FOREWORD
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Luc Readinger, MD
I first heard of Dallas and Melissa Hartwig (and the Whole9 community) while listening to their interview on Robb Wolf’s Paleo Solution podcast. After the interview, I visited the Whole9 Web site and found a gem called the Whole30, Dallas and Melissa’s original thirty-day nutrition program. It is part diet guide, part tough-love behavioral coaching, and I have witnessed the way it has transformed the lives and health of many.
I was working at an integrative family medical practice in a rural town. From day one, I realized my patients could benefit from dietary changes. Often a complete overhaul was in order. On both a personal and professional level, I knew many of these people would benefit from Dallas and Melissa’s healthy eating plan.
There are several good books on the subject, many of which I recommended. But it really came down to making it as easy as possible for people. I knew the diet I was recommending probably sounded unappealing, intimidating, or downright challenging and that only the super-motivated would follow through with purchasing a book. So to facilitate compliance with this lifestyle change, I printed copies of the Whole30 program from the Web site and began handing it out to those patients needing an intervention. They left my office with four pages in hand that contained everything they needed, freshly motivated by the program’s admonition to start right now.
I did not have a lot of hope at first. The changes I was asking people to make could be perceived as radical and even, in some cases, near impossible. To my surprise, people started returning to my office feeling better—often amazingly so. They had followed through! They had made drastic changes in how they ate and were reaping the results.
Almost all had lost weight and reported improved energy and mood. Patients were able to stop their blood-pressure medications after just thirty days on this plan. One diabetic’s hemoglobin A1c (a marker for average blood sugars over a four-month period) dropped by three points in three months, an unheard of improvement using oral medications alone. Another diabetic’s insulin requirements decreased by 80 percent. Asthma improved, rashes went away, chronic infectious diseases abated, chronic pain diminished, and health and well-being increased.
One day, my secretary told me that Melissa Hartwig had called. “Uh-oh,” I thought, “she’s found out that I’ve been printing the Whole30 off their Web site and handing it out to patients. A cease-and-desist order must be close at hand.” A patient who had experienced the tremendous benefits of the program had reached out to her and given her my contact information. To my relief, the Hartwigs were thrilled that I had been able to apply their material in my clinical practice and told me of other health-care providers who have had similar experiences with their patients as a result of the program.
Not only does the food we eat have a substantial impact on our health—a fact vastly underrated in today’s conventional medical community—it is the very cornerstone of good health. Out of all of the tools in my medical arsenal, the Whole30 is by far the most powerful and the most applicable across a wide range of ills. It is a potent antidote to the chronic diseases of modern society and can be used both as prevention and as treatment.
This book will take you through the Whole30 and beyond, going further into the practical application of the Hartwigs’ healthy eating plan. It elucidates a sustainable way to eat to maintain lifelong health, wellness, and physical performance. I hope the work you now hold in your hands leads you to a life of optimal health and vitality, as it has for my patients.
Luc Readinger, MD | January 2012