Get Your Brain off Grain: How a gluten-free diet could unstick your mental and neurological problems (EPUB)

by Jessica Hellings, Deanna Kelly, Sharon Pugh
Our understanding of mental health and illness, and its relation to inflammation, is undergoing a revolution. Today, research is blending the traditional laboratory with the psychologist’s couch, rethinking the roots of food as medicine, and scrutinising people from head to toilet. In Get Your Brain off Grain, experts in the field of psychiatry and nutrition explain the emerging evidence-based insight as to gluten’s effect not only on the body, but on the mind. Step by step, they explore the relationships between the gut, immunity, and brain health as they relate to gluten sensitivity. They examine the mechanics of gluten sensitivity across the digestive, immune, and nervous systems to shed light on why certain people may be vulnerable to gluten sensitivity and importantly, how a gluten-free diet may help to alleviate symptoms in some people. Spanning schizophrenia, autism, anxiety, depression, seizure disorders, and more, this book considers just how far the immune reaction associated with gluten sensitivity can reach beyond the gut and physical symptoms. Everyone knows someone with a psychiatric condition—and for that reason, everyone deserves a science-backed resource to help explain what many doctors and clinicians may not yet know about. Patients, families, and clinicians alike can reference this practical review detailing what the field has learned about the causes of gluten sensitivity-related disease, the genetic factors that influence the likelihood of developing gluten sensitivity, and how gluten sensitivity makes its impact on various psychiatric and neurological illnesses. Additionally, the book informs readers about responsible testing for different kinds of gluten sensitivity, challenges and pitfalls to a gluten-free diet, and resources for help along the way.