Why Do I Have A Beer Gut When I Don't Drink Beer?
I have always been skinny. When I was a kid, I was very
active, riding bike, camping with the Boy Scouts and walking to school, but didn’t
like sports. Mom fed us a diet that was mostly meat and potatoes. My parents
were trim and also active.
In college, I played badminton and archery to fulfill the gym
requirement and continued to do serious bike trekking. When I got married in
1961, I weighed 130 pounds.
By age 40, as a mid-career professional, I was heavier and
began to develop a gut and “love handles.” My neighbor got me started running.
At first, I couldn’t run a mile, but soon I was training at 5 miles, then 10
miles. After years of avoiding sports because I was no good at it, I found I
had the genes for endurance running. I studied training techniques and
nutrition, and followed the advice of world class runners. I ate a diet high in
carbohydrates (complex carbs - lots of pasta). Beer was considered a refreshing
beverage after a workout, and contains minerals for electrolyte replacement.
Meanwhile my wife, who was always on a diet, suffered watching my son (who was
a swimmer) and I eat ice cream out of soup bowls. I ran a marathon, and turned
in a respectable time of 3:46. I was training 70 miles a week and lifting
weights, but the love handles remained.
I read a book titled “Fit For Life.” They recommend eating
only high water content fruit in the morning. I followed this advice for a
while, but was disillusioned by the picture of the authors who looked emaciated
and sick. It is hard to get all the essential amino acids and balanced
nutrients on a pure vegetarian diet. The Chinese and Mexicans solve this
problem by cooking chicken and vegetables and serving it with rice, so I moved
toward more fish and Chinese/Mexican cooking. I ate “healthy” cereals (oats, muesli,
granola) for breakfast.
I continued to run through the 80’s and 90’s, eating the diet
recommended by the American Heart Association, which called for low fat, low
cholesterol and healthy whole grains. I was taught that fat makes you fat, and
sugar is burned by the body preferentially for energy. Not to worry if you
exercise a lot. The gut and the love handles enlarged, and my weight slowly
climbed to 165, and my cholesterol climbed into the danger zone. My wife had us
on a low fat, low salt diet because of her blood pressure. My waist increased
from 32 inches to 33 inches.
At age 63, I retired and had more time to exercise and
travel. My knees began to complain, so I did more biking and less running. I
was able to keep my weight stable, but cholesterol climbed. The Doctor
recommended oat meal to help with Cholesterol, and put me on a Statin.
By age 66, I joined a Medicare Advantage program which gave
me Silver Sneakers. I joined a Gym, which gave me access to torture machines to
work out.
In 2010, I had a sudden onset of debilitating arthritis
symptoms, and a Rheumatologist put me on a combination of Prednisone and
Meloxicam. I was able to function normally, but these potent
anti-inflammatories have side effects. I hired a personal trainer, who gave me
exercises to improve flexibility and range of motion. I wanted to get off
prescription drugs. My Doc. Referred me to a Chinese Physician who, in addition
to M.D and D.O. degrees, is a Master Acupuncturist. He can treat you with Eastern
medicine, Western medicine, and he is a Christian who believes in the power of
prayer. He treated me with acupuncture, and counseled me on diet, supplements
and attitude. He admonished me to not eat anything white – no white bread, no
rice and no potatoes. Within 6 months, I was off prescription drugs except the
Statin. My cholesterol remained high, although I ate lots of Oatmeal. To my
horror, my fasting blood sugar showed I was in a pre-diabetic state. In spite
of my sweet tooth, I cut out all candy, donuts, sugary drinks and switched to
Stevia to sweeten my coffee. Six months later, I had lost about 10 pounds and
my blood tests were all normal. Sadly, the gut and love handles increased my
waist size to 34. My Chinese Doc. is a vegetarian who said the only way to get
rid of the gut was to eat raw fruit and vegetables, preferably purchased
locally. I bought non-GMO and Organic food at the supermarket.
About this time, I discovered the book “Wheat Belly” by
William Davis, M.D. The book was first published in 2011, and became a
best-seller, but I never heard of it. An updated version was published in
paperback in 2014. On page 7, he tells a story much like the one above – this for
a Cardiologist 10 years younger than me. It is difficult to summarize the
revolutionary material in this book. To put it simply, everything they have
taught us in the last 50 years is wrong and mostly backwards. The “Nutritional
Pyramid” is upside down. Everything they told us to eat is bad for you and the
stuff they said to avoid is either irrelevant or good for you. The only
exception is sugar. There is no place for sugar in human nutrition. You will
get more than you need no matter what you eat – even when you try to avoid it
as much as possible. However, the worst thing you can eat is wheat (not the
wheat our ancestors ate without any problem, but modern dwarf wheat that is
genetically modified). It CAUSES diabetes, heart disease and a whole host of
autoimmune diseases. The next worst thing is oats.
Dr. Davis’ thrust is Celiac Disease and other diseases caused
by gluten intolerance gluten is wheat protein, but it is present in other
grains also). You can gain a large benefit from eliminating all forms of wheat
(it is in everything – cake, cookies, rolls, biscuits, salad dressing). Yup,
whole wheat bread, brown bread, oat bread, 9-grain, 12-grain, whatever all
contain added gluten and bad wheat. He provides a whole section in the book
with recipes for tasty foods made without wheat. Avoid “gluten free” foods.
They add things to replace the gluten that are almost as bad. Beer is made from
wheat, and contains some of the bad stuff. Alcohol is metabolized like sugar,
and causes the dreaded insulin spike.
While looking for “Wheat Belly,” I stumbled upon “Eat Fat,
Get Thin” by Mark Hyman, M.D. Dr. Hyman is a specialist in Functional Medicine.
His book was just released available in hard cover only. Look for discounted
prices online. Fascinated by the provocative title, I bought it and read it.
Wow, what a revelation, and he backs up what he says with the results of many
clinical studies and lots of references. The U.S. Government and the alphabet
soup of agencies that follow their recommendations have simply ignored what has
been proven overwhelmingly:
1. Fat does not make you fat. A low fat diet will make you
sick.
2.The fats they forbid (Omega 3 saturated fats) are good for
you. Olive Oil and Coconut Oil are very good.
3. The fats they recommend are very bad for you
(polyunsaturated Omega 6 oils – safflower oil, corn oil, canola Oil, etc.). Soy
Oil is a special case, best to avoid it. Soy is an inflammatory.
4. Hydrogenated oils are lethal (trans fats).
5. The cholesterol you eat is not the same cholesterol that
is in your bloodstream. All that’s important about cholesterol is the particle
size. Certain foods affect the particle size. Dietary Cholesterol has almost
zero correlation with heart disease.
6. Carbohydrates (not just wheat) cause diabetes, heart
disease and other diseases. “Healthy Whole Grains” are to be avoided
The two books are not contradictory, they are complementary.
Dr. Hyman also includes recipes and specific recommendations for supplements
and where to buy them. His website, www.eatfatgetthin.com
has lots of resources.
I started the 21 day challenge after following the avoid
wheat diet for about a month , and am down 2 notches on my belt. My weight is
stable at 150. Read the books and form your own opinion.
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