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The G-Free Diet

By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD
WebMD Expert Review

The G-Free Diet: What It Is

The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide is an easy-to-read, upbeat guide to understanding and adopting a gluten-free diet. Anyone who has ever thought they had celiac disease will be enlightened about this disorder and about how to eat healthfully while avoiding gluten (a protein found in grains such as wheat, barley, spelt, and rye).

The G-Free Diet was written by Elizabeth Hasselbeck, former Survivor contestant and co-host of The View talk show. In the book, she shares her personal journey of her struggle with celiac disease. She says she wrote the book to help raise awareness about the digestive disorder and to help the legions of people who live uncomfortably because they have not been properly diagnosed.

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"Approximately 95% of sufferers go undiagnosed, and I want to help shine the spotlight on this condition," says Hasselbeck.

When people with celiac disease eat foods containing gluten, they experience an inflammatory reaction that can damage the small intestine and inhibit nutrient absorption. Symptoms may include diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, weight loss, and fatigue. The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness says celiac disease is sometime confused with other conditions, like irritable bowel syndrome. According to the latest estimates from Mayo Clinic researchers, about 1% of adults in the U.S. has celiac disease.

Though The G-Free Diet advises against diagnosing yourself with celiac disease and encourages people to see a doctor for testing, it also promotes a gluten-free diet for other reasons, including managing autism and weight, controlling IBS, counteracting ADHD, boosting energy levels, improving attention span, and speeding digestion. "Even people with no health issues have a great deal to gain by giving up gluten," Hasselbeck writes.

But experts point out that there is no evidence a gluten-free diet helps to promote weight loss or control any other condition besides celiac disease.

"There is nothing magical about eliminating gluten that will improve your health or enhance weight loss unless you are intolerant to gluten," says Dee Sandquist, MS, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association who has celiac disease.

In fact, she says, a gluten-free diet can be high in calories and contribute to weight gain if you're not careful.

Sandquist says it is too premature to suggest a gluten free diet is capable of more than managing celiac disease. “Roughly 10% of people with IBS may have undiagnosed celiac disease. But more research is needed to show a benefit of a gluten free diet with other conditions such as autism and ADHD.”

The G-Free Diet: What You Can Eat

The G-Free Diet is similar to most gluten-free diets, which eliminate all grains containing gluten. While this may sound simple, the tricky part is that small amounts of gluten-containing grains find their way into a huge number of foods. The G-Free Diet highlights just how extensively gluten is found in prepared foods, from thickening agents to fillers in foods ranging from ketchup to ice cream.