Heather shared her impressive results after less than one month on the Wheat Belly lifestyle:
“The first pic was on April 19th. I have come off all my type 2 diabetes meds and insulin, even though I have only lost 22.2 pounds. The inches lost from all the inflammation I had is amazing. Not to mention all the energy I have. Thanks so much for your book. Plus I lost all of this in 26 days.”
Losing the wheat and grains adds up to more than reducing the glycemic potential of a grain-based diet. Removing all the components that cause inflammation, the exceptional distortions of insulin metabolism, the appetite stimulation, the disruption of bowel flora all contribute to causing diabetes. This is another instance of 2 + 2 = 11–not bad arithmetic, but the total effect of grain removal is greater than the sum of the parts.
Heather provides another great example of how conventional dietary advice to have diet dominated by “healthy whole grains” is a way to cause diabetes. Eat no wheat or grains reverses the whole kit and kaboodle. And this is just what happened to Heather in the first month!
Yes: over time, insulin levels go down, allowing a restoration of sensitivity to insulin’s effects, a very common experience.
I have a question: If my FBG goes down from doing Wheat Belly, does my insulin, and insulin resistance go down and my insulin sensitivity go up?
re: If my FBG goes down from doing Wheat Belly, does my insulin, and insulin resistance go down and my insulin sensitivity go up?
Serum insulin levels, and IR/IS have not to my recollection arisen as questions on the blog previously. I suspect this is because they tend to take care of themselves once blood glucose is being controlled by diet. Also, BG (and even HbA1c) are relatively easy to measure at home, whereas insulin is not, so people often don’t know their insulin numbers anyway.
Nonetheless, Wheat Belly has a target for fasting serum insulin: 7 to 8 mIU/ml or less (page 286 of Wheat Belly Total Health). As with BG, this is well below typical official targets from the diabolical diabetes promotion and maintenance authorities.
Are not IR and IS just the two sides of the same coin? If I search IS on wiki, for example, it just redirects to IR.
In the context of low carb diets (which the WB recommendations currently amount to), be aware of the phenomenon called “physiological insulin resistance” or PIR (vs. pathological IR).
On a low carb, very low carb or ketogenic diet, your IS may not recover to the responsiveness you had at age 6. But as long as you avoid needless BG spikes (carb cheats), it doesn’t matter. Here’s an older post on the topic of PIR from another blog:
http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/2007/10/physiological-insulin-resistance.html
Don’t overlook the gut flora issue. There have been several articles on the WB blog pointing out that attending to gut biome (flora) also lowers insulin levels and improves insulin response.
Heather’s results from following your diet are certainly inspiring!
What hurts me most is the constant monitoring and strict dieting, the guilt of not following my diet and the complications that come with it, the diaper bag full of supplies I need to bring with me when I go anywhere. It’s a lot to deal with!
I’ve been following a great program with scientific evidence that can help all diabetics.. my friend told me about a Doctor who had a segment on Oprah.. his website is http://goawaydiabetes.org
Have been on his program for 5 weeks.
Within the first week my blood glucose levels dropped 20-30 points.
In the last four weeks it dropped even more and I have maintained within 80-110 on my morning checks.
Have used all the advice in this program and amazingly I’ve eliminated the nightly dosage of Metformin. My goal is to eliminate all medications.
I really think we need to bring awareness to these types of programs, it’s the only thing that’s offered me a true glimmer of hope.
PS – Is Heather is really not diabetic anymore? Isn’t she just in remission? That’s how I feel about my own condition.
Re: I’ve been following a great program … his website is …
That site is pretty marketing-heavy and relatively content-free. Do you have a link to a summary of the approach? (something like the Wheat Belly Quick & Dirty articles on this blog)
re: Is Heather is really not diabetic anymore? Isn’t she just in remission? That’s how I feel about my own condition.
That topic has been discussed many times on this blog over the years. Perhaps the central statement on it is this by Dr. Davis at: https://drdavisinfinitehealth.com/2012/09/diabetes-cured-by-wheat-belly/
“Pancreatic beta cells for the most part do not regenerate once destroyed. If you have only 70% residual beta cell function remaining, for instance (VERY common), do it now or else the diabetes is irreversible. … Note that the great majority of people on diabetes drugs–responsible for double-digit revenue growth in these diabetes drug manufacturers, recession be damned!–are taking them for a reversible, curable disease. ”
Is T2D really a “disease”, or is it just a largely predictable biologic response to a full-time moderate to high glycemic diet?
Caught early enough (no irreversible complications), the remissed individual is indistinguishable from someone who has never been even pre-diabetic.
With irreversible complications, it is still straightforward to control blood sugar via diet, and minimum or no meds. There might still be no difference between a formerly T2 diabetic follower of Wheat Belly than one who was never diabetic, other than that the formerly diabetic might have to be more strict about avoiding carb “cheat days”.
re: Is Heather is really not diabetic anymore? Isn’t she just in remission? That’s how I feel about my own condition.
Type 2 diabetes is more of a progressive syndrome. The first symptom is cellular insulin resistance. Pancreas beta cells make insulin. Cells use insulin to import blood glucose. Insulin resistance causes cells to starve, and causes the blood to fill with glucose.
High blood glucose causes the pancreas to make more insulin. With this syndrome glucose levels and insulin release spiral upward. After some amount of time tissue starts being damaged and destroyed by glucose. Pancreas beta cells get damaged by the glucose, and fatigued by trying to release too much insulin, so they start dying. The process curtails insulin release to smaller and smaller levels, so blood glucose spirals to higher and higher levels.
As you can see, the only way to avoid this cycle and avoid the damage is to avoid the insulin resistance. Dropping sugars and associated antigen proteins is the only way to do that. If you already have damaged beta cells that’s mostly irreversible, but the jury is still out. At the very least you need to stop the sugar and antigen protein intake, and limit the damage to its current level.
For the vast majority of type 2 diabetics the disease is self-inflicted. The solution is to stop causing it.
What I see, in almost every person’s ‘before and after’ pictures is
more than just the incredible shrinking person, but a change in
facial expression that seems to be more than just happiness.
There’s a look of relief, maybe sometimes from pain. But also
just that sense of knowing that a person has finally found
the path to improved health.
What a great report and all that progress in only 26 days. Keep up the good work and you will not be sorry. It gets easier to stick with it the more you see all the benefits.. I too have greatly benefited from the Wheat Belly lifestyle. But my Type 2 diabetes is a lot more stubborn. Even though most of my numbers are below what is considered normal It is an ugly animal and I still do daily combat against it. I saw my doc just yesterday when I proudly told him my numbers have been ranging between 85- 90 to 120 (mostly) and he informed me my numbers were too low. I should just try to keep them under 140. At least I was happy he told me to reduce the amount of Glipizide I am taking instead of telling me to eat more carbs like my friends doc told her. I really enjoy seeing these posts.
Re: But my Type 2 diabetes is a lot more stubborn.
What exactly is stubborn about it? Fasting BG under 100 mg/dl, which you are reporting here, is considered Normal (non-diabetic) even by the ADA.
Re: … my numbers have been ranging between 85- 90 to 120 (mostly) …
How about HbA1c?
WB targets, as you probably know, are:
. under 90 fasting
. Ideally no change postprandial (under 100 if any rise)
Re: … and he informed me my numbers were too low.
Did he say why? My non-professional view is that under 60 might be “too low”. Clueless consensus docs seem to be paranoid about risk of hypoglycemia, but once you have wound the meds to zero, that risk vanishes (for T2D – T1D and LADA require more care, and are really separate ailments, irrespective of convenient confounding by the ADA).
Re: I should just try to keep them under 140.
126 and up keeps you officially diabetic – the vicious circle mentioned by that TEDx presenter linked earlier on this thread.
Re: At least I was happy he told me to reduce the amount of Glipizide I am taking instead of telling me to eat more carbs like my friends doc told her.
Sounds like he’s beginning to detect hints of the world waking up to the truth about the great T2D scam.
My A1C is due in about 2 weeks. My last A1 C in February was 6.7 . And what I mean by it being stubborn is that it didn’t go away yet after being almost 6 months grain free. Even when my early morning fasting # are below 100, and it took a long time for those early morning fasting numbers to go below normal, after taking my dog for a walk for 30 – 40 minutes my blood sugar will go up to above normal without my having put one morsel of food in my mouth. It has gone as high as 140 a couple of weeks ago and just this morning it was 111 and after exercise it was 128. From what I understand my liver is making sugar and pumping it into my blood. All this reminds me that I am still a type 2 diabetic and I can’t get complacent. It is going to take more time for me. I have cut the dosage of Glipizide in half and so far so good. My goal is to be able to stop taking any diabetes medicine soon.
Re: My last A1 C in February was 6.7.
For reference, the WB target is 5.0% or less. The ADA’s A1c targets are a fatal folly.
Re: … being almost 6 months grain free.
Got an estimate for your daily net carb intake?
Are you losing weight (it will mess up labs until weight has stabilized for some time).
If net carb intake is above 50 grams, that’s clearly something to look at. If carbs are high, they need to be reduced carefully, due to the tendency for sulfonylureas (like Glipizide) to induce hypoglycemia.
Attending to gut flora is another thing everyone needs to do, and can easily have a profound role in reversing T2D.
Re: … after exercise it was 128.
The great and wise internet tells me that’s expected. The exercise provokes the liver to release glucose (and if someone has insulin resistance (IR), a centerpiece of T2D, the insulin really has no place to go, so the glucose just builds up in the blood).
Re: I have cut the dosage of Glipizide in half and so far so good.
Just reading about that drug (and sulfonylureas generally) for the first time, it appears that it’s sort of a substitute for insulin injections. It provokes the pancreas to produce more insulin. In a T2D scenario, doing either seems to me to entirely miss the point. The IR is preventing the insulin, however sourced, from doing its job, so why throw more at the problem.
If I were in your situation, I’d address all dietary and metabolic factors that provoke IR and T2D, add steps that can improve insulin sensitivity, monitor BG routinely, and carefully adjust meds down to no more than necessary, with an eye toward dialing them to zero. You appear to have come to the same conclusion.
Thank you so much for your feedback. It encourages me to keep on. In the last few months I have made some big changes. I have introduced cultured foods, kefir and fermented vegetables, into my diet. I only recently learned of the importance of prebiotics and started adding green bananas or a raw potato to my spinach and kefir smoothies, For about 2 weeks I have done intermittent fasting which seems to be helping to lower those early morning fasting BS#. I am amazed at how easy this is to do as I really don’t ever feel hungry. It is a good idea for me to do some more checking into exactly how many carbs I do consume. I have already cut out all that fruit I used to put in those smoothies and eat mostly green leafy veggies along with eggs, and meat and cheese. A dab of melon, a few berries as treats once in a while. I also use lemon juice on my veggies a lot. I have discovered that a cup of home made bone broth with my evening meal has helped to keep those early morning numbers lower. Something easy to do and delicious. I just guess I am a work in progress. It hasn’t been as easy for me as some but at my age (70) I am not to old to learn new things. I am thankful to have brought my blood sugars down from what they were before grain free became a way of life for me. Thanks again for your help and input.
Regardless of any attempts to discount the fact, the Wheat Belly diet’s biggest downward effect on insulin resistance comes from eliminating wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). Among other WGA effects WGA mimics insulin. It clogs up cellular insulin receptors, and prevents glucose from entering cells.
This property comes from the fact that WGA is a lectin. Concavalin A (Con A) is another food lectin whose effects on insulin resistance and blood glucose are virtually identical to WGA. Con A is found in legumes (peanuts, peas and beans).
Re: … eliminating wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). Among other WGA effects WGA mimics insulin. … WGA is a lectin.
Anyone researching WGA can easily find an eyeful. There are grain skeptics who think it’s a bigger problem than gluten. Anyone who wants to avoid WGA needs to avoid wheat, rice, barley and rye at a minimum, and most other grasses contain strongly similar lectins.
Re: Concavalin A (Con A) is another food lectin … Con A is found in legumes (peanuts, peas and beans).
Are the concentrations of Con A comparable to WGA in grains?
There are also chitin-binding lectins in tomato and potato. People allergic to these might be reacting to more than the glycoalkaloids. It looks like all of the lectin-bearing plants are avoided in various auto-immune protocol diets.
re: … another great example of how conventional dietary advice to have diet dominated by “healthy whole grains” is a way to cause diabetes.
A few mainstream MDs are finally starting to connect the obvious dots on the casual link between full-time glycemic diet and the totally optional and usually reversible T2D. Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt linked to a recent TEDx talk at:
http://www.dietdoctor.com/reversing-type-2-diabetes-starts-with-ignoring-the-guidelines
Dr. Hallberg doesn’t seem to have any awareness of other hazards in diet (such as those related to grains), but she’s nailed the BG-provoking food problem, and figured out that the low fat emperor has no clothes. Something like progress.