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Many people who go gluten-free do so not because they have any of the conditions listed in this section, but because they’re striving for a healthier lifestyle.

The authors of this book believe gluten isn’t good for anyone (more on that in Chapter 2 of Book I), especially in the highly refined form that most people know, like bread, bagels, and pasta. Cutting wheat and other gluten-containing grains out of your diet certainly isn’t a bad thing and can have significant health benefits if you eat a wholesome, diverse diet. Heck, it can even be the key to maintaining your weight!

Maybe you’ll find it compelling to adopt a gluten-free lifestyle when you realize that the gluten-free diet may relieve or even completely alleviate certain health problems. (The earlier section “Making nutrition your mission: Head-to-toe health benefits” lists the conditions exacerbated by gluten.)

This isn’t a diet du jour. We realize that new diets pop up faster than celebrity babies with odd names, and that the diets last about as long as the celebrity marriages do. This is a lifestyle. It’s a lifestyle that’s perfectly in sync with the way our bodies were designed to eat – and that’s why it’s so effective in improving our health.

Our bodies weren’t designed to eat that junk listed in the “Common foods that contain gluten” section. Bagels? Cereal? Pasta? We don’t think so! Our bodies can rebel against those foods in ways that can sometimes severely compromise our health, and for many people, the gluten-free diet is the best – sometimes the only – treatment.

Chapter 2 of Book I explains more about gluten’s effect on the body. For extensive, detailed information about the many medical conditions that benefit from a gluten-free diet, see the companion book to this one, Living Gluten-Free For Dummies (Wiley).