As of late I have decided to embark on a mission to find out more about the timely issue pertaining to gluten, wheat, sugar and their effects on the body. As a mother of two young children, I consider this important enough to warrant further investigation and I am curious that the research and the findings are now coming from doctors themselves – in a field that was previously deemed ‘alternative health’. There are a number of public leading voices in this field such as Dr. Alejandro Junger, Dr. David Perlmutter and Dr.William Davis to name but a few. Although all are specialists in their own fields (cardiology, neurology etc) what they have noticed in clinical practice is that patients who are prescribed a diet free from wheat, gluten, sugar and starchy foods appear to reap benefit far and beyond what they sought a doctor’s advice for in the first place. As a consequence, these doctors have begun somewhat of a crusade to make us, the general public, realise that the modern Western diet is slowly but surely killing us with chronic illness, obesity and diabetes growing in exponential numbers.
What is interesting about these thinkers, and what they all tend to agree on, is that health and wellbeing need a holistic approach – meaning that unless you are firing on all cylinders (right food, sleep, emotional wellbeing, exercise, relaxation etc) your body will sooner or later get out of sync. Therefore, looking at health from a purely cellular level and treating the symptom, often with powerful and lengthy cycles of drugs, may be not be the full answer. The neurologist, Dr. Perlmutter, goes as far as saying that we alter our brains by what we eat and how we live. Something that previously was deemed to be a ‘done deal’ ie. once your brain was formed you were who you were, is now considered outdated knowledge. The benefits of a gluten-free/wheat free eating regime has produced some startling improvments in Dr. Perlmutter’s clinic on patients suffering from Alzheimers, Dementia and ADHD purely from changing their diet! Weight loss, clearer skin and more energy seem to be accidental by-products of this. Today stress, depression, being overweight and feeling sluggish are issues that almost all of us are dealing with on a daily basis. Perhaps it is time to take note and get in tune with our bodies and introduce a better way to eat which nourishes us from the inside and out. Here is my current reading list on the subject:
Grain Brain, The surprising truth about wheat, carbs and sugar – your brain’s silent killer, by Dr. David Perlmutter
Clean, The revolutionary programme to restore the body’s natural ability to heal itself, by Dr. Alejandro Junger
Wheat Belly, loose the wheat, loose the weight and find your path back to health, by Dr. William Davis
Have a great Saturday! x