kle105's review against another edition

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3.0

I am glad I read this book after Eat Dirt by Dr. Axe as it was a good complimentary book to that one which I really loved. The effect of wheat in American diets attributes a lot to the obesity we see in our culture. Mostly due to changing the genetic makeup of the foods our ancestors once ate, in order to produce more, at a lower cost.

This book didn't really bring a lot of new information to the table for me personally but it gave some great insights to diseases that are on the rise and how changes to the diet we able to reduce or remove all symptoms, in essence "curing" them of the disease. You may benefit more from this book if you are just starting to get into understanding diet and how it effects your body.

At times this book was very boring and overly wordy. It was very bogged down in science at times and I just forwarded past those parts or toned out.

pilateschick's review against another edition

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4.0

Before reading a book like this I like to check over some of the critical reviews, just for kicks. I'd already purchased it, so after reading the reviews, I was regretting that I bought it. Then I read it. I liked it. A lot.

You may have heard that if you want to know if a book is true, you should put it to the test. I would challenge the critics to do that. I have never gone without whole wheat, and I'm going to put it to the test because I find his information to be credible. I'd like to be inflamation free and not have any joint pain, so I'm on day two without wheat. Wish me luck!



It's January 8th and I'm happy to report that not eating wheat has allowed me to go off glucosamine. I no longer have joint pain in my knees. Also, I don't wake up feeling depressed in the morning and my mood has improved overall. I would have to say that my improved mood has been the biggest surprise, and one that I know for certain is from wheat. I reintroduced wheat after two weeks and could see that the wheat caused the swing in my mood. It was a remarkable swing, one that made me say, "Wheat is not worth it."

kelldozer's review against another edition

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3.0

I've been trying to eat wheat/gluten free for months now... this book just goes into depth as to the reasons why I decided to do it. Not much new information for me, but plenty of food for thought for those currently adhering to the SAD.

justin92's review against another edition

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3.0

BLUF: Valuable information but the author sounds like a fanatic and blames all world problems on eating wheat. I'm not saying his theories are wrong, he does have some compelling evidence but his delivery needs some major work.

More info:
Proposes wheat causes major issues and uses science jargon and sources, with in-depth discussion on celliac disease and diabetes, and some discussion on ulcerative colitis to illustrate what he believes is predominantly caused by "wheat intolerance".

His works ties into low-carb and keto as well but that is not his focus. He does connect insulin issues, weight gain, etc. similar to low-carb/keto proponents but believes wheat to be the main culprit and believes most persons affected with these issues only need to remove wheat to gain benefits. He offers low-carb/keto as a way to go further if one wishes towards the very end of the book, but his main ax to grind is wheat and the problems wheat appears to cause.

Major issues were his fanaticism against wheat and how it causes all problems in life and the overly science jargon in a couple of chapters that drones on and on.

jennyhamel's review against another edition

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2.0

Wheat Belly is wordy, redundant, and a horribly boring read. It makes some good points, and I agree with the overall message, but I think Whole 30 and It Starts With Food are more readable, relatable, and have a better route to health through not just wheat elimination, but removal of sugars/dairy/other foods that cause an array of problems as well.

laurenk7's review against another edition

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slow-paced

2.25

equilibriax's review against another edition

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3.0

I've been interested in a gluten-free/wheat-free diet for a bit. This had a lot of interesting information in it, but most of the book is a bunch of scare tactic stories. No, not everyone that eats wheat is going to lose their hair or destroy all their joints. Despite the scare tactics, there's a lot of good information about the history of wheat, how it's been genetically modified in just the past 50 years, and how it affects your blood sugar and digestive tract. There are some ok recipes in the back but nothing that looks _that_ great.

lilymouse's review against another edition

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thumbs down!

libellum_aphrodite's review against another edition

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3.0

[to state my biases upfront: I have been following the paleo diet for about a year and have studied some nutrition and biochemistry in college]

I found this book to be very readable and compelling case for correlation of health problems and wheat consumption. While eliminating wheat may not be the irrefutable answer for everyone's ailments, the changes Dr. Davis has witnessed in patients who have given up wheat are quite astounding, as are the trends of increasing occurrence of disease with increasing wheat consumption. Furthermore, Davis's explanation of how genetic modification has impacted its interaction with the human body is the most cogent and least scaremongering criticism of GMOs I have ever read, especially notable for a popular science book.

To those crying "anecdotal pseudo-science!": yes, I agree that Davis doesn't address every corner case, his suggested diet is very similar to paleo and its low-carb friends, and a large portion of his tales are anecdotal; however, such imprecision is the nature of nutritional studies. Despite all we do know about cellular processes in the body, our knowledge is still extremely limited, not to mention that in practice, between genetics and epigenetics, half of what we think we know falls by the wayside.

bubbleteabooke's review against another edition

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hopeful informative reflective slow-paced