Maybe it requires a sort of talent to marry accessibility and scientific rigor. A talent like Denise Minger seem to possess.

Rigorous critical thinking and writing are skills that can be developed, but they're both hard work and require a lot of feedback. You know the saying, "There's no good writing, only good re-writing." You can marry the two, but usually after developing the skills for a long time.

Denise is a rarity with her triple gifts: critical thinking, quantitative analysis, and writing. She is to her generation what Carl Sagan was to his. Most of us aren't born with the abundance of native talent that these two have. But some of us with a modest amount of talent in and a willingness to develop them can do so. On these boards, Angeline, WereBear, and cnmLisa come to mind.

I like Rettakat's idea of two books: one for the professional audience, and a second for the lay public. Perhaps Davis will write a professional book, if enough readers ask him to.

I continually hone my Google-Fu.

I think Dr. Davis has actually written his "Why We Get Fat" book. He might want to go on to the tome... or perhaps not. Another layperson's book, at the right time, with more recipes, more stories, and a bit more science... that is how we reach the actual people who might be receptive to the message.

Why should he trouble himself reaching scientists... when the science is already there?

I liked Chris Masterjohn's review and feel that Dr. Davis got the "what" right, wheat is bad, but the "why" is weak in the science. I think he saw all these wonderful results from his practice and then went on a desperate search to find scientific studies to support what he was seeing, and didn't do a very good job of what studies he picked or how he interpreted them. I would like to see him write another book on wheat, too, but be a lot more careful with the science he uses to support his theories.

Thanks AJ

If the science is weak, maybe the book will inspired some researchers to do the actual science, although I'm not holding my breath. There isn't much money in abstaining from wheat, on the contrary.

Now *that's* a book review! I'll temper my enthusiasm for the book (and skip ch. 8–9).

I finally got the book -- I've been inspired by many of your posts -- and am enjoying it. I've wondered for al ong time whether it was that carbs were bad, or wheat, or dairy, or sugar, or all of them, and figured it's probably different for different people. I'm eliminating wheat first -- this is the first day, so no changes yet, but I live in hope (I've had horrible acid reflux since August. It came out of nowhere and will not go back.)

I managed to bully my husband into going wheat free, and he reports he no longer gets heartburns. So here's hoping you'll have the same experience

My opinion remains that most of the outrage regarding GMO foods is misplaced or at the very least total unsupported by anything remotely resembling science.

OTOH, it is pretty clear to me that the low grade carbs found in grains are not especially healthy for me anyway. I suspect there are a lot of other people in the same boat.

Thanks! That's what I need. A good, friendly bully.......

I tend to think they are both a problem, both GM foods and grains. I found this article interesting. It's about a study done by Sherbrooke University Hospital in Quebec on genetically modified corn.

Like dwarf wheat, perhaps in time more data will start coming in about GM foods.

Me, too! It has been gone since I quit eating wheat. I have huge unused bottles of Pepcid AC lying around now.

I soooo know what you mean!!! Especially the bolded bit!!!

amanda

I'm just reading through this entire thread - well, more skimming here and there, actually - and this jumped out at me.

I just wanted to say that if you are actually a diagnosed celiac, it can take up to two years for your guts to heal and for the villi to grow back again.

I had a study somewhere on my old, now dead, hard drive (but I think it was in German anyway) which looked at celiacs and how fast they recovered. Some were back to normal after just a year, but with others it took up to two years.

I don't know whether this is true of "wheat poisoning" in people who are wheat-sensitive rather than truly celiac, though.

I just wanted to say that it might take longer than just 30 days for "the effects of wheat" to get out of your system.

amanda

Just wanted to chime in with my gluten-free experiences...

Like Debbie ("Merpig"), I began to have digestive issues in my 40s, mid-forties in fact. Basically, I began to have mild diarrhoea ('scuse the spelling, I'm a Brit!) every day and none of my usual remedies made any difference. Probiotics made no difference, either.

I even had tests - for gluten antibodies and for nasty bacteria - all negative!

I was on the verge of using Enterolab (which means having frozen poo couriered to America from Europe), which would have cost me a few hundred dollars, to find out if their tests said I had a gluten issue, but, seeing as it was a big outlay of money, I talked to my husband.

He pooh-poohed the idea ('scuse the awful pun, but it really did come into my head like that). I told him that going properly gluten-free would mean some extra expense, such as a new toaster, new wooden utensils, such as wooden spoons and chopping boards, and some care to be taken in the kitchen to avoid contamination. He said "fine with me" and agreed to go along with a six-month gluten-free experiment to see whether that helped eliminate the digestive problems.

And it did!!! In my case, it took about five to six weeks before the BM situation normalized, but it did!!! I no longer have to run to the loo three times a day and "go" like a normal person again.

I know I have allowed myself to be exposed to wheat from time to time, say in restaurants where I haven't had the energy to ask if there is wheat in food X, but it has been minimal. My only weakness is beer!!! I don't like wheat beer anyway, but I have had "ordinary" beer on occasion. My "reasoning" is that it probably isn't so bad to have contamination from barley than from wheat... However, it seems that Heineken beer is naturally gluten-free and I can get some organic gluten-free beer here in Germany (it is pricey, but nice), so I do my best not to be tempted.

What I am absolutely NOT tempted by is any kind of "obvious" wheat product: I cannot imagine eating a regular bakery store product of any kind. I would just be too dang scared to!!! My digestion is a lot better and I don't have the runs any more, but I am still not as healthy as I would like to be.

However, I do feel that I have made a lot of progress and am heading in the right direction. That is what keeps me on the no-wheat diet mostly: the fear that if I were to eat wheat that I would reverse all that good work. I don't know if I have celiac disease, but I definitely had low magnesium, low copper, low B12, low iron, all of which are indicators of poor absorption typical of celiac disease.

For celiacs, exposure to wheat can trigger off the immune reaction whereby the villi (the bits in our guts that absorb the nutrients from our food) are destroyed. Fear of this process being triggered in my guts is what keeps me away from wheat.

There are no "occasional treats" or "cheats" for me where wheat is concerned; I am just too damn scared of what the possible consequences might be.

However, I am more of a "moderate carber" these days than a low-carber, so I do make myself - and my family - food which I would have formerly made with wheat, such as quiche lorraine, Alsace apple cake, Swabian plum cake, or more low-carb cakes with almond flour. As a result of going gluten-free, I have discovered that I can actually bake!!!

Maybe the fact that I do allow myself these home-made treats helps me from being tempted by bakery-store products.

Oh, and to echo the other posters: going gluten-free did not help me lose weight!!! I have slightly low thyroid function and that has stopped me from losing weight over the last couple of years. However, it seems that I might be turning the corner there, which could also be due to better absorption due to giving up wheat and gluten: I have been taking an iron supplement and iodine tablets and in the last few weeks my weight has been slowly going down again!!!

My husband seems to remember that I tried this iron supplement before and it just went through me: now I am having no problems with it and have more energy. He thinks that my guts are healing and therefore I am now actually absorbing it.

Let's hope he's right!!!

To sum up: I have not regretted going gluten-free for one minute, even though it makes life difficult sometimes. The pay-off is worth the trouble!!!

amanda

PS I think Chris Masterjohn has the best take on the subject of wheat. If anyone hasn't read his review yet, here's another link to it:

http://blog.cholesterol-and-health....s-on-human.html

PPS

And if you want a real laugh, take a look at this: Matt Stone on the subject of wheat. I used to quite like some of his ideas, but this just turned me off completely:

http://180degreehealth.blogspot.com...eat-belly.html#