As a devoted gluten-free eater and unfortunate sufferer of IBS, I'm always interested in learning more about gluten, how it affects my condition and how I can keep myself as healthy as possible. A few months ago, I heard about a book called "Wheat Belly" by Dr. William Davis. I thought the title was funny and decided it might be a good read for me. It might be nice to read about gluten from a doctor's perspective.
I grabbed the book at my local Chapters and got reading!
Wheat
Belly is a
provocative look at how eliminating wheat-even so-called healthy whole grain
wheat-from our diets is the key to permanent weight loss and can offer relief
from a broad spectrum of health and digestive problems.
Drawing
on decades of clinical studies and the extraordinary results he has observed
after putting thousands of his patients on wheat-free regimens, Dr. William
Davis makes a compelling case against this ubiquitous ingredient. A wheat-free
diet has been associated with significant benefits, including the following:
- Weight loss of twenty,
thirty, even fifty pounds in the first few months
- Alleviation of metabolic
syndrome and type 2 diabetes
- Recovery from intestinal
woes, like ulcerative colitis and celiac disease
- Marked improvement in
overall cholesterol and LDL counts
- Improvement in bone density
and reversal of osteoporosis
- Cessation of skin conditions
from psoriasis to oral ulcers and hair loss
- Reduction of inflammation
and rheumatoid arthritis pain
Readable,
thought-provoking and carefully researched, Wheat Belly offers a new and
vitally important perspective on the most critical health concerns of our time.
What I thought about this book.....
I
definitely jumped into this book with both feet (or should I say both hands?
eyes?) This is the first book that I've read that talked about being
gluten-free and I was really excited about learning more about what it means to
be gluten-free and why it is so important.
From the
very beginning of the book, it is extremely apparent that Dr. Davis is serious
about the issue of gluten and has had many experiences with patients who have greatly
benefited from removing gluten from their diets. He is honest (brutally honest
at times), knowledgeable, aggressive in his viewpoints and filled with sincere
disgust for gluten. He in no way tries to sugar coat how harmful and health
altering it can be.
In my
opinion, this book is best suited for those who are already living a
gluten-free lifestyle.
There is a lot of information presented in this book - some very
technical and from a scientific perspective and others from a more experience
based perspective. If you are new to the idea of going gluten-free, this book may
not be the best place to start.
I figured
that since I was already living a gluten-free diet, that I would be able to
read this book guilt free and probably feel pretty proud of the lifestyle
changes that I've made. I went into this book believing that I already knew
quite a bit about the dangers of gluten and how it can affect my body. Well, I
quickly realized that I had a lot to learn. Dr. Davis covers the effects of
gluten not just on the gut, but goes into great detail about:
- wheat's destructive effects
on the skin
- how it affects our brains
including dementia and autism
- wheat's role in heart
disease and overall heart health
- the role is plays in aging
including cataracts and wrinkles
- how it affects diabetes and
insulin resistance
I would sit in bed at night reading this book and on so many occasions
found myself saying out loud "Oh my God.. that's so true!" or "I
feel like that sometimes, I never realized that it could be due to the
gluten". I would stop my fiancee from watching tv to read to him the
newest insightful passage I had just read. This book literally blew my mind. It
made so many personal connections for me as someone who has suffered so many of
the unfortunate side effects of gluten for so many years.
In the end,
although this was a heavy read (a lot of technical information to take in), I
really enjoyed the book and ended it feeling so happy that I had removed gluten
from my diet. It really helped me to link so many of the health issues that I
had struggled with for so long to gluten. I wish that I had realized it sooner,
but without gluten now, feel amazing and am living a very healthy and happy
life.
