The Wheat
Belly Timeline: The First Few Weeks
With all our talk of opiate withdrawal syndromes
accompanied by nausea, headache, fatigue, and
depression, it can be daunting, even terrifying,
to people who face the prospect of tossing all
wheat and grains into the trash bin, vowing to
never let a Danish, donut, or dish of pasta cross
your lips again. So it may help to lay out a
timeline of what and when various
changes can develop in the Wheat Belly wheat-
and grain-free lifestyle.
You can expect different symptoms and health conditions
to recede at different rates, since they are caused by
a variety of different mechanisms. For instance, the
direct gastrointestinal toxic effects of gliadin-derived
peptides and wheat germ agglutinin that underlie acid
reflux and irritable bowel syndrome symptoms typically
cease within days of consuming no wheat or grains. The
iron, zinc, magnesium, and calcium absorption blocking
effects of grain phytates stop immediately with grain
elimination (with blood and tissue levels rising over
weeks to months), while vitamin B12 and pernicious
anemia can require months to improve, since the
autoimmune destruction of stomach parietal cells that
allow B12 absorption require months to recover (if it
recovers at all). Different conditions, different causes
within wheat and grains, different timelines to recede
or disappear.
This makes for substantial variation in the wheat- and
grain-elimination experience among individuals. While
many enjoy prompt relief from say, acid reflux, joint
pain, leg edema, and mind “fog,” as early
as the first 3-5 days, others require 6 months
to obtain relief from rheumatoid joint pain or psoriasis.
Note that timelines quoted below are approximate,
depending on, for instance, the quantity of grains
consumed previously, status of bowel flora (and the
quality and consistency of efforts to restore),
glandular and hormonal status, age, sex, form and
intensity of inflammatory or autoimmune response, and
other factors. Nonetheless, we can indeed construct a
rough timeline to help you anticipate how and in what
sequence your grain-free experience may play out.
Week 1: This is, for about half of us,
the worst part of the experience of eliminating wheat
and grains. This is the period made miserable by
withdrawal from the opioids of grains, resulting in
fatigue, nausea, headache, and depression—all the
features of an opiate withdrawal syndrome—and cravings
for foods made of grains. Recognize that this does
not represent a need for something in
grains—just withdrawal from opiates. Light-headedness
and muscle cramps can develop, so be sure to hydrate,
use mineral-rich salt, and take magnesium supplements.
Despite the rigors of withdrawal, weight loss can
nonetheless proceed, often rapidly. Many, though
not all, people experience weight loss at the rate
of up to one pound per day for the first week,
losing a combination of visceral fat and water.
It is also at the end of Week 1 that sleep
begins to improve: It becomes deeper and more
restful, with fewer restless leg tendencies.
As mentioned above, direct gastrointestinal toxic
effects, especially acid reflux (“heartburn”)
and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), begin
improvement during this first week. (Relief from
IBS, however, can be limited by substantial
distortions of bowel flora; the first week is
when you should have also begun a high-potency,
multi-species probiotic and prebiotic fibers, as
discussed in Wheat Belly Total
Health and summarized in the Wheat Belly Blog.
Week 2 through 4: For most people,
Week 2 marks a big turnaround in emotions, energy,
joint health, and skin health. Typical observations
during this period include relief from joint pain in
fingers and wrists; relief from depression; relief
from appetite stimulation, including the 24-hour-a-day
food obsessions experienced by people with bulimia
and binge eating disorder; and relief from common
skin conditions such as eczema, acne, and seborrhea.
For the majority of people, weight loss continues,
though it may slow from the rapid pace of the first
week. Most people feel a surge in energy at this time,
and many people who experience chronic migraine
headaches experience partial or total relief. Women
with painful and turbulent premenstrual syndrome
symptoms may begin to feel them recede at Week 2
or just beyond, depending on when in their cycle
they began the grain-elimination process.
Week 5: The early period of opiate
withdrawal should have completely passed by now for
everyone, and those people who developed abnormal
metabolic reliance on carbohydrates during their
former grain-consuming life should begin to acquire
higher levels of energy. Depriving the body of
carbohydrates, especially grain amylopectins, results
in a drop in energy until the body adapts by ramping
up the process of fat mobilization. Once that occurs,
energy increases further, mood improves, and
exercise performance improves.
If you chose to exercise during the first few weeks of
grain elimination, you probably noticed that running,
swimming, biking, and other activities were difficult
during the first few weeks, with reduced energy, slower
times, and overall poor performance. Once you reach
Week 5-6, though, performance for most athletes
surpasses levels achieved prior to grain
elimination. Carb loading is no longer necessary and
carbohydrate supplementation needs are much reduced
or eliminated during prolonged efforts. Less-serious
exercise efforts, such as jogging 5 miles,
biking 20 miles, or doing aerobics for an hour,
do not require carb intake, energy drinks,
energy bars, or other supplementation, as your body
is more efficient at drawing energy from fat stores.
People with chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia
typically respond at about this time, partially or
completely, with surges in energy and mood and relief
from muscle pain, joint pain, and stiffness. Hormonal
issues, such as tumultuous menstrual periods in women
and enlarged breasts in men, typically require this
long to improve. The hormonal distortions that cause
these issues, such as inappropriately high estrogen
levels and inflammatory phenomena, recede with
visceral fat, which should, by this time, have
shrunken dramatically.
Week 6 and onward: Six or
more—sometimes many more—weeks are usually required
for more complex conditions that involve autoimmunity
and inflammation to recede or reverse. Autoimmune
conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus,
multiple sclerosis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis,
polymyositis, polymyalgia rheumatica, psoriasis,
and others typically start to respond at about this
time, with continuing improvement over the next
several months. (Persistence of such issues often
suggests small intestinal
bacterial overgrowth, SIBO that will need to be
addressed for further recovery.) Inflammatory conditions,
such as osteoarthritis of the hips and knees, also
respond more slowly, providing relief over the
following few months. The degree of response is
highly variable, depending on the extent of bony
damage, which does not reverse with grain elimination.
Neurological conditions also require more time to
respond, given the slow and limited potential for
nervous system tissue to undergo repair. Multiple
sclerosis, the impaired coordination of cerebellar
ataxia, and the tingling and pain of peripheral
neuropathy can require months to years to respond
or, at least, stop progressing further. Neurological
impairment from grain consumption should be treated
as autoimmune conditions, and the strategies
discussed need to be followed consistently over
a long period.
Undoing all the harmful effects of wheat and grain
consumption doesn’t happen overnight, but
unfold over weeks or longer. But know that, by
taking this path, you are being given magnificent
control over health, weight, and appearance,
something that conventional dietary guidelines
cannot do. And, the longer you stay on course, the
better your health becomes without all the
incredible health-disrupting effects of grains.