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This is the blog that accompanies the 
I’m itching to say that face-to-face to anyone from the wheat industry–agribusiness, baking, retail distribution . . . anybody. Because it’s obvious; it’s written on the face . . . and belly, and brain, and knees, and hips. And I believe I will soon have the opportunity.
Taking such a controversial stand in my new book, Wheat Belly, i.e., that wheat products, whole or refined, have NO ROLE IN THE HUMAN DIET whatsoever, was bound to provoke criticism and counterattacks. The wheat world has already taken a blow to the chin with the growing popularity of the (misguided) gluten-free movement and they’re going to have to get into the business of media damage control.
Take a look at this press release from the Grain Foods Foundation:
RIDGWAY, COLO. — The Grain Foods Foundation has unveiled plans to counter media publicity attracted by “Wheat Belly.”
“Mullen, working with key members of the Grain Foods Foundation’s scientific advisory board, is addressing ‘Wheat Belly’ through proactive media outreach and its ongoing rapid response program,” said Ashley Reynolds, a Mullen account executive. “In particular, the public relations team will be contacting health and nutrition reporters at print and on-line media outlets, as well as editors at major women’s magazines to influence any diet-related stories that may be published in the coming months.”
. . . Ms. Reynolds, a registered dietitian, noted the author relies on anecdotal observations rather than scientific studies; wheat elimination “means missing out on a wealth of essential nutrients;” six servings of grain-based foods are recommended daily in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans; healthy weight loss depends on energy balance rather than elimination of specific foods; and elimination of wheat products makes sense only for those with medical diagnoses such as celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.
She said the group will lean on its scientific advisory board members to “discredit the book and ensure our messages are backed by sound science. “
Here’s some of their starting salvos on their Six Servings Blog.
This reminds me of the fight with Big Tobacco in the ’70s: “No, sir, we in the tobacco industry know of no research demonstrating that smoking is bad for health,” complete with shots of tobacco executives puffing away on cigarettes.
So brace yourself for a fight. These people are protecting a multi-billion dollar franchise, not to mention their livelihoods and incomes. It could get ugly.
Change your life in 60 seconds
I like how Ashley at SixServings.org infers in her statement that being a vegan or vegetarian in “not only unrealistic, but dangerous.” And she’s their crack PR person – what a joke. Wheat Brain!
Yes, indeed: impaired, foggy, wheat-added thinking!
I so need to get your book. I test positive for the DNA that leads to Celiac disease and was diagnosed with IBS (before I went low-carb, now I’m symptom-free).
My only concern is my kids. They have my genes, LOL. Is there a resource for feeding them properly so they’re not getting wheat, or spelt, but still get to eat “bready” style things? Basically I guess I mean a cookbook.
Check out everydaypaleo.com. I don’t know about wating “bready” things but that blog is all about getting the kids on board.
Hi, Helen–
The world is indeed a field of wheat landmines, especially for kids who eat at friends’ houses, school cafeterias, etc. There’s little to do except educate them and help them understand why they shouldn’t eat the foods their friends are eating.
Rodale has mentioned the possibility of a Wheat Belly Cookbook, but it’s still pretty early, only 5 days after release of the book! So stay tuned . . .
Sarah from Everyday Paleo did a great podcast over at The Paleo Solution, here is the link:
http://robbwolf.com/2011/01/11/the-paleo-solution-episode-62-everyday-paleo/
comments I just posted (awaiting moderation) at Six Sevings:
No Comments
Steve L says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
September 3, 2011 at 4:45 am
So, cutting wheat is not a cure all for coeliac disease??
Well, I have coeliac disease.
Sure, there are other sources of gluten in western diets, but wheat is by far the most important source…by a country mile.
So, maybe cutting wheat is not a cure all for coeliac disease, but it goes pretty damn close.
Steve L AUS 20110903.14.45
Reply
Steve L says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
September 3, 2011 at 4:58 am
…further to my comment (above) regarding the nonsense in this article about coeliac disease, let’s also consider the value of wheat (and other grains) for various nutrients.
Look at nutrient density tables. Wheat is only a good/cheap source of energy/calories, especially if your government subsidises its production. Maybe fibre too, depending on how heavily its processed. As to other nutrients, its a pretty poor source compared to vegetables and meat (incl poultry and fish).
This is without getting into more contentious issues such as whether wheat (and other grains) damage the gut of even non-coeliacs, causing leaky guy syndrome and possibly being involved in the pathogenesis of some autoimmune diseases….
Then there is the high glycaemic load wheat provides in the diet, with metabolic consequences.
Remember too that there is not unanimity amongst experts regarding official dietary guidelines: far from it. So, you can’t reasonably appeal to a consensus among experts.
But leave that aside, and also the damage it does to coeliacs (I was VERY ill for 10 years because of wheat), wheat is a pretty poor source of nutrients apart from calories.
Steve L Australia 20110902.1500
Thank you, Steve. I find it incredible, also, that for every person who knows he/she has celiac disease, nine others don’t know it.
Keep on punching away!
It does seem like cultures with traditional diets are better off before they start eating American processed foods.
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Challenge them on Twitter and Facebook. Ask them why they are not allowing comment on the Wheat Belly post.
Yes, Michia. We should all do that and not let up!
What struck me from this post is the “concern” that those who do not eat wheat are missing out on essential nutrients, but there seems to be none of this concern for those who do not eat wheat because of celiac disease or gluten-intolerance. So does that mean that since I have celiac, I wouldn’t “suffer” by eliminating that nutrious wheat? Eliminating that wonderful wheat has transformed me. I was constantly in pain, muscular and headaches, terrible heartburn, skin issues, etc. Eliminating that nutritious wheat has been amazing. I believe that everyone can take in all of the nutrients they need by eating the good stuff. I can’t wait until my copy of “Wheat Belly” arrives. It will be on my 17 year od son’s reading list too.
Hi, Debbie–
Yes, a crucial point. Provided wheat calories are replaced with real foods like vegetables, nuts, avocados, cheese, eggs, etc., there is absolutely no deficiency that develops. Of course, Mary Q. Dietitian automatically assumes that you replace lost calories with Slurpies, Twinkies, and French fries–the default position being we’re stupid.
Be wheat-free, be healthy!
Since people eat clusters of foods rather than single foods (wheat, sugar, vegetable oil; hot dogs, hot dog buns, Coke; brown rice, tofu, broccoli) it must be hard to single out individual foods as being lifesavers or villains.
HI, Peter–
Nope, I don’t think so.
Wheat stands apart at many levels, unique in its protein content (glutens, gliadin, and others), carbohydrate (amylopectin A), and glycoprotein lectins (wheat germ agglutinin).
Parallel to this is allergy: You can have fatal allergy to peanuts but not to walnuts. That’s a bit difference, though on the surface they seem roughly similar. Food composition is a crucial factor in human tolerance and foods cannot be lumped together willy nilly.
Great interview with Robb Wolf. I have been waiting for Wheat Belly to come out, so we’re getting ours and several others to share ASAP. LIke many, many others, eliminating wheat (and other bad juju) from my diet dramatically changed my health (it’s been almost 2 years, now).
The Go with the Grain commentary was rubbish. And I find it very telling that they are not printing the critical comments. Not to mention that their site is sponsored by the Grain Foods Foundation. I’m sure they only have everyone’s best interest at heart – yeah, right.
Thanks for your bold move with this book. It is needed.
Thank you, Cathy. “Wheat and other bad juju” . . . that made me laugh!
I knew the fight was coming. It would be nice if they would not just say nasty things and then run away, but confront me and others face-to-face.
I have just gotten started in your book (around 50 pages) and am really enjoying it. Who would have thought a book about wheat and science would be such a page turner!
I have a question though: Why? Why are the doctors/dieticians/nutritionists so uninformed? Why is this seemingly such a ‘fad’ diet to so many? Is it really just about money and keeping the cycle going? I just find this concept so hard to fathom. Do ‘they’ really want us sick and fat or have they just created a mess that is far too big to clean up and now they are just saving face?
I also posted over at that six serving’s blog and thought something was a bit fishy when I didn’t see any other comments. It is clear that she/they can’t take any form of reasonable, informed rebuttal. Mostly though, my thought was: that’s it? That is all you are coming with? That is your review? Saying nothing would have been better than what she tried to pass off as an honest review of your book. I would be very surprised if she even read it. If you had, one can’t remain that misguided can they?
Thank you for joining the fight, Corina! You are absolutely correct: NONE of our comments are showing up.
They are choosing to not engage in the fight face-to-face. I suspect they will never engage in a public debate, since it will allow me and others to publicly air all the damning evidence against wheat. Instead, they will rely on the misleading and deceptive research showing that whole grains are better than white flour.
All I want is not to convert them to our way of thinking, but a chance to articulate these ideas to the broader public.
Hmm, wonder if my comment will ever get approved on the sixservings.org site
It looks like they’ve blocked all of our comments. I’ve counted 5 people who say they’ve posted comments, none show on their blog. Yes, I believe they are practicing CENSORSHIP.
I was struck by the tenor of the wheat-industrialist organs in that they seem a bit defensive. If I were in charge of their message, I would have a very low key response. I would make some low level noise about the science being on our side and use some back handed compliments directed at “fringe nutritional ideas”.
In other words, I think it is a mistake for them to act provoked. It is actually in their power to control this because in my experience, people do not want to listen to the message of wheat-belly. If the noise level stays down a bit, people will keep on eating their “healthy whole grains” and downing Twinkies when no one is looking because fundamentally they do not want to change. Everyone wants to know what I did to transform my health, but when I tell them, they look at me like someone who escaped from a mental institution and generally, they never bring it up again. I understand that completely too, because at one time, I would’ve said you’ll have to pry the baguette from my cold dead fingers.
The best thing that can happen for you, Dr. Davis, is a full scale onslaught by the evil empire. That is the only way people like me will take note of the message in a serious way.
Hi, Tony–
You clearly understand the ways of the world! I am going to hammer away and try to embarrass and shame them into responding!
Hi Dr. Davis,
This is my comment I left at sixservings. I am pretty sure it will not get posted either:
Honestly,
If you don’t start posting some of the comments coming your way from the folks that have been commenting about their experiences regarding wheat consumption, then people are just going to think of this organization as a bunch of intellectual cowards! What is so hard about defending your position?
Or, are you just having technical challenges?
Susan Moles
Thanks, Susan.
It looks like they’ve censored–CENSORED–all of our comments, so I posted a challenge on their Facebook page (though I had to “Like” them to do it).
I’m itching to engage these people. I’m not hoping to convert them, just to allow me to bring all the incredible and damning evidence against wheat out into the open.
Don’t take it personally … in looking over all the blog posts on that site there are no comments on any of them. Comments likely encounter a script that reads, “send acknowledgement message then delete” Wonder what happens if someone posts a positive comment?
Dr. Davis,
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed Wheat Belly. Not only was it informative, but it was fantastically well written as well. Over at Tom Naughton’s blog, I joked that your huge number of synonyms for “extreme” and “extremely” show that you must have either a massive vocabulary or the Deluxe Edition of Roget’s Thesaurus.
But in all seriousness, it is a great book!
Thanks, Ari. I’m extremely happy you like Wheat Belly!
Who profits? Follow the money:
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2010/Meeting2/CommentAttachments/GrainFoodsFndn-182REF.pdf
ConAgra, Pepperidge Farm, various milling companies.
Yes, indeed, Damaged. And a LOT of money–hundreds of billions.
How can these people live with themselves?
Rhetorical question, yes … sigh.
Looking forward to reading WB after being blown away by Dangerous Grains. Have been eating a paleo diet for 6 months and the improvement in my health is nothing short of astonishing. In my 50s, I look and feel 20 again, actually better. I truly believe if everyone dumped grains from their diet for a month, you could kiss Cargill, Monsanto and ADM good-bye.
Hi, Leslie–
Yes, I agree wholeheartedly. Feel and look like in your 20s while in your 50s? That’s great!
I posted a comment over there, I loved that 99% of the comments were anti-wheat. This is awesome. Great book and great interview on LLVLC.
Thanks for all you do!
Hi, Karn–
The battle being waged over at Good Grains Foundation has been nothing short of an anti-wheat rally with placards reading: “We won’t eat wheat!”
Read a bit of “Wheat Belly” while in the bookstore taking a break from flood traffic. I probably won’t buy it for awhile since I already have a long reading list and consider myself in the “choir” since I’ve been eating Paleo/Primal for almost a year. I do have three diabetics in the family that are so stuck in conventional wisdom that I don’ t think it would be much help for them. Lent Mom my Paleo book at her request but she never got around to reading it. I had hoped that she would take to it and become n=2 and turn their T2D and Dad’s congestive heart failure around, but maybe they are two far down that path. Time is running out and all they do now is treat the diseases and resulting symptoms and are clueless about the underlying causes. Death by Conventional Wisdom and “Modern Medicine”. I was happy to see the book make the NYTBS list. This may be a good shot at getting the health/healthcare situation turned around. Unfortunately, 99.99% of people are not paying attention or are fixed on the CW way. “Eat less fat! More healthy whole grains! More cardio!” The rest just wants food thats cheap and tastes good(sweet or salty). Just waiting for the other shoe to drop and the book get recalled from the stores and the Kindles since it presents such radical, subversive information and viewpoints. The book will become a black market item and will only be shared in meetings of the anti-wheat cell groups in private homes of those trying to stop the Great Amirican Wheat Machine.
Your book is great!
I happened upon your blog through another blog 6 months ago.
I am gluten free but became fat from all the new products and assumed I was eating real food.
With a bit of reading, I connected the sugar
being the problem. I am a 58 yr old woman who runs 5 miles 5 days a week and who by accident through trial and error happen to eat your diet and was convinced to by another doctor friend to go for the higher fats.
My old body is back less 2 sizes in 5 mos. I feel wonderful again. I too feel like a lean machine again while jogging. It feels great!
The body fat is so noticably gone that people in the large community I live in have asked me how I did it.
I have directed them to read your book. Better understanding of the real reasons to get fit may change their old beliefs and give it a try.
I am curious to see Dr. Oz’s new live show today. He will be discussing how to lose belly fat. I hope you
are his guest!!! congrats to you on your contributions to a better life!
Thanks, M!
I, too, had to stumble my way to find the path to a diet that truly works. So why are given this information at the outset? Why do we all have to inadvertently commit egregious errors of dietary misbehavior to learn from mistakes?