Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gluten-Free Eating

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gluten Free Eating is a very comprehensive resource for newly diagnosed celiacs. The beginning chapters discuss why celiacs cannot eat gluten and the diagnosis process without getting too technical or overwhelming the reader with obscure medical tidbits. The next chapter explains which foods are safe and not safe to eat and explains how to decipher food labels and eliminate potentially harmful ingredients. There are also alphabetized lists of foods that are safe and not safe to eat. I consider all of these lists as part of a gluten free encyclopedia, which is pretty neat and very useful. I find it so easy to just look up any food I'm unsure of here. And even though the unsafe food lists look long and scary, this book does a great job at reassuring celiacs that their lives as they know them are not over. There is even an entire chapter devoted to building the self-esteems of celiacs and dealing with family and friends who just don't seem to understand the gluten free diet.
The book also recommends gluten free packaged products that are favorites of celiacs everywhere. There is also an entire chapter devoted to the ins and outs of gluten free alcohol. There are also recipes for cookies, pancakes, breads, pasta dishes and an all purpose baking mix. The authors even map out a gluten free meal plan for an entire week that's full of healthy, low fat foods and has substitutions for vegetarians. The book ends with a crash course on eating out, taking out and staying healthy on the gluten free diet. Overall this book is very helpful to newly diagnosed celiacs and their families. It's very easy to follow and written in fun, simple English. It's also sprinkled with "Good for You" tips by Tricia Thompson and cute anecdotes from the "Fearless Eater". This book is even great for celiacs who need a confidence boost or people looking for more diet options and recipes.

I was diagnosed with Celiac about a week ago and since then I have read numerous books and pieces of literature. Several times I went on Amazon to get recommendations and then went to the book store to see the item in person. Each time I found pieces of good information but nothing that made me want to bring the book home. Then I found this great book. I'm not sure what the one poster was talking about but this is a fun, entertaining book that has so much information it is truly amazing. The beginning gives some of the best information about Celiac that I have found so far in simple terms so other folks I'm talking too can understand this is much more than an allergy. There is an entire chapter devoted to teaching you how to read the labels for obvious and those elusive mystery products that may contain gluten along with other chapters full of alphabetical lists of what is safe, may be safe and absolutely not safe unless bought in the gluten free version. Even though I have been researching Celiac for a week now, there were a bunch of foods I hadn't realized were on the no no list. When I was first diagnosed, I made a list based upon information given by my doctor and support gorups on line, that showed what I could and couldn't have. That list accompanied me to the grocery store when I was restocking my kitchen but was very bulky (several pages long) and confusing. This book has the most up to date lists in a simple to read format and easy guide. There is a chapter where the authors list their favorite gluten free products, which I really appreciated. Many books and store personal won't give their opinions for fear of legal action but this book goes there and I'm truly thanful. I already tried one of their suggestions for bread, after buying one that was similar in taste and texture of a brick, and I am in heaven. There is also a section with basic recipes. The thing that I really like about these recipes is they are for basic foods that are normally loaded with gluten but now cooked in a way that we can eat them. I have looked at several "gluten free cookbooks" and a majority of the foods in them are naturally gluten free so there is no point in buying the book. I have been scouring the shelves looking for a cookbook that shows me how to make gluten free mac and cheese, dressings, french onion soup, pancakes and a good cream sauce. Guess what, all of these and more are in the book. Finally, there are chapters devoted to where to shop, find on line support groups and how to stock your kitchen. All in all, the best book I have read yet and the only one I have felt I couldn't leave the store without. It now has a place in my kitchen and will be making many trips to the store as my guide.

I've seen many of the books on the gluten-free diet and this is by far the most fun to read. Eve Adamson is a professional writer who knew nothing about the diet before taking on the assignment, but she totally got "into character" by going gluten-free to gain first-hand knowledge of the dietary challenges celiacs face on a daily basis. Tricia Thompson is a registered dietitian who has built a reputation as a first-rate nutrition consultant & researcher based on a series of publications on the gluten-free diet in various peer-reviewed scientific journals. The book unfolds as an entertaining narrative of Eve's experiences under Tricia's watchful eye, with useful and up-to-date scientific detail provided in various boxes under the headings "Good for You", "Read the Label", and "def-i-ni-tion". All in all, the book covers most everything offered in previously published works but in a much more 'digestable' form--just what the doctor ordered for people with celiac disease!

I have a bunch of these Idiot's books, so I was pleased to find this one on Gluten Free eating, which is something I struggle with. This book broke down the principals behind this diet very well, and it's becoming easier for me to stick with. I definitely recommend this as a primer for a gluten free lifestyle.

I found this book most helpful. It helps demystify the gluten free diet. You are given information on a tough diet in a reasonable fashion; easy to digest and use!
Hats off to the authors!
A good read with great info!

In order to produce The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gluten-Free Eating, writer Eve Adamson paired up with dietitian Tricia Thompson, MS, RD. Thompson specializes in nutrition consulting for celiac disease, a condition in which the ingestion of gluten found in wheat, barley, and rye results in damage to the body in ways that reduce its ability to absorb needed nutrition. In order to best understand the concerns of gluten-free eaters, Adamson went entirely gluten-free while writing it.

Adamson and Thompson explain what celiac disease is, why you shouldn't try to diagnose yourself, and how to get a proper diagnosis. They give you a general idea of the foods that do and don't have gluten in them, as well as a guide to reading food labels and interpreting menus. While they can't tell you which specific items will or won't have gluten (as this changes all the time), they give you an idea of which foods tend to have gluten in them, or have gluten-free alternatives available. They also recommend some specific favorite gluten-free brands that each author prefers.

One of my favorite parts about this book, however, is that the authors understand that you aren't just dealing with the grocery store---you want to go out to eat, and you want to eat with friends. They tell you not just how to make things easier on yourself, but also how to make things easier on others so that they can better accommodate your needs.

On top of all that they even manage to fit in some recipes. There's a baking mix and several recipes that use it. Given that it's particularly tough to bake without gluten, I of course had to try this out. The baking mix's 'secret ingredient' is xanthan gum. This is a rather expensive ingredient, but when you consider that a teaspoon of the stuff is enough to last through a batch of cookies and a pancake breakfast, you realize that the high price spreads itself out pretty well.

The pancakes were incredibly delicious and surprisingly thick and decadent. To quote my husband, "I expected to say that these were good for gluten-free, but they're just *good*." We both agreed that we'd happily make those again as a delicious recipe in its own right.

If you have to eat gluten-free or have a friend or family member you want to help out in that regard, I highly recommend this book. It's packed full of fascinating and useful information, encouragement, and delicious recipes!

I had hoped this would be about gluten-free eating in general, as there are a lot of studies connecting gluten with behavioural problems, Autism, ADD, headaches, moodswings and overall health---but this book only concentrates on Celiac's disease. Perhaps I shouldn't be reviewing, because if I did have Celiac's I might find this book useful. Maybe it's just mis-titled and should be "Celiac's for Dummies"

This is a simple but great book, it covers it all from being diagnoised to recipes. It was great to get this book helps you understand gluten intolerance problems and how to deal with it in every way. Lots of tips like how to eat out, how to eat at weddings and partys. Realy good recipes that are not hard at all to make. Love this book.

I tried to wade through the first part of this book and was just not up to sifting through all of it to get to what I want to know. What foods have gluten, which ones don't? I need short, simple and very elementary. It did not live up to it's title "for idiots" as far as I'm concerned. Will probably never attempt to read it again. Regret purchasing it.

I ordered this product on August 15th hoping to receive it as soon as possible after a recent diagnosis of celiacs disease and not being able to eat anything with gluten and being completely illiterate of the subject, after the expected deliverty date of 09/06 which I thought was slow to beging with, I still had not received my product, I contacted the seller and did not receive a response...I have now contacted the seller on this item three times and have received no response or yet to receive my item.....BUYER BEWARE....LUCKILY i only spent 8.00 someone else could lose more.