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'A-Team' of Authors Makes 'Real Life With Celiac Disease'

A Must-Have Book for Your Personal Library

The newest book about celiac disease brings to mind a best-seller from the late ’60s: “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask).”

The subject of the new work isn’t quite as exciting as that earlier book. But, in their undertaking, the editors and authors similarly tackle their subject from all angles.

“Real Life with Celiac Disease” impressively fills a significant gap on the celiac bookshelf. It is the first book to take a comprehensive look at the medical, dietary, nutritional, emotional, psychological and social aspects of the illness and its only proven treatment, the gluten-free diet.You can order the book here.

Accurate and Lively

The polished credentials of the authors (over three dozen physicians and two dozen dieticians/nutritionists) ensure that each of the 53 chapters is science-based and accurate. At the same time, the authors employ a shared a “case study” approach that enlivens each chapter, unifies the book and illuminates topics that might otherwise be difficult to grasp.

If you have celiac disease, if you know of someone who has celiac disease, or if you treat people who have celiac disease, this book is essential reading.

The editors will be familiar to members of The Healthy Villi. They are nutritionist and dietician Melinda Dennis and physician Dr. Daniel A. Leffler, both frequent speakers at Healthy Villi meetings, and both members of the Celiac Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Boston.

International Team of Contributors

Melinda and Dan recruited an “A-team” list of authors to contribute chapters. They include such internationally recognized celiac researchers and practitioners as Drs. Carlo Catassi, Alessio Fasano, Peter H. R. Green, Stefano Guandalini, Ciaran P. Kelly, Alan M. Leichtner, Joseph A. Murray, Michelle Pietzak and Detlef Schuppan. Among the nutritionists and dieticians are such notables as Shelley Case, Laurie A. Higgins, Cynthia Kupper, Nixie Raymond and Tricia Thompson.

On the surface, celiac disease seems easy to understand and equally straightforward to treat: stay away from gluten, the culprit that triggers the autoimmune reaction, and you’ll be fine. Those of us who live with the disease, though, know that it isn’t quite so simple.

We wonder sometimes whether there is a “safe” amount of gluten that can be ingested. Some people think about “cheating.” And even if we wouldn’t dream of intentionally consuming something that contains wheat, barley or rye, we fear inadvertent exposure.

The Many Questions We Face

We read labels on food packaging the way some people follow celebrities on Twitter. We worry about overlooking gluten in an unfamiliar-sounding food ingredient. We ask ourselves if our medications and vitamins contain “hidden gluten.”

“Real Life With Celiac Disease” addresses those questions and many, many more. For example, you’ll learn in the book how to make your meals not just gluten-free, but also balanced and nutritious. You’ll find out how to adhere to the GF diet without gaining weight. You’ll discover the importance of whole grains, nutritional supplements and probiotics.

Parents will learn how infant feeding can affect the onset of celiac disease. They’ll also get tips about nutrition and about emotional-adjustment issues for children and teens with celiac disease. Additional chapters explore celiac disease in conjunction with eating disturbances, depression and anxiety.

Simply Divine Guidance

Enlightening surprises abound. Coming from a Christian heritage, I knew Roman Catholics with celiac disease often are flummoxed by the Catholic Church’s requirement that the sacrament of Holy Communion include wheat. There is, however, a solution, which the book details. I wasn’t aware that Jewish dietary laws pose a similar problem. Here, too, the book offers guidance.

Genetic testing, gluten intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, fructose and carbohydrate malabsorption, nonresponsive celiac disease, future possible treatments for the disease – all of that and more is covered.

For someone newly diagnosed, “Real Life With Celiac Disease” offers a first-rate way of deepening your understanding. For people who have lived with the disease for some time, the book explains, indeed, everything you always wanted to know about celiac disease but couldn’t learn – even when you asked.

The book is published by the American Gastroenterological Association.

- Steven P. Galante