Elizabeth Hasselbeck is a co-host on the television show “The View” and was a contestant on the television show “Survivor.” For years she had painful stomach and digestive problems and didn’t know the cause.
During her time on “Survivor”, she didn’t get much to eat. Her diet consisted of mainly rice. So realized that she wasn’t in pain during that time and the thought occurred to her that she hadn’t been eating any bread products. When she was off “Survivor she did some research which lead to her being diagnosed with Celiac disease. The cure was to go gluten free.
In this book, Hasselbeck outlines reasons and conditions that may want you to decide to go Gluten free and how so thrive on a Gluten free diet. She covers just about every product in the market place that may contain gluten. One surprising thing was that some beauty supplies have gluten in them, lip stick and lip gloss. She tells you what is safe and what is not. She also goes through the kitchen pantry and tells you what to get rid of and what replacements to get.
This is an excellent resource for those who want to go gluten free. For those who have a condition that would get better from going gluten free or those that simply want to eat healthier and lose weight, this book is for you. My husband and I went to a gluten free diet because they thought he may have Celiac disease. It took me long hours on the internet to research this and this book could have saved me a lot of time! Luckily, it turned out that he doesn’t have Celiac but we still primarily eat gluten free.
Hasselbeck makes this seemingly daunting life chance easy to understand. The only thing missing is recipes. She only includes two recipes for pasta dishes. I actually think this is a big omission. Recipes would greatly help make it easier to go gluten free. For this I am knocking of points on my rating but still highly recommend this book for information. It is the best resource book I have seen out there that is so comprehensive.
I would also highly recommend that you get a gluten-Free recipe book to help you make a smooth transition. Two cook books that I recommend are the 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipesby Carol Fenster and The Gluten-Free Vegan: 150 Delicious Gluten-Free, Animal-Free Recipesby Susan O’Brien.
You may be wondering why a vegan would recommend 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes because it is not even vegetarian. It was given to me as a gift and I use it all the time. I was able to ‘veganize” many of the recipes. For a real special treat, I also like BabyCakes: Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York’s Most Talked-About Bakeryby Erin McKenna
3.5
Thanks again to Carey of The Tome Traveller’s Weblog where I won the book!
I wasn’t aware that Elisabeth Hasselbeck had Celiac disease. I have a close coworker who has has a severe case of it. He was telling me it was like three or four months of having influenza prior to him finally being diagnosed with it. He still gets really sick no matter how careful he is. Having seen what he goes through, I can understand how helpful this book would be. It is amazing just how many things contain gluten!
Michelle, it is amazing. It’s even in lip stick. I also find it amazing at how a little on your lips can set off the disease.
I did not even think about beauty products such as lip stick having gluten. It sounds like an informative book but I agree more than 2 recipes need to be included. I’m always looking for the recipes.
Did you find an improvement in your health after going gluten free?
Not really and I have since come to think that it isn’t that healthy, or at least the substitutes for baked goods are not any healthier than flour. However, for people who suffer from something like celiac disease, it is the best diet for them. They absolutely should not eat any gluten.
I asked because, one of my cousins has started eliminating gluten.I think she looks too thin.
I have noticed my seasonal skin allergies/eczema improves if I go gluten free, but other issues arise. I’m shocked this book didn’t have more recipes in it. I wonder why she didn’t have more. I also wonder if she still sells her bars, etc.