WheatBelly – a 2nd Review

I’ve previously posted my own review of “Wheat Belly”
however, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, M.D., who I often quote,
has just posted his own well-thought-out review,
which I’m going to include in DietHobby.

Dr. Freedhoff’s review contains an amusing video he created, as well as several relevant links which I am also including here at DietHobby. If you are interested in seeing exactly WHAT a person CAN eat on the Wheat Belly diet, check out the list at the very bottom of this post.

Diet Book Review: Wheat Belly 
              by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, M.D. 
                                  posted 2/11/2013 at WeightyMatters

You know I've been blogging now for 8 years, and while diet books have come and gone, I've never had more requests to review one than I've had to review Wheat Belly. So last week, while I was on vacation, I hauled Wheat Belly with me.

Before my review, here's what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to reinvent the wheel and criticize the science or lack thereof. Not because there's nothing to explore, but rather because others have already done so, and they've done so well.

Here’s Melissa McEwen of Hunt, Gather, Love on some of Wheat Belly's many claims,
here's Professor Julie Jones' academic's take,
here's psychiatrist and blogger Dr. Emily Deans on Dr. Davis' claims regarding wheat and mental illness, and
here's my good friend Tim Caulfield and Dr. Davis debating Wheat Belly on CBC's Q.

What I'd like to discuss is the diet itself.

So is it really, "Lose the Wheat Lose the Weight" like the book jacket says? No. It's lose the wheat - and also most other carbs and a bunch of other foods - and lose the weight, because according to Dr. Davis, if you lose the wheat but replace the wheat with the "wrong" foods (bolding mine),

"you've achieved very little. And you may indeed become deficient in several important nutrients, as well as continue in the unique American shared experience of getting fat and becoming diabetic"

And here I thought wheat was the world's worst food. Seems odd that losing the wheat - a food which according to Davis is basically a highly toxic genetic abomination - regardless of what it's replaced with, would, "achieve very little".

Way down below is an extensive list of the foods allowed and disallowed by Dr. Davis' diet, but given that at the end of the day his admonition is to cut out not only wheat, but also pretty much every other source of carbohydrate, and to keep total carbs at between 50-100grams a day (and if you're diabetic, less than 30g a day), truly this is just Atkins minus cured meats, repackaged with a scary, theoretical narrative and a great book title.

Perhaps the strangest part of Wheat Belly's dietary recommendations are the book's included menu plans and recipes.

As with all of my diet book reviews I calculated the calories the first day provides. Based on the ranges of servings Dr. Davis suggests would be appropriate Day 1 would provide a minimum of 2,156 calories and a maximum of 2,996 calories.

Not exactly weight loss material.

So I decided to calculate the last day as well (maybe calories start high and go low?). I came up with a minimum of 3,518 calories and a maximum of 3,719 calories.

Here's hoping whoever picks up the book doesn't actually bother with Dr. Davis' menu and recipe suggestions as it would seem to me that doing so would certainly not lead to weight loss, but rather would likely lead to gain. That is, unless of course you decide to fast a whole bunch. That shouldn't be a problem because according to Dr. Davis wheat free people are never hungry and can fast, "nearly effortlessly" for, "18, 24, 36, 72 or more hours with little or no discomfort"!?

And please don't expect to enjoy going wheat free. According to Dr. Davis for some going wheat free,

"can be a distinctly unpleasant experience on par with a root canal or living with your in-laws for a month"

The kindest way for me to describe Wheat Belly is as the Atkins diet wrapped in one physician's broad sweeping, yet not particularly well backed up by evidence theory, that wheat's modern genetic modifications are responsible for the majority of society's ills. The harshest would be that Dr. Davis has eschewed his medical responsibility to ensure that the information he conveys to the public while wearing his MD hat is firmly supported by and grounded in science (or at the very least point out when a view is highly preliminary and theoretical), and instead, uses his MD platform to push his own personal theory onto a trusting, vulnerable, and desperate public, as nearly irrefutably factual and scientific.

To gain an appreciation as to the scope of Dr. Davis' concerns about wheat, while reading I compiled a list of those conditions that he reports are either caused by wheat's consumption, or cured by its dietary removal. I also compiled a list of more nebulous feel better claims and of the physical manifestations Dr. Davis reports a person quitting wheat might enjoy. The lists are down below but if reading's not your thing, I've created a short video highlighting a hypothetical visit to Dr. Davis' office which includes these same lists.

To sum up - I'm not at all opposed to low-carb diets, and agree with Dr. Davis that our society eats far too much in the way of highly processed carbohydrates, and that if we could simply cultivate love affairs with our kitchens our health would improve by leaps and bounds. No doubt for many people low carb diets do prove to be helpful in enabling both weight management and healthful lifestyles, and I'm not even remotely concerned about low-carb health risks as the medical evidence to date doesn't really suggest that there are any worth worrying about. So if low-carb's your thing, feel free to pick up Wheat Belly (just don't bother with the recipes), but please just skip straight through to the dietary recommendations. Or if you'd like to save a few dollars, just grab a used copy of Atkins and eschew the bacon.

And lastly, as always, I'll remind you - regardless of the impact of your diet on your weight and/or health, unless you actually like the life you're living (and the food and dietary style you're eating), you're not likely to keep living that way.

A Hypothetical Visit to Wheat Belly's Dr. Davis
by: WeightyMatters


[My favorite quote from Wheat Belly had to be this one, "Wheat of course, was my first thought". It was Dr. Davis describing an interaction with a patient with alopecia areata, and yet somehow I'm guessing, it describes Dr. Davis' first thought with pretty much any patient who walks into his office, perhaps even regardless of their presenting complaint.]

Dr. Davis' list of conditions caused by consuming, or treated by removing, wheat:
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Acid reflux
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Asthma
• Schizophrenia
• Autism
• Breast cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Colon cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Celiac disease (with Davis' modern wheat increasing its incidence)
• Type 1 diabetes
• Osteopenia and osteoporosis
• Osteoarthritis
• Cataracts
• Erectile dysfunction
• "Kidney disease"
• Dry eyes
• Alzheimers
• Atherosclerosis
• Hyperlipidemia
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• Non-alcoholic steatosis
• Heart disease
• Cerebellar ataxia
• Nystagm
• Myoclonus
• Chorea
• Peripheral neuropathy
• "Gluten Encephalopathy"
• Gluten Encephalopathy"
• Migraines
• Dementia
• Seizure disorders
• ADHD
• Acne
• Gangrene
• Skin ulceration
• Dermatitis herpetiformis
• Intestinal lymphoma
• Angular chelitis
• Glossitis
• Cutaneous vasculitis
• Acanthosis nigricans
• Erythema nodosum
• Psoriasis
• Vitiligo
• Behçet's diseases
• Dermatomyositis
• Icthyosiform dermatoses
• Pyoderma gangrenosum
• Alopecia areata
• Gynecomastia
• Leg edema
• Bipolar illness
• Dandruff

What Dr. Davis promises removing wheat will do for your general well being:
• Improve athletic performance
• Improve mood
• Reduce mood swings
• Improve concentration
• Improve sleep
• Increase energy
• Slow skin aging
• Improve coordination

What Dr. Davis reports will disappear with wheat's removal (his terminologies, not mine):
• Wheat bellies
• Food babies
• Michelin tires
• Love handles
• Wrinkles
• Man boobs
• Man cans
• Mental fog
• Pretzel brains
• Bagel bowels
• Biscuit faces
• Bagel faces

What other than wheat can't you eat on Dr. Davis' Wheat Belly diet?
• Cornstarch and cornmeal (tacos, tortillas, breakfast cereals, corn chips, corn bread, sauces and gravies thickened with cornstarch)
• Snack food (potato chips, rice cakes, popcorn)
• Dessert including cakes, cookies, ice cream, chips, dry roasted peanuts, fruit fillings, granola and granola bars, licorice, nut bars, pies, tortilla chips, trail mix)
• Rice (all types to less than 1/2 cup per day)
• Potatoes
• Legumes (all beans, chickpeas and lentils to less than 1/2 cup per day)
• Gluten-free food
• Fruit juices and soft drinks
• Dried fruits
• Bulger, kamut, barley, triticale, and rye
• Quinoa, sorghum, buckwheat, millet, oats, amaranth, teff, chia, etc to less than 1/2 cup a day
• Cured meats (sausages, bacon, hot dogs, salami, deli meats, etc.)
• Self basting turkey
• Canned meats
• Fruit (though you're allowed small amounts - 8-10 blueberries, 2 strawberries, a few wedges of apple or orange - but markedly limit bananas, pineapple, mango, and papaya)
• Dairy products (cottage cheese, yogurt, milk and butter to no more than 1 or 2 servings daily)
• Soy products
• Fried foods
• Sugary condiments or sweeteners including ketchup, malt vinegar, soy sauce and teriyaki sauce
• Beer
• Scotch
• Wine coolers
• Vodka
• Flavoured teas
• Blue cheese
• Hydrolyzed and textured vegetable protein
• Energy, protein and meal replacement bars
• Veggie burgers and mock meat products

What are you actually allowed to eat on Dr. Davis' Wheat Belly diet?
• Vegetables
• Cheese
• Oil
• Eggs
• Raw nuts
• Uncured Meats
• Non sugary condiments
• Ground flaxseed
• Avocado
• Olives
• Coconut
• Pickled vegetables
• Raw seeds
• Herbs and spices

                       www. weightymatters.ca/

 
I weigh daily, and I record and chart those weights on various computer graphs and tables which serves to clearly show my weight-loss or weight-gain trends. Sometimes this is difficult to continue because it involves facing a reality which I don't personally care for.

7 years ago, I reached my goal weight of 115 lbs. Since that time I've consistently and continuously worked very hard to maintain that weight. Over the past 5 years in maintenance, .... despite my best efforts of working toward weight-loss and/or maintenance every single day ... my weight has been very gradually creeping upward. At present my weight is bouncing around in the high 120s, frequently reaching  the very top of my "normal" BMI range.

Over this past 7 years of maintenance while recording all of my food and calories daily, I've varied the amounts I've eaten; I've varied the types of foods I've eaten: I've varied my eating times. In fact  I have experimented with just about every diet possible... both the "reasonable", and the  "unreasonable".  I've tried more exercise and less exercise and different exercise.  I've tried eating less calories and more calories, while keeping my overall calorie averages within reasonably acceptable ranges for my own personal BMR. 

During each of the past 5 years, my daily calorie average has been around 1050, which ... quite frankly ... is just about the lowest average that I can maintain.  Over long time periods, sometimes my weekly averages are around 1200, sometimes they are around 800.  My weight bounces around - usually within a 5 lb range - but the yearly trend has continued to creep upward.

I really hate seeing this. Sometimes I'd like to just give up watching the scale, but my lifetime of experience has taught me what happens with me when I choose to follow that tactic.  So ... I'm working to emotionally Accept what is happening with my body, while -- at the same time -- I continue to do my utmost to physically Change it, and redirect the scale downward.

Sometimes it feels like I am being drug along to a place against my will, while I'm resisting with all my might, struggling, and clutching and clawing to any object that will slow or stop that progress. It's hard, and it's not a good feeling. Again and again I've watched as others about me -- also involved in a similar struggle, -- let go and ride passively into weight-gain oblivion, or give up and embrace behaviors that cause rapid weight-gain, and I feel alone and abandoned.

Some of the people who read my articles indicate that they dislike seeing "negativity".  My response is simply that I write about the Reality that I see and that I know.  DietHobby is primarily to help ME, although I'm pleased to share my thoughts with anyone who finds them useful or interesting.

What will happen to me?  Will my weight continue to creep upward?  Will it settle here? Will it go back down?  I don't know. I'm fighting tooth and claw against obesity, and my plan is to continue doing so.  The reason Why I do want to be a "normal" weight isn't even important to me anymore.  This process is simply a lifetime behavior commitment that I am choosing to follow through with.  

Right now, Today, I'm working to feel grateful for being inside my "normal" BMI range .. even though it is at the very Top instead of in the Middle. I'm working to Appreciate what I HAVE, before it becomes what I HAD.

My own resistance involves far more struggling than shown in the video below.

This is how it works

You're young until you're not

You love until you don't

You try until you can't

You laugh until you cry

You cry until you laugh

And everyone must breathe

Until their dying breath

We live in a world of Unrealistic Expectations.

Like I keep saying:

Being Fat is Hard
Losing Weight is Hard
Maintaining Weight is Hard
Choose your Hard.

Fat Is Officially Incurable (According to Science)
              By: David Wong

Let's get this straight: The number of people who go from fat to thin, and stay there, statistically rounds down to zero.

Every study says so. No study says otherwise. None.

Oh, you can lose a ton of weight. You'll gain it back.
Here's one study running the numbers.
Here's a much larger analysis of every long-term weight loss study they could find. 
They all find the exact same thing: You can lose and keep off some minor amount, 10 or 15 pounds, for the rest of your life -- it's hard, but it can be done. Rarer cases may keep off a little more. But no one goes from actually fat to actually thin and stays thin permanently.

And when I say "no one," I mean those cases are so obscenely rare that they don't even appear on the chart. They can't even find enough such people to include in the studies. It's like trying to study people who have survived falling out of planes. Being fat is effectively incurable, every study shows it, and no one will admit it.

So the guy or girl you see in the "Before" and "After" photos in weight loss commercials, who completely changed body type with diet and exercise? You know, like Jared from Subway, who lost 230 pounds? Either they're about to be fat again in a couple of years, or they're a medical freak occurrence, like the sick guy who was told he had six months to live but miraculously survives 20 years. That guy exists, we all know famous examples. But it's a rare, freak situation, living in defiance of all of the physical processes at work.

How rare? Well, this person did the math and as far as they could tell, two out of 1,000 Weight Watchers customers actually maintain large weight losses permanently. Two out of a thousand. That means if you are fat, you are 25 times more likely to survive getting shot in the head than to stop being fat.  

Meanwhile, here's an article where scientists marvel at the amazing success of Weight Watchers, because a study of their most successful customers showed they permanently lost 5 percent of their weight. Wow! You come in at 300 pounds, you stay at 285!   Next stop, thong store!
 
So please remember this the next time the subject comes up at the office or on some message board and you get bombarded by thin 20-year-olds insisting the obese need to just "cut out the junk food" or "take care of themselves" or "do some exercise." The body physically won't allow that for a formerly fat person.

"Well, just stop eating so much!" Sure, kid. To feel what it's like, try this:

Go, say, just 72 hours without eating anything. See how long it is until the starvation mechanism kicks in and the brain starts hammering you with food urges with such machine gun frequency that it is basically impossible to resist. That's what life is like for a formerly fat person all the time. Their starvation switch is permanently on. And they're not going 72 hours, they're trying to go the rest of their lives. It's like being an addict where the withdrawal symptoms last for decades. Here’s a breakdown of the science in plain English.

As that article explains, the person who is at 175 pounds after a huge weight loss now has a completely different physical makeup from the person who is naturally 175 -- exercise benefits them less, calories are more readily stored as fat, the impulse to eat occurs far, far more often. The formerly fat person can exercise ten times the willpower of the never-fat guy, and still wind up fat again. The impulses are simply more frequent, and stronger, and the physical consequences of giving in are more severe. The people who successfully do it are the ones who become psychologically obsessive about it, like that weird guy who built an Eiffel Tower out of toothpicks.

Statistically, the only option with any success rate is a horrible, horrible surgical procedure. I can find no data whatsoever that says otherwise. Keep all of this in mind the next time you see a Jenny Craig or Bowflex commercial.

            David Wong of www. cracked.com