Let me clarify Amanda and say that I wrote that it could take 14-30 days to see the EFFECTS of wheat diminish,I was inferring to heartburn,arthritis,sinusitis etc..I was in no way suggesting that they would be HEALED in 14-30 days...

10 days of just-meat/cheese cured my severe acid reflux, severe asthma, severe allergies, brain-fog, exhaustion, acne, bloating, and so on. I credited it to lowcarb but it turned out, the credit was due to dropping gluten from my diet, as I am intolerant to it and didn't know.

I suspect a much larger % of the population is than theorized.

PJ

Sorry that I misinterpreted what you wrote!!!

This is what happens when you try to read a long thread at breakneck speed and just skim everything...

WOOPS!!!

Please accept my apologies.

amanda

Indeed. I'd be curious to find out the percentage of people who do really well on low-carb or paleo that are actually improving due to the removal of gluten from their diet.

Ditto to the elimination of all those symptoms...and this may sound really weird, but have any of you noticed a difference in your toenails? My toenails look better now then they have my entire life. They're pretty now! There should be a "scratching head" emoticon... Fingernails as well... they seem stronger.

I was a happy low carber for years; maintaining with occasional "cheats" with wheat containg foods because I thought it wouldn't make any difference.

In ten months of no wheat I've lost a bit more weight than I ever had before.

I quit all carbs at once. I wish I knew how much of my previous problems were due to wheat alone.

I sent a little You Tube video of William Davis discussing the concepts in his book to a long time friend who is about 50 lbs overweight and who suffers from arthritis, which I personally think is due to wheat. I knew he wouldn't be receptive, and thought you would all enjoy his response:

_________

OMG! OMG!
I can't concentrate on the video while salivating over that stack of yummy bagels and buns on the book cover!

Seriously, without wheat, what am I supposed to put my butter on?

Thanks a bushel, wheat nazi. You just ruined my life.

and later....


Seriously, If you and "the wheat nazi" find "objective credibility" to the author's claims about wheat's deleterious contribution to RA, inhaler usage, diabetes and my belly fat,
let me know before my next trip to the bakery :>)

________

Isn't this soooo typical of the world's uninformed!!!

DENIAL is not a river in Egypt!!!

I also quit all grains at once so don't know how much of the following improvements are due to eliminating wheat/gluten. Here we go with the list:
asthma - gone
energy - soaring (walking, jogging, or lifting weights every day now when I could hardly get off the sofa before)
fingernails - hard (probably due to increased protein, though)
hair - shinier and thicker
hair loss - stopped (I was beginning to see it in the drain after shampooing but don't anymore).
weight - 23lbs gone
food cravings - completely gone

The last two items are not due to eliminating gluten because I went gluten-free, but not grain-free, for 4 months last year, didn't lose a lb and was hungry the whole time.

Tell him to replace the word wheat with alcohol or cigarettes. That should make him realize that his reaction is entirely due to addiction.

If it's a choice between bagels and butter, and 50 extra lbs and arthritis, which is better. What does he have to loose by trying it for a month ?

To be fair, Angeline, if you replace "wheat" with "bacon," I can relate.

I just came across this gem.

http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/09/02/th...-disease-oh-my/

I noticed in some of the other blog post comments where Stephen Guyenet asked Denise to analyze this. Did he miss that part?

i've seen improvements within 4 days of being gluten free...
the best story i tell is of golf lady in 2009. when i met her she was limping badly. when asked what was wrong, she told me "3 yrs ago, i backed up, landed on my knee and felt like i twisted it. i have been to specialists and doctors and no one can find what is wrong with my knee. i have been taking advil for 3 yrs. without advil, i cannot walk, and if i cannot walk, i cannot do my job."

so when i discussed how gluten inflames the joints, and this could be her problem, she laughed at me and said, "honey, everything i eat has gluten in it."
by the end of the night and me sticking to her like glue, she agreed to go gluten free for a week. it bugged me because she said she'd been hurting for 3 yrs.
i gave her my number and told her to keep in touch.. thinking she would forget this evening and our conversation.

sure enough... on the morning of day 4, she texted me and said, "first morning without advil." at the end of the day, she texted me and said, "never took an advil. first time in 3 yrs."

that was in 2009. she has lost 50 pounds, never went back to gluten and is now a pro golfer in Miami...

4 days..
i have lots of stories like these.. i've been rounding them up for a book or something...

I have just found you all! I have had Celiac for years, along with other family members. We all have experienced different symptoms. Mine unfortunately, was weight gain and thyroid problems. It wasn't until I went totally grain free (I think it was the corn) and dairy free that I started experiencing serious results.

I can't tell you how relieved I am to feel better and hopeful that someday I will have my life and body back. For the last 10 years every time I have gone to my doctor's office I have prayed for an answer for my obesity. Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc. something that will explain why I am this way. The interns that come in take my blood pressure at least 3 times because it is so low the think the machine isn't working. My heart rate is great. I then tell them to look at my tests, and joke that I am the healthiest fat person that they will probably ever see (as I am crying on the inside).

My point is, if you are trying to loose weight without results, feeling really bad, try eliminating foods. It could very well be allergies that are making you sick and heavy. You can figure it out yourself, without spending thousands at the doctors office with interns looking at you like you are some pathetic fat slob.

All the best- Cindy