Plaque is the stuff of coronary heart disease. It is CONTROLLABLE, it is STOPPABLE, it is REVERSIBLE.
But you must be equipped with the right information on diet, nutritional supplements, and hopefully the avoidance of medication.
This is the blog that accompanies the 
You’ve heard of “beer bellies,” the protuberant, sagging abdomen of someone who drinks excessive quantities of beer.
How about “wheat belly”?
That’s the same protuberant, sagging abdomen that develops when you overindulge in processed wheat products like pretzels, crackers, breads, waffles, pancakes, breakfast cereals and pasta.
(By the way, this image, borrowed from the wonderful people at Wikipedia, is that of a teenager, who supplied a photo of himself.)
It represents the excessive visceral fat that laces the intestines and triggers a drop in HDL, rise in triglycerides, inflames small LDL particles, C-reactive protein, raises blood sugar, raises blood pressure, creates poor insulin responsiveness, etc.
How common is it? Just look around you and you’ll quickly recognize it in dozens or hundreds of people in the next few minutes. It’s everywhere.
Wheat bellies are created and propagated by the sea of mis-information that is delivered to your door every day by food manufacturers. It’s the same campaign of mis-information that caused the wife of a patient of mine who was in the hospital (one of my rare hospitalizations) to balk in disbelief when I told her that her husband’s 18 lb weight gain over the past 6 months was due to the Shredded Wheat Cereal for breakfast, turkey sandwiches for lunch, and whole wheat pasta for dinner.
“But that’s what they told us to eat after Dan left the hospital after his last stent!”
Dan, at 260 lbs with a typical wheat belly, had small LDL, low HDL, high triglycerides, etc.
I hold the food companies responsible for this state of affairs, selling foods that are clearly causing enormous weight gain nationwide. Unfortunately, the idiocy that emits from Nabisco, Kraft, and Post (AKA Philip Morris); General Mills; Kelloggs; and their kind is aided and abetted by organizations like the American Heart Association, with the AHA stamp of approval on Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp Cereal, and Berry Kix; and the American Diabetes Association, whose number one corporate sponsor is Cadbury Schweppes, the biggest soft drink and candy manufacturer in the world.
As I’ve said many times before, if you don’t believe it, try this experiment: Eliminate all forms of wheat for a 4 week period–no breakfast cereals, no breads of any sort, no pasta, no crackers, no pretzels, etc. Instead, increase your vegetables, healthy oils, lean proteins (raw nuts, seeds, lean red meats, chicken, fish, turkey, eggs, Egg Beaters, low-fat yogurt and cottage cheese), fruits. Of course, avoid fruit drinks, candy, and other garbage foods, even if they’re wheat-free.
Most people will report that a cloud has been lifted from their brains. Thinking is clearer, you have more energy, you don’t poop out in the afternoon, you sleep more deeply, some rashes disappear. You will also notice that hunger ratchets down substantially. Most people lose the insatiable hunger pangs that occur 2-3 hours after a wheat-containing meal. Instead, hunger is a soft signal that gently prods you that it’s time to consider eating again.
You will also make considerable gains towards gaining control over your risk for heart disease and your heart scan score, a crucial step in the Track Your Plaque program.
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Great article that most folks need to read. I must also point out with all due respect to the young man who supplied the photo that just by observation alone, he has had excessive exposure to xenoestrogens which can come from plastic, herbicides, pesticides etc. (that's just the tip of the iceberg and a whole other subject) – this is something he should also address in his diet makeover and would be another great health improvement in his life.
Great article I will certainly repost!!
As I've said many times before, if you don't believe it, try this experiment: Eliminate all forms of wheat for a 4 week period–no breakfast cereals, no breads of any sort, no pasta, no crackers, no pretzels, etc. Instead, increase your vegetables, healthy oils, lean proteins (raw nuts, seeds, lean red meats, chicken, fish, turkey, eggs, Egg Beaters, low-fat yogurt and cottage cheese), fruits. Of course, avoid fruit drinks, candy, and other garbage foods, even if they're wheat-free.
Hello to all
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Low density lipoprotein cholesterol is inversely correlated with abdominal visceral fat area: a magnetic resonance imaging study. – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21247428
After being off all grains and being healthier would eating oatmeal once in a while be permitted? Also should dairy be eliminated and what about Soy or Rice milk?
I find some advice confusing.
Margaret
Am I wrong, or is it pretty much impossible to establish a wheat-free diet AND maintain a vegetarian one? Sure seems like that would be the case.
Question. I have only been doing this a week but it sounded like I would see results like “1 pound a day for the first 10 days”. I am not seeing that. I went cold turkey and have not had any grains, processed foods, or sugars in that time and intend to continue. Should I be concerned? I lost 5 pounds after the first few days, and now seem to have gained it back. Not sure what’s going on. I HAVE NOT CHEATED!
Thanks for any advice or help. Maybe I just need to stick with it? I have tested and am not in ketosis judging by the strips, my blood sugars never seem to go above 100 or 105 even 1 hour after a meal. Thanks again.
Hi, J–
More than likely there’s something in your diet that is booby trapping your weight loss or you are hypothyroid.
Hypothyroidism is incredibly common and underdiagnosed.
Please another question. The only thing I can think of is a scotch after dinner. Does alcohol sabotage this process? Can’t wait to get the book. I’m sure it will be great. Just put it on my wish list on amazon and it said it would be delivered to my ipad (kindle app) Aug 30.
Alcohol can absolutely sabotage any weight loss. Although one or two drinks should not cause weight gain, many people say that a day they consume ANY alcohol is a day that they will not lose any weight. So you want to limit drinking to 1-2 days per week, and limit the number of drinks to 2-3. Elimination of alcohol consumption, or limiting to only special occasions would however be most ideal.
Please clarify regarding the use of the following foods on the Wheat Free plan- brown rice pasta, brown rice bread, spelt bread. I have had success on the program losing 20 lbs in 6 weeks but wanted to know if I could have small quantities of the above mentioned products and still avoid the perils of wheat! Thanks