December 20, 2012

Wheat Belly Review


I have now finished reading Wheat Belly by William Davis MD. Yes, I am late to the reporting. Therefore, this will be a review that is different than what many write. I knew that David Mendosa and Tom Naughton had written reviews and I sought out their blogs. After recording them, I went to the search engine and typed in “wheat belly by william davis review” and pressed the enter key. I received 147,000 results. At first glance, not all entries are book reviews and of course, many items are repeated several times with some different wording.

Before going further, I will say that taking so long to read the book helped me understand many of the points Dr. Davis put forth. I have greatly reduced the amount of wheat I consume by about 90%, and the weight is declining. I have enjoyed reading many of the reviews that were written even before I purchased the book. I am happy to report that many of the reviews are positive and the one review that disputes some of the studies Dr. Davis uses is not negative either.

The Grain Foods Foundation is naturally sticking out against Dr. Davis because he is a threat to their business. Most of the time they quote the same unproven points about grains, especially whole grains, are healthy for us. They have their experts and very few studies that conclusively support this, but both sides of this issue have “experts.”  You may read several blogs on the Grain Foods Foundation blog site here (link is broken now as they removed the blog and comments). Sometimes the comments are better than the blog. There are several blogs following this in the month of September 2011.

I would urge everyone to read a blog by Peter Bronski, who with his wife, have the blog, “No Gluten, No Problem” blog site. I think he does raise some good issues. I will admit that in Chapter 7, Dr. Davis is a bit glib in his discussion of diabetes. Eliminating wheat for many people with type 2 diabetes, do have good results and some are able to eliminate medications totally – at least until they revert to old habits. Diabetes is not curable yet, but people reading chapter may think they are cured.

David Mendosa wrote his review here. Tom Naughton had a two-part interview here and here. Tom also had two very good articles about the reactions of the grain producers here and here. Tom makes valid points and I enjoy reading his blogs. Then go to BalancedBites and read the review by Diane Sanfilippo, BS, Certified Nutrition Consultant, one of four women writing for the blog site. After completing that blog, take time to read the review by Dana Carpender on “Hold the Toast” blog site, and author of “500 Low Carb Recipes.”

If you haven't read Wheat Belly by William Davis MD, it is worth the time and there is much to be said for the fact that wheat is not the wheat of biblical times or even 100 years ago. It has been so perverted with genetics engineering that is does not resemble the wheat of old. It can cause diabetes and other health problems and is a real problem similar to high fructose corn syrup. Our modern agriculture is trying to feed the world, but in doing so has created health problems that are spreading around the world. We need someone to point this out, like Dr. Davis.

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