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A Wheat free diet

by Whaleoil on October 28, 2011

Reading up a bit more about a wheat free existence. I think I may give it a go:

This message to eat more “healthy whole grains” has, I believe, crippled Americans, triggering a helpless cycle of satiety and hunger, stimulating appetite by 400 calories per day and substantially contributing to the epidemic of obesity and diabetes. And, oh yes, adding to the double-digit-per-year revenue growth of the diabetes drug industry, not to mention increased revenues for drugs for hypertension, cholesterol, and arthritis.

It is therefore my contention that eliminating all wheat from the diet is a good idea not just for people with gluten sensitivity; it’s a smart decision for everybody. I have experience in my heart disease prevention practice, as well as my online program for heart disease prevention and reversal, with several thousand people who have done just that and the results are nothing short of astounding. Weight loss of 30, 50, even 70 pounds or more within the first six months; reversal of diabetes and pre-diabetic conditions; relief from edema, sinus congestion, and asthma; disappearance of acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome symptoms; increased energy, happier mood, better sleep. People feel better, look better, eat fewer calories, feel less hungry, are able to discontinue use of many medications — just by eliminating one food from their diet — ironically a food that they’ve been told to eatmore of.

It is imperative that we break our reliance on wheat. It will require nothing less than an overthrow of conventional nutritional dogma. There will be battles fought to preserve the status quo; the wheat industry and its supporters will scream, yell, and claw to maintain their position, much as the tobacco industry and its lobbyists fought to maintain their hold on consumers.

If the health benefits of a wheat-free diet sound hard to believe, why not conduct your own little experiment and see for yourself: simply eliminate all things made of wheat for four weeks — no bread, bagels, pizza, pretzels, rolls, donuts, breakfast cereals, pancakes, waffles, pasta, noodles, or processed foods containing wheat (and do be careful to read labels, as food manufacturers love to slip a little wheat gliadin into your food every chance they get to stimulate your appetite). That’s a lot to cut out, true, but there’s still plenty of real, nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, fruit, nuts, cheese and dairy products, meat, fish, soy foods, legumes, oils like olive oil, avocados, even dark chocolate that you can eat in their place. If after that 4-week period you discover new mental clarity, better sleep, relief from joint pain, happier intestines, and a looser waistband, you will have your answer.

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  • http://www.roiamaori.wordpress.com Joshua

    The diet is slowly taking off around the world, and is often known as the Paleo/Primal diet – check out the work of Mark Sission (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-to-the-primal-eating-plan/) and Robb Wolf (http://robbwolf.com/faq/#overview).  It works and thousands of people swear by it.

  • Anonymous

    I have followed a wheat-free regime for about 3 years – highly recommend it

    • MANINBLACK

      what were the first signs of it working? i am keen to try it.

      • Anonymous

        No stomach bloating, higher energy levels, not having appetite spikes for high carbohydrate foods, not hungry between meals, to name a few.  

  • Anonymous

    You don’t have to give up pancakes and the like. There are plenty of gluten-free flours around.

    Gluten free breads range from pretty good to fecking awful. We currently use one called “Young Buck” from Pure Bread which is pretty good all things considered. But be prepared to pay LOTS more for it. Around $8 a loaf the size of a Vogels loaf.

    Also, I’d avise against sizable increases on soy products. There is plenty of literature suggests soy has bad side effects.

    One thing also to concentrate on is the amount of sugar intake you ahve. Not just the obvious sugar in your coffee. There is sugar everywhere. Canned foods, convenience meals, even your corn flakes. Pull some of those out and watch the weight drop

  • Gazzaw

    My wife took up a GF diet a couple of years ago. It took a while to find an acceptable bread which as rouppe correctly says range from pretty good to awful, most of them the latter. It took a while to stumble on the Venerdi brand and if you are into Vogels Multigrain you will find Venerdi Six Seeds a great alternative. Venerdi Cinnamon is outstanding.  The major downside of a GF diet is the lack of variety and the expense. Checking the labelling on every can and packet is a pain in the arse.

    I have two good mates who genuinely have coeliac problems & have had them for years before GF diets became something of a a fad. Staying wheat free is a big health issue for them.

    Is it worth it? I am not totally convinced that it is unless you are seriously coeliac. It’s worth a go if you believe that it will improve your health but it is expensive & a tad tedious. Eating out? that’s another issue entirely – good luck

  • Dragongirl

    Big believer myself, you’ll simply never have to go on a diet ever again, and you learn to love all the “alternative” food out there you never gave a second thought. Teenage daughter complained a long time about tummy issues, convinced her to give this a try, few weeks later and problem gone. Even she had to admit the results. You also get interested in learning new ways to cook, like Indian, spicy etc (with teenagers never bothered before, just too easy & cheap to feed them wheat). The payoffs are so worth the effort, it’s not even funny. In the beginning you have to be strict (cleansing) but now, even with cheating once in a while, it is still the best thing out there

  • kevin

    Thanks for all that Cam, most interesting. Raw nuts are good but pricey plus lots of salty fried nuts out there as well. I do wonder where all the nuts are sourced. Some brands of peanut butter have nuts grown in China content, only one brand has Aussie grown nuts. When shopping I spent more time checking (very small print) labels than aisle cruising. I gather Aussie has rejected some brands/lines of frozen (grown in China) veges as they contained too much DDT, the reject stuff is in our supermarket freezer shelves apparently. This is anecdotal but check the labelling.

  • http://twitter.com/thatpaleoguy Jamie Scott

    It is easy and scientifically valid.  Have a look at the paleo movement.  I blog about this here http://www.thatpaleoguy.com

  • http://unsolicitedious.wordpress.com/ Unsolicitedious

    As an alternative point of view….

    I’d love to see this kind of thing applied by people who are already fit & healthy eating a balanced diet of whole grains, pulses, fish, dairy & meats. Guaranteed it doesn’t affect them.Instead of cutting out all the wheat, why not just cut out the crap. Including caffeine and alcohol. Guaranteed that would produce they same, if not better results.Wheat is only a problem because it is in everything. Usually highly processed ‘food’ (if you can actually cool biscuits, chips museli bars etc that). Wheat per se is good.

  • Gazzaw

    I have to agree with you. As I mentioned earlier my wife is on a GF diet because she needs to be. As a result I go along partially with it to keep the cooking simple but still eat regular pasta, wheat & whole grain products. I don’t overdo meat, enjoy fish, don’t consume much alcohol and try and maintain a five fruit & veg regime. In other words a healthy diet. I would be no more healthy if I went totally GF. 

    I stand by my previous comments. Nothing wrong with a GF diet if you have to do it but I would be hesitant to switch unless it was absolutely necessary. It is a pain in the arse regime to adhere to.

  • Nick

    I remember reading somewhere (Ill hunt for it) that after the end of World War 2, the USA had a massive ‘grain’ mountain, which was produced to feed the Troops all over the World- no World War- no Troops to be force feed the stuff. The Grain Famers lobbied hard to have the ‘Food Pyramid’ changed to place grains at the base of the Pyramid’ to increase domestic consumption  & stop them going broke!

    • Anonymous

      I read that some too Nick – also you find that almost all processed food from the conglomerates contain wheat products.  As they say, if you select from the the outside aisles at the supermarket (meat and fruit & vegetables) and cook your own from scratch – you are much better off.

  • shelley

    Gluten free is quite different to the Paleo diet that is taking off around the world.   Paleo is about meat, veges and a little fruit - real food. 

    So, no sugar, processed/packed food (which rules out pretty much all gluten free products in the supermarket as they still contain sugar and other processed ingredients), dairy, wheat, or legumes.   No potatoes either as they are too high in carbohydrates.  Kumera is ok. 

    We have all tried this diet in our office and had great results. 

  • Jaxz