Tasneem Bhatia - The 21-Day Belly Fix: The Doctor-Designed Diet Plan for a Clean Gut and a Slimmer Waist

This book proposes a program of diet and exercise recommendations for the reader to follow. However, you should consult a qualified medical professional (including, if you are pregnant, your ob-gyn) before starting this or any other fitness program. Please seek your doctors advice before making any decisions that affect your health or extreme changes in your diet, particularly if you suffer from any medical condition or have any symptom that may require treatment. As with any diet or exercise program, if at any time you experience any discomfort, stop immediately and consult your physician.

A Zinc Ink Trade Paperback Original

Copyright 2014 by Dr. Tasneem Bhatia

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Zinc Ink, an imprint of Random House, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.

B ALLANTINE and the H OUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.

Z INC I NK is a trademark of David Zinczenko.

L IBRARY OF C ONGRESS C ATALOGING-IN -P UBLICATION D ATA
Bhatia, Tasneem.
The 21-day belly fix: the doctor-designed diet plan for a clean gut and a slimmer waist / Tasneem Bhatia, M.D.
pages cm
title: Twenty-one-day belly fix
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-553-39364-4
eBook ISBN 978-0-553-39363-7
1. Weight loss. 2. Reducing diets. 3. Reducing exercises. 4. Digestive organsDiseasesTreatment. I. Title. II. Title: Twenty-one-day belly fix.
RM222.2.B52 2014
613.25dc23 2014029114

www.ballantinebooks.com

Book design by Casey Hampton

v3.1_r1

Writing this book was an act of pure joy because I was finally able to share my years of research and experience with you, the reader. I could not have done it without the help of both Julia Vantine and Rachel Meltzer Warren, M.S., R.D.N., who forced me daily to get my thoughts together. I want to thank my family for putting up with my crazy work and writing schedules, especially my sweet husband, Vik, and our children, Rania and Kubby. Finally, this book could not have been written without my patients, who ultimately are my teachers and force me to be better every day.

Tasneem Bhatia, M.D.

It shouldnt be this hard for me to lose weight.

I hear this time and again from first-time patients. Often they have seen doctor after doctor before they arrive at my practice, which is one of the countrys leading holistic and integrative medical centers. More often than not, they dont know why they cant drop the pounds, despite their strenuous diet and exercise regimens. Equally confused are those who come to me with allergies, rashes, depression, migraines, overwhelming fatigue, or inability to conceive: Their specialists dont have any answers, either.

Ill never forget the day that one particularly frustrated patient walked into my office for the first time. My clinic, on a tree-lined street in Atlanta, is a warm place, with soft lighting, light music, and aromatherapyearth tones dominate, so patients feel comfortable. Its a safe space, and I encourage a dialogue. Its not unusual for people to bring in their medical records, lists of medications, x-rays, and bags of supplements theyre taking. This patient, however, was unique. She brought in a stack of booksdiet books.

I have tried them all, she declared in frustration, and none have worked. I have fasted, detoxed, gone Paleonothing is working. Im now fifty pounds overweight, and I have gained it all in the last three years!

Concerned, I looked at her critically. She was in her late forties, her face was puffy and swollen, she had dark circles under her eyes, and most of her weight was centered in her abdomen. I understood her frustrationday after day, patient after patient, I am asked about weight and how to lose it. And I have the vantage point of seeing everyonethe active mom who wants to lose that last five pounds, the busy executive who has had too many business dinners, and the severely overweight, whose lifelong struggles have led to chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and cancer.

The struggle to shed weight has become an American story, with all of us affected, either personally or through a loved one fighting that battle.

I always listen quietly. But as I review their health questionnaires, ask follow-up questions about their diet and lifestyle, and perform their physical exams, I say the same thing time and again: Lets start with your gut.

Heres what I know: Nine times out of ten, my patients are in the guttermy term for experiencing the effects of an out-of-whack digestive system.

Weight gain begins in the gut, and we now have the research to prove it. Altered gut microbiologythe wrong bacteria, yeast, or a damaged gut liningleads to extra pounds. How? Well, for one, sugar cravings, carbohydrate addiction, and the desire for high-fat foods all begin in the belly: When our gut is damaged, our neurotransmitters are affected, making our body respond in kind. Carbs help give us a quick burst of serotonin, fats help us manage dopamine and norepinephrine, and sugar quickly boosts insulin and cortisol. And thats why you reach for the Krispy Kremes. These quick fixes work, for a momentuntil your body craves more, and you start the cycle all over again.

Lets go back to my patient with all her books. She had dieted, experimenting with different plans, and also alternated between starving and bingeing. The psychological toll of gaining weight triggered a depression, and she started isolating herself. Her clothes did not fit, and she was too ashamed to buy new ones.

Like many other patients, she had been approaching weight loss the wrong way. Diet and exercise do indeed help, but only if your gut, your hormones, and your stress levels are managed appropriately.

Together, we decided on starting the 21-Day Belly Fix, to begin rehabbing her belly as an initial step for weight loss. Following our plan, she removed gluten, lowered her sugar intake, and provided her belly with digestive enzymes, probiotics, and berberinean herb I often use to treat candida, a fungus in the belly.

After her twenty-one days, she lost ten pounds, improved her insulin regulation, and noticed that her energy had increased dramatically. By sixty days, she had lost twenty-one pounds. A year later I saw her in the office, and she is back to her original size 6.

She got there not by dieting but by fixing her diet. She got there thanks to the 21-Day Belly Fix. And now, with this book, you can get there, too.

Yes, its possible, with the 21-Day Belly Fix. The secret is in changing your guts bacteria, making sure theres more good than bad. By doing so, youll not only lose weight and feel better, but youll also be at the forefront of a new movement. You may have seen the recent headlines: Bacteria in the Intestines May Help Tip the Bathroom Scale, Studies Show, touted the New York Times last year. The Humble Heroes of Weight-Loss Surgery: Stomach Acids and Gut Microbes, trumpeted National Geographic this past March. Increasingly, scientists, physicians, and the public are recognizing that the gut microbiota, the microbes that live within our intestines, shape our health and wellbeing in innumerable ways, reported the Harvard School of Public Health last year.