Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Book Announcement: Bill O'Reilly's Wheat Belly

It's hard to believe: More than half the Google searches the computer shows attracting readers to this web site contain the theoretically banned word "belly." Do youall really want to read about bellies?

Anyway: Bill O'Reilly is publicizing a book called Wheat Belly, in which he claims that an apparently asymptomatic gluten sensitivity was keeping him from looking as good on TV as nature intended, and a wheat-free diet has restored his figure and, as a bonus, made him feel much healthier and more energetic than he did. Click here for a chance to buy this full-sized, $27 hardcover book for just $5 plus shipping:

http://shop.newsmax.com/shop/index.cfm?page=products&productid=975&s=al&promo_code=FBE0-1

I believe this is true--for O'Reilly. (The gluten intolerance gene is most commonly found in people of Irish descent.)

Before I developed celiac sprue in my early thirties, I went on an immunity-boosting, low-carb diet in which I didn't cut out but did drastically cut back wheat products. In six weeks I went from being a skinny, flabby cold sufferer who had to push myself to keep up with other people, 5'4", 117 pounds, 34-24-34, to being a sleek, head-turning exercise fanatic, 5'4", 118 pounds, 35-19-32. I hadn't thought I needed to work out more before I started the immunity-boosting diet, but once the "high" set in I wanted to work out. It felt great. The only problem was, at 22, I felt so bubbly and cheerful and energetic and healthy, I annoyed the older people with whom I worked. (I've done the immunity-boosting diet thing again; it's still a great way to boost energy and immunity, and lose flab, but after the first time the results have been less dramatic...for one thing, after age 25 I stopped growing healthy muscle, organ, and bone mass while losing flab.)

If O'Reilly is enjoying the same thrill, for the first time, I'm glad for him.

Will it work for you? To some extent it probably will, but there are two distinct scenarios with a gluten-free diet, depending on whether or not you've inherited a minority gene that used to be fairly well confined to Ireland.

(1): You may in fact have the "weak form" of the gluten intolerance gene. If so, you may not have had a serious medical problem while you were eating wheat, but when you stop eating wheat you, too, will feel like Clark Kent turning into Superman. (Try to remain somewhat calm about it. You will still need an airplane to fly.)

(2): You may not have the gluten intolerance gene. The majority of humankind don't. If so, cutting wheat or any other favorite food out of your diet could result in a quick, easy, temporary loss of weight--not because wheat is poisonous to you (as it is to me), but just because you're consuming fewer calories during an adjustment period. The bad news is that, unless you become vigilant about consuming fewer calories and burning more calories through exercise, the adjustment period may last less than a week. If you merely cut out wheat, you'll probably find other ways to add calories back to your diet, and then the weight will come back. And, since your body was digesting nutrients that are naturally present in wheat (as mine is not able to do), you'll need to find those nutrients in other forms--possibly more expensive and higher-calorie forms--in order to avoid nutrient deficiencies.

People used to have to have expensive, somewhat dangerous, and not altogether reliable coloscopy tests to find out whether they were really gluten-intolerant or not. Now a more reliable finger-stick blood test will tell you whether you have the gene. If you want to try a gluten-free diet, it's worth taking the blood test to find out what you can expect.

If you are not gluten-intolerant, there could be some social benefit in going gluten-free, at least on a part-time basis. Trying to banish wheat from your diet altogether and forever would be a needless inconvenience. Eating gluten-free meals, as it might be in a kitchen you share with a gluten-free housemate, is safe; you can always eat bread outside.

Some people fear that by going gluten-free, lactose-free, vegan, etc., they could cause their bodies to "forget" to produce the enzymes they need to digest food that works for them. Nutritionists confirm that this can happen, but it won't happen in a week. It's safe to eat one or two restricted meals.

Cutting out one or two foods you habitually eat, temporarily, can be a good thing. If you have an unsuspected food allergy, giving up a favorite food for a month or two can confirm that. If you're trying to lose weight, giving up a favorite source of surplus calories can be a simple way to reduce overall intake. Taking control of your diet can boost your willpower and self-esteem. Many people even believe that temporarily giving up a favorite food has spiritual benefits.

Even those of us who are genetically programmed to benefit from a wheat-free diet still have to exercise if we want washboard abs. However, as many as one out of five people, who have formerly been forcing ourselves to exercise and seeing unspectacular results, may get spectacular results from a gluten-free diet.

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