Here’s a proposal for you: If, by following the Wheat Belly lifestyle, a long list of conditions are reduced or reversed at no risk, almost no cost, reversing even chronic and potentially fatal conditions . . . does that mean that the notion of self-directed health might be on the horizon, i.e., putting control over health back in our own hands?
I think it does. No, we will never implant our own defibrillators or take out our own gallbladders. But so many chronic health conditions afflicting modern humans recede that I believe that it is entirely reasonable to start talking about following this program as a means of not just dropping a few sizes in yoga pants, but also taking back control over a multitude of health conditions. Having spent over 25 years in the healthcare system, I can also tell you that much of what goes on in healthcare has little to do with health, but has plenty to do with delivering drugs, procedures, and other revenue-generating activities to benefit the healthcare system.
Here is therefore a list of conditions that are caused by wheat and grain consumption (especially products made from modern semi-dwarf wheat strains), reversed or minimized with their removal. Note that this list overlaps substantially with the list of conditions virtually unknown in non-grain consuming cultures but plague such people to extraordinary degrees when they are exposed to Western foods. Believe it or not, this is not a complete list, leaving out some obscure conditions.
This is not to say that, for example, every instance of sarcoidosis or CREST Syndrome will reverse. But, as I often point out, there is NOTHING lost in trying—there are no toxic intravenous drugs here, no one develops side-effects like type 2 diabetes, liver failure, or sudden cardiac death from this lifestyle, even though these are well-known side-effects of common drugs. I would be far more reluctant to start a modern drug for, say, rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn’s disease than I would in starting this lifestyle. The only downside I know of is . . . inconvenience. And even that is minimal for those of us who have simply learned to prepare more of our own foods, shop more selectively, etc.—not a big price to pay to be relieved of so many health conditions.
Acanthosis nigricans
Acid reflux
Acne
Allergy
Alopecia areata
Ankylosing spondylitis
Anxiety
Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome
Addison’s disease
Asthma
Autoimmune hemolytic anemia
Autoimmune hepatitis
Autoimmune inner ear disease
Autoimmune pancreatitis
Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura
Barrett’s esophagitis
Bile stasis
Binge eating disorder
Bipolar illness (manic phase primarily)
Bulimia
Cardiomyopathy (dilated or congestive)
Celiac disease
Cerebellar ataxia
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Constipation, obstipation
CREST syndrome
Coronary disease, angina
Crohn’s disease
Cutaneous vasculitis
Dandruff
Dental plaque, gingivitis
Depression
Dermatitis herpetiformis
Dermatomyositis
Diabetes, type 2 (potentially type 1 if changes instituted before pancreatic inflammation/beta cell destruction complete)
Discoid lupus
Dysbiosis
Eczema
Erythema nodosum
Esophagitis, esophageal spasm
Fatigue
Fatty liver
Fibromyalgia
Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome
Gallstones, bile stasis
Gastroparesis
Gluten encephalopathy
Grave’s disease
Hair loss, non-immune
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
Heartburn
Hypertension
Hypertriglyceridemia
Hypochlorhydria
Icthyosiform dermatoses
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura
IgA nephropathy
Insulin-dependent diabetes (type I)
Iron deficiency anemia
Irritable bowel syndrome
Juvenile arthritis
Metabolic syndrome
Migraine headache
Mixed connective tissue disease
Multiple sclerosis
Myasthenia gravis
Myocarditis
Non-alcoholic liver disease
Obesity, overweight
Obstipation
Peripheral neuropathy
Pernicious anemia
Plantar fasciitis
Polyarteritis nodosa
Polychondritis
Polymyalgia rheumatica
Polymyositis dermatomyositis
Pre-diabetes
Primary biliary cirrhosis
Psoriasis
Raynaud’s syndrome
Reiter’s syndrome
Rheumatoid arthritis
Sarcoidosis
Schizophrenia, paranoid (limited to reduction of paranoia, auditory hallucinations)
Scleroderma
Seborrhea
Seizures, primarily temporal lobe
SICCA syndrome
Sjögren’s syndrome
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Temporal arteritis
Ulcerative colitis
Uveitis
Vasculitis
Vitiligo
Wegener’s granulomatosis
I notice that this post leaves off temporal arteritis, or Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA). Fortunately an older list includes it.
https://drdavisinfinitehealth.com/2013/10/gliadin-the-universal-human-poison/
Giant Cell Arteritis is important to me because I am currently fending off a case of GCA with a diet which includes Wheat Belly, but is far more carb-restrictive. The alternative to dietary treatment starts with removing my temporal artery just to confirm the diagnosis. Then I would get to take steroids for a year, kill off my immune system, and subject me to a list of chronic diseases.
No thanks.
Uncle Roscoe wrote: «I notice that this post leaves off temporal arteritis…»
Among others, but keep in mind that the list is limited to:
“…caused by wheat and grain consumption…reversed or minimized with their removal…”
And I suspect further limited to those conditions for which there is enough evidence of cause and remission that it is not misleading to suggest the WB approach to anyone so afflicted.
A list that included suspect conditions would presumably be much longer. If the list were to include conditions for which WB is merely protective, it would be longer still. GCA might show up on one of those.
In the case of GCA (which I’d not heard until your comment), the suspected causes of that evidently include a virus (VZV). A diet is apt to be protective there only to the extent that it enhances immune function and knocks the virus down fast.
If already past that opportunity, a diet that reduces arterial inflammation might be at the top of the list of things to try before going under the knife. Avoiding Omega 6 LA (Linoleic Acid), a pervasive modern PUFA, might take on more importance (and is part of the WB approach, albeit one that doesn’t get as much attention as grains, carbs and microbiome).
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Bob, Thanks for the Varicella zoster-to-GCA connection. With all of my immune symptoms I have no doubt that VZV is one of my contributing factors.
I’ve mulled many causes for my sinusitis, brow, temple and neck pain, and tinnitus. They include my ongoing neurofibromatosis type 1, neuromyelitis optica, pseudotumor ceribri, thoracic outlet syndrome, multiple sclerosis and plain old sinusitis. Giant cell arteritis fits the symptoms best. Plus, the symptoms respond to diet. That points a finger at autoimmunity, and giant cell arteritis is an autoimmune condition. The autoimmune connection fits handily with varicella zoster.
I read about a recent discovery of a brain mechanism which shrinks the temporal lobes in order to allot space for swolen sinuses. The mechanism serves as a junction for facial nerves, and is implicated in facial palsies. I’ve sworn for a long time that my temporal lobes shrink in reaction to whatever is inflaming my brow. When they shrink they start hurting.
That´s an impressive list, and I have experienced a number of these conditions in the past. You may also add “episcleritis” in this list. Those of us who are genetically prone to develop rheumatoid arthritis, may occasionally also get this nasty eye condition. Living a lifestyle without gluten containing grains, I have just had to live without these conditions, as well.
Following this life style change, I have also lost dental calculus (this could, however, be due to the overall lower carbohydrate intake), inexplicable nose bleedings that I have had since I was a small child, irregular menstrual cycles, and mouth ulcers.
Absolutely, and I am living proof of it. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease 20 years ago, and have endured multiple surgeries, every drug you can imagine and an indescribable amount of pain. In 2014, I happened across your book Dr. Davis, in an airport bookshop. When I broached the subject with my GI, her words were “I would never prescribe a gluten free diet to help… It’s just too expensive”. To make an incredibly long story short, I am happy to report that a scope I had done in May 2015 showed “no active disease”. In fact, my GI even repeated the test last month, just to confirm. Still no issues. And I am seeing my surgeon next week, to book a date to reverse an ileostomy he did in April 2014. I feel better than I have felt in 20 years…. So absolutely, I’m ALL FOR self-directed health!!!!
Christine Neurauter wrote: «…a scope I had done in May 2015 showed “no active disease”.»
Outstanding.
«And I am seeing my surgeon next week, to book a date to reverse an ileostomy he did in April 2014.»
If you don’t mind my asking, surgically, what makes that option possible?
Wheat Belly is, of course, primarily focused on avoiding optional ailments, and failing that reversing them. In the case of intestinal ailments, today’s news reminds us that it’s not just the ailment that avoidance avoids:
MedPageToday: Colonoscopy Complications Occur at Surprisingly High Rate
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Gastroenterology/GeneralGastroenterology/56204
File it under “first, do no harm”.
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What makes the reversal possible? Well, I’m not a surgeon so I’m sure I don’t have the most accurate response, but when he originally did the ileostomy, he did it with the intention that if the active disease settled down, that he could reverse it; and if not, they would go in and make it permanent. So what physically makes it possible…. I guess it’s in how the original surgery is done (bypass versus removal?)
Christine Neurauter wrote: «What makes the reversal possible? … (bypass versus removal?)»
That would explain it. Thanks.
In any case, restoration of a healthy microbiome looks like something that will need to be approached with great caution, and will take a while. You’re apt to be on various courses of antibiotics for some time.
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