In my post about my own experience with going gluten-free, I describe how removing wheat from my diet felt like breaking an addiction. Less than a year after my experience, Dr. William Davis published his book Wheat Belly. One of the arguments he uses for why cutting out wheat is a good idea is that it is addictive in the same way as opioid drugs like heroin. According to him, wheat breaks down into heroin-like molecules during digestion, which are able to enter your brain and cause cravings for even more wheat, leading to overeating and weight gain. Are these things really true? Sounds pretty wild, right? Well, let's examine his argument in detail, and check out his references.
