Remember Kristen and her husband Marvin? I shared their story last year after Kristen lost a substantial amount of weight and enjoyed a wheat- and grain-free wedding celebration. Kristen and Marvin are back with an update:
“We’d never thought that we would be writing you in this capacity but today, August 3rd, is our 3-year Wheat Belly Anniversary. We are simply gratified with all that we have gone through, to not only have done it, but maintain it. Together, we have lost a total of 110 pounds. I have lost 85 pounds and my husband, 25. Just a month ago, my doctor named me her top patient in cholesterol out of 1500 patients. My husband has lowered and is maintaining his blood pressure and my sciatica nerve has improved so much, that we can hike for miles on end.
“We have not only traveled numerous times in the past 3 years from Los Angeles to Boston and vice versa to care for my mother, but since her death, our health has become more important than ever. This grief has been so treacherous for me personally and, even through that, we are marking this incredible anniversary.
“Not only did we have a wheat-free wedding last year, but we provide organic wheat-free meals at our Bi-Annual Glam Nights in the Domestic Violence Community. We live it, we breathe it, we cook it and we eat it. Our families have said that we are a living example of health and they have joined this movement with us. We now are officially known as “EatMeetnGreet,” where we bring health and wellness into the community.
“We are grateful for you, Dr. Davis. We are in this together and not only fighting for our health, but for the people in our community as well. We are living proof that it can be done at 40 and 46, respectively.
“We started in the beginning and what a beautiful community of people whom we have met through Wheat Belly, who are now lifelong friends.”
Kristen and Marvin provide living proof that this wheat/grain-free lifestyle can indeed be practiced in a community, even carrying them through a wedding. How can people around them NOT sit up and take notice with their 110-pound weight loss, health improvements, and their glowing good health seen in their photographs?
Kristen: “….my sciatica nerve has improved so much, that we can hike for miles on end.”
You can have total relief from sciatica. Yes, a Wheat Belly-style diet will help. I’m convinced that 90+% of sciatica is caused by piriformis syndrome. I had it, and cured myself.
Humans evolved our upright gait wading in ice-age marine shore waters while foraging for seafood. So right away you know you need two things, cold and seafood. Eat the seafood, and apply the cold to where it hurts. I used frozen peas and carrots for cold.
The piraformis muscle attaches from the front of the pelvis to the outside rear at the top of the femur. The piraformis must traverse through a hole in the pelvis called the sciatic foramen. The piraformis pulls a laterally spread leg back in to standing position. The sciatic nerves leave the spinal column at a couple of lumbar joints. They extend down the spine to the pelvis. Then they turn laterally, running out to the legs along the piraformis muscle. The piraformis has two parts, and the sciatic has two parts.
As you can imagine there are four ways this bundle can be stacked going through the foramen: psps, pssp, spps, and spsp. Each of these ways presents with different symptoms when piraformis swelling traps the sciatic nerves against the sciatic formen. In some configurations piraformis syndrome causes the sciatic nerve to tug on the leg nerve. In other configurations piraformis syndrome causes the sciatic nerve to tug on the spinal nerve.
The most important treatment comes from a tennis ball. Slump down into an easy chair, tilted toward the side where it hurts. Place the tennis ball under where it hurts. Roll around on the tennis ball. Bend your knee forward, and rotate it across your body, then roll on the tennis ball some more. This pulls the piraformis muscle out of the pelvis where you can get to it..
You said that you have sciatica while walking. This means your left piraformis is likely the inflamed one. How do I know? Piraformis inflammation is caused by breakdown of the collagen on the muscle face. Collagen is a complex right-wound helical protein. On the left side the piraformis twists and winds up the fascia collagen as you stand. On the right side the piraformis twists and winds up the fascia collagen as you sit.
The purpose of the three steps, fish oil, cold and tennis ball, is to break up old collagen and replace it with new collagen.
I’m glad that you mentioned blood pressure because I can’t find any references to blood pressure, especially high BP, when searching the blog. (If I’m just being blind could someone please provide the links?)
I’ve been on Wheat Belly for three months now (discovered WB after six weeks of going gluten-free). My inflammation is gone, no more edema, sleeping SO much better, lost 24 lbs. But…my BP is on an upward trend rather than downward. This past Friday my cardiologist told me I no longer have PAFib. but he also told me to schedule an appt with my GP to discuss managing my BP because my diastolic (sp) is running 85-93.
I really don’t want to go on HTN meds (was on hydroclorothiozide several years ago) but if WB WOE (along with my essential oils and supplements) doesn’t reverse this trend it will become necessary.
Dr. Davis, could you please address HTN in conjunction with WB? I’m trying to understand what’s going on and if I’m doing something [unaware] incorrectly. Thank you!
re: I can’t find any references to blood pressure, especially high BP, when searching the blog.
It doesn’t arise often here. It’s a topic in Wheat Belly Total Health (primarily pages 217-219). It’s also a topic of its own on the Cureality site.
re: (along with my essential oils and supplements)
What are those?
Suggested approaches include supplementing Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Omega 3 DHA&EPA at usual WB levels, and ensuring that thyroid function is optimal. Don’t expect BP normalization during weight loss. Wean off BP meds carefully.
Due to its evolution from the heart-centric TrackYourPlaque site, Cureality has some additional supplement suggestions apparently not necessary in most cases.
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Thank you for your quick response!
re: It doesn’t arise often here. It’s a topic in Wheat Belly Total Health (primarily pages 217-219). It’s also a topic of its own on the Cureality site.
I read the first book – WHEAT BELLY – so perhaps I need to buy and read WBTH also. I will also check out the information on the Cureality site.
re [Essential Oils] What are those?
I am using specific [doTERRA] essential oils and blends that have properties that support cardiovascular function. I am also taking magnesium (using Dr. Davis’s recipe), vitamin D3, Omega 3’s, bone supplement that contains Vit D – all of which are highly bio-available.
re: Don’t expect BP normalization during weight loss.
That is good to know, especially since I know that my average weight loss of 8 lbs per month means that I will be in this phase for several more months. My familial history is full of cardiovascular issues – strokes and heart attacks so I know that that also plays a part.
re: Wean off BP meds carefully.
When I got off my previous HTN medication it was under my doctor’s supervision. I just don’t want to have to take anything again, I tend to experience the less-common side-effects of medications, so I prefer “natural” methods when possible.
re: I read the first book – WHEAT BELLY – so perhaps I need to buy and read WBTH also.
WBTH is much wider in scope, and is the book to get, until Dr. Davis writes another. It’s a superset of WB, although with far fewer recipes.
re: I will also check out the information on the Cureality site.
That is a subscription site, so I’m not sure how much will be visible.
re: I am using specific [doTERRA] essential oils and blends that have properties that support cardiovascular function.
Without knowing the specific products, I can’t conjecture on the claims, but I can’t say I’m terribly enthused by what I see on their site.
re: I am also taking … bone supplement that contains Vit D – all of which are highly bio-available.
Does that supplement contain calcium, and if so, in what form? Wheat Belly advocates getting Ca from food. Ca supplements tend to end up everywhere except bones, and might be a particular hazard to someone with a genetic predisposition to cardiovascular disease. The jury is still out on the calcium hydroxyapatite form.
re: My familial history is full of cardiovascular issues – strokes and heart attacks so I know that that also plays a part.
Have you have a genetic assessment for risk factors?
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I am able to control my blood pressure with magnesium, potassium and vitamin D supplements. I have been able to get it from 160/100 down to 115/70 (fluctuates of course, that an average) in 5-7 days by using supplements. Sugar is what will send my BP soaring upward. I cheated last Monday with a brownie and within 24 hours I was starting over again to get sugar out of my system and bring BP back down. I have never taken BP meds.
re: I am able to control my blood pressure with magnesium, potassium and vitamin D supplements.
If you aren’t getting 3000-3600 mg of Omega 3 DHA&EPA, look into it. BP isn’t the only thing it’s helpful for.
re: Sugar is what will send my BP soaring upward.
Reducing blood glucose is the #1 thing to do to reduce BP.
re: I cheated last Monday with a brownie and within 24 hours …
If that was a conventional brownie, there was wheat exposure as well. Even gluten-free, most of the GF brownies sold at retail today would just be sky high gly, and boost BP.
re: I have never taken BP meds.
I’m not a BP expert, but on the Cureality site, meds aren’t even listed as a last resort, suggesting that BP can be controlled with diet and lifestyle in virtually all cases. Checking a sample of anti-HT meds, they seem to have the usual array of horrible side effects well worth avoiding.
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You did not mention your age. This is just one article on studies that say aggressive lowering of blood pressure, especially diastolic, in the elderly, and possibly most people in general is not always beneficial and may be harmful. It may be good to talk this over with your doctors.
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/34/Supplement_2/S308.full
Below is a quote from the conclusion.
Recent guideline recommendations to lower BP to <140/90 mmHg in all hypertensive patients, including the elderly, and to <130/80 mmHg in diabetic and high-risk patients is not based on solid evidence. It is clear that lowering SBP to 140 mmHg is beneficial, but there is no evidence that lowering BP to <140 mmHg in all patients adds benefit. The blood pressure target should be determined according to the patients’ global risk and accompanied diseases. Lowering SBP to <140 mmHg may be prudent in diabetic and high-risk patients. Lowering BP too much is associated with more side effects and may be dangerous. This scenario may be especially true in the elderly with isolated systolic hypertension.
Have both WheatBelly Cookbooks. What’s the best way to get started?
«Have both Wheat Belly Cookbooks. What’s the best way to get started?»
Do you have Wheat Belly Total Health? The question you ask is the topic of Chapters 6 & 7, to which I might add some further transitional tips:
Examine your current meals. Work out net carbs. Pay close attention to net carbs and ingredients until you don’t need to.
Figure out which meals are already OK, which could be made healthier with some substitutions, and which are basically lost causes (for which find replacements in the cookbooks).
Start shopping differently, on your next trip to the market. There’s no point buying any more adverse food-like substances that you’ll quickly decide that you’ll never eat again. But, expect to make some mistakes, particularly those found in the Ingredients fine print of processed foods.
Depending on where you live, finding suitable real foods and safe cooking ingredients in local markets could be a challenge. Where we live, the nearest Natural Grocer is 80 miles away, so we stock up from Vitacost and Amazon on a regular basis.
Have some safe snacks on hand at all times. Most of the WB mimics for cookies, cupcakes, muffins, pie, cake, cheesecake, etc. freeze well. Quest bars are OK, but be sure to see:
https://www.cureality.com/forum/topics.aspx?ID=18058
Cheese is worth considering, with various caveats.
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