well gyro it sounds like you have all but been cured of aging itself. I can see why you would be convinced with all that this change has helped you. I am going to give it a try. I know it will be difficult to give up many of the things I really enjoy eating, especially foods fired in cornmeal and flour batters. I live in the south and fried chicken is something i eat every week.

A few things that I buy every time I go to the store: Whole wheat tortillas, whole wheat bread, whole wheat flour (I bake a lot, not any more I guess) tortilla chips, peanut butter, and pasta noodles.

What should I be getting instead? In other words, where should I be getting my carbs? Do you have suggestions for quick and easy replacements for sandwich bread and tortillas, I eat a lot of both. Usually I eat toast with jam for breakfast or a banana, then a sandwich or burrito for lunch, and pasta for dinner. Am I screwed?  

splash07 wrote on 06/26/12 at 10:50:35:


No,.. you're not screwed.  Glad to hear you will give it a shot.  Your timing is good.  More later.

Splash stated well gyro it sounds like you have all but been cured of aging itself. I can see why you would be convinced with all that this change has helped you. I am going to give it a try. I know it will be difficult to give up many of the things I really enjoy eating, especially foods fired in cornmeal and flour batters. I live in the south and fried chicken is something i eat every week.

A few things that I buy every time I go to the store: Whole wheat tortillas, whole wheat bread, whole wheat flour (I bake a lot, not any more I guess) tortilla chips, peanut butter, and pasta noodles.

What should I be getting instead? In other words, where should I be getting my carbs? Do you have suggestions for quick and easy replacements for sandwich bread and tortillas, I eat a lot of both. Usually I eat toast with jam for breakfast or a banana, then a sandwich or burrito for lunch, and pasta for dinner. Am I screwed?    

"I am going to give it a try."  Absolutely fantastic!  I envy you.  You have so much to look forward too,.. IF,.... you really do what is required,.. and it sounds like you will.  Often folks will "mostly" cut back on wheat and carbs.  That results in modest improvements, at best.  You really do have to get all the nasty stuff in the wheat OUT OUT OUT of your system.

"I know it will be difficult to give up many of the things I really enjoy eating, especially foods fired in cornmeal and flour batters. I live in the south and fried chicken is something i eat every week." I live in the south, too, and my Mom was an Oklahoma farm girl, so believe me, I can relate!!  Yes, there will be some difficulty in not having a lot of fried foods, especially when most of it is fried in some sort of wheat or corn-based batter.  It comes easy, though, after a while to use other kinds of breading with no wheat.  Also, even places like KFC now have grilled chicken which (at the KFC here in Newnan) is pretty good.


"Whole wheat tortillas, whole wheat bread, whole wheat flour (I bake a lot, not any more I guess) tortilla chips, peanut butter, and pasta noodles."  Yes, this will be a transition for you because these grain-based things are quite unhealthy.  The Wheat Belly enthusiasm has been growing like crazy, though, so there are lots and lots of wheat/grain free alternatives for these things.  You will be doing more baking than before because some of what you used to buy, you'll be making for yourself in healthy versions.  For example, maybe half the wheat-based recipes out there for muffins, cookies, pancakes, etc., can be adjusted to use almond flour and coconut flour, etc.  A few weeks ago I made my Daughter a birthday cake that looked and tasted a lot like a boston cream pie.

Check out the Wheat Belly Facebook page, the Wheat Belly Recipe Central page, and the recipe section of the wheatbellyblog.com on the left side low.

Another option is to use some of the tens of thousands of Paleo recipes out there.  The one danger with them, though, is to make sure you don't use the ones that are high-carb -- those folks think using sweeteners like Agave Nectar is okay.  that stuff is 90% fructose,... diabetes here we come!!!

Most folks shoot for something like 50 carb grams a day or less.  I suspect, though, with your amount of activity, you might need more.  I would get those additional carbs from fruits, and a few below-ground veggies.  And grain-free baked goods.  A cup of raisins has 110 carb grams!!!!!!  Avoid anything sugary or grainy at all costs.  

"Whole wheat tortillas, whole wheat bread, whole wheat flour (I bake a lot, not any more I guess) tortilla chips, peanut butter, and pasta noodles."  There are some recipes out there for wraps that can serve as tortilla-ish things.  Lots of bread recipes are out there.  I have a few myself.  You won't be using any whole wheat flour, but you can generally substitute almond flour and coconut flour.  Pasta is tough.  Right now about the only grain-free "pasta" is shirataki noodles.  Do a yahoo search for the Miracle Noodles company.  There are efforts underway for some grain-free pasta.  I would suspect it'll be available by the end of the year.

Keep us posted on how things are going.  You might want to participate in the Wheat Belly FB page as well.  There are so many folks getting into this, though, the place is pretty busy.

Savage_Rob wrote on 06/27/12 at 15:00:18:


You speak the word of truth about coconut flour.  One guy spilled a can in Lake Lanier and all that was left the next day was a puddle a few feet wide.

If you are going to try to convert recipes from wheat flour to grain-free flour, a starting point (with no guarantees) is to use a 5:1 mix of almond flour to coconut flour.

The recipes out there that call for coconut flour have hopefully worked it out so the consistency (fluidity) is correct.  I have one for pancakes that uses only coconut flour.  My Granddots like it a lot.

Yes, it works well as a breading.  Mix up some coconut flour and spices, roll the object in a mix of HWC and eggs, then coat with the spicy coconut flour.  Yummy for fish and fried chicken.

I will be very curious to see what changes you get out of the WB diet, splash.  I followed it fully for one month and had "moderate" results, then backed off to "mostly" compliant.. it's still good.  The 80/20 rule might apply here, but don't use it at first.   If you follow it completely for the first month and note the changes, you stand the maximum chance for improvements and serve as the best GuineaPig to bolster (or demolish) Gyrobob's claims.  

mpescatori wrote on 06/28/12 at 02:44:24:


True.  The term flour is rather loosely used.  It does have a negative feel to it, since wheat flour is what normally comes to mind.

Some of the nut flours are actually marketed as "meal" rather than flour.

Boule’tard wrote on 06/27/12 at 21:26:30:


80/20 won't help a lot.  100/0 will do you a lot of good.  If you eat any wheat at all, you will still be getting SOME of the nasty stuff like gliadin, amylopectinA, glutenin, lectins, etc.  It is not a linear ratio.  IOW, if you cut wheat consumption in half, you'll not get halfway better, it'll make almost no diff.

It's kind of like smoking.  If you smoke 4 packs a day, cutting back to 2 packs a day will do you little good, if you are trying to avoid cancer.

I don't like the term "claims."  I'm not claiming anything.  I didn't make this stuff up.  This isn't my idea.  I'm not selling anything.  These benefits I see for myself and for thousands of other folks on the FB page alone, show evidence, not claims.

Also, the various improvements resulting from wheat/grain/sugar/highcarb freeness, take widely varying amounts of time.  Some of the folks say things like IBS, chronic heartburn, joint pain, etc., go away within days.  The weight loss thing varies widely as well.  Kids with behavioral problems can change overnight.  Maladies related to neurological situations improve very slowly and can take years.  One guy with MS, for example, was so stricken he couldn't clean or feed himself.  After 14 or 15 months, I think, he can actually get out of his wheelchair a walk around,,,, slowly,... but still quite an improvement.

As for all the wheaty grainy crap you have now,... just give it away and start anew.

Boule'tard....even an old dog can learn new trick. You're implementing most WB ideas. Get the book maybe to understand just the "why?" or if not, to follow the how.....A woman passenger is always the best way to go to make the 6 month ride enjoyable.