Book Review: Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss by Nickie Dumke

Welcome to our stop on Nickie Dumke's Pump Up Your Book Blog Book Tour!

Synopsis: Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss answers the question, “Why is it so hard to lose weight?” Because it’s hard to put a puzzle together if you’re missing some of the pieces. We’ve been missing or ignoring the most important pieces in the puzzle of how our bodies determine whether to store or burn fat. Those puzzle pieces are hormones such as insulin, cortisol, leptin, and others.


In addition, we’ve been given some puzzle pieces that don’t belong or fit in the weight-control puzzle. Much of what we’ve heard about dieting and exercise is incorrect and can cause loss of muscle mass instead of fat or even result in weight gain. The idea that weight is determined solely by “calories in minus calories out” is an assumption not based in reality. Most weight-loss diets require us to endure hunger much of the time, but hunger means that our blood sugar is falling or low and our insulin level may be rising. Prolonged hunger leads to the release of adrenal hormones, and the hormonal cascade which follows results in the inability to burn our own body fat as well as causing any fat we eat to be stored rather than burned to give us energy.


Another problem with most weight loss diets is that they strictly dictate food choices, lack the flexibility that those on special diets forfood allergies or gluten-intolerance require, and deprive us of pleasure. Individuals with food allergies face additional weight-loss challenges such as inflammation due to allergies which can lead to our master weight control hormone, leptin, being unable to do its job of maintaining a healthy weight. 


Those with gluten intolerance often eat a diet too high rice. Rice is the only grain which is high on the glycemic index in its whole grain form; thus eating too much of it will raise insulin levels and cause the body to deposit fat. Although the recipes in this book were developed for those on special diets, non-sensitive people will enjoy them as well, and theweight loss principles in this book will help anyone lose weight. (A chapter of recipes made with wheat and other problematic foods is included for those on unrestricted diets).
The most frustrating deficiency of conventional weight loss diets is that they don’t work long-term. Low-calorie, low-fat diets can lead to loss of muscle mass, and with less muscle to burn calories, this type of diet effectively reduces metabolic rate so we need lessfood. Rare is the person who loses weight by counting calories and keeps it off after they liberalize their diet! 


However, continual dieting for the rest of your life is not the way you need to live, and you do not have to be deprived of pleasure in order to lose weight. Overweight is not due to a lack of willpower. Rather, it is due to a chemical imbalance in our bodies. Once we begin to correct that imbalance by applying the principles in Food Allergy and Gluten-Free Weight Loss, we can lose weight without hunger or deprivationand can maintain a healthy weight permanently and easily by regaining normal self-regulating hormonal control of our weight.


You can read an excerpt here. 

Review:  If you've even glanced at diet books in the last 10 years, you know one of the major no-nos on them is bread. And a return to NATURAL grains. Why? Because as Dumke tells us, most of us are actually gluten intolerant, and that leads to weight GAIN. It's pretty much a DUH moment when you start thinking about it! If you've started any of these diets, you know when you drop processed foods and breads, you drop weight. I like how this book allows you to personalize an eating plan to your needs and likes. Most diet 'plans' are truly restrictive and don't allow you for your personal likes/dislikes to any degree. 

Dumke carefully explains the whys and whats to her plan, and how to achieve life-long success in weight loss. Their is an index to the recipes by type of grains, so they are easy to look up. Dumke also includes a handy Glycemic Index, that is very thorough, to help you break down common foods and put them into the plan she gives you. The author also gives you reasonable sources for the specialty grains and products, which is a huge help if you have to mail order items. AND the recipes are just plain yummy!

If you want to see if you can break the yo-yo diet cycle, give this book a try! I highly recomend it!

Here's an example:

Speedy Microwave Chili

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground turkey or beef
• 3 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce
• 1/2 to 1  teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
• 3 cans (15 ounces each) kidney beans, canned with no sugar, rinsed and drained
• Hot cooked macaroni, shredded cheddar cheese and sliced green onions, optional

Directions

1. In a microwave oven, crumble beef/turkey into a hard plastic colander, set in a large casserole lid. Microwave on high for 5-8 minutes, stirring and breaking up the meat every 2 minutes, until meat  no longer has any pink pieces. Drain the grease from the meat.
2. Add meat and tomato sauce to microwave safe casserole dish, cover with lid or plastic wrap and microwave on high for 5 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time.
3. Drain the liquid from the bean cans, and add beans to the casserole dish. Add seasoning and microwave on high for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes.
4. Makes 6 servings, each contains 4 protein units and 7 grams of fat.

About the Author: Nickie Dumke enjoys helping people with food allergies and gluten intolerance find solutions to their health and weight problems. She began writing books to help others with multiple food allergies over 20 years ago and the process culminated in this book.while listening to the struggles of an allergic friend on the Weight Watchers diet, she remembered her own weight struggles over 20 years ago and thought, “There has to be a better way.” 


This was the beginning of a new quest, and she is now helping those who are overweight due to inflammation (often due to unsuspected food allergies) or high-in-rice gluten-free diets, as well as those who are not food sensitive but want to lose weight permanently, healthily, and without feeling hungry and deprived. Her unique approach to weight and health presented in  this book. Nickie has had multiple food allergies for 30 years and has been cooking for special diets for family members and friends for even longer. Regardless of how complex your dietary needs are or how much or little cooking you have done, she has the books and recipes you need. Her books present the science behind multiple food allergies and weight control in an easily-understood manner. She has BS degrees in medical technology and microbiology. She and her husband live in Louisville, Colorado and have two grown sons. You can visit Nickie’s websites at http://www.foodallergyandglutenfreeweightloss.com and http://www.food-allergy.org.






Disclosure / Disclaimer: I was sent this book, free of charge, for review purposes, from the author, via Pump Up Your Book. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.