Wheat Belly Cookbook: 150 Recipes To Help You Lose The Wheat, Los

It took me a while to get started with this cookbook. You know you have to rearrange your kitchen supplies and appliances each time you start a new kind of food regimen. But when I did I discovered that this diet is good for my dietetic husband and of course, for my heart problemed mother.

A little digression: I must say that I also discovered, not from this cook book but by reading the side effects of my my mom's prescriptions that they are causing all of her health problems, including irregular heartbeat, dizziness, tunnel vision, ect.., The latter ones cause her to fall, which is the number one reason, falling, for seniors to die. Can one conclude that we have a health care industry that causes disease, I would say yes. We eliminated all but one of my mom's prescriptions with herbs and food alone. Her indigestion prescription actually caused recurring indigestion. All disease starts in the gut!

But food and herbs, and such things as PEMF machines (thins the blood, ends blood coagulation), can be used with safely to bring about health. None of which the AMA recommends for health problems. Is Big pharma attempting to keep the AMA doctors in money due to continuous health problems from their disease causing chemicals? I think so. (Would this not be a War Crime and Crime Against Humanity as defined by International Law? Answer: Yup! Thank god there are two tribunals coming up which will deal with this. I can't wait.)

Now back to the book. Reading some of the excellent information about ingredients, such as cocnut flour pgs. 66, 67-68, etc., leads me to believe that this book was written by a professional in food science, and not Dr. Davis. If so, I would like to know her name for other books or papers from her.

Recipes are genius. The bread, while a bit expensive (you can search for cheaper sources of ingredients) and time-consuming sometimes are great. I do wish she had included more salads, of the raw (for food-digesting enzymes) and green leafy type, especially cole slaw which my husband loves. I love the wasabi cream sauce which I used much more wasabi and vinegar than the recipe calls for, for my grilled corned beef and Swiss cheese sandwiches. Recipes are very filling, especially the bread, and no indigestion. I can live with this diet and all the while heal my family and myself.

And thank you Dr. Davis for caring about our health and not just going along with the program. You and Dr. Perlmutter are the best things going on in health in a long time.

I Don't Usually Buy Cookbooks. Usually, I Just Read the Recipes on the Web or Read a Kindle Book and I'm Developed Hundreds of My Own Gluten Free Recipes and Converted Recipes to Gluten Free. The Only Reason I Purchased This Book Was Because of All The Hype I'd Heard About the Author and His Books. I Pretty Much Thought I Was an Authority on Gluten, Celiac Disease and the Problems with Wheat and Grains in the Diets of People, Even Those Without Allergies and Intolerances. There Couldn't Possibly Be Anything I'd Learn in This Book.

The Author Proved Me Wrong. Nearly 3 1/2 Years Ago, When I Went Totally Wheat Free and Lost 102 Pounds (I Also Cut Out Processed Foods and Ate No More Than 3 to 4 Ounces of Meat a Day) I Was Able To Go Off Narcotic Pain Meds, Cut Diabetic Medication over 80%, Arthritis Medication, 1600 mg Neurontin Daily and Medication for GERD . I Was Taking So Much Medication, I Had to Wean Off It and Still Had Withdrawal Side Effects That Were Terrible. I Still Have Allergies, Because I'm Allergic to So Many Foods & Substances. But, Going Wheat Free and Cutting Out Corn and Most Grains Helped All My Other Problems Tremendously and Even Improved Most of My Allergies and COPD. At the Time I Went Wheat Free, Doctors had me on 27 Meds. I'm Now on 6 and That's Mainly for Allergies & Asthma and Blood Pressure (the Allergy Meds Kick That Up) Some Days My Blood Sugar is So Low, I Have to Go Without Any Medication. DIET IS MEDICINE.

When I Read This Book, There Were a Lot of Things I Learned that I Didn't Know and So Many Good Recipes, I've Dog Eared About a Quarter of the Book. I Come Back to it Again & Again. Of All the Great Recipes, Probably My Favorite is the TURKEY SAUSAGE Recipe. You Make it With Ground Turkey and It's Fantastic. That One Recipe is Worth the Price of the Book. I Make It Almost Weekly and When My Store Has a Manger's Special on Ground Turkey Cheap, I Make Up a Bunch Of The Patties and Freeze Them. Then, I Like To Crumble One Up Sometimes in a Few Egg Whites with a Little Nutritional Yeast. It's Much Better Than It Sounds. Of Course, You Could Use Cheddar Cheese, Instead of The Nutritional Yeast or Omit it Entirely. I've Even Played Around With the Ingredients and Made a Version of Italian Sausage Out of that I Love on My Cauliflower/Zucchini Pizza Crust.. The Book is Full of Recipes You'll Go Back To Again and Again.

Several Years Ago, I Thought I Had No Problems With Wheat. My Grandmother Had Celiac Disease, But I'd Been Tested For "Wheat" as Part of My Allergy Testing and it was Negative. It Wasn't Until a Few Years Later That an Immunologist Told Me That You Can STILL Be Allergic, Because You're Only Tested For 3 Allergens and There are 27 Allergens in Modern Wheat. You Only Get Tested For the Three. So, Do Not Assume that Because Your Allergy Tests Showed You Weren't Allergic That You're Free and Clear. I Thought it Was Odd That I Was allergic to Just About Every Kind of Tree, Every Kind of Grass, Corn, Every Other Kind of Grain I Was Tested For, But Not Wheat. Once I Abstained From Wheat, My Entire System Changed.

Plus, this Author Has Included Helpful Sections That Are REALLY Helpful. He Even Included a Section on Where to Go on the Internet to Find Out if Your Meds Have Wheat In Them and I Found Out TWO Of Mine Had Wheat And One Had Guar Gum In It as a Binder That I'm Extremely Allergic To. I've Asked My Pharmacist Over And Over and Was Told There Was No Way Of Knowing the ADDED ingredients in the Medications (Binders, Etc.) But Apparently There Is. If You Buy and Read Just ONE BOOK on Celiac Disease or Wheat Sensitivity, This Should Be It. ★Thank You For Reading My Review.

The Wheat Belly cookbook consists of a brief overview of the book Wheat Belly, plus 150 recipes to help you on your way to a wheat free diet.

In 2011 I was diagnosed with a slow moving form of incurable leukemia. One of the first things I did was to eliminate all gluten and wheat from my diet, along with all processed foods. I immediately felt better, lighter, more energetic...as if the lights were coming back on inside my body.

Within just a couple of months I had lost the 30 extra pounds I had been carrying around with me for the past several years, my brain fog disappeared, my skin started to glow, my hair responded by trading in its dull texture for shine and health. The transition was nearly miraculous.

I still have leukemia, but I am living now, instead of barely surviving. And while it has not gone into spontaneous remission, it has stalled instead of continuing to move forward in severity as it should have done.

I would say that this book could easily work as a stand alone. All of the important information from Wheat Belly can be found here, plus the recipes to get you going.

If you are tired of feeling sick and tired but cannot find the reason, tired of paying for physician visits when they continue to tell you there is nothing wrong, or tired of living unwell with a chronic illness, weight gain, or autoimmune disease, this book is for you.

Prepare to be outraged by the facts. We are being fed a line of bull when it comes to what we should be putting into our bodies. The food pyramid is backwards, inside out, and upside down. The author contends that wheat, which he terms a "Frankengrain" due to the fact that it has been modified beyond recognition, is not the wholesome food it is portrayed to be. On the contrary, the protein found in this wheat has properties that are addictive, keeping us coming back for more..and more...and more...to an excess that shows up on our waistlines and in our bodies overall health, and worse it is found in nearly every food on the grocery store shelves.

The author explains how our expensive medical maladies such as "...hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, arthritis, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, depression, diabetes, various forms of neurological impairment, and on and on..." is caused by wheat consumption.

Better than all of the information though are the recipes. Even a bakery section which provides instruction for creating things like brownies and chocolate chip cookies that are wheat free, sugar free and are really really tasty!

The Wheat Belly Cookbook is really all you need to understand the why and the how of living wheat free.

My husband got Wheat Belly from the library before Christmas based on a conversation he had with a co-worker who credited the gluten-free diet with many of her health improvements. I'm 50 yrs old ; As a midwesterner with plenty of family and friends who farm corn, soybeans and wheat, I admit I wasn't happy to read all the food scientists and manufacturers have done in genetically modifying such important grains. But wow, learning about today's wheat and how it's modified and changed into...basically a toxin--got my attention. So I decided to go gluten-free for just 10 days. If I don't feel any different, I thought, at least I tried it. WELL I am 9 weeks into totally gluten-free and am AMAZED at how much better I feel!!! I've had chronic candida for 5-6 years now (oral thrush, yuck) and developed toe nail fungus 3 years ago. Spent a few hundred dollars going to dermatologists and podiatrists and other doctors for prescriptions and treatments trying to rid myself of these problems. Within one week of going gluten-free, my oral thrush AND my toe nail fungus were visibly improved. Also, I lost 2 lbs that first week and felt so much more energetic, even into the late evening. More mentally focused throughout the day too! over the past several weeks my thrush and toe nails continue to improve and I am looking forward to wearing open-toe sandals this summer for the first time in 3 years! also, I've lost 9 lbs now and have made a new friend with a seamstress because I've had to take in the waist of 7 pairs of suit slack and 2-3 skirts I need to fit right for work. Losing weight around my waist, and without exercise or counting calories, was another big surprise! There are several good recipes in this book that are easy to make (we like the spinach tomato quiche, the pancakes, and the cauliflower mashed potatoes, yummy) bottom line: give the gluten-free diet a try for 10 days and see for yourself!!

I have been using this cookbook A LOT! Also appreciate his explanations which tell WHY our modern wheat is so hard on us (and if it is hard on us, it is hard on our pets as well). 48 chromosomes in diploid order (3 strands). Shoot, our bodies only have two strands of chromosomes. Three is practically a monster.

The big list of massive immune disorders surprised even me. Spinal stenosis, stuttering, and many more are discussed, and "Franken-wheat's" role in them is exposed. Turns out even Spelt isn't all that old, in the scheme of things, at 24 chromosomes. Emmer and einkorn are more like the original wheat, however wheat STILL can inflame joints, cause asthma, and a list of other troubles. If you think the old-time wheat of the Egyptians did them any good, Google what they found when they scanned many old Egyptian mummies. (What they rarely found was cancer by the way.)

This cookbook has been especially helpful to me, as I have had to eat the "Paleo Diet" way and will be doing that for the rest of my life. Grains and sugars are no longer my friend (sigh). But it turns out that our modern wheat is no one's friend either!

No one wants to give up pancakes, waffles, bread, pie, etc. for the rest of their lives! Well, I surely do not. This cookbook gave me a good bread recipe, as well as recipes for other "traditionally floury" things. Pie crust, pancakes, waffles, cookies, etc. I like these recipes better than those which utilize coconut flour or the "gluten free" rice flour mixes because this has far less simple carbs and frankly, I got really, REALLY tired of the taste of coconut after a while. It was EVERYWHERE when you try baking with it.

This is my #1 "go-to" book for day-to-day eating. It tells you what you will want to avoid and why. It tells you what to substitute in its place so you are not going without.

The benefits? Well, I cook from it, on the Paleo Diet, but do minimize fruit, and eat half an avocado with my daily salads (avocado seems to cause the body to burn fat, once you have rebuilt the cells which make your body able to utilize protein, as carbohydrates are the fuel of choice). I have been burning fat day and night--however it took my body about 2-3 weeks to organize itself to be able to burn the fat in the first place.

This is the one cookbook that I wanted a paper copy of, and the only one I keep on the kitchen counter.

I am glad I checked both this cookbook and the book out of the library before purchase because the cookbook is much more practical. You get a lot of great recipies (Both the Coq Au Vin and the cheddar biscuits are AMAZING!) as well as all the important facts and scientific information you need to make an informed decision. My doctor recommended I try it even though I did not TEST allergic to wheat, I seem to react to it. My husband needed to lose 50 pounds and he lost 30 in 2 months by just going completely grain free and my using the bread substitutes in HERE instead of junk-filled store bought gluten free bread. An added bonus was the plaque psoriasis he has struggled with for years, getting stronger and stronger prescription creams from the dermatologist, actually started FALLING OFF within a month! In two months one elbow was completely new pink skin, and the other elbow almost healed...without ANY medication! We started eating grains and wheat again while on vacation and within two weeks the psoriasis is back. Amazing! For me, all the inflammation I had problems with (joint pain, bowel issues, etc) disappeared within 2 months of going grain free, and after allowing wheat and corn back in I am having problems with both again, plus I realize I had LOTS more energy when I followed the suggestions in the book vs. eating grains. I live in a paradise for gardening, and not eating fresh corn is a tough one, plus the convenience of sandwiches when traveling is hard to give up, but there is definitely a price to pay. BUY THE COOKBOOK!

It's hard to review just the book so my review encompasses the overall diet and quality of recipes as well.

The book starts with a compelling, well documented argument against consuming wheat. Dr. David contends that wheat is the underlying culprit behind everything from diabetes to sore joints to mental illness and backs it up with lots of credible evidence. You will look at wheat in a whole new light after reading the first part of this book.

The recipes are also well written, the ones I used seemed accurate and there are nice photos (although it seems to me they are a bit exaggerated in trying to make these recipes look appealing to eat).

My problem is that the diet laid out in this book and the original "Wheat Belly" book is incredibly strict and unrealistic in today's world. The rules of the diet are such that users are trapped in a little box of the "right foods" that is expensive, inconvenient and almost impossible to adhere to.

Staying away from wheat? It can be done. There are lots of gluten-free ready to eat foods these days. But wait - Dr. Davis says you must also virtually eliminate corn meal, rice and other grain carbohydrates as well as off the shelf gluten-free stuff. That leads me to the story of the $7 loaf of bread...

After a week on this diet, I was craving some sort of bread product - even a cracker. So I trudged off to my local Trader Joe's to find the ingredients used in the recipe for bread - and they had virtually none of them. Luckily my grocery store had most of the stuff. So I bought a pound of almond flour (a staple of many of the recipes), some milled flaxseeds, garbanzo bean flour, and a few other needed items including enough eggs to feed a small army. (Note on this diet, you'd better love eggs or you'll starve to death. I recommend investing in your own chicken.) Then I made the Focaccia bread, which really wasn't too bad. A day or two later I made the Basic Bread recipe. It had the look and consistency of banana bread - dark, flat loaf, with a crumbly yet rubbery texture. It even tasted like un-sweet banana bread. It was okay with butter spread on it, but was awful with peanut butter.

So now I've invested about three hours and about $30 in ingredients (of which I used about half) to make two (small) loaves of bread. Doing the math, a loaf of bread costs about $7.50 or so.

The bread is just one part of this diet that is difficult or impossible to follow. You can also make cauliflower "mashed potatoes" which are another staple of a carb-free diet. That's another half-hour to full hour.

And on the eighth day, I gave up. I had a REAL pizza, and man, it was amazing. I had no cramps, bloating or other "wheat symptoms" that Dr. Davis warns of. I've decided to minimize wheat (and all carbs) in my diet, but not to go off the deep end like this diet requires. After all, we all die sometime and as they say, "getting there is half the fun."

Dr. Davis has succeeded in drawing attention to the dangers of wheat and the benefits of a low-carb diet beyond what I thought possible. He builds a convincing case against this new plant that he says shouldn't even be called "wheat," and he documents most of his arguments with supportive research. I was already avoiding most grains and decided to eliminate wheat after reading Wheat Belly. I have been following a low-carb lifestyle and writing about it for over 13 years, so it wasn't a radical change for me.

I do have a major concern about both of the Wheat Belly books, however. Ten out of the 29 recipes in the original Wheat Belly call for flax, as do most of the recipes in the new cookbook. Flax meal has become a staple food for many who want to avoid wheat. It is used in gluten-free baked goods and as a flour substitute in low-carb foods. It is also used as a replacement for eggs in low-fat and vegan recipes and as a supplement to provide fiber and omega-3 fats. Many people are eating it in great quantities, thinking it is the ultimate superfood or, as one writer said to me, "The most powerful food on the planet."

A closer look shows some pretty scary stuff about flax, rancidity, for one. Flax contains very fragile oils that are easily damaged by heat, light, air, and time. It should be stored in the refrigerator and used promptly. Only fresh, ripe, freshly-ground seeds are safe to eat, so obviously, cooking with flax is not a good idea.

Flax has a lot in common with soy, once the darling of the healthfood crowd. Both soy and flax contain estrogen mimics. (An extract of soy is used as hormone replacement therapy for treating menopause symptoms.) These plants produce hormones as a way to defend themselves from predators (like us) by disrupting the endocrine system of those who eat them so they can't reproduce. Eating a lot of plant estrogens might not be such a good thing, especially for men.

Soy, a byproduct of the vegetable oil industry, has been heavily marketed as a health food since the 1990s. Flax seed comes from the kind of plant used for making linen. Neither were staple foods in any traditional society. A 1998 study from Cornell conducted by vegan advocate and author of The China Study, T. Collin Campbell, reported that the Japanese ate less than 2 teaspoons of soy protein per day. (Celibate monks, who use soy and a vegetarian diet to reduce libido, are an exception.)

In addition to soy, which is already ubiquitous in our food supply, pesticides, plastics such as Bisphenol A (BPA), and chemicals like perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA), also contain these hormone-like chemicals and the dose is cumulative. BPA and PFOA, the so-called gender benders, have been linked to breast cancer, fertility problems, and other hormone related illnesses.

While both flax and soy contain estrogen mimics, according to Web MD, flax contains 800 times as much of these hormone-like chemicals as soy!! In fact, flax contains more plant estrogens than any other plant food.

We are already experiencing an epidemic of infertility along with our other epidemics of obesity, diabetes, autism, auto-immune diseases, explosive rage disorder, and more. You may have heard that American men have one-third the sperm counts of their grandfathers and that by 2050, for the first time in modern history, scientists are predicting that our population will start to go down. Add in all the men who are on statins to reduce cholesterol (testosterone is made out of cholesterol), and it is easy to see why the same companies that sell statins also sell Viagra and Cialis.

There is conflicting evidence about phytoestrogens (phyto means plant). Some think they may be helpful, some think they may be harmful, and most of the articles about them end by saying, "more research is necessary." But this much is clear: This is potent medicine and the dosage is very important!

How much is a dose? Even the sites that recommend flax as a supplement tell you to consult your doctor to determine how much to take. The USDA says that 3 tablespoons of flax a day is a safe level. Some of the recipes in the Wheat Belly Cookbook contain more than that in a single serving.

Below is a sample of warnings about flax from various organizations:

~from MayoClinic.com: [...] "Taking flaxseed or flaxseed oil by mouth may cause a person with bipolar disorder to experience mania or hypomania....

Raw flaxseed or flaxseed plant may increase blood levels of cyanide, a toxic chemical....

Flaxseed may cause low blood pressure. Caution is advised in patients with blood pressure disorders and those taking drugs, herbs, or supplements that affect blood pressure....

Based on the available evidence, flaxseed, which contains alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), should be avoided in patients with prostate cancer or those at risk for prostate cancer....

Use flaxseed and flaxseed oil cautiously in patients with elevated triglycerides, as these agents may raise or lower triglyceride levels."

~From DietaryFoodFiber.com: [...] "One study reports that the menstrual period may be altered in women who take flaxseed powder by mouth daily. Due to the possible estrogen-like effects of flaxseed (not flaxseed oil), it should be used cautiously in women with hormone sensitive conditions such as endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, uterine fibroids, or cancer of the breast, uterus, or ovary. Some natural medicine textbooks advise caution in patients with hypothyroidism, although little scientific information is available in this area....

Raw flaxseed or flaxseed plant may increase blood levels of cyanide, a toxic chemical (this effect has not been reported when flaxseed supplements are taken at recommended doses.)" (Are they talking about a few spoonfuls of seeds or a little capsule of oil? We don't know. JBB)

~From Livestrong.com: [...] "A study on the Effect of Flax Seed Ingestion on the Menstrual Cycle, published in a 1993 Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that a woman's menstrual period might be altered if she consumes flaxseed products daily....

Because flaxseed has estrogen-like effects, it may result in a worsening of conditions such as uterine, ovarian and breast cancers; uterine fibroids; polycystic ovary syndrome; and endometriosis, according to the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database of the National Institutes of Health. Women who have hormone-sensitive conditions should probably avoid using large amounts of flaxseed. It can also alter the effects of oral contraception."

Please do your own research and decide for yourself whether you want flax in your diet and if so, how much is too much.

I had hoped to find a replacement that worked as well as flax in these recipes before I posted this review so I could suggest an easy fix. Chia seeds are the best candidate I have found so far, but the recipes still need some tweaking. I made a good loaf of Basic Bread by substituting one-half the amount of chia for the flax, but my chia version of the Flaxseed Wraps needed a complete overhaul. (Chia seeds contain the same fragile oils found in flax, but chia also contains large amounts of natural antioxidants to keep it fresh, even after it is ground. Chia has no phytoestrgens or toxins and unlike flaxseed, chia can be kept for long periods without becoming rancid.)

The Wheat Belly Cookbook also does an excellent job of explaining why we need to ditch wheat and other high-carb foods and makes the case that modern wheat was not adequately tested for human consumption. But flax hasn't stood the test of time either. Is flax as risky as wheat? Perhaps not, but if you eat too much of it, you may just be replacing one untested food with another. Women and girls may be at risk for hormone imbalances and the guys may be trading a wheat belly for flax boobs and Viagra. Still not a pretty picture.