Elizabeth Hasselbeck on Larry King tonight

isto · Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 12:41 pm Post subject:

I ordered the book from the library, but I'm 19th in line, so it will be a while before I can read it. But from all that has been said here already, I was displeased to see the cover and the subtitle which called the book a gluten-free survival guide. IMO, you don't call it a survival guide if you go on a gluten binge.

Kathie · Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 1063 Location: Florida

Disclaimer: I haven't read the book and don't intend to.

Overall even with the misinformation I think this is probably a good thing. She will raise public awareness because she has a big mouth. Anyone who only reads her book and takes just her word as gospel on how to follow the G-free (gag me please) diet would latch onto that type of misinformation to suit their purpose anyway IMO. Anyone who really wants to live healthy GF goes to more than one source. I wish she had left out the whole White House dinner story, people who knowingly cheat for any reason just send my BP sky high.

She is so opinionated and sure that she is right (from what little I have seen of her in the news) that I doubt contacting her and pointing out whats wrong would matter to her at all. This is the same woman who followed Palin around like a puppy dog last year, isn't it?

This is the only forum I actively follow but I imagine that the same discussion is going on everywhere and anyone that read her book would naturally plug into the threads where they will then get the correct information.
_________________
CD by Biopsy 3/25/88

rpf1007 · Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 833 Location: Chicago

Amazon has the first chapter as a pdf file...I'm not sure I would get through the whole book- the writing is terrible.

Kathie- I was thinking the same thing. She will be totally oblivious to anyone challenging her. I think the only way would be if one of her hard-core supporters told her about her inconsistencies.
_________________
Rachel

rpf1007 · Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 833 Location: Chicago

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 10976 Location: WI, USA

isto · Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:05 pm Post subject:

The book arrived at the library yesterday. I read the whole thing, so I'm better equipped to have an opinion.

I have to say that I opened the book with a VERY BIASED attitude because I really don't much like EH.

Throughout the book EH states over and over that she used to binge and eat unsafely, but now takes the gf diet seriously because she has a family and career to care for. She said if she didn't have those things in her life, she might not be as careful.

She was not advocating eating gluten like she did at the White House. That statement was taken out of context. She admitted she did eat regular food because she didn't want to look like a weirdo in front of the Queen and the President, but she said she would never make that choice again, and encouraged Celiacs to eat safely and not ever binge.

Dr. Green uses the term "self diagnosed" in the forward, as does EH in the book. What they seem to mean is that EH realized her symptoms were Celiac-related, not just a gluten intolerance. She went to several doctors trying to get a diagnosis, but they didn't listen to her and dx'd her with IBS over and over and over. She did not "self-diagnose" and go gf without testing. In fact, even when she believed she had CD, she kept trying to convince herself she was wrong by eating a bag of cookies or whatever to prove she would not get sick, but they always made her feel worse. It was not until meeting Dr. Green that she was finally tested and now has the official dx. She wrote quite a bit about how to get a dx and the importance of it.

As I read the book and the info it contains, I kept thinking that a lot of her warnings sounded like things I have read here on our forum. Then, lo, and behold, she gave the web address for our forum in the paragraph on page 73. She also suggested www.glutenfreeforum.com as another good forum to visit for reliable information.

She did say at the beginning of the book that Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease, but throughout the book she referred to her problem as an allergy. I found this disturbing, as we all know CD is not an allergy.

Most of the book is dedicated to living gf if you are Celiac or gluten intolerant, but there was a chapter on the health benefits of eating gf. As in, eating more natural foods. There was also a chapter dealing with gluten and autism. I was glad to see that included because I believe there is sometimes a connection between the two. I have seen some autistic children improve on a gf or gf/casein free diet.

The brown rice syrup and blue cheese were listed under a section saying they might contain hidden gluten. She specified that some cheaper brown rice syrup contains barley malt. She did not say all brown rice syrup contains gluten.

I believe she calls the book a survival guide because she discusses most aspects of our lives - cooking, eating out, having someone else cook for you, shopping, cross contamination, hidden gluten, etc.

Overall the book wasn't as bad as I had expected. I'm still not a fan of EH, but the book has some decent information. She did state that we need to always keep up with manufacturers to make sure products we are using maintain their gf status. I was glad to read that.

Would I recommend this book for someone new to the gf world? It would not be my first, or even second, choice. The whole "gluten allergy" thing really bothers me and that isn't a good thing for a newbie to learn, as it is incorrect. But I don't think it was as bad as some of us wanted to think. I didn't suggest that my daughter read it because I would not want her to pick up the "gluten allergy" phrase. That does not help Celiacs at all.

Kathie · Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 1063 Location: Florida

Thank you for suffering so we don't have to. Laughing

I'm probably going to have to duck rotten tomatoes here but I don't have as big a problem as most people with the Gluten Allergy thing. I do think that someone writing a book should probably enforce the intolerance terminology as that is what it is. However when I go out to eat the average uninformed waiter isn't going to get or care that I have a disease which is an intolerance. They do understand the concept of what an allergy is. I personally cringe at the idea of telling people I have a disease and getting that OMG could it be contagious thing. Of course my DS's who are 17 tell them that if they CC my food I will die. Hence the reason I don't eat out much or take them with me.

We all have personal experience with trying to get even family members to understand what it means to have CD. In a perfect world we could get everyone to understand the concept and then intolerance or allergy would matter. In this case I guess I think if that's the worst thing about the book then the number of people who will read it just because of who she is can call it an allergy if it raises their awareness, and if they get diagnosed then they'll figure out the intolerance part on their own.
_________________
CD by Biopsy 3/25/88

isto · Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:41 pm Post subject:

I, too, at times have had to use the term allergy to explain to someone who does not understand the intolerance thing. But I know I have an autoimmune disease. EH thinks she has an allergy, even though she has been dx'd with Celiac. That is really misleading. At least, I think so.

cruelshoes · Joined: 23 Sep 2005 Posts: 3561 Location: Washington State

There was a really good post on the Gluten Free Living blog yesterday on this issue. It really sums up how I feel about this book.

http://gluten-freeliving.blogspot.com/2009/06/gluten-free-getting-it-right.html

Glad others have read it and enjoyed it. I'll still pass on this one.
_________________
-Colleen

Where are we going, and what am I doing in this handcart?

isto · Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:52 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the link, Colleen. That was very well written and I do agree. I don't think your life will be in any way diminished for not reading the book. Smile

jeant · Joined: 06 Apr 2008 Posts: 290

Thanks for linking to that post. It was very good.

I know Elisabeth has nothing to do with the advertising of her book, so I don't blame her for the contents of the ad I saw, but it did disturb me. Here is the complete text of the ad:

GFPolarBear · Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Posts: 374 Location: WI

*agrees with TEC and Os...*

I might take a look at the book - but I don't otherwise have an opinion one way or the other.

Kathie · Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Posts: 1063 Location: Florida

Well it appears that now she is going to be sued......

The View cohost -- who sparks controversy for her conservative opinions -- is being sued by an author who claims Hasselbeck, 32, stole her book idea.

Self-published author Susan Hassett states in a federal lawsuit filed in Boston that Hasselbeck infringed on her copyrights by publishing a book on Celiac Disease called The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide last month, the Boston Herald reports.
_________________
CD by Biopsy 3/25/88

cruelshoes · Joined: 23 Sep 2005 Posts: 3561 Location: Washington State

Wow. That will be something if it is true. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. How odd that I was just looking at that other book on xlibris.com yesterday.

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1180598
_________________
-Colleen

Where are we going, and what am I doing in this handcart?