Review: Basic information...great starting point for someone who thinks they might be gluten intolerant
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 22, 2013
A family member was very ill a few months ago with a virus that almost took his life. As a result, he developed symptoms that were relieved when he stopped all dairy products. Even lactose free milk and/or Lactaid tablets didn't work for him. After a couple months following a dairy free diet, he still had symptoms. I figured that the illness destroyed all the good bacteria in his intestine, but he hasn't been tested yet. His doctor suggested that he try going gluten free for a week to see if he felt better. We were surprised that by avoiding gluten for only a week, most of his symptoms disappeared. Foolishly thinking that his problem was mostly dairy with only a slight gluten intolerance, he decided to eat 1/2 a bun during his 2nd week of gluten avoidance. Well, that 1/2 bun caused his symptoms to return for 2 days. That's when we realized he needed to get serious about not eating gluten so I decided to read this book.I learned quite a bit in this short book. Even a small speck of a bread crumb can cause problems that might or might not be felt by the individual. But, that small crumb can cause serious villi health problems in the small intestine.This book states that if you feel better when avoiding gluten that you don't necessarily have celiac disease, but should have a biopsy to identify which of 5 possibilities are causing your symptoms. Then you can begin the proper diet. If you're gluten free at this time, you will need to begin eating gluten again, daily for about a week, before having the biopsy.This short book is great starting point for someone who thinks they might have a gluten intolerance. You could probably gather all this information yourself by taking time to search the web; however, it's nice having it all in one place. It explains there are different reasons & symptoms of gluten intolerance, explains how gluten sensitivity/intolerance affects the villi in the small intestine, has a few recipes, lists foods to avoid & foods that are okay to eat, and more.Being two weeks into my hubby's gluten avoidance diet, this book has armed me with helpful information & knowing what the next step should be concerning his treatment plan.