A lichen planus rash, from Wikipedia
Catherine shared this wonderful story of wheat- and grain-free success on the Wheat Belly Facebook page. Her comments are such a wonderful and concise summary of what can happen beyond weight loss that I share it here.
“Thank you, Dr. Davis, for changing my life. Having your Facebook page available is so helpful and gives me a chance to communicate with people who are living my new lifestyle.
“After 44 years of marriage, I became a widow five years ago. I have pretty much been in the doldrums ever since. Eating the Wheat Belly way has changed everything for me.
“I am starting day 10. I have lost 5 pounds and 2 1/2 inches off my waist. I feel like a New England Patriots’ Football that has been deflated. But, best of all, I feel real good and my mood is very happy. I haven’t had diarrhea since I started the plan and my autoimmune skin disease, lichen planus, has totally disappeared for the first time in about 15 years.
“At this point, I see no reason why I will ever got back to eating wheat and grains.”
You can understand why I bristle at criticisms of this lifestyle such as “It’s just cutting calories,” or “Wheat Belly is just a new twist on low-carb.” No: Wheat Belly is an indictment of the health havoc caused by wheat and other grains. It is also a celebration of all the wonderful changes in emotional and physical health that develop when you remove them. Catherine is not only on her way to fitting back into a size 4 dress, but has been freed of the depression that lingered so long after losing her husband. She is losing inflammatory visceral fat, as reflected in the outsized loss of waist size. She has been freed from bowel inflammation and the embarrassment and inconvenience of diarrhea. She has been cured of the autoimmune skin condition she had, the disfiguring lichen planus.
This is why I remind everybody over and over: Wheat Belly is not a “diet”–it is a lifestyle that helps restore health in so many varied ways.
I have been grain free for 3 years and I too have 2 autoimmune diseases..Vitilago and Lichen Sclerosis, which started attacking the Vitilago 5 years ago. I was drawn to this photo because this Lichen resembles mine (mine attacks the genitalia area and consumes many layer of skin). At first I noticed a decrease in in the itching when I stopped eating sugar. Then after reading Wheat Belly and stopping wheat, this nasty mess totally subsided…no itching, no burning so NO steroid creams. I told my doctor and she understood the sugar but didn’t think wheat could act like sugar, “whole grains are part of a healthy diet” she said! I can literally eat a dish of TCBY and within 30 minutes, begin itching…I don’t even want to try wheat anymore, it is worse than the sugar!! Now, I am 110 lbs lighter, feel wonderful and my husband is not a diabetic anymore.
Wonderful, Carol!
I find this shocking that you teach your physician something new that works on again, off again; on again, off again–proof-positive of an individual sensitivity–yet no light goes off in her head.
Such is the situation among many, if not most healthcare providers. Thankfully, some are starting to understand that there are MANY such associations with wheat and grains.
Speaking of wheat in cosmetics can you recommend specific wheat-free brands? Thanks!
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep
appears to track it, even when it appears under aliases like “triticum vulgare”.
From a quick look, I can’t tell if the Compact for Safe Cosmetics considers wheat an unsafe ingredient. I didn’t get any useful search hits on safecosmetics dot org.
Maria Emmerich just did a blog post on safe cosmetics. Google Maria Emmerich and cosmetics. :)
http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/new-cosmetics-skin-hair-products/
Thank you. May have just dodged an MK bullet there.
Note: most of Maria’s site pages are 404 this morning, including that cosmetic link in the reply above. Try again later.
Here are some:
http://gluten.lovetoknow.com/Gluten_Free_Cosmetics
re: … autoimmune skin disease …
And in that connection, it’s worth reminding everyone to watch out for wheat in cosmetics.
I was just researching Mary Key ingredients for a family member, and MK products often contain wheat, not to mention parabens, and a long list of other known and suspected toxins. It’s easy to see why they haven’t signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics. It’s going to take years to reformulate their product line, assuming they even intend to.