JOIN THE GYPSY GLUTEN-FREE CARAVAN - 25 Authentic Naturally Healthy GF Tuscan Recipes - If you want to avoid gluten to lose weight, reduce joint "grain pain" or heard gluten is a "killer," you first need to know there's a possible dark side. The GF diet has gained notoriety among the health-conscious, spotlighted by celebrities and talkshow hosts. It has significant health benefits, and ample evidence shows it's a highly effective approach to weight loss. Going GF is a response to the inconvenient truth that our foods are increasingly contaminated by GMO experiments, antibiotics, pesticides, hormones, chemical additives, and even growing confusion about what can be legitimately called "food." It now includes wheat. Once celebrated posterchild of the health movement, the "king of grains" is now seen as a bastard pretender, possibly cause of a wide range of health issues. Every food directly influences the way we think, feel or act. And certain foods are hostile to our well-being. EVERY TIME WE EAT, WE ENTER INTO BATTLE - The war is waged in your gut. Its job is to shred and breakdown food into raw proteins, carbs, fats and minerals. To say we "attack" a sumptuous meal is an apt metaphor. Teeth grind, enzymes lay chemical assault and intestinal flora liberate metabolites. But some foods resist digestion. They fight it or breakdown with unpleasant side effects. Some are just plain not digestible -- leading to discomfort, gas, pain, inflammation and even tissue damage to the GI tract. Your immune system, weakened by this battle against contrary foods, is less able to deal with our toxic environment. The result is an epidemic of debilitating health conditions. A newly identified combatant in this digestive war is gluten, a grain protein that gives bread, pasta, noodles and other wheat products elasticity and texture. It has unhealthy side-effects. Electing to go GF would seem to be a simple matter of avoidance. Yet our western diet has developed over centuries to become centered extensively on wheat and barley. Research shows adjusting diet produces dramatic health improvements reducing need for expensive and potentially damaging medications. Healthcare experts report even those without a diagnosed digestive condition feel benefits avoiding gluten. GF has become a darling topic on the internet with much discussion...and, unfortunately, confusion. JUDITH HAS SET OUT TO DISPEL THIS CONFUSION Disappointed that doctors avoid discussing food sensitivities, Judith identifies the pros and cons of the gluten issue to help you cut through the hype and naysayers to discover a truth: You can regain your health "from the inside out" by consciously consuming only natural foods. And she offers delicious recipes to help you make this quantum leap. Beyond a nutrition guide, her book recounts discovering the world of gourmet cooking as an 18-year-old bride of a handsome Italian actor who introduced her to the worldly influences of Fellini, Mike Nichols, and Vittorio DeSica -- while her Florentine mother-in-law taught her traditional Tuscan cuisine, recipes with a heritage dating back 300 years. Based on vegetables and legumes, it's considered by modern dieticians and nutritionists one of the world's healthiest regimens. Yet because Italians consume copious amounts of pasta and bread, they face high rates of gluten sensitivity and Celiac Disease. Judith herself fell victim. Yet she triumphed over gluten sensitivity by adapting authentic Tuscan dishes to gluten-free versions, and here documents her most delicious recipes. In her cookbook and memoir, Judith also serves up a picaresque story of transformation from gypsy culinary maven to award-winning chef and expert on Mediterranean and GF diets, spanning 30 years as food journalist, nutrition coach, researcher, caterer and culinary instructor with a mission: To herald the benefits of a healthy, conscious diet that truly nourishes your body, mind and spirit -- when you EAT REAL