegetables, raw nuts, meats, fish, eggs (including the yolks), cheese, avocados, and healthy oils, like extra-virgin olive and coconut. He does not believe in counting or limiting calories, especially after eliminating the potent appetite stimulant, wheat. 

He also strongly urges people to avoid commercial gluten-free products while following a gluten-free diet. In place of wheat flour, these products, including gluten-free bagels and “whole grain” bread, are made using cornstarch, rice starch, tapioca starch, and potato starch. These powdered starches are among the few foods that increase blood sugar higher than whole wheat. That means these foods trigger weight gain in the abdomen (creating a “gluten-free belly”) and increase glucose, leading to insulin resistance and diabetes, cataracts, and arthritis. These are not healthy replacements for wheat.

The Bottom Line

The American public needs to be aware that agribusiness and Big Food companies know what they’re doing with wheat. They have learned how to use this Trojan horse, harboring its hidden gliadin protein that increases appetite.

Wheat is a weak opiate. When you eat wheat, you want more wheat, you want more carbohydrates. 

Even worse, we’re advised by our government agencies like the USDA and Health and Human Services that whole grains are good for us and we should eat more. When we eat more “healthy whole grains,” we eat more, we gain weight, we experience all the consequences of wheat consumption and weight gain such as hypertension, high cholesterol, arthritis, acid reflux, and diabetes. Big Food makes out, Big Pharma makes out… we pay the price.

They have blamed the epidemic of diabetes and obesity on us. They say Americans are overweight and diabetic because we are gluttons and we’re lazy. I don’t buy it. I believe the majority of Americans are fairly health-conscious and try to get at least some exercise. I do not believe we are that different from, say, the people of 1950 or 1960. I think they’ve duped us into blaming ourselves when all along a big part of the blame should be placed on this corrupt product of genetics research, propagated by agribusiness and put to profitable use.

Check Out Other Wheat Belly Resources

If you haven’t already, check out Dr. Davis’ book, Wheat Belly. I’ve found that it is a great resource, especially for friends and relatives who have trouble grasping how “heart-healthy whole grains” could be bad. Since his first book, he has gone on to write six more books on the topic, including:

Check out Dr. Davis’ Wheat Belly Blog here and his main website, Dr. Davis Infinite Health here.

Have you read Wheat Belly? Notice any health improvements after removing grains? Share below!

Sources

  1. Davis, W. (2011). Wheat Belly: Lose The Wheat, Lose The Weight, and Find Your Path Back To Health. Rodale.
  2. Jamal, G. A., & Carmichael, H. (1990). The effect of gamma-linolenic acid on human diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association, 7(4), 319–323.
  3. Rouvroye, M. D., et al. (2020). The Neuropathology of Gluten-Related Neurological Disorders: A Systematic Review. Nutrients, 12(3), 822.
  4. Kulak-Bejda, A., Bejda, G., & Waszkiewicz, N. (2020). Safety and efficacy of naltrexone for weight loss in adult patients – a systematic review. Archives of medical science : AMS, 17(4), 940–953.

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Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

88 responses to “Wheat Belly Book Review”

  1. james Avatar

    three years ago i was told porridge was good for you ,so i ate a large portion every morning up until a few months ago when i was diagnosed with diverticular desease . i have always been slim with a 34″ waste…now ime slim with a big belly , ime not a drinker nor am i a big eater yet my belly is still big……i think its the diverticula caused by the oats is my problem…..my doctor cant find anything wrong apart from the diverticula ….ive stopped the porridge and white bread……whats the answer to getting my waste back ..

  2. Elizabeth Taylor Avatar
    Elizabeth Taylor

    Been off wheat about 10 months in total, has made such a difference to my life!
    Diabetes is completely controlled without drugs, which is amazing diagnosed last September was controlled by drugs!
    Waiting for brain scan results, wrongly diagnosed with biopolar 2 1/2 years ago treated with medication and been very ill with side effects from the drugs!
    I am feeling good no longer have wheat in my diet, how it has improved one condition completely! Also asthma that has improve from acute too mild now!
    I am very pleased with my result and hope for more and more!

    1. DEAN Avatar

      I believe that wheat is probably a factor, but a think my mane issue is unhappiness and lack of sleep.I find myself trying to replace sleep with food.

  3. James Avatar

    Someone mentioned about belly fat, its all about calorie in and out, exercise. I don’t think so! I’ve got a belly and it’s getting bigger. I’m starting to believe it’s because of eating too much wheat, possibly carbs too. I’ve got 9% body fat, looks very slim expect for the belly. I believe this wheat belly thing is true why els would I have such a belly. I don’t east sugary snacks, mostly fruit. Nor process foods or drink beer.

    This gets better! I’m a ultra marathon elite runner. Running 60-80 miles a week. I very rarely eat enough calories for my active life, though I never feel out of energy. I don’t think about food and I don’t often feel hungry. I eat because I have to.

    Btw. Anyone wanna tell me what healthy breakfast cereals there is these days?? Google is telling me they are all bad!! hmmm

  4. Dana Avatar

    Why must people fuss? If you think it might help you, try it, see what happens. If you don’t, move on. Some of us have unfortunate food sensitivities, some of us don’t. I ate dairy my whole life and never noticed any issues. Then I began having major problems with it. Thats me and your you. We are not all the same.

  5. Cynthia Avatar

    Hi Katie,
    I love your website by the way and it convinced my boyfriend and I to be grain-free for a few months now! I don’t have intense migraines anymore 🙂

    I can’t help but notice how many skeptical people there are concerning the grains issue, including my friends, asking for research and links to back up your claims. I’ve seen you post the Cereal Sword multiple times in the comments to people who ask. I’ve always wondered why not just post your research at the end of your articles and beat them to it? I feel it’s worth the time going back to and finding all the sources you had when writing it and would definitely help convince more people (and decrease the number of times you get asked in the comments!).

    Hope this comment finds you well and you consider! Keep doing what you do 😀

  6. Betty Avatar

    For a month now, I have stopped eating wheat and within the last week have had heartburn daily. I never had it before. Is it related?

  7. Cheryl Avatar

    I am a newbie on the no wheat topic. I just saw a nutritionist specialist yesterday.. don’t know exact name of her field. I was proud that I eat wheat bread and raisin bran type cereal, etc. And with a kind smile she said Wheat?? you eat wheat? I said yes! she said.. no more! wheat is known to be cause of pain which I already have enough. That was the biggest eye opener I’ve had in years. I thought that eating wheat was best for our digestive parts?? so, as I said, she is working me up and it will take a little time to get my results which she will include vitamins, minerals, proper food intake according to blood type and she is also doing a hair sample test on me?? So, I am looking up different things and this article was very interesting.. thank you

  8. Shawn Ayers Avatar
    Shawn Ayers

    i stumbled across this after researching Wheat Belly for a college nutrition class and couldn’t believe what i read. I didn’t realize the effects of wheat that it did on the body. I read that Dr. Davis’ patients saw improvements in arthritis, improvements in asthmatic conditions, acid reflux, increased mental clarity, more stable moods and emotions, deeper sleep, the blood sugar levels,i eat a lot of candy bars the snickers reference has me thinking twice about candy bars and wheat. I can imagine the results his patients saw…makes me think twice about my food choices

  9. Tom Nicholson Avatar
    Tom Nicholson

    when I first became aware of this issue I had already been suffering joint pains all parts of my body for no explainable reason. I had had frequent bouts of stomach problems ( no prior history and I am 57) increasing problems with asthma (had it all my life) and recurring bad moods bordering on depression. I am an active, physically fit person (running, resistance training, skydiving) and highly aware of health issues.
    Since I dropped bread and pasta and started avoiding anything that might have wheat in it, my overall health has improved considerably. I dropped 5 pounds without trying ( was never overweight ) have a bit of minor pain in my hip still but the stiff hands and feet I used to wake up with (running and guitar playing) have all but disappeared and most noticeable – my head is MUCH clearer. I think wheat products had me in a fog.
    Be aware that wheat is BIG AGRICULTURE in the US. This type of knowledge is not going to be popular. Think what it would do the the breakfast cereal industry alone – much less bread, pasta, etc.

  10. Mitch Pasquin Avatar
    Mitch Pasquin

    Has wheat always been this much of a problem in our diets, or are GMOs mostly to blame?

  11. Wanda Avatar

    After 2 weeks wheat-free, I had had a headache for 24 hours
    a day for 11 days. There is some indirect suggestion on his site and
    in his talks that the constant headache is a ‘withdrawal symptom’, which
    is ridiculous for that long a time, but Dr. Davis does not address the issue.
    Now another seven days later I still have it. I don’t know what I have
    unbalanced by giving up only wheat. Is Dr Davis a real doctor?

    Others also have this happen. Many others in blogs and on Youtube. The
    phrase ‘wheat withdrawal headache’ has become a standard search phrase
    on Google and vitamin companies and OTC drug companies pay $1.25 per
    click every time someone types it in and clicks on their ad. So it has
    to be hundreds or thousands of people looking for info about the side
    effect of continual headache. If you have any idea what causes it or
    how to regain equilibrium, I am open to any suggestions. (except those
    from his groupies, who WILL attack this post)

    1. Amy Petty Avatar
      Amy Petty

      You haven’t unbalanced anything. It is precisely what you say it is: a withdrawal symptom. I’m one of his “groupies” here to point out that nobody attacked your post. You got ONE reply, and it wasn’t an attack. You’re just pissy that Dr. Davis didn’t personally reply to you.

      Don’t suppose it occurred to you that unfortunately, there may not much to do but bear with the pain? You COULD go back to eating wheat, but I wouldn’t recommend that anymore than I’d recommend a heroin junkie take a hit to relieve THAT withdrawal.

      Have you been to the doctor? DId you try any OTC pain meds or non-med pain relief options? Did you actually use Google to seek out other sufferers, to commiserate, or see how they’d found relief? Because I just did a google search for “coping with wheat withdrawal headache” and I’d think you would make better use of your time to GO TO THOSE SITES FOR HELP than to go to “wheat belly” forums to tell everyone how much money the search term earns for adclicks.

  12. Ricardo Avatar
    Ricardo

    What a great article.

    I’m going to tell you my story which is related with trying a wheat free diet. I was affected by a terrible candida albicans infection, reading how to treat this I found that I should try stop eating wheat, processed foods and sugar. Previously to this, I had done a blood test and everything was fine with my health, I worked out periodically, I did not drink any kind of alchohol, but after years of reading and knowing about nutrition and spending a lot of time in strength and conditioning programs, I couldn’t get rid of my belly and always people called me fat guy, because it was true.

    In february of this year(2013) I gave it a try to the ideas of dr. davis and the wheat belly, I haven’t bought the book, just reading reviews online, how the grain we eat today is not the same men ate in history, and all the possible bad effects by consuming it. In one month I have achieved more results than in years of diets and training, I have lost more than 10 lbs, my face looks different, and my relatives and friends are telling me than I am getting fit, all of them ask me what is he big secret? and I tell them: not eating wheat or all its derivates, and avoid processed sugars.

    Of course I eat a sandwitch once in a while, a piece of cake in a birthday celebration, but I have changed my lifestyle for good and am happy with it, thank you very much for sharing it and spread the message to all of us.

    Best Regards from El Salvador, Central America

  13. Kathy Dawson Avatar
    Kathy Dawson

    After having terrible peri-menopausal hot flashes for the past 4 years, my natural doctor asked me to try going gluten free for one month to see if it might help me. Not only did my hot flashes nearly disappear but I experienced numerous other benefits. I did not even realize before going GF that I had so many bodily aches and pains. These pains completely disappeared after going GF! I sleep so much better, have more energy and perhaps most amazingly, the nasal allergies which required have daily medication for the past 25 years of my life are also gone. I have always been a regular exerciser, working out aerobically and with strength training 4 to 5 days per week, and have had a pretty healthy diet, but I always struggled to lose about 15 lbs. that kept me slightly overweight. I’ve done nothing else to try to lose weight, and in fact, have probably been eating a lot more food since going GF, but all my clothes are too big for me now. (I don’t have a scale so I don’t know exactly how much weight I’ve lost but I’d guess at least 10 lbs.)

  14. Tanya Avatar

    I have ulcerative colitis and have been off wheat for over a year (I’m on largely a paleo diet). Although I feel better generally, it HAS NOT cured my disease or allowed me to go off my medication. It is irresponsible for anyone, let alone a cardiologist, to claim that eliminating wheat allows people with auto immune diseases to go off their medications. Dr. Davis is not a specialist in gastroenterology, rheumatology, or auto immune disorders.

  15. Gail Avatar

    I’m trying to decide whether to try a wheat-free diet. I can’t help but notice a lot of the people having success seem to be eating less junk (pizza, donuts, cake, burgers, etc) and eating more vegetables. I’ve heard that this is a repackaged low-carb diet, but I don’t know. I can’t help but wonder if wheat itself is the problem, or if stopping wheat forces people to stop eating things like pizza and burgers.

    1. Leah Avatar

      I guess you could really say that about any diet. We still eat burgers, just without buns & we eat meatza, which is essentially pizza toppings on a meat “crust”.

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