Originally posted by Dr. Davis on 2014-04-29
on the Wheat Belly Blog, sourced from and currently found at: Infinite Health Blog.
PCM forum Index of WB Blog articles.

No Longer Count Calories And Lose Weight Like Sarah

Sarah relates this story of how, after years of struggle with health and weight, she finally found the answer.

Her story is especially interesting as she worked in the weight loss industry.

“I have struggled all my life with my weight and food was always my comforter.

In my late 30’s, I managed to lose 40 kg [88 lbs] and reach my goal weight with a major weight loss company in which I became a consultant. But, if I was previously fat and unhappy, I was now thin and unhappy. My years of chronic low-fat dieting led me to develop binge eating disorder. I felt like such a fraud and I was struggling to maintain my weight and was unhappy thinking I would have to eat like this forever to maintain my goal weight.

I had also developed acid reflux and was regularly taking Nexium. I’m also on the cusp of perimenopause and really struggling with hormonal changes. Doctors just kept prescribing more hormone pills and birth control.

After much research and reading your book, on December 26th, 2013 I decided to do the complete opposite and cut out all grains and eat more fat. My acid reflux disappeared in one day, my athletes’ foot gradually disappeared and also my fungal nail infection. I’ve come off all my hormone meds and birth control. Skin and nails are amazing. I just feel incredible.

But by far the biggest thing for me is I no longer feel ruled by food. The cravings are gone. I never feel the need for a carb binge. I know I will never go back to eating by the dietary guidelines ever again.”

By eliminating grains, Sarah reversed the gastrointestinal disruption, inflammation and autoimmune distortions, hormonal disruptions, nutrient deficiencies, and mind effects (cravings) that they cause.

Counting calories does not accomplish this. Cutting fats does not accomplish this. Reducing portion sizes and using smaller plates and bowls do not do this. Lap-band and gastric bypass do not accomplish this. To remove the appetite stimulation that originates from the gliadin derived opiates from wheat, rye, barley and to a lesser extent, corn and oats, we remove grains and their prolamin proteins (the source of gliadin and related proteins). Only then does someone like Sarah regain control over appetite and is able to control weight effortlessly.

Sarah’s experience also highlights the importance of fat for satiety.

Low-fat eating is torture, with satiety a transient experience. High-fat eating, in contrast, is a pleasure, with satiety and freedom from cravings lasting much of the day after, say, a full, high-fat breakfast. Compound this with the absence of gliadin derived appetite-stimulating opiates from grains, with no more two-hour cycles of blood sugar highs and lows caused by grain amylopectins, unblocking of the leptin hormone by grain lectins, and our eating habits revert back to the way humans are supposed to be: eating occasionally with hunger only experienced as a soft reminder many hours after your last meal.