Just as a sidenote, any sugars/starches are also going to cause an inflammatory effect. So aside from wheat, this also includes rice, potatoes, corn, sugar, fruit high in sugar, etc.

Any kind of digestible carb causes insulin to be secreted. Insulin then signals the kidneys to hold on to salt. Bam. Inflammation.

I believe that for anyone with inflammatory issues or HBP, it is prudent to stay away from ALL OF IT (not necessarily zero carb, but as low as possible). I think that will produce the best outcome :-)

I so agree. While wheat has serious issues (quadruple the chromosomes it started out with? sprayed with Roundup before harvesting?) the other grains are no winners, either. They tend to block B vitamins and important minerals, and they also raise blood sugar; leading to weight gain and metabolic syndrome.

I have celiac, as does my mother (who nearly died from non-diagnosis...she was finally diagnosed in 1967 and is now 91!!). When I cut out gluten, I ate all the gluten free grains and STILL got sick. What I eventually realized is that none of the grains...NONE....agree with me, nor do legumes, nor do the nightshades, and I'm horribly sugar sensitive, and finally, I appear to have problems with casein so I have mostly cut out dairy. The upshot of all this is that I finally understood that I function best on zero gluten, close to zero sugar, I rarely eat other permitted grains such as rice, I rarely eat any legumes, and my dairy intake is minimal. All my various "issues" didn't straighten out until all this was in place. But I love my meats and certain limited veggies, and I feel perfect when eating more or less paleo, I've realized.

im realizing im in a similar place. i don't know if i am Celiac, probably not..but i am highly sensitive to grains..especially noticeable now that i have cut them out for a while. i get such a sore stomach and bloating and neck pain and headaches, even from a little bit of corn or rice or spelt.
im wondering with the legumes and nightshades as well.. not eating much of them, but i did eat some balck beans a while ago and felt pretty bad.

oh, and i got the book yesterday. its soo interesting!!

I read "Wheat Belly" while I was going through an amazing inflammation of the skin, and also experiencing (for the first time ever) arthritis symptoms. Full disclosure: I was cheating a lot on my WOE! I was eating grains. Bad me! Bad me! Reading Wheat Belly convinced me once and for all that grains are POISON. I really do think that my cheating caused this inflammation, although I am still having some diagnostic tests done.

I haven't cheated ONCE in over two weeks...eating strictly paleo. Sad to say though that not one pound has come off....I think I hurt myself so much by that last binge of eating that it will take a long time to recover, and start losing the weight again.

WB was instrumental in my low carbness.
I found it about the time my Dr reminded me of my high blood sugar and that I'd better address it right now.

Wheat bread has a higher GI that table sugar??
ok, no more bread!

Not eating wheat has solved half of my health problems. No more acid reflex. No more other problems that are gross to talk about. I'm never eating bird food again. We should save wheat for pigeons.

napattack, I just realized that the numbness I would ALWAYS get in my hands during the night has been GONE since I went grain free. I never really thought too much of it, because it would always go away in the daytime once I started to use my hands, but yeah, it was a nighttime problem for years! I wonder if anyone else has had little things that we just thougt we would have to put up with go away upon going grain free. I'm sure there are a lot of us.

I'm much happier grain free. I'm more level. Not actually losing any weight though, I'm sorry to say...today I decided I must go dairy free as well. Sigh.

I've had a ton of issues go away or get a lot better. The worst one was joint pain almost everywhere. It'd be in one joint for a few days, then it'd be in another. Sometimes I'd get a really swollen eyelid in the night... it'd inflate like a tire and be puffy in the morning. All manner of weird little things like that.

im finding it hard to not eat food contaminated with wheat.. im very careful. and im not sure if i am celiac but i will randomly have aches and pains that i KNOw are a result of gluten when im sure i havn't eaten any....

Wheat and grain free for 3 months now, and have cut my insulin needs by 90%. No more reflux, no more asthma either. How simple was that?

I can open jars now.

It was reaching the point that my hands hurt and I'd have to take some OTC thing before bed; and sometimes I'd still wake up at 3AM to take some more! And I could never, ever, open a jar, because that would create heavy-duty screaming pain that took days to go away.

Now? Some days I feel a little stiffness; but NO pain. And that must be a healing thing, because it steadily gets better. This wasn't from low carbing; this was dropping gluten completely.

I'm so convinced.