Monday, December 12, 2011

Wheat Belly: I'm a believer!

Dr. William Davis has an extremely hard sell with his book's thesis that wheat - not just gluten - is bad for us. In fact, he says, as the single largest contributor to the obesity epidemic, it may be killing us. Regardless of whether you buy the argument, "Wheat Belly" is well worth reading, if only to examine Davis' provocative expose of "the harmful effects of what is actually a product of genetic tinkering and agribusiness being sold to the American public as 'wheat.'" Yes, the "wheat" we eat today is nowhere near the wheat we boomers ate as little kids. It is four times more fattening, addicting and sickening than the Wonder Bread of old. The argument was compelling enough to make me give up wheat altogether for the past three days and, I have to admit, I feel really good. Thank goodness I'm no longer working in an office with crazy Christmas cookie-baking colleagues. Can I make it through next weekend's holiday parties? That remains to be seen.

6 comments:

Carol Starr Schneider said...

You can't make me give up wheat. A bagel a day keeps the SJG gay. Oh, wait, that didn't come out right.

My Friend Ronnie said...

Oddly, I ran across this book yesterday and was intrigued by the notion particularly since I started following a low-carb Atkins-y type regime of my own invention---you see it involves a glass of wine every night, so it's not up to the par of some of these diets. Anyhoo, I started to think about how much better I have been feeling and the fact that my middle-aged middle is feeling less think and maybe, just maybe it's been the wheat? I have been on Weight Watchers most of my adult life in one way or another and I have just been stuck at this weight for waaaayyy too long so I thought I'd give this a whirl instead of a pretty steady diet of whole wheat products. I will be curious to hear what your experience is with this approach.

My Friend Ronnie said...

I meant "less thick"---I'll preview next time!

Cathy Hamilton said...

Carol,
I can't imagine an ungay SJG! Disregard!!!
Ronnie,
As luck would have it, Dr. Davis says red wine is, hands-down, the best thing to drink, for the all the health reasons you already know about. Beer, of course, is the worst offender, esp my former go-to, which was Boulevard Wheat, until I started noticing my nose would itch like crazy following the first few sips. I'd hit a plateau, too, and I think this strategy deserves a good college try.
BG

Nebraskim said...

Being anti-wheat seems somewhat blasphemous for a Kansan. I find your comment on Boulevard Wheat to be interesting. I have to be very picky about beer...some I am allergic to. For me, it's beer (and whisky/scotch sad to say and wines) that are barrel-aged in oak (or beechwood, yeah Budweiser, I hate you anyway, but this just adds to the way). I am allergic to oak pollen, so the fact I react with wheezing to alcohol with oak elements is not surprising.

I eat very few wheat products anyway because I've always tried to stay away from bread, crackers, cookies, pasta, etc. to avoid the calories. I do eat lower sugar cereals like Total to get the vitamins. An interesting thing to ponder, though, and maybe I'll try to get even more stringent to see what happens.

traci said...

i read this while on vacation earlier this month. what made me pick it up? sitting on the beach watching belly after belly parade by me. so i have cut back severely on my wheat consumption. my daughter didn't think i could because i probably ate some form of bread or pasta at every meal. and i do mean every meal. i did it. and i feel great. it's been 3 weeks. i don't miss it at all. and i have dropped six pounds. i am a believer.

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