Speaking of my own experiences, I have completely cut out grain more than once to see if it would affect my weight or anything else, it did not. I noticed no change whatsoever. With that said, my grain intake is very low but I do like the occasional whole grain high fiber bread or fiber crackers. I don't overdo it and usually never have it in the second half of the day.

I don't think for most you need to cut out all grains immediately. Granted, I'm generally grain free- except the odd time when I'm jonesing for pasta and have some quinoa pasta.

However, when I simply went wheat free 6 years ago, I went off 4 prescription meds (acid reflux, acne, migraines, asthma) and didn't go the doctor's appointment where I was going to ask for antidepressants because I no longer felt the need. I still had spelt and kamut for years (never really rye- it wasn't great for cakes or cookies), without any problems.

Grain free, I do experience less bloat, and clearer skin, but other than that, I haven't really noticed any difference from my wheat free living to a grain and gluten free living.

So yes, a person could very easily still experience a dramatic change by just giving up wheat.

That was me... until I wore a snug pair of jeans on the same day as lunch on a low carb wrap. The tummy bloat that ensued was that subtle.

I think wheat makes you retain water.

We'll have to get together and make an educational horror flick. We can call it "Children of the Wheat."

This thread sparked my interest and I've been doing quite a bit of reading. I've decided that I'm going to attempt to cut out the rest of my grain intake again and give it more time to see any positive benefits. Like I mentioned before, I don't eat much at all but I"m hoping it will maybe help with my slight constipation issues.

this made me laugh out loud!

"Wheat is the basis for a number of healthful whole and enriched grain foods including breads, cereal, pasta and wheat berries that provide valuable nutrients to the American diet and have been shown to help with weight maintenance." blah,blah,blah,blah

It is very interesting that if we take out all the extraneous words from this statement, here's their unintended message that proves everything Dr. Davis is saying. Let's have the dummies version;

" Wheat is the basis for a number of.... whole and enriched grain foods...have been shown to help with weight maintenance." And out of their own mouths too!

Can’t argue with that one. Wheat will definitely help you maintain your weight … at, say, 40 pounds above where you’d like to be. Or I could add, almost 100 pounds above where I need it to be.

This really sums it all up in a nutshell doesn't it?

Definitely! Unless they're talking about giving us the LITERAL whole grain, like popcorn seed, and making us crack them open and try to get nourishment from them that way... that could help us lose weight.

I think so too. But then insulin does that too so a good portion of wheat's effects might be due to its effect on insulin. Which is to say that whatever raises insulin will cause proportional water retention.

Ooohh, I'm so excited. I just checked my library and they have some copies on order. I've put my name down on the waiting list.

Since I got more rigourous with my wheat intake, cutting it right back, my mind has been clearer and I'm pretty sure I am thinking and remembering better (might need to ask someone else's opinion about that! )

It's a fun read, I enjoyed it. The really radical part is that, because of the genetically changed wheat, we are ALL now gluten intolerant.

There's a lot more reasons to avoid it than the carbs.

I'm actually the same. Cutting out grains didn't help my weight loss in the slightest, and adding some grains back in didn't cause weight gain either.

But I do *feel* much better when I avoid wheat products. Giving up weight eliminated my GERD, nausea and vomiting, allowed me to get off daily Prilosec, eliminated severe arthritis pains, my blues and depression lifted - so all good stuff! And if I ingest any now I start to feel nauseous and logy right away. So eliminating gluten grains does good things for me, but weight loss is not one of them.

Maybe you've heard of people with Celiac who took just one bite and suffered for days because of that. One bite. Celiac is the extreme version of wheat toxicity. The point is that the quantity needed to produce a significant effect doesn't need to be large, and the effect may persist long after you've digested and absorbed and excreted that bite.

Think of wheat as the spark that ignites a room full of gasoline. Without that spark, that room is pretty safe. But introduce a single spark, and boom.

That is to say, after you've cut out wheat if you don't see an effect, you haven't waited long enough.

I loved that one, too. Thanks for posting the link. I've now been reading the back-and-forth between "Davis and the grain monsters" and WOW, Dr. D.'s responses are loaded with great information. Can't wait to read the book!

I also enjoyed the negative comments from the readers of the grain blog. Except for one sock puppet troll, they were pretty much ALL anti-grain.