The Gluten Effect: How Innocent Wheat is Ruining Your Health
May 9, 2010 by Nancy
Filed under Book Reviews
By Drs. Vikki & Richard Petersen, doctors of chiropractic, certified nutritionists and founders of the HealthNOW Method and clinic in Sunnyvale, CA, which “combines the best elements of traditional and functional medicine into an approach that treats the underlying root cause of health problems.”
One of the reasons I find book so helpful is that this is not a celiac specific book, not that there aren’t a need for those as well. Many doctors just do not understand the vast number of health issues related to sensitivity to gluten.
The Petersen’s not only understand that gluten can cause a multitude of health problems, but they suggest that you buy a copy of their book to educate your own doctor on these issues. While there is a chapter on celiac disease, there are also chapters that address the countless other major diseases and disorders that have a direct link to gluten.
Here’s what you’ll find in the book:
Section One: Introduction to gluten sensitivity, history of grains, your immune system
Section Two: Is gluten the culprit behind your symptoms? Digestive problems, brain and nervous system, autoimmune disorders, and more.
Section Three: The mainstream gluten disorders: Celiac, Autism, ADD, ADHD, Arthritis, Sjogrens Syndrome, Diabetes, IBS, Thyroid disorders, Osteoporosis, and more.
Section Four: Other Gluten related disorders including depression, weight gain, Fibromyalgia, memory loss, skin disorders and many more.
Section Five: Finding and eliminating the cause: diagnosing gluten sensitivity
This book is very interesting and informative. It’s divided into small, bite-sized sections with many real-life success stories thrown in from the Petersen’s practice. Chances are that you will read about someone who you can relate to: Teens with migraines, a diabetic who no longer has glucose problems, and many, many other amazing stories of hope for patients who suffered needlessly for years before discovering their gluten sensitivities.
Buy the book on amazon.com
or on their website.
Congratulations to the 3 winners of our book giveaway. We hope to do another one at some point.
Just tell me here that you’d like to win a free book and I’ll enter you in the random drawing to be held at 6pm Pacific Time, May 10, 2010.
I would love to win this book, sounds interesting. We stopped eating wheat because our little girls were thin and active and had high cholesterol. The elimination decreased their total cholesterol 30%.
I discovered a gluten intolerance about a year ago. It’s so amazing how well my body works now that I’ve eliminated it from my diet! I would love to win one of these books.
Sounds like an intersting book. I have auto-immune thyroid disease, so I try to avoid gluten. I think some friends and family think it’s a fad thing that I’m avoiding gluten. Hopefully books like this will start to educate people. Thanks for the chance at a giveaway!
We started a gluten free diet in February. I am hoping to prevent some of the health issues that are in my family history. We have tested positive for gluten sensitivity. It’s nice to see information that is not exclusively about celiac disease.
I would love to win a copy of this book! I have a 15 month old daughter who is gluten intolerant and I have given up gluten to learn how to feed her!
I suspect I have a gluten sensitivity since I’ve been feeling better over the last month without gluten. I would love to win this book so I can read more about the whole issue.
I would enjoy reading this book. I am wondering if the tiny amount of wheat I ate for Mother’s Day is the reason I feel so yucky today! Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
I’d love to win a copy of this book! I have Sarcoidosis (autoimmune disorder) and I’m wondering if going gluten free will help.
I went gluten free over a year ago after attending a seminar of gluten intolerance, and it saved my life. My kids also went gluten free, along with one of my sisters. I cant say enough good things about a gluten free lifestyle, especially for someone with a family history like my relatives: They have everything from thyroid, depression, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, chronic constipation, miscarriages.. you name it.. they have it. I have completely changed my future by changing my diet, and eliminating all these symptoms I was beginning to have.
I am excited to read this book! I often have people, mostly desperate mothers, ask me questions about gluten related disorders. I would love to have a great reference book that I could give them.
I have been living gluten free for over 15 years. I am learning more evryday. I promise to pass on all I can to help others live a happier, more productive life.
Thank you!
Hey- I would love a copy of the book. Looks like a ton of great info. I have been diagnosed with celiac for about two years now. Still trying to get it all right. Thanks, Leigh
I would LOVE to win a copy of this book! Thank You!
This book sounds great I would love to read it! I recently have become gluten-free and would love some help, advice, recipes. This sounds great!
I have seen the effects of gluten on my daughter who is on the Autism Spectrum, I know when she has gotten some without us realizing it because it’s like she bounces off the walls. She’s 12 and can tell when she has gotten something with gluten in it. I would love to read the book so I can better understand what she is going through.
I would LOVE to win a copy of this book. I am still learning all I can about being GF after a diagnosis of a severe case of EE. I love to cook and it’s been quite the challenge!
would love to learn more about the gluten effect. my family is on the gluten-casein free diet because my son has had digestive problems from birth. he’s autistic and i have had skin problems in the past. now i no longer have any, just after 4 months on this diet
“The mainstream gluten disorders: Celiac, Autism, ADD, ADHD, Arthritis, Sjogrens Syndrome, Diabetes, IBS, Thyroid disorders, Osteoporosis…”
Waiting for doctors to wake up and get to actually doing good and NOT doing harm. There is so, so, so much more that can be done to help so many more people. Our family is gluten, dairy, corn, soy, preservative and dye free and primarily organic. We raise our own turkeys, ducks for eggs, and want to start raising our beef. If it doesn’t resemble the way God made it, we don’t eat it. I can’t wait to read this book and share the information with others. If it is in a book, people seem to listen more than to the mother that has her family on a “crazy” diet. Some people see it as deprivation. I see it as feeding my children so that developing brains are nourished and growing bodies fed. Hopefully your book will make an impact and help people see that if they are not eating Doritos and Oreos, they are not deprived. We are NOT missing a thing by being GF!
I would love to be entered for a chance to win a copy of this book! It would be a great resource to be able to lend. I have a lot of people ask me questions, but I stumble with the explanation and helping them to find more information.
I have been free for over a month now!
it has changed my life!!11
I would love to read a book that is not specifically celiac focused. I have gluten intolerance and my sister has fibromyalgia. I keep trying to get her to go wheat free but to no avail. Maybe she would read this book.
I would love to win a copy of this book! I have a 14 year old daughter that has suffered with a chronic daily migraine for about two and a half years. Last year was not s bad because she had some short breaks without pain but she has been in severely daily pain for nine months straight. We are des desperate for answers and have recently discovered the possibility of gluten sensitivity being a cause. I am researching and ready to start a GF diet ASAP.
I would love to win a copy of this book for my sister. I can’t seem to get across the idea that gluten is causing all of her medical problems. Maybe if she was able to read it, she would believe it.
I started to reduce the gluten in my diet because I was diagnosed with MS and read that gluten can be a trigger. My mother,aunt,and a bunch of cousins had wheat sensitivities. None have been clinically diagnosed, because they stopped eating wheat and felt better. To be diagnosed would have meant eating wheat again and feeling lousy. After stopping wheat for a few days, I ate some and felt bloated and had abdominal pain. Since then I have remained gluten free. My 5 year old daughter is also eating gluten free because of constipation and tummy aches. These have resolved. It is tricky in a house with one gluten eater(husband), but we are managing well. We do a lot of our own baking which makes it so much more cost effective.
I want A FREEEEEE copy PLZZZ
Gracias
My 14 yr old son was dx’d a year ago with Celiac. He had stopped growing several years before and had dropped on the growth chart from 65% to 8% in one year. Even with that dramatic drop, no one except me was concerned. I finally had him tested for Celiac and his numbers were off the chart, then the intenstinal biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Anyway, the past year has been a learning curve for all of us, but he’s gained about 40 lbs and grown 4-5 inches! Thank goodness we caught it. I’m always looking for more information, and would love to read this book!
Hi, I’d love a chance to win the book, I gave up gluten a couple years ago and have other friends who might greatly benefit from the diet…if I could convince them to try!
I would love to win this book. I have read some books on Celiacs, but always ones that I have borrowed. I have never had one of my own. I do have Celiacs and any information I have will help. Thank you for offering this.
Oh ya…I forgot…I would love to win the book to help us better understand this journey that we have taken.
I would love to win this book, I had to stop eating Gluten because I have a horrible rash all over my legs, arms, hands and face (sometimes).
I strongly believe that all people need to be aware of the problem with gluten. I also believe that all children should be tested for a gluten problem at the same time they are tested for lead poisoning. Both my husband and I have discovered we are gluten intolerant; I also have celiac disease. We are having difficulty getting our adult children to understand that they may have this problem as well and should consider changing their diets. They don’t want to deal with the difficulty of eating gluten free food. It isn’t that difficult and well worth the effort to change ones diet.
I really need to win this book. I’ve been trying to eat gluten-free for various health issues, but it’s a challenge. I need all the encouragement I can get!
I would love to win a copy of this book!! I have been GF for 6 years along with my older son who is now 8. Although not officially dxed with celiac (I had 2 negative blood tests), we have a lot of mild autism in the family and other signs. My son started showing symptoms so I put him on the GFCF diet. He’s a different child now! My other son (5) has pretty much been GF since birth. Also, I went through 6 1/2 years of infertility, thyroid disease, weakness, brittle bones, anemia, hypoglycemia and more for many years. I test mildly positive for antinuclear antibodies and also Sjogren’s. I went GF with my son, and felt better within 48 hours. I was also tested for leaky gut syndrome and got a big fat positive on that, so now I’m also dairy, egg, yeast and sugar free.
Removing gluten from my diet has saved my life. I never would have thought that. Oh, and after trying to 6 1/2 years for my first child (and having 2 losses), when I went GF it only took one try to get pregnant with my 2nd son. What a difference! I’m much healthier now. I’m actually healthier than most of my friends who eat wheat!
I would love to read this book! I’ve been gluten free for about a year and I’m still learning all I can about my sensitivity while trying to educate those around me about it. I suspect my oldest daughter also has a sensitivity and I’m trying to find signs in my other children as well.
I would love to win this book and really need to read it.
I would like to be entered in the drawing;
Ooo!! I would LOVE to win this book!!
Hi, I would love to win a copy of this book. I am curious to see what other auto immune disorders are effected by gluten. My family has been gluten free for the last three years, well, that is, gluten free not counting contaminations.
-Pam
I would love to win this book, and I really need to read it.
Im a college student and last year I had such a bad semester. I always had bad migraines and stomach trouble. I just thought the stomach stuff was anxiety. Last semester tho, it got worse. With the stress on top of everything else, I could barely sleep, I had a stomach ache every single day, headaches almost every day, hard to focus, and during tests, even tho I studied I could not remember the material. I was frustrated and thought that I was just a person with bad anxiety attacks. It was so bad that I started to stop caring about school because there was something keeping me from doing well and thought it was anxiety. Over winter break, tho, I was eating a piece of toast and then broke out in hives and had the same reaction and my mom suspected gluten was the problem. I have yet to get tested but Ive went on a gluten free diet and what a difference!!!! This semester has been the best yet. I have not had a head ache in three months and maybe one stomach ache since the diet change. Focusing is so much easier now and I feel the best that I have ever felt. I am much happier and have much more energy. I don’t have any trouble sleeping and I am back to doing really well in school. Since I have gone on the diet, I have suspected that my grandmother, uncle, and cousin have this problem too. Just have not convinced them.
My 9 year old daughter and I were diagnosed with Celiac in 2007 – I would love to get a copy of this book to have and read with my daughter to help people understand better why we have to live the gluten free lifestyle
I was diagnosed with a gluten issue 5 years ago. Unfortunately, that realization came “too late” as numerous other lifelong health conditions developed and now require a huge percentage of time just to manage. Quality of life is better gluten free, no doubt; but overall quality of life isn’t very good.
I am now asthma free..thanks to a gluten free diet!…Its amazing..truly…I was on a steriod inhaler..I gained alot of weight…and still could not breathe…With no health insurance..My meds..would cost over seven hundred dollars a month..I have a handicapped son..to take care of..and would dread every morning..I just couldnt get out of bed..My life has changed 100 percent..now Im Loving Life..Thanks..Gluten Free!
What a wonderful book ~ I would love to win a copy. I gave up gluten because I work with my hands and I was getting arthritis. Not only did my arthritis get better, but my Raynauds Syndrome has all but disappeared. It had made such a difference in how I feel in sooooo many ways that I never expected. This book would be a great tool to help educate family and friends who just don’t get the whole gluten free thing and probably have issues with it themselves. Can’t wait to read it!
My husbands family are all Celiacs.. so I started cooking gluten free and discovered our children are gluten intolerant.. eczema gone, odd colds and seasonal allergies that popped up for no reason gone.. Love to read any information we can find
I was diagnosed with IBS for 20 years..20 years of suffering until I went gluten free! What a blessing. My 27 year old daughter has recently been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (and has IBS symptoms as well) and I am trying to get her to go GF. Winning this book and having her read it may get her to let go of her wheat overloaded diet.
I’m really glad to see a book like this become available. Patients and doctors need to know that gluten sensitivity can affect much more then just your digestive health.
I would love to win a copy of this book. There are 3 in my family, including me, that follow a strict gluten free diet. I have 2 children with AD/HD and 1 with celiac. Gluten in the system can be difficult, but I learn something new everyday.
I would love go have a copy of this book because I have a son with Autism, he is te reason why I am trying to learn more about gf cooking, and the whole gf life in general. I see that the book mentions diebetes also Which is what my mom has, I think this book could truly help us.
I just recently was diagnosised with gluten senstivity, I have found now that I eat a gluten free diet I feel wonderful. I would love a free copy of this book to help continue my journey on a gluten free diet as well as educate others about this style of living.