Undoctored: Why Health Care Has Failed You and How You Can Become Smarter Than Your Doctor by William Davis

Undoctored: Why Health Care Has Failed You and How You Can Become Smarter Than Your Doctor Reviews

• 
  Debbie Mcnulty

  I enjoyed reading this book although at times I found it to be repetitive. Most of the facts within the book I already knew but there were a few gems hidden inside. I think it could have been a much shorter book had he not repeats info so many times. Going grain free has changed my life and health, I found the info about that to be the most interesting.
• 
  Jacob Hales

  I already knew about the corruption with AHA and ADA thanks to Gary Taubes and Nina Tiecholtz. However, Dr. Davis's account of the failure of the health care system is so convincing and angering that my opinion on the American Health Care Act has flipped. I am okay if the system collapses and Doctors get on board with the truth about nutrition: sugars and grains are not natural to human nutrition and will kill you.
• 
  Evonne

  Interesting. I'd already read Wheat Belly by the same guy, so I was familiar with many of his arguments. Basically he's saying that
  a) because wheat and many grains have been modified by all kinds of methods for mostly good reasons, our guts don't digest them like we can the grains of 100 years ago. Proteins have been altered and the result is indigestion and problems that block nutrients, resulting in all kinds of disease.
  b) doctors aren't trained in this kind of health information. They are trained to treat symptoms, but not causes. He argues that the health system is an economic one, not nearly as altruistic as it claims. Though practitioners may be in it for the right reasons, their training doesn't allow them to think in terms of eliminating the cause of illness; they are all about managing symptoms.
  c) we live in an age where information is easy to come by, and many organizations are rising up to equip the average person to manage their own health. Tests can be purchased online or through private companies. Data is everywhere. Sift through it intelligently and all you need your doctor for will be for treating nondietary related health issues. He argues these are very few.
  
  He points out multiple times that the value of his advice comes from taking all of it at once, and not in some hodgepodge fashion. All or nothing, he says, because the positive outcomes are a result of the synergy of all the suggestions taken together, not in any one or two singly applied.
  
  Therefore, get smart; drop grains; supplement intelligently; live with wellness in mind; and carry on.
• 
  Donna

  This book struck a cord with me. I watched my dad suffer with one symptom after another. He was given a pill for that and a pill for this. No one ever gave him anything that would derail him off of his current path which eventually lead him to an early and sad death.
  
  Now, I'm seeing the same health issues knocking at my door. I tell my doctor I don't want a pill. She just laughs at me. By eating better, things have improved. But after reading this, I still see room for improvement. So I may have to read this book again soon.
  
  Some of this felt repetitive. But when I reached chapter 9 that is when it became the most interesting. So 4 stars.
• 
  Cynthia Egbert

  I did learn a few things and had a few suspicions confirmed but I am even more at a loss now about what to do for my own health. I am just not certain that I can see carbs (all grains) in such a negative light. I just keep reading and getting so much conflicting information and so many are willing to blame every other eating plan for all of our problems and their plan is the total miracle that will solve everything that I just get bogged down. Sigh.
• 
  Greg Strandberg

  Lots of interesting facts and stats, but not as interesting as I thought it would be. I did a lot of skimming on this one and probably read 50 pages in all.
• 
  Kim Pyle

  I love the idea that we can make informed, healthy choices that help restore our bodies to a state of health and protect against lifestyle-related disease. I love the extensive footnotes supporting Dr. Davis’ claims. I plan to try the six-week plan in the coming weeks to see how helpful it is. (I do tend to be a sucker for all the dietary fads that come along.) Much of what he says here supports what I’ve read elsewhere as I’ve done other research, and I would love to see these ideas catch on. Anyone who struggles with type 2 diabetes, thyroid disease, PCOS, or many other conditions can find some good information here. Also: everyone needs to be taking Vitamin D. Period.
  
  That said, the book was repetitive. Some of the bashing of the current healthcare system seemed fair (👎 corrupt pharmaceutical companies!), and some seemed unfair. I personally know many doctors, PAs, and nurses who genuinely care for their patients and long to help them and not exploit them. The book would have been more helpful if it had talked more about life beyond the six week Undoctored protocol and how to implement the lifestyle in a family with children. Basing our diets on evolutionary claims of what our forebears supposedly ate really isn’t something I find convincing, but it’s the thing in these paleo sort of circles.
  
  However, I do recommend the book, and it’s worth owning, marking up, and using as a reference. We’d all be better served if we lived as he teaches.
• 
  Melissa Rozeski

  I enjoyed the facts and content, but it was a bit over kill and repetitive at times. I stopped reading it because my husband is a physician and while I am frustrated with the system, I believe doctors themselves are truly trying to help and save lives.
• 
  Alice H Hess

  Good information about taking care of your own health and not relying on doctors.
• 
  Kim

  Enjoyed this book. Lots of practical, easily applicable information about how to stay healthy, monitor your own health, and assert your control as a health care consumer.
• 
  Karri Wright

  I really liked the concept of this book and do accept some of what Dr. Davis is suggesting. Think for yourself and ask deeper questions. Take responsibility for your own health. These things make sense to me.
  
  Unfortunately, I started to get bogged down in the details the further I got into the book and I found myself questioning some of what I was hearing. I also think maybe this lifestyle would not be for me, given that the author seems to be pushing an "all or nothing" approach stating that you can't get the benefit if you only do some of the things he's suggesting. That disheartened and overwhelmed me.
  
  Perhaps I should have read this book the old fashioned way instead of listening, because then I could have read and re-read some of the pages. I'm not sure that would have helped, though.
  
  I found myself at times hopeful and at other times feeling disappointed with what really might be just slightly more helpful than an infomercial. :/
  
  
• 
  Nancy Dardarian

  I already knew a lot of this but it was a good read.
• 
  Mike

  Who would ever have thought that you could find a doctor who feels about the FDA, big Pharma, big Food, and the entire health care system in the USA as the average American does? Well, Dr. William Davis is the man!
  
  He refers to health care in the USA as an organization motivated only by profit. Of course, many people within the health care system are caring, loving professionals who honestly do want to help their fellow man. However, the system they're in bondage to is the same system we are in bondage to. Health care? Nay. Profiteering from our illnesses is more like it. Greed seems to run rampant throughout our healthcare system. As a matter of fact, the term "healthcare" seems to be a misnomer, for in reality it should be renamed "symptom care."
  
  Big Pharma really doesn't want us cured - after all, they wouldn't make any more money off us. No, they treat only the symptoms. As one of my co-workers put it, if we step on a tack and the tack is stuck in our foot, the doctor is likely to prescribe a pain-killer rather than remove the tack. The same is true for many of our illnesses - symptoms are treated, the cause is left untreated, as it brings in additional money.
  
  In "Undoctored," we learn just how bad modern, prepared food is for us, as well as grains (wheat, oat, rye, barley, etc.), nitrates, high-fructose corn syrup, and a host of many other modern-day ingredients. We also learn how important it is to take the appropriate supplements, i.e. iodine, magnesium, and many others. Surprisingly, we learn how unnecessary, even dangerous, supplemental calcium is. I found that incredible! Even the all-hailed vitamin C! Not nearly as effective against the common cold as we're led to believe.
  
  There are myriads of tips and suggestions on maintaining control of our health in 'Undoctored."
  
  If/when we need a doctor, then by all means we should go see one. However, if we follow the advice found in this book, we are likely not to need a doctor nearly as often as we think we do. After all, doctors actually spend about 10 minutes or less with us when we do go to see one. (Not referring to surgeons, who may spend hours with us performing life-sustaining surgery.)
• 
  Hatice

  Eğer daha onceden "Buğday Göbeği" kitabini okuduysanız yazarin bu kitapta bahsettiği pek cok bolume onceden aşinasınız demektir. Dr. Davis bu kitapta da tahillarin zararlarini ve tamamen kesmenin faydalarina genişçe deginiyor. Onceki kitaptan farkli olarak değindiği konuların basinda "saglik alanindaki kolektif zeka" konusu geliyor. Kolektif Zeka; topluluklardaki bireylerin birbirlerinden bağımsız olarak, başkalarından etkilenmeksizin aldıkları kararların ortalaması, en iyi karardır önermesi ile var olduğu düşünülen bir mekanizmadır. Bu bir kisinin herhangi bir rahatsızlığı oldugunda Google'a semptomlari yazip "kesin oleceksin" tarzi bir sonuc almasindan ziyade, benzer rahatsizliklara sahip insanlarin kontrollu ve denetlenen platformlarda/forumlarda bilgi alışverişi yaparak yuksek oranlarda tek bir doktorun gorusunden daha dogru sonuclar aldiginin ispatlanmasi seklinde acikliyor. (Kronik hastaliklar, kiriklar, bazi kanser vakalari vb durumlari bunun disinda tutuyor) Gunumuz tip/ilac camiası bunu kabul etsin ya da etmesin bunun cok yuksek hizda ilerleyen bir konu oldugu ve onumuzdeki yillarda cok daha yayginlasacagini belirtiyor Dr Davis. Bilginin neredeyse her birkac ayda guncellendigi bir yuzyilda artik bireylerin de yapilan son arastirmalara rahatlikla ulasabildiginin bu yuzden mevcut sartlarda kisilerin mevcut rahatsizliklari konusunda doktorlarindan daha bilincli olabileceklerini, yine bu tarz kendilerini surekli gelistiren, ilac firmalarinin agina dusmemis, "omur boyu bu ilaci kullanacaksin, baska yolu yok" demeyen harika doktorlarin sayisinin da artmaya basladigini anlatiyor. İkinci bolumde de en basindan doktora gitmenizi gerektirmeyecek saglikli bir omur surmeniz icin gereken adimlari siraliyor. Son bolumde saglikli beslenmeyi binlerce liralik ilaclardansa modern yasamda her insanin vucudunda eksik olan bazi vitaminler ile nasil destekleyebileceginizi gosteriyor.
• 
  Missy Michaels

  I thought the introduction was entirely too long but I did read every word of it and I'm glad that I did. A sentence that grabbed my attention was, "You might just be on your way to wielding considerable authority over your own health." I knew I was about to read logical, researched information. In the introduction he also writes, "Unquestionably, there are situations in which doctoring and the healthcare system are needed. If you are bleeding, injured or struggling to breathe with pneumonia..." Pages 16 and 17 addresses what health conditions are addressed by the Undoctored approach. The list is long. It includes Acid reflux, Autoimmune Hemolytic anemia, Crohn's disease, Fibromyalgia, Prediabetes, Polymyalgia rheumatica, Rheumatoid arthritis and many other conditions. Undoctored is full of interesting facts about the foods the eat and the ones best avoided for optimal health. Chapter 10 is my favorite chapter. It's titled Wild, Naked and Unwashed 6 weeks of recipes. I found it wonderful. There is a recipe here for chocolate chip cookies using dark chocolate chips. I like this doctor. And I appreciate this book. It's excellent.
• 
  Nancy

  Lots of good health advice as I have come to expect from the author William Davis M.D. but the first half of the book was way too wordy on the reasons and background for his health seeking protocols.
  It didn't take much to convince me that 'medical health' is not really health, and, I have been grain free and low carb since his first book 'Wheatbelly' and I know humans have survived thousands of years without all the processed junk that is called food today (although I believe we were created by an infinitely wise God), but please just get to the point! When he did get to that part of his book, Wow! So much helpful information! Some may like and need all the preliminary details but for others, don't lose hope, keep reading you'll be glad you did!
• 
  Spuddie

  I can't recommend this book highly enough. I was already familiar with Dr. Davis's dietary plan via his Wheat Belly and Wheat Belly Total Health books, but this book takes things one step further and explores the vagaries of the current "health care" system in America, and how it has evolved into nothing more than a profiteering scam. The health care system has no incentive to actually teach people how to be healthy...their business is treating the sick--that is how they make their money. Following the dietary and health advice of prestigious groups like the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, Food and Drug Administration, etc. is no longer prudent. They may sound like benevolent groups, but in reality, they are supported in large part by donations from pharmaceutical companies, agriculture lobbyists and manufacturers of processed foods. Studies that your physician quotes to you as to why you should be taking a statin medication or why you should eat a low fat diet and more "healthy whole grain" were sponsored in large part by those same pharmaceutical and food lobbyist groups and have had the statistics twisted to profit those companies.
  
  Dr. Davis is taking us into the future of healthcare...where YOU are responsible in large part for your health, not your doctor. Not your insurance company. And he tells you how to navigate all the new technology and information available now to anyone--not just to those with medical training. He's not a conspiracy theorist nutjob. He does NOT tell you to skip your yearly physical, your screening colonoscopy or mammogram, and is not an anti-vaxxer, or the snake oil salesman who tells you to take turmeric for your new cancer diagnosis or the root of some South American plant for your eczema! Not at all. Dr. Davis helps you to ask the right questions of your doctor. He helps you to lose the attitude that "doctor knows best" because in reality, many doctors don't know much at all about actual nutrition, about current studies that are NOT supported by drug companies, and for the most part, their goal is to see as many patients as possible and tick off your compliance that their employer and your insurance company requires of them.
  
  Dr. Davis is a practicing cardiologist who has worked for decades within this American health system and, prior to his own enlightenment, preached the "follow a low fat diet and take this statin" form of cardiology and then was happy to perform a very lucrative angioplasty with a couple of stents when it didn't work. He has seen this system from the inside and knows how it works. He's also a Type 2 diabetic himself who has virtually 'cured' himself (and thousands of his patients and online community) by following his dietary and total health plan as outlined.
  
  Mind you, I was not someone who needed a lot of convincing--in essence, as a nurse who has also seen the health care system from the inside and has grown increasingly troubled by what I'm seeing--really, Dr. Davis was preaching to the choir with me. I've been following a form of his eating plan for years, off and on--grain-free, sugar-free and mostly "Paleo" without a lot of processed foods, artificial sweeteners and such. But his plan takes it up a notch for me and I intend to adapt my current way of eating to his plan in the hopes of getting rid of more of my prescription medications and becoming as healthy as I can. Truly healthy, not just healthy on paper.
  
  If you are someone struggling with chronic illness and take a handful (or two??) of meds for things like Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cholestrol, acid reflux, osteoporosis, various autoimmune diseases, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, IBS...I strongly encourage you to give this book a read. Dr. Davis also has a lot of very informative videos on YouTube and there are literally thousands of testimonials from people who have followed his plan and become mostly "Undoctored." Meaning...they need a doctor if they fall and break a leg, or to perform an appendectomy or to do their screening colonoscopy, but they don't need a doctor to write them prescriptions any more. I think that many people start this program not necessarily because they want more health, but because they want to lose weight. It is touted as a weight loss plan, because that DOES happen. Often people start it as a 'diet' and do lose weight...but when the other health benefits become evident within just a short time, people stick with it.
  
  As Glinda, the good witch of the north says in The Wizard of Oz, "You had the power all along, my dear." Dr. Davis helps to show you how to use it.
• 
  Jess Dollar

  Four stars because the content was good, but the style was not as professional as I would like. I already believe in the power of grain-free living, ketogenic diets, zero sugar, etc. I want others to discover this material and try it for themselves, and I am always looking for great beginner-friendly books to share with others if they ask for recommendations. I want to recommend this book but I have reservations due to the hyperbole and over-the-top convictions Dr. Davis shares. Too much conviction comes across as biased, and this book loses credibility in my eyes by being so focused on grains being the cause of every problem every known.
  
  It's normal for an expert to have an area of expertise, of course! But when that expert thinks everything hinges on their area of expertise, it makes them seem a bit less credible.
  
  That being said, I really did like this book a lot and think the future of health-care has got to move us away from traditional care by doctors and hospitals. I am convinced that the best way to stay in optimal health is to avoid doctors as much as possible. Every time you see a doctor, you risk an intervention that was not needed that will probably cause more trouble than it fixes. Doctors (and patients) have trouble doing nothing, but time fixes many medical problems.
  
  I think about this issue a lot, which is why I was drawn to this book. I think it's a good start and I hope to see more books about leaving traditional health-care behind and forging a new path.
• 
  Bill Yeadon

  Having read his previous book Wheat Belly and decided that route wasn't for me, it was surprising to read Undoctored. Unfortunately, if you are reading the book you are going to get the same pitch which is carbs are the devil. But that wasn't the reason I read the book.
  
  This isn't the first book that discusses the unholy alliance between many in the medical community and the pharmaceutical industry. While I don't agree that no carbs are the way to go I do believe that the standard Western diet is responsible for the abominable state oh health in this country.
  
  The author mentions that only about 20% of medical schools put their students through nutritional studies. The idea of "Undoctored" is that you will need to take your health into your own hands. Although he admits there are times that you will be most thankful for medical care for broken bones etc.
  
  If you think about your own medical history, how many visits do you walk out of the office, after a 10-minute visit, with a scrip in your hands? And even sadder is the fact that we feel neglected if we don't have one. When we know that a cold is a virus and we know that an antibiotic won't work do we still get one?
  
  Diabetes and much of heart disease are caused by a poor diet, yet we spend the rest of our lives on an expensive medication.
  
  While I don't buy into Dr. Davis and his views of "killer carbs" I do agree that we need to take back control of our health.
• 
  Sabrina Rose

  I listened to about 75% of the audiobook version. Dr. Davis generalized in his writing. Often he claimed things that he had not yet discussed or proven in the book. From some of these unsubstantiated claims he would build entire arguments. The idea of being un-doctored really appeals to me. I want to see changes such as people taking an active role in their health through diet and exercise, better distribution of useful health related knowledge, and the eradication of profit driven health care. It seemed like this book was going to touch on these topics and provide an insider's perspective, so I stuck with it. The book gets into these ideas (and others such as diet modification). However, it is done in such broad strokes that I was left unsatisfied. From my glimpses at the book version, there are no footnotes or references to what he is claiming. This book is meant for the general public so, though this makes sense, it felt like there was no way of crosschecking anything he said.
  
  If you read this book looking for a serious look at the science behind some very real issues around healthcare, be prepared for flimsy writing. In discussing the importance of meat in the diet, he examines India's malnutrition and attributes it to their vegetarianism. He fails to mention poverty in this discussion and continues writing about how a carnivorous diet could solve India's malnutrition. Sure, a steady source of meat would probably help this issue but the full exclusion of important factors such as poverty when talking about malnutrition ruins this evidence for his argument. This brings me back to the first issue I mentioned about references, one of the underlying issues I had with this chapter particularly. I have read and been taught that red meat is not a healthful food and the author directly rebukes this. Fine with me. But why? and where did you get this explanation? I need to be convinced of the foundational point, that meat is good for humans, before he can convince me that I should be including it in my diet. Genuinely, I was looking for a scientifically sound discussion on this. The explanations he provided did not fulfill this and I almost constantly found myself in this limbo of trying to follow his logic but finding myself unconvinced of his reasoning.
  
  The anecdotes shared in the book are moving. I support the idea behind Dr. Davis' programs, books, and actions. I commend him for his radical ideas that question and attack our current healthcare system. It seems that people's lives are being changed and it's possible his other resources are better. I could not handle the manner in which this book was written though and I would not recommend it to any of my friends.
• 
  Jennifer

  This book had some good ideas, but I had a few issues with it. First, it's very all or nothing. I don't know many people, myself included, who want to follow a program that requires you to give up sugar and grains for the rest of your life and follow every step of his program to see ample benefit. For me, that is just too overwhelming. I honestly believe that if I did a few of the steps or ate well most of the time, I would still feel better and gain increased health. He (the author) writes too about how empowered people will be in the future when they take his advice and rid themselves of health issues. I don't see this happening though. Most people in the world who drink, smoke, don't exercise, eat poorly, etc already know this is bad for them, and many aren't doing anything about it. I know people personally who would rather be on medication and eat badly than change their lifestyles and go off the medicine. They know how to better their health (or at least believe they do) and still aren't doing anything to make it happen. I was a bit disappointed that there are so many supplements included since I hate remembering to take pills of any sort. I'm going to give up grains though and perhaps add a supplement or two. I'm hoping to see benefit from this alone that I can be satisfied with. Maybe one day I'll have enough energy to do the whole program.
• 
  Mary Miller

  Okay, not edited in my opinion. It rambles, has incoherent paragraphs and mostly resorts to self testimonials that reads a kin to this: "I once had pain, many conditions, I was overweight with Diabetes. Dr Davis save my life." Here's my problem, not everything 'can easily fixed' simply by changing your diet. Most of the information here is based on Keto eating (or at least low carbohydrate diet), the problem then becomes that if you already are eating low carb, or close to Keto as you can without going into starvation (which the original Keto diet developed for epilepsy by Dr. Russell Wilder in 1923, with extreme dietary restrictions did place his clients into that forced starvation on purpose to stop seizure activity). I think this book needs clearer editing as well as clearer definition as to what you can put into practice and how exactly you are going to be "smarter than your doctor". In the end I ended up scanning the book for any clearer answer as to what this book is supposed to give the reader, besides "eat low carb, eat clean less processed food." This information isn't new.
• 
  Emily Mellow

  Ok I only read the first half, which is all about why the healthcare system is failing us, killing us, and bleeding us dry. But the second half is just full of all the reasons grains are bad, dairy is bad, and sugar is killing us. I know, I have read a dozen books that say the same thing. I've tried to go keto and it's easy enough when I'm just feeding myself, but I can't make it work feeding two kids, one of them quite picky. We basically need bread, tortillas, and cheese to get enough calories in these kids, and yes even occasional treats. Well we don't need those last but I don't want to raise my kids in a monastic purity.
  I'm happy to give up grains, even happier to give up sugar, but I need to feed my kids and I'm not going to be cooking different meals for each of us. I'm less keen on giving up dairy, but feel good about our fresh, local goat milk. And I feel very good about cheese, for better or worse.
  Anyway, it's mostly another prescriptive diet book. I've read so many, it's quite boring. I did like all the shit talking about the medical establishment though.
• 
  Ktmholm

  Davis, a cardiologist and author of two books on the harmful effects of eating wheat, here bemoans the present state of the profit-driven healthcare system, and presents his recommendations. Following his Undoctored (“Wild, Naked and Unwashed”) plan is supposed to give the reader the ability to manage his or her own health, ideally distinguishing good medical advice from bad, and eliminating prescription meds while following his 6-week program (for which he includes 42 recipes).
  As I’ve said in reviewing similar books, the three-star rating means little here because I don’t feel medically qualified to give a qualified rating. As with some of these other books, Davis advocates avoiding sugar and whole grains, and has much in common with low-carb diets. Davis goes further in promising improved health, and definitely makes some valuable points. Worth considering for anyone interested in the subject.