Customer Reviews

Dangerous Grains: Why Gluten Cereal Grains May Be Hazardous To Your Health

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A BARGAIN: 244 pages and 383 citations with accessible science about hundreds of illnesses.
READ THIS BOOK, and if the symptoms and illnesses of yourself and/or esteemed others jump out at you, read it again (as I have) for relevance, understanding, connection, note-taking, retention, resolve and competence in sharing. Also read the appendices and the 28 pages of information-dense references. Also, if you have the fortitude, look up the definitions of all of the listed illnesses - such work and knowledge acquisition might provide the discipline required for making any recommended dietary changes.
MAIN TOPICS: illnesses and diseases in the US population resulting from 1) celiac disease which is "an ailment whereby the inside lining of the small intestine...is chronically damaged by gluten proteins and their interaction with the immune system" (~1% of population). and 2) "non-celiac gluten sensitivity (which) exists whenever an individual's immune system is mounting an abnormal reaction to gluten" (~ 20% of population).
USEFULNESS: The authors skillfully explain the role of gluten grains in almost 200 medical and psychiatric conditions as they emphasize about 20 auto-immune diseases. Some attention grabbers: ADHD, arthritis, asthma, autism, cancer, Crohn's disease, depression, dermatitis herpetiformis, diabetes, epilepsy, headache, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, liver disease, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, schizophrenia and thyroid disease. They strongly advise testing for food sensitivities and celiac disease when these (especially autoimmune) illnesses exist. They recommend providing doctors copies of reference articles, since they may not know about the rapidly-expanding repertoire of available tests. Already experiencing digestive improvement, I share this book with friends and relatives.
CELIAC DISEASE AND HEREDITY: first degree relatives 4.5-8.5%; siblings 13.8%; offspring 12%; identical twins 70%.
LESS-FAMILIAR FACTS:
1. Humans have consumed grains during less than 0.5% of their history.
2. Gluten-related illnesses have newly occurred with "many aboriginal groups just recently introduced to a gluten-rich diet."
3. History: Stanislas Tanchou published findings over 150 years ago that imply that foods from grains cause cancer. Samuel Gee provided a highly-regarded description of classic celiac disease by 1888 and Willem Karel Dicke realized that wheat caused celiac symptoms by 1936. Incidence is 40 times that claimed a decade ago.
4. Schizophrenia incidence During WW-II substantially decreased among European populations suffering grain shortages. Ca 1969 F. Curtis Dohan et al reported that schizophrenia is frequently found in celiac disease and the reverse.
5. Genetic markers for gluten sensitivity or celiac disease occur in 43% of US population.
6. Genetic marker testing, especially if there is gluten-induced illness in relatives, is also advised for the asymptomatic because, "Those who do not feel ill in response to allergic substances in their environment are more likely to succumb to the harmful effects of these allergens."
7. Celiac disease waits for an average of 11 years before diagnosis and only 2.5% are ever diagnosed.
8. Malabsorption may not be permanent - villi, the millions of nutrient absorbers that line our small intestines, which can be flattened by disease, can be raised up again.
9. Depressive illness is the most common symptom of gluten intolerance
10. Rheumatoid arthritics (about half) show clear signs of gluten sensitivity.
11. AIDS death rate is increased by 20-fold when there is selenium deficiency which is commonly found in non-celiac, gluten-sensitive persons.
12. Significant bone loss occurs in 70% of persons with undetected celiac disease. Dairy products and calcium supplements may actually decrease bone density, while, for celiacs, a year on a gluten-free diet with proper supplementation can increase bone density.
13. Diabetes (IDDM) can be prevented by a gluten-free diet if genetic proneness is detected early.
14. Diet and nutrition's medicinal value is indicated in tens of thousands of studies.
BREAKING THE GLUTEN ADDICTION: There are certain peptides, or protein fragments, found in gluten (in grains) and in casein (in milk) that look and act just like the narcotic known as morphine. Hence, while a gluten-free diet is essential for management of celiac disease, only 50% are able to stick with it, even when they know their health risks. Supplemental to the authors' comprehensive advice about nutrition, support groups etc., I would suggest that, after reading Jacquelyn Rogers' book, You Can Stop - whether you are a smoker or not - you will be able to quit just about anything addictive, including gluten foods.
MSG CONNECTION: There seems to be overlap in msg-free and gluten-free diets. Either substance may be found "hidden" in hydrolyzed plant/vegetable protein, textured plant/vegetable protein, soy sauce, barley malt, stock cubes etc. They write that gluten can even be found "hidden" in msg (monosodium glutamate).
VEGETARIANISM & VEGANISM: The authors urge inclusion of high quality meat in the diet, but some dieters are so militant (and perhaps so disabled by a gluten-induced depression) that they might actually prefer dying to eating meat. I hope that the gluten-sensitive among them will identify vegetable and plant glutens and hidden glutens that might be used as meat substitutes in vegetarian and vegan prepared foods, and I hope they will develop therapeutic gluten-free diets. The authors do report that rheumatoid arthritics experienced "significant objective and subjective benefits" when they were subjected to fasting followed by a vegetarian, gluten-free diet.
WHATEVER WORKS: One could argue that the authors' program is so broad that a conscientious follower might improve his health but never know whether it was the removal of gluten grains (wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, kamut, triticale), dairy products, non-gluten allergenic foods or hundreds of food additives and chemicals; or whether it was the addition of supplements and more wholesome foods that was the primary factor. But removal of a potential causative element (gluten) of a host of illnesses would certainly tend to simplify the symptom set, enabling easier identification of any remaining dietary offenders.

Revised 1-Oct-03 (now fewer than 1000 words)

In my opinion, Dangerous Grains is the most comprehensive book ever written about the effects of gluten containing grains on the body. It is the first book written in layman's language that explains in detail the many diseases and disorders that may result from diets based on grains. It has been known for most of the century that grains cause cancer, heart disease, thyroid
problems, schizophrenia, arthritis, etc but the facts have been buried in thick medical text books under the name 'Celiac Disease' gathering dust. Hoggan and Braly have brilliantly compiled very well researched information so that I and you can finally do something to improve our very unwellselves.
The book is very well written and easily understandable. The personal experiences and stories are very effective. The list of almost 200 diseases at the back of the book is an excellent idea and many people I know have bought the book based on that feature alone.
The writing is exquisite and reading the book is like a having a
conversation with a good friend. After reading Hoggan's articles about the damaging effects that grains have had on me, I was able to finally figure out why I had stomach problems, extreme tooth decay and tantrums as a child, infertility, acne and chronic fatigue as a teenager, back pain, and arthritis, depression and diarrhea as an adult. Armed with this knowledge, I am able to take control of my life and live for the first time-symptom free and disease free.
I would recommend this book to everyone who wants to be well.

I highly recommend this book. It's well written & very engaging. It's chocked full of valuable information for anyone who is diagnosed with celiac disease, suspicious that they may have gluten sensitivity or anyone caring for a loved one with gluten sensitivity. When I was first diagnosed with gluten sensitivity, I searched my local library for solid information to help me improve my health. To my utter disappointment, all I could find at my local library was a couple gluten free cookbooks. I needed information on how to get well, not brownie recipes. Thanks & congratulation to Dr. Braly & Ron Hoggan for publishing this excellent resource in one convenient volume. I plan to buy multiple copies to give as Christmas gifts to my relatives.

When I was 9, my grandmother called me into the bathroom to show me my 3 year old brother's frothy floating elimination...and told me that this was an indication that he was being fed too many starchy grains. My mother continued to feed him grains and he wound up with a quite a few health problems.
I rarely ate grains, because they made me gain weight; and the only time I ate them regularly was for a month in 1986 - and I wound up with arthritis symptoms; excruciating pain in my arms and shoulders; couldn't lift my arms above my shoulder level; and horrific pain in my joints, too. Being into health research - I didn't take medication.
I looked back in my food journal - and immediately stopped the grains.
Within two weeks the pain was gone. Three months later, as an experiment I added them back. In two weeks the same unbearable pain returned. So, I stopped using grains for good. At 73 I am still gluten-free & pain-free.
As a health researcher (46 years duration) - I found Dr. James Braly's Dangerous Grains - very worthwhile. It is a "must-read" for every family who is interested in health.

This book is probably the best collection of information and ideas on gluten sensitivity and Celiac disease that I've ever read. There is less sensationalism than I expected and a lot of good discussion contained therein. Autoimmune and behavioral problems associated with gluten sensitivity are also covered very well in this volume. The only negative thing that I have to say is actually not about this book... but about the fact that grain-related illnesses seem to have been largely ignored by the medical establishment until recent years.

I have both Celiac disease and Asperger's syndrome myself and would highly recommend this title to anyone who feels that they are a newcomer to dealing with this spectrum of illnesses.

This book is a must read for anyone that is dealing with food sensitivities and particularly for those intolerant to gluten. Clearly, neither Lance LaRue nor Eric Kent have a clue about Celiac disease or they wouldn't at all be making the statements they did and it's clear to me that they've not read the book. For SOME people (1 in 30 is a conservative estimate, 1 in 4 is likely the real number of people impacted by gluten) eating gluten is toxic to their bodies and will lead eventually to some sort of health breakdown. This book provides the history of the introduction of gluten containing grains into our human diets and highlights why they cause problems for many, many people. It's a fantastic book. For folks that are the fortunate ones that can consume these grains in moderation, good for you. For those of us that can't (and have suffered for many decades because we were consuming these grains), this book provides the details so that we can explain to our families and friends why we can't and why it's actually a "normal" thing based on our genetic makeup that we can't. It's also useful for giving to your family members to read to make them understand why they should be tested for this, as it's likely they also shouldn't be consuming gluten containing grains if they want to improve their health.

I found this book to be super-excellent. It is a comprehensive resource that provides solid medical information about celiac disease and gluten sensitivity in a highly readable (but not condescending) style. Braly and Hoggan's well-documented explanation of gluten's destructive role in our diets is clear and telling. For me, as a newly diagnosed celiac patient, it was a life-changing eye-opener. But everyone should read it. The received wisdom that grains should be the major component of our diets is pervasive in our society and the general public is unaware of how wrongheaded - and even dangerous - this advice is. Certainly, as the authors are careful to point out, not everyone ends up with celiac disease, but everyone can benefit from the knowledge offered in this book. It makes an important social contribution.

I wish I had read this book years ago... Actually, I accidentally discovered that I was gluten-sensitive a few years before this book was published. I embarked on a low-carb diet -- but not all at once. I was keeping a very detailed food diary, and cutting down/out selected items gradually. Three days after I eliminated the last of the grains, my arthritis (which had forced me to stop playing my violin in public for 5 years!) completely disappeared. In the eight years that I have been avoiding gluten, the pain has not returned.

Prior to that, I went to several doctors, who placed me on drugs that didn't help, or gave me advice that was worthless -- one suggested that I see a shrink, because he couldn't find any reason for my pain, and therefore, he assumed that my pain was imaginary!

Going gluten-free was like stopping hitting myself on the head with a hammer. One other side-effect of my low-carb diet: I lost 100 lbs.

I hope that this book can finally lay to rest the myth that grains are good for you.

The person who wrote that this is some new diet fad has never been as sick as the people who actually have Celiacs disease, and who have to stay on this diet or DIE!!! Marion needs to become educated before she opens her mouth. This is a real disease, and believe someone who knows from experience, wheat can kill you if you have this disease.

I can't recommend "Dangerous Grains" highly enough! Having suffered with the downward spiral of gluten-related symptoms and diseases for almost twenty-five years now, cause and effect becomes painfully clear when reading through this shooting-straight-from-the-hip book by Drs. Braly and Hoggan. If only our primary care physicians, gastroenterologists, rheumatologists, mental health professionals, oncologists, etc. had enough hours in their busy days to read this book, it's overwhelming to think of how much suffering could be reversed. I'm absolutely confident that time will prove these theories correct. Why wait?