GIG Quarterly

Book Review
By Linda Hughes
GIG Newsmagazine Contributor

Those with gluten intolerance know that gluten can cause widespread problems for so many people. The list of conditions caused or aggravated by gluten can number into the hundreds.

What Drs. Vikki and Richard Petersen set out to do in "The Gluten Effect" is put the spotlight on the major problems- and even some minor problems- that gluten can trigger.

The husband and wife team are chiropractors and certified clinical nutritionists who have founded the HealthNOW Medical Center in Sunnyvale, California. Vikki Petersen is gluten intolerant and both follow a gluten-free diet. What they find at their HealthNOW Medical Center is that many of their patients suffering from fatigue, diarrhea, weight gain, thyroid issues, etc. are gluten intolerant. Their patient anecdotes throughout the book are testimonials to the healing power of a gluten-free diet. They do not set out to simply diagnose people with gluten intolerance. According to them, the HealthNOW center was created to find the root of health problems for patients. It just so happens that gluten is at the root quite a bit!

Readers will also find insightful information about the causes behind gluten-related conditions. For instance, those with gluten ataxia may not know what is wrong with their brain to cause the loss of coordination. "The Gluten Effect" offers an approachable explanation for this and other disorders such as type 1 diabetes, fatigue, malnutrition, osteoporosis, IBS and more. The book goes beyond the textbook definitions associated with gluten intolerance and celiac disease to give readers a better understanding of the complexities of the body and how systems can be connected.

A section about stress, hormones and gluten details how the adrenal glands suffer when a gluten intolerant person eats gluten. The cascade of problems that triggers can affect almost every hormone level in the body. The explanation in the book will help readers understand why fatigue and mood disorders are so common among gluten intolerant people who don't follow a GF diet.

As people with a passion for raising awareness of celiac disease and gluten intolerance, they do a fine job of underscoring the importance of the diet from just those with celiac disease to a much wider group of people suffering a variety of medical conditions, and "The Gluten Effect" aims to help them all.