Healthier Without Wheat - Book Review

Dr. Stephen Wangen is a nationally recognized expert in the field of gluten intolerance. Being a gluten-intolerant physician himself, he knows how to live a gluten-free life rather than just write about the subject. In his book Healthier without Wheat, he explains in detail, as the title suggests, a new understanding of wheat allergies, celiac disease and non-celiac gluten intolerance, without making you feel that you are reading a medical journal. The medical jargon does have its rightful place though, when he discusses tests, diagnosis and the types of antibodies involved. Yet, he assures if the reader becomes bogged down with the technical aspects of things that he can skim through it at first if necessary and by the end, it will all make perfect sense - which it does.

The book is divided into five parts - Wheat and the Problems It Can Cause, Celiac Disease, Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance and Wheat Allergies, Testing Summary for All Forms of Gluten Intolerance and Wheat Allergies, Treating Gluten Intolerance. These sections consist of thirteen chapters, complete with a summary at the end of each one. Also included is an extensive forty-five page bibliography, eight appendixes and a glossary. Real life stories are shared telling of their suffering and the steps each had to take to become gluten/wheat free. Frequently Asked Questions are taken into consideration, making it a well-rounded informative resource book that you won't need a degree in medicine to understand.

Healthier without Wheat will teach you:

1) How to find out if wheat or gluten is making you sick
2) Why this can be more difficult than it appears
3) How hundreds of health problems are connected with wheat and gluten reactions
4) How you can be gluten intolerant even if you don't have celiac disease
5) Why non-celiac gluten intolerance can make you just as sick as celiac disease
6) How to determine if your infant or child reacts to wheat or gluten
7) What to do if you are avoiding gluten but not getting better
8) Nutritional deficiencies commonly seen in gluten intolerance

Understanding our bodies and the symptoms it manifests will help us to be able to diagnose the problem, learn how to deal with it and take the necessary steps to heal it. Needing to be on gluten/wheat free is something that will be life-long for those who have either celiac disease or gluten intolerance. This doesn't mean that all the joy or spontaneity will be taking from your life however.

Learning to live gluten/wheat-free isn't as horrible as it may sound. One just needs to be open-minded to the new possibilities placed before you. I know this because I too have had to shift roads to this new journey in my life. It does take some getting used to, but with the help of Healthier without Wheat you will find that the benefits greatly outweigh any of the suffering you may have experienced. One of the sufferers mentioned in chapter four said it concisely when someone feels sorry for her because she has to follow a gluten-free diet, "Are you kidding? It has given me my life back!"

Take full advantage of the Website, blog, list of support groups and the newsletter for which the information is given at the end of the book. You will also find a healthy listing of gluten-free food companies, products and restaurants for your convenience.

With a full range of complete and updated information, Healthier without Wheat is a resource you shouldn't be without. It will help both the readers and physicians "work together to find better health." After all, isn't this what we all look for in life?