Hey, check this out...

Hi there!  It's Anne with some good stuff (not bragging stuff).  Coach Lisa shared with me some articles that she found on line that talk about what she's been preaching to all of her "slimmers" as she likes to call us.  I hope I don't get in trouble by copying this article on to this blog post but I hope you find it interesting.  I know that I did.  (This doc is a cardiologist)


Do you have a wheat belly?
By Dr. William Davis

Low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, small LDL particles: the most common triad of abnormalities today behind heart disease.

Along with this pattern comes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, diabetes and pre-diabetes, increased inflammation, increasingly blood clot-prone blood. This common collection that now afflicts over 50 million Americans goes by a number of names, including metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance syndrome, and syndrome X.

But I call it “wheat belly.” Let me explain.

You’ve heard of “beer bellies,” the protuberant, sagging abdomen of someone who drinks excessive quantities of beer.

Wheat belly is the same protuberant, sagging abdomen that develops when you overindulge in processed carbohydrates. It represents visceral fat that laces the intestines.

I thought so, too, 12 years ago when I followed a strict vegetarian, low-fat diet, rich with “healthy” whole grains. I gained 30 lbs, my HDL dropped to 27 mg/dl, triglycerides skyrocketed to 350 mg/dl, small LDL went crazy, my blood pressure was 150/90, and I developed diabetic blood sugars─while running 5 miles a day. It’s the wheat. I eliminated the wheat and promptly reversed the entire picture.

If you don’t believe it, try this experiment: Eliminate all forms of wheat for a 4 week period–no breakfast cereals, no breads of any sort, no pasta, no crackers, no pretzels, etc. Instead, increase your vegetables; healthy oils; lean proteins (lean red meats, chicken, fish, turkey, eggs, Egg Beaters, yogurt and cottage cheese); raw nuts like almonds, walnuts, and pecans; and fruit. Of course, avoid fruit drinks, candy, and other garbage foods, even if they’re wheat-free. (And don’t confuse this conversation with celiac disease or gluten enteropathy, an allergy to wheat gluten, an entirely different issue.)

Most people will report that a cloud has been lifted from their brain. Thinking is clearer, you have more energy, you don’t lose in the afternoon, you sleep more deeply. You will notice that hunger ratchets down substantially. Most people lose the insatiable hunger pangs that occur 2-3 hours after a wheat-containing meal. Instead, hunger is a soft signal that gently prods you that it’s time to consider eating again. You may even find that you miss meals, just because you forgot to eat. Very curious.

It’s unconventional, I know. The last 500 patients I’ve done this with also thought so─until they lost 15, 20 . . .70 lbs along with all the undesirable metabolic “baggage.”



While nearly everyone knows that candy bars and soft drinks aren’t good for health, most Americans have allowed processed carbohydrates, but especially wheat products like pretzels, crackers, breads, waffles, pancakes, breakfast cereals and pasta, to dominate diet. I blame the extreme over-reliance on these foods for the obesity and related abnormalities: wheat belly.

How did this all come about?

Back in the 1960s, we had sandwiches on white bread, hamburgers on white flour buns, spaghetti made with bleached, enriched flour. Data from the 1970s and 1980s, however, demonstrated conclusively that using whole grains, with the bran and B-vitamins left in, was better: better for bowel health, blood pressure, cholesterol values.

Fast-forward to the 1990s and the new century, and the mantra has evolved to “eat more whole grains, eat more whole grains,” repeated by “official” organizations and propagated by countless media conversations. And Americans have complied.

But while video games, unhealthy snacks, and vending machines have been roundly blamed for the nationwide epidemic of obesity and diabetes, it’s curious that increased  weight has befallen even active people who eat “healthy”: yes, plenty of whole grains.

In my view, it is the grains that are largely behind the obesity and diabetes epidemic, at least among the frustrated health-conscious.

But not all grains. Oats and flaxseed, for instance, seem to not contribute to weight and the associated patterns like small LDL.

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There is more to this article, but you get the picture.  It's HARD to change.  It's HARD to go against everything that is being pounded into our brains every time we watch TV, read a magazine, or see the labels on the packages while we food shop. 

I had an interesting talk with a gal that runs the Fresh and Natural Food Store in town.  I was asking her if she buys locally or what and she said, "Well I try to bring in as much local produce and products as I can but if I can't find what our customers want locally, then I have to expand my search out state."  We went on to talk about how much we're going to miss the farmer's market now that the season is changing and she commented on how much good food is produced right here in our own city and county, but she can't really sell it because these farms aren't certified organic.  She said, "I can't blame these mom and pop farms for not going thru with certification because it is SO much work to get that little piece of paper from the government."   Why is big government making it so hard for us to get the real healthy foods that we actually need??  I can see making sure that there is a type of protocol in place to be considered organically grown, but why make it such a pain in the ass?  Are the corporate farms that afraid of losing business?? 

Sorry, it sounds like I'm standing on my political soapbox here!  I'm usually not this fired up about this.  If you have any comments either agreeing or disagreeing with my schpeel, I'd love to hear it.  I need to be open to both sides before I shoot my mouth off.

p.s.  I'm down 16.25 inches and I WILL BE UNDER 170 LBS very soon (right Coach? right!).   I've started doing some kettle bells training.  Total. Awesomeness.