I feel a certain obligation, having read this title, to pass on the bones of it, as the message is simply too important, when friends, family and acquaintances in my immediate circle succumb to the so called "diseases of civilisation" (DOC). These encompass a range of conditions, most of which are essentially autoimmune disorders provoked by inflammation.

The list is long, but among the very well known DOCs, some of which seem to be reaching epidemic proportions, are: Acne, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), arthritis, Alzheimer's, asthma, autism, cancer, celiac, Crohn's, "CVD" (cardiovascular disease), diabetes, MS (multiple sclerosis), thyroiditis (incl. Hashimoto's)....
Could there be a common underlying cause? Is there an underlying characteristic of civilisation itself which has generated these illnesses? Well, civilisation was made possible by agriculture - freeing up time from hunting and foraging - the mother of invention. By far and away the most important agricultural development was the selective cultivation of grain, and eventually wheat reigned supreme.

The book is a surprisingly easy read, Davis has succeeded in summarising the science without dumbing it down, and there is wealth of scientific references for anyone wanting to drill into any particular aspect.

William Davis is a preventive cardiologist who has established a technique for scanning the cardiovascular system and assessing plaque build up. This common-sense approach is elegant in its simplicity, and virtually bypasses (pun intended!) conventional measurements, like cholesterol. Starting by trying different dietary approaches to get his own weight under control, Davis tested a wheat elimination programme on his patients. The results were dramatic - in the majority of cases, weight loss without hunger was achieved, CVD was reversed, and plaque was removed. But as time went on, Davis found that patients were reporting concomitant conditions were clearing up - skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, to mention a few. Compliance was much easier than he expected, because of the reduction in hunger - and this relates to a component of gluten, gliadin, which crosses the blood brain barrier and is a potent appetite stimulant. Initially patients suffered "withdrawal symptoms" since wheat creates, quite literally, an addiction due its "exorphin" content (opiate like peptides). Wheat also manages to stimulate a higher blood sugar than just about any other foodstuff, and so turns out to be uniquely diabetogenic.

Just why wheat should be such a culprit is linked to the aggressive promotion of the Standard American Diet (SAD), based on low saturated fats and "healthy" grains, and the success of a relatively recent hybrid - "dwarf" wheat, for which Norman Borlaug earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. Dwarf wheat surpassed previously achievable yields per acre to such an extent that farmers were forced to adopt it to remain in business, and it now comprises 99% of global wheat cultivation. The "blunder" that was made, was one of assumption (!) that since this amazing hybrid was developed from different strains of wheat (ie not yet a "GMO"), then it must be OK from the nutritional standpoint - even though the link between gluten and celiac disease was already established. In fact, novel proteins were created, and these probably have contributed to the acceleration of DOCs since the '70s.

In a fascinating self experiment, Davis, who has a wheat sensitivity, compared home baked "einkorn" bread, with whole wheat bread, and found that he had no reaction to the einkorn, while his blood sugar spiked far higher with the whole wheat, as well as experiencing a variety of unpleasant physical and mental symptoms. Perhaps rye and spelt (dinkel) would also make suitable replacements, albeit probably still causing significant blood sugar surges.

Like Davis's "track your plaque" programme, the elimination of wheat is a simple solution. In some senses, it really is the easy option, compared, say, to following a hard line "Paleo" diet, and dependent on just how strong one's sensitivity to gluten is, it might boil down to eliminating beer and pasta, and replacing wheat-based bread. While there is ample scientific evidence of gluten causing some issues (again one of the most notable being celiac), it is doubtful that funds will be forthcoming any time soon to investigate links between gluten and some of the listed disorders.

In the end, like other visionaries in the field, his message is - "what have you got to lose? Just try it for a month, and see what happens". We certainly do not NEED wheat in the diet, so just eliminate it, and see if your weight normalises and your health improves.

If you need further convincing, I can wholeheartedly recommend the book!

Dr Davis explains his research on Wheat and why its present day form is so bad for our health.

https://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2011/...=wheat%20belly

I haven't read "Wheat Belly" but I have been following Dr Davis's HeartScanblog/Trackyourplaque/Wheat Belly online sources so I feel I'm familiar with most of his arguments
However I don't think he goes far enough in that there are other factors relating to the way modern wheat is processed and particularly the Chorleywood breadmaking process, that also adversely affect our health. Thiis is not a criticism of Dr Davis, I can see how if people thought it's "just" the way bread was made that made for UK supermarkets it so bad for us, they may think that cereals were safe so it may be better not to complicate the story to much. But I think UK readers should be aware that our bread flour is fortified with iron and that the Chorleywood process leaves more yeast in the bread and the combination of iron and yeast together with a generally pro inflammatory diet, leads to excessive (8000x) growth of pathogenic bacteria. So our good gut flora are continually fighting against the odds.

Making your own bread with stoneground wholemeal flour and long slow (or sourdough) proving of the bread, would avoid the iron fortification and excess yeast but as Dr Davis points out you would still using grains of lower nutritional value and higher allergenic potential than would have been available prior to the 1960's. Organically grown heritage wheat varieties milled at home or locally would be the best alternative for wheat addicts but I don't think it's worth the hassle/risk.