Feast logo

5 Things I’ve Learned Following the Wheat Belly Diet

Time to take charge of my health

By Diane SiefkesPublished about a year ago 3 min read
Like

I’ve been trying to eat “healthier” for years, but it came more ‘real’ recently. At my last annual physical, my doctor said my ‘bad’ cholesterol was high and I’d better be careful as some numbers for pre-diabetes were showing up.

That got me thinking and thinking hard about what I can do to take control of my own health.

I like to peruse the cookbook aisle at my library. Who hasn’t bought cookbooks that are never used again? I just downsized a bunch so figured I’d try it before I buy it. There were all kinds of diets on display – Keto, Dash, Mediterranean, etc., etc., etc. One in particular, “Wheat Belly Cookbook” by William Davis seemed interesting. I read the jacket and thought what the heck, I checked it out.

It’s more than a cookbook. The first 190 pages is the research and his conclusions. It was very informative and made sense to me. I’d tried to switch to wheat bread a few years ago and let me just say, I did not digest wheat bread well.

I decided to try it. After about a week and a half here are 5 things I’ve discovered:

1.     It’s not cheap.

Throw out your soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and salad dressings. And toss your regular sugar and flour. You’ll be using almond flour which costs much more than a pound of regular flour. The good news is the cookbook includes recipes on how to make your own dressing. Even ranch dressing (my weakness!) And he offers a variety of sweeteners to replace what you’d use normally. Again, not as cheap as regular sugar but not horribly expensive either. But it can all add up so I bought a few things over a period of time, so I didn’t feel like I was breaking the bank.

2.     Grind your golden flax seed.

He uses golden flax seed in a lot of recipes. I made the Wheat Belly wrap and I thought I’d ground it enough. My gut told me differently. Ditto the Wheat Bread Tortillas. It took me making both to figure out the connection. But they were both good tasting and worked well for sandwiches and tortillas. So next time I’ll just make sure the seeds are ground fine as flour.

3.     Variety

There are chicken, beef, and fish recipes as well as vegetarian dishes. I’ve not made chicken nuggets in years – I’ve never been fond of the breading. But the recipe in the Wheat Belly Cookbook was both delicious and easy! I see these becoming a regular part of my menu. I can hardly wait to try the Almond Crusted Chicken!

4.     Bread

I like to eat peanut butter toast in the morning. I’d been using Ezekiel bread as a concession to avoid “processed” bread. But it’s a no-go in the Wheat Belly style. But then I saw two recipes in the cookbook – Basic Bread and Basic Biscuit. The biscuit one was easier, so I tried that first. And it was … disappointing. It didn’t taste very good and because it used 4 egg whites, I had 4 egg yolks that I had no idea what to do with. And did I mention, they didn’t taste good? I ate three and threw the rest away. The basic bread also uses 4 whites so I’ll see what else I can come up with.

5.     Keto?

I Googled “making bread with almond flour” and came across a few recipes that seemed doable AND didn’t use golden flaxseed or just egg whites. It seems the Wheat Belly diet is really close to Keto.  

In conclusion, I like a lot of what he says about the Wheat Belly lifestyle. It makes sense to me. And I’ll keep on with the recipes in his book – just not the bread ones. And I’ve only been doing it for a week and a half, so I don’t expect a miracle, but I did notice I’ve been sleeping a little better and don’t feel as bloated.

I even bought the book! At a thrift store but I see it as a long-term investment in my health.

Have you ever tried the Wheat Belly diet? Or Keto? What works for you? Do you have suggestions or ideas?

healthy
Like

About the Creator

Diane Siefkes

Ugh. I hate bios - who am I? The hell if I know. I know I'm a woman. My birth certificate says I'm 58 but my brain says I'm younger (my body agrees with my birth certificate). What (who?) do I want to be when I grow up? Good question.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.