Wheat Belly Gets National Attention: Wheat Dodger Tips
The hype surrounding Dr. Davis’ book, “Wheat Belly”, was given further credence in the latest edition of MacLeans Magazine (article here).
I think it is sheer awesomeness that the ideas in this book are starting to seep into the collective conscience of the public, at least in Canada. Author, Dr. Davis claims that his clients were able to shed their bellies, reverse disease, and improve overall health indicators simply by ditching wheat and it’s derivatives. He is not the first to make such a claim, but his book contains the most thoughtful collection of work on the subject.
Who wouldn’t be excited about the prospect of blasting their belly fat simply by avoiding bread and pasta?
Unfortunately the pervasiveness of wheat makes it difficult to avoid when eating typical North American fair.
If we are planning to ditch wheat altogether, because of allergies, or our desire to try a life changing diet be warned. Wheat is everywhere.
Really, there is wheat in that?
Here is a list of sneaky wheat laden foods. Watch our for these guys! They could be a pain in your butt, if you don’t pay attention.
- Snacks – crackers, chips, cereals, snack mixes, pretzels
- Desserts – cakes, cookies, baking mixes, pies, other baked goods
- Soups – most soups including broths
- Condiments – soy sauce, salad dressings, barbeque sauces, some vinegars
- Beverages – Beer, root beer,
- Meats – frozen meats (some are packaged with broth), lunch meats, hot dogs
- Gravies and Sauces – most likely thickened with wheat flour
- Misc. – flour tortillas, stuffing
So it’s not just pasta and bread that wheat dodgers need to watch! I am a strong believer that everyone is sensitive to wheat, some more then others of course. It might take an experiment to find our where you are on the spectrum of wheat sensitivity, but it is worth looking at, especially if you are overweight, and consume many foods on this list, or have ever experienced gut irritation.
For more on the book, this is a great place to start….Wheat Belly Blog
” If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge WHEAT!”
I’ll accept the point that most people have some level of sensitivity with wheat but I personally think at times it’s a cop out for just eating too much.
My typical eating day … eggs, 1-3 pieces of cake,bread, beer, salad, chocolate milk,whey protein, bananas, honey,dark chocolate and I’m yet to see any negative effects, most of my friends eat similar foods and I haven’t noticed anything wrong except some eat too much.
Raymond
I wouldn’t be a firm believer in the ditching wheat unless I experienced results myself. The main hypothesis of the book is that eating wheat stimulates hunger and therefore causes us to eat more. I would have to agree with this. The other assertion Dr. Davis makes is that wheat today is drastically different then wheat in the early 1900”s, before commercial farming changed the chemical compounds associated with growing it.
I understand that some people can tolerate it, and be fine, like yourself. but I (and many others) are not part of that fortunate group. In addition, I used to experience incredible gut irritation eating wheat, which was profoundly evident after I gave it up! Some of the other complications associated with wheat consumption (besides a larger waistline) include inflammation, and leaky gut.
I think everyone is on the spectrum somewhere, but I realized through my experience that I was not in the fortunate few!
Lucky you….keep eating the cake!
Jordan,
I haven’t read the book yet, but seems like even more compelling evidence that low carb dieting is the way to go for fat loss.
Alykhan
It is a great read!
Pick it up!
Interesting how pervasive wheat is, it’s everywhere!
One argument I read somewhere recently was that there just isn’t enough capacity to produce healthy foods (for example paleo style organic meat, eggs etc) for the masses. Wheat and edible food products are the answer to this problem; cheap and easy to produce. What do you think?
Hi Michael,
I believe this idea is used to prevent real sustainable farming from taking place. I have heard the exact opposite argument which is that today’s farming practices are the reason we have less arable land than ever before. One example is that corn, which is grown everywhere, is a major culprit in the degradation of our once arable land. If we were to revert back to local organic grass fed livestock, we would fair better in our attempt to revive our degrading farm land. Here is an interesting article about a farmer who is convinced we need to change our agricultural practice.