The best thing this "documentary" does is get people thinking about their nutrition. Is wheat the "bad guy"? That's not really established. What we have are a number of PHDs and people recognized in their field giving what is commonly referred to as "expert opinions", with a little bit of science thrown in and (possibly) some good points made. Is it pure propaganda as some claim? No. Does it contain some opinionated and skewed statements? Yes. (The one about bad bad glucose coming from wheat was almost a showstopper for me).
Glucose is pure brain food. Pretty much every cell in the body uses glucose as raw fuel. Now sucrose and high fructose-- sure, badmouth those all you want. But speaking of glucose from wheat as a bad thing clearly points to the speaker as being biased in presentation.
The purpose is to get people to think... so let's THINK. Look at our diet. What the video presents is very accurate. We tend to push veggies, fruits, nuts, beans and rice to the side and go for the wheat-based quick-serve foods. Yes, the wheat crops are treated with chemicals rather than natural means-- the whole purpose of which is to monetarily enrich the corporate shareholder structure... not feed people nutritional food.
Some might argue that bread itself is "unnatural". I mean... look what it takes to produce the stuff! But that's opinion, not established fact. However, the fact that we eat SO MUCH bread in our diets (as accurately portrayed in the discussion) can't be good for us.
It is widely-recognized that the best "diet" is simply eat well-rounded meals containing a variety of food types. Watching people on the video gulp down oil-and-cheese-laden pizza, followed up with a sugar-topped cake nearly made my stomach churn. Great propaganda there... but it makes the point. Exactly what are we feeding our bodies? Garbage in-- garbage out.
I appreciated the personal experiences of those who went wheat-free and found their health improved amazingly-- especially the woman who was wheelchair bound. Yet, those are individual experiences not backed up by hard data. It's a personal, subjective experience.
If we follow the instructions of every one of these types of videos we will never eat wheat, red meat, bacon, milk, cheese, eggs, grain of any kind, any kind of fats, coffee, chocolate, etc etc etc. Enjoy your starvation!
Moderation in all things. I am sure this video is very one-sided in its presentation. However it did get me thinking and you know what... the symptoms described were right down the line with my physical condition. So I'm going to THINK and try the simple test they presented: one month with no wheat at all. I'll eat potatoes, veggies, fruit, chicken, fish, nuts, beans, rice, and other types of food. I will avoid wheat like it's toxic. And I will see for myself whether (in my case) wheat is as detrimental as they say. I'll know at the end of 30 short days. What would be stupid would be to suspect wheat may be a major dietary issue and not at least TRY and see if that's the case.
So I give it 5 stars for getting me to think about the issue. At the worst all I can lose is 30 days without chocolate chip cookies. If the video is bogus, I'll know at the end of 30 days. If it's on-the-button (at least i my case) I'll know that too.
The only question I have is this: if (according to this video) one microgram of wheat is enough to trigger a serious reaction in some people... how can a person be absolutely assured they are actually eliminating all wheat in their diet? This documentary did a lot of complaining and warning but offered very little information in actually helping people understand how to totally "zero wheat". Does my vitamin pill contain a microgram of wheat? What about the filler for other medicines I take (on which my very life depends).
This film draws a big question mark but provides little in the way of answers. For asking the question I give it my "mediocre" score of "worth watching but not exceptional". They simply focus too much on "how bad wheat is" and not nearly enough on personal solutions. However there's the Net and "Wheat-free diet" searches. We can fill in the blanks. I'll let you know in 30 days about the personal solutions.
30 DAYS LATER-- review edit
So I went off wheat for 30 days. The result: no difference. Yes, my diet did improve. When one stops eating cookies and crackers and cereal and other wheat/sugar-primary items, it is interesting how many more foods become of primary interest. Celery or banana with peanut butter, zucchini with a little spice, rice and bean combinations, fruit instead of candy, etc etc. This can't help but improve both diet and health.
But overall result? No discernible difference other than what would be expected from an improved diet devoid of combined sugars and fats. My digestive tract didn't improve, my energy didn't improve, I didn't experience a miraculous change in overall health and welfare.
In short, while the film makes some good points, it all boils down to a simple fact: eat well-rounded meals, cut down on meat and make it a 3-ounce side dish instead of an 8-ounce main course, eliminate completely refined sugars and those sugar/fat-heavy deserts, and you'll be fine.
Of course, if you have an allergy to wheat, going off wheat 30 days is going to be an eye-opener. But other than that, for the everyday person, this film does nothing more than point out "The American Diet is a killer"... which everyone should already know. If not, that's the story to take home. But is wheat "bad food"? Perhaps if it's laced with pesticide, but otherwise no. Total nonsense. This film is typical propaganda and like all such films, needs researched beyond surface appearance.
30 days without wheat made no difference in my case... except to open my eyes to a better overall dietary method-- which I still retain.
