Elisabeth Hasselbeck, author of "The G Free Diet"-Interview on Fox News

There has been much hype and publicity around the publication of Elisabeth Hasselbeck's book "The G Free Diet". You can see her latest interview with Greta Van Sustern here
Elisabeth who suffers from Celiac Disease herself has been using her celebrity status to do a great job of spreading the news on Celiac Disease and Gluten Free Diets. I have read several reviews of the book and would like to share a statement and concern put forth by Elaine Monarch, founder and executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, she writes:

Celiac Colleagues:

I am writing to call your attention to the current publicity surrounding the new book, The G-free Diet, A Gluten-Free Survival Guide by Elisabeth Hassselbeck, co-host of The View. While it is important to call attention to celiac disease, the information must be accurate - the inaccuracies in this book are potentially dangerous and detrimental to celiacs and to those yet to be diagnosed if people self diagnose and start eating GF. Our mission is to assist in getting people accurately diagnosed and the message in this book could defeat this mission. It appears that this book is being marketed as a fitness diet - eat g-free and feel so much better. Celiac is incorrectly referred to as an allergy not an autoimmune disease.

The GF diet is the medically mediated prescription that controls the condition for a diagnosed celiac. Several items in the book are misleading and inaccurate and place further limitations on the GF diet. The gluten-free lifestyle is a lifelong commitment for the diagnosed celiac, not an option, not a fad diet - adhering to the GF lifestyle requires patience and persistence. This lifestyle can not be trivialized.

Thank you.

Elaine Monarch
Founder & Executive Director
Celiac Disease Foundation

While a gluten free diet can be a very healthy diet, eliminating whole grains and other foods for those individuals that do not have Celiac Disease, a diagnosed wheat allergy or true gluten sensitivity is not necessarily a healthy life style option. Before heading down the gluten free fad diet road, those with concerns that they may have Celiac Disease should seek appropriate medical testing.