Wheat Belly

As many of you know, I have been eating Paleo for about 4 months now. It started as an experiment to see if it would help some of my autoimmune issues, and not only have those improved, many other areas of my health have improved as well.

I have been reading as many books as I can get my hands on about food, and how they affect your body. I picked up the book Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis, and it really transformed the way I looked at wheat, gluten, and grains in general. I had some understanding of how these foods worked, but this book really helped me to understand how and why wheat does what it does to the body.

Here are some of the points that stuck with me from the book:

• Sucrose (table sugar) has a glycemic index of 59, whole wheat bread has a glycemic index of 72. This means whole wheat bread (or other types of bread) actually raise your blood sugar more than sugar!
• For centuries, wheat has changed very little. Through hybridization, in the last 50 years, wheat now hardly resembles what it looked like for thousands of years. This type of wheat accounts for 99% of the wheat grown WORLD WIDE.
• This new wheat is genetically different from original wheat. The genetic differences are more profound than the genetic differences between apes and humans. While genetically different, it was never tested for safety of human consumption.
• Wheat digestion causes a morphine-like compound to bind to the brain’s opiate receptors. A study was done, and normal humans were given opiate-blocking drugs and were confined to a food-filled room for an hour. They consumed 28% less wheat containing foods, and 33% fewer calories than those given a placebo. Wheat is addictive, and forms a pleasurable response in the brain.

There is soo much more information in this book, including theories how gluten can contribute to many diseases including schizophrenia, diabetes, heart disease, premature aging, hair loss, acne, lymphoma, etc.

Dr. Davis gives many examples of patients in his practice with various illnesses and how their symptoms dramatically improved after removing gluten from the diet. I truly feel this is a must read for EVERYONE out there that eats food. That doesn’t leave many out.