With all the mixed information about wheat, I welcomed reading a balanced view. But first, I don't recommend reading this while hungry; for those walking past the candy aisle to follow that delicious bakery smell, you may find yourself reading and ready to devour a loaf of bread or five. My proclivities toward bread is the sole reason I do not own a bread machine. I'd weigh 500lbs and not because I was allergic to gluten.

Personally, when someone says something is bad for you, I like to know why, why not, when, how, historic uses, common misconceptions, and effects on fads and pop culture. If in doubt, ask me anything you want to know about chocolate, stollen bread, food dye, spam, and canned cheese....I'm your girl.

I appreciate Stephen Yafa's no-frills, Mary Roach-esque approach: history and science. Yafa illustrates the pros and cons, tackling wheat, gluten, grains, and how we process these before they land on the dinner table. His curious openness and research is refreshing in a society that is suddenly regarding wheat as taboo and given to a hotly debated item on both sides of the grocery aisle.

I highly recommend this for those with gluten or grains intolerance, allergies, adjusting a diet, curious foodie types, or simply to kick butt at Jeopardy. "I'll take Yummy Gluten for $1000, Alex."

I'm now off to make some hot cheesy spinach dip...with fresh sourdough bread. Yum.

Thank you to LIbraryThing Early Reviewers and Avery Publishing for a review copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Stephen Yafa’s style was highly readable and entertaining. I appreciated the research and the science that the book presented. As a bread-lover, this topic is particularly interesting to me, especially since so many people I know think that wheat is their new food enemy. I recommend this book to anyone interested in nutrition or food science. ( )

I was eager to read and review this book because like almost everyone else I had been considering going gluten free.

When the author’s wife decides to go gluten free, he is supportive of her decision but as a journalist he was also skeptical of the growing anti-gluten movement. He started researching gluten as a journalist, not a scientist, and this book is the result. This book has an almost perfect balance of science, history, and personal stories that make it enjoyable reading while still educating the reader on wheat and gluten. The author attempts to keep in check his up front pro wheat bias and retain an open mind to the science without giving too much weight to the anecdotal beliefs.

After reading this book I am no longer planning on giving up gluten but I am going to more aware of whole wheat vs. 100% whole wheat and I am going to attempt to find more products with heirloom varieties of wheat. I am intrigued by the idea of making my own sourdough bread, but not quite brave enough…yet. I am also curious about sprouted grains and hope to experiment with that in my diet more.

I highly recommend this book if you are gluten sensitive, if you bake your own bread, or if you are considering going gluten free for reasons other than celiac disease. ( )

Yafa makes a convincing case that the gluten-free fad is not based in science and that the real problem of gluten sensitivity is really with overly-processed wheat and wheat products. The book argues for slow-rising sourdough as a way to combat gluten sensitivity (in the small portion of people that have it), better release the nutrition in wheat, and eat bread that just tastes better. Anyone interested in eating better would benefit from reading this book. ( )

I received a copy of this book from the Library Thing Early Reviewers.

Stephen Yafa sets out to find out if wheat really is all that bad. This book, I feel at least, ended up being pretty unbiased. He gives so much information, and always in a way that I made me want to keep reading. I appreciate all the information in the appendixes, especially appendix B that lists where to find mills to buy flour from. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to be better informed on the wheat and gluten debate. ( )