Has Anyone Read The Book "wheat Belly"?

[IrishHeart]

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this is where I saw the information about the punishment of the Roman soldiers- it was entered on 9/28/12

Thanks so much, Lindalee!

I did read it last night as well as other articles on Roman troops and wheat rations and I saw that this author Sayer Ji, concluded the soldiers were deprived of their wheat rations which made them "irritable" because of withdrawal symptoms. This is based on no historical evidence. He uses the more current gluten opiod receptor research as his basis for this assertion. That's a pretty big leap..

Historians believe the troops viewed this deprivation as punishment because barley was an inferior grain and that the barbarians they fought against did not consume wheat and wine--but rather, alcohol and meat--(because they were also considered inferior) and they became disgruntled as a result.

It was a humiliation tactic.

"One way to ensure discipline was the system of punishments. These could be corporal (flogging, barley rations instead of wheat), pecuniary, demotion, execution, decimation, and disbandment. Decimation meant one in 10 soldiers in a cohort was killed by the rest of the men in the cohort by clubbing or stoning (bastinado or fustuarium). Disbandment was probably used for mutiny by a legion" --N.S Gill .

I am not sure the author's conclusions that they "had w/d symptoms from the grain" is necessarily valid. If gluten is what contains the opiod, (the feel good /additive qualities) then the barley would have kept them reasonably "happy"---physically anyway. They would feel humiliated that they were not given the honored wheat ration as proper payment.

The author writes quite a bit about wheat and draws the same conclusions as Dr. Davis.

"Wheat is evil and is not a healthy grain for anyone".

While they may well be right, it does not justify Davis' "celiac is not a real disease".

[georgie]

Where on earth did you find Dr Davis say that ???? Please - READ the book and do not misquote. At no stage does he say ANYTHING like that. But he does say that the worst critics come from the Celiacs who fail to see that no one should be eating wheat. ( and grains ) . Lose the wheat and regain your health applies to everyone... not just people with the autoimmune disease.

The author writes quite a bit about wheat and draws the same conclusions as Dr. Davis.

"Wheat is evil and is not a healthy grain for anyone".

While they may well be right, it does not justify Davis' "celiac is not a real disease".

[IrishHeart]

Where on earth did you find Dr Davis say that ???? Please - READ the book and do not misquote. At no stage does he say ANYTHING like that. But he does say that the worst critics come from the Celiacs who fail to see that no one should be eating wheat. ( and grains ) . Lose the wheat and regain your health applies to everyone... not just people with the autoimmune disease.

I was not directly quoting him. If I were, I would have cited the page.

I used "italics" around my summation of what both these writers seem to be saying. Read what I said in its entirety.

And I happen to be one of the celiacs who believe that wheat IS a problem for people who are not celiacs and who are gluten intolerant, but I do not think that EVERYONE in the world needs to dump wheat and ALL grains from their diets. Many people tolerate whole grains just fine.

And I have a big problem with this man saying "celiac is not a disease" -now, that's a direct quote--- and his bashing of the celiac researchers .

[georgie]

Where on earth does the Dr say Celiac is not a disease ? Huh? The book is full of references to the autoimune disease Celiac. Have you read the book ? Atkins was a great diet but where it lets people dow is the fact that it allows whole grain wheat back into the diet in small quantities. Even that is enough to cause the opiate like addiction to continue and the inflammation effects. I did Atkins years ago and did well for a while but it was always tough to keep the weight off and stay on the Diet. Wheat Belly is not like that... as the trigger food is eliminated 100%.

I agree that most gluten-free commercial food is crap food. But so many people think it is healthier or safe food to eat. Dr Davis explains how gluten-free flours like rice flour, tapioca flour and potato flour spike the Blood Sugar worse than wheat. And lets not even think about how bad fruit is too. How many "healthy' diet plans let you eat all the fruit you like - and increase your Blood Sugar by fructose instead ! Same could be said for Paleo type diets.

Eat healthy and you get healthy. Great idea and that is what Wheat Belly is. Great way to eat and so easy once the trigger foods are explained.

Georgie....most people with cardiac issues were put on the Atkins Diet years and years ago and did well because many people with cardiac problems are overweight so cutting out the carbs will make you lose weight. Simple enough logic.

Cut out the simple sugars and eat healthier and you'll be healthier. They also used that diet for quick weight loss to prepare them for surgery. As the gluten-free diet resembles the Atkins diet in many ways, people now think the gluten-free diet is a weight loss diet...and it can be when you cut out the crappy food. Anyone will lose weight if they cut out the crap food.

I do not think everyone has to cut out eating wheat...that's a very generalized statement to make. Not everyone has a wheat problem. I also don't think you need to completely cut out gluten-free goodies. These are supposed to be a treat and not to be eaten on a regular basis. Moderation is the key but people have forgotten what that means. If you feel better eating no grains or sugar, that's fantastic but that might indicate you have a blood sugar problem to begin with.

I follow a strict gluten-free diet, which includes some treats and the sugar does not bother me in the least as I exercise to work it off. There is a balance and that balance is going to be different for many people.

I think any doctor who makes the statement that Celiac is not a disease is far from a saint. That's plain ignorance on his part. I wouldn't spend the money on his book because there are far more reputable people who write accurate books on Celiac.

[georgie]

I think you badly need to read the book to understand it...

I was not directly quoting him. If I were, I would have cited the page.

I used "italics" around my summation of what both these writers seem to be saying. Read what I said in its entirety.

And I happen to be one of the celiacs who believe that wheat IS a problem for people who are not celiacs and who are gluten intolerant, but I do not think that EVERYONE in the world needs to dump wheat and ALL grains from their diets. Many people tolerate whole grains just fine.

And I have a big problem with this man saying "celiac is not a disease" -now, that's a direct quote--- and his bashing of the celiac researchers .

[georgie]

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[IrishHeart]

I think you badly need to read the book to understand it...

Thanks. I got the idea by watching his interview and reading his blog articles.

I just do not agree with everything he says, that's all I am saying.

[IrishHeart]

Where on earth does the Dr say Celiac is not a disease ? Huh?.

he says that right here--and I posted it earlier in the thread.

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[kareng]

I think you badly need to read the book to understand it...

If you had read the previous posts, you would see we were talking about one of his latest posts on his website entitled " Celiac is not a disease"

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[Opa3]

I think any doctor who makes the statement that Celiac is not a disease is far from a saint. That's plain ignorance on his part. I wouldn't spend the money on his book because there are far more reputable people who write accurate books on Celiac.

Well stated, Gemini. I won't buy or read it as previously posted.

[Takala]

Would any of you care to comment on the rather shocking things I see, claims about the gluten free diet, coming from the "Executive Director of the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center" Carol Shilson, and its website, cureceliac.org ? see here:

The University of Chicago's Dr. Stefano Guandalini is the one mentioned in the original Wheatbelly blog post comment on Feb 6, 2013, "Celiac is Not a Disease" by cardiologist William Davis, MD. "While he is a spokesperson for the celiac community, he has done more damage than good by telling non- celiac people to go ahead and consume wheat."

This is true, up to very recently, if one did not have a biopsy- confirmed-only diagnosis of celiac, no matter what symptoms you had from consuming gluten, you didn't have an official disease or disorder, according to Dr. Guandalini (at the U of Chicago).

While I do not agree with the Wheatbelly book author Dr. William Davis' latest blog that "Celiac is not a disease," believing it is medically inaccurate and cheap, grabby sensationalism, because "wheat" is the name of a grain and "wheat" is not a disease, either, I know that the current cutting edge in sports performance research nutrition, when the Paleo diet is studied, says that all humans, celiac, gluten intolerants, and normals, do react in the same biological-chemical way to consuming wheat, only in different degrees. In fact, some of those writers are quoting Dr. Alessio Fasano, formerly of the Univ of Maryland Center for Celiac Research and now at MassGeneral Hospital, aka Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (Harvard affiliated).

A Paleo advocate and former research biochemist, Robb Wolf, says this, with the research links:

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Conversely, biopsies from non-celiac patients demonstrated a limited,transient zonulin release which was paralleled by an increase in intestinal permeability that never reached the level of permeability seen in celiac disease (celiac disease) tissues. Chronic gliadin exposure caused down-regulation of both ZO-1 and occludin gene expression. Conclusions. Based on our results, we concluded that gliadin activates zonulin signaling irrespective of the genetic expression of autoimmunity, leading to increased intestinal permeability to macromolecules.

Mat Lalonde has helped me stay on top of this stuff. Gluten attaches to the transpost molecule, CXCR3. This causes a release of zonulin which disolves the tight junction between intestinal epithelial cells (enterocytes) and THIS opens the door for autoimmunity and systemic inflammation.

Interpretation? Significance?

Everyone has CXCR3, everyone transports gluten into the enterocytes, everyone experiences gut irritation from gluten.