I recently learned that my books Going Against the Grain and Going Against GMOs are frequently bought together on Amazon.com. That’s great to learn! If you read Going Against the Grain first, then Going Against GMOs, you’ll get a crash course on the biggest food issues of our time that are rarely covered by mainstream media but are vital to know about to dramatically improve and protect our health.

Want to join others who are reading both books in succession so you know how to change the foods you eat to revitalize your health? I’m offering a deal during the summer that gives you incentive to do that: Purchase both Going Against the Grain and Going Against GMOs (in either paperback or e-book form), email or mail your receipt to me, and get $30.00 off the price of any nutrition coaching program or $25.00 off my Get Started Combo nutrition counseling services. (Trust me when I say that my Get Started Combo will never go any lower than that!)

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by Melissa Diane Smith

This is a slightly revised version of an article I wrote in 2012. It is based on a presentation I gave to the Southern Arizona Celiac Support group entitled “It’s Gluten Free, but Is It Healthy?” in January 2012. Many people still don’t know this information, so I think it’s important to run it again.

The gluten-free diet is one of the most talked-about and followed diets these days for good reason: It’s the nutritional answer for the growing number of people who realize they are gluten sensitive. It’s the best example we have of food as our best medicine. The vast majority of people who are gluten sensitive have experienced the amazing feeling of having longstanding bothersome or even debilitating symptoms dramatically improve or completely go away when they eliminate gluten from their diet.

However, for all the good eating gluten free can do for those of us who are gluten sensitive, it can do plenty of harm if we eat gluten free the wrong way. Unfortunately, many people are doing that without realizing it. It’s common for people to experience a big improvement in health when they first go gluten free, and gradually develop unwanted, unhealthy weight gain or new health problems, such as diabetic or prediabetic blood sugar levels, the longer that they eat gluten free. In one study, 82 percent of people who went on a gluten-free diet gained weight in the first two years of eating that way, including 81 percent of the people in the study who were originally overweight.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

Amidst the noise, crowdedness, and sheer size of the 35th annual Natural Products Expo West – the world’s largest event devoted to natural and specialty food and beverages, organics, supplements, health and beauty, natural living and pet products – the trends that stood out to me were:

• A growing emphasis on non-GMO and organic foods and products
• Gluten-free, while still big, seems to be narrowing in favor of many more grain-free and Paleo food product offerings
• More options of minimally sweetened products made with simple, whole food ingredients and sweetened with just fruit or small amounts of better-for-you sweeteners such as organic coconut sugar.

These are all positive developments for me, my clients and readers, and the growing number of people who shop and eat against the grain and against GMOs.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

In this age of instant access to information, it’s ironic that I sometimes run into people who say they love one of my books, but aren’t aware of, or haven’t read, any of the others. It’s time to connect the dots between my four main books—Syndrome X, Going Against the Grain, Gluten Free Throughout the Year, and Going Against GMOs—and let you know how reading all of them can give you a thorough understanding of the spectrum of nutrition-related health issues that affect Americans today. I’m so confident that reading even one of my books you haven’t read before will give you knowledge that improves your health, that I’m giving you extra incentive to do just that: Click here to learn how you can get a discount on counseling or coaching with me if you buy any one of these books through February 18, 2015.

Click here to go to my Amazon Author page.

If you aren’t familiar with my main books, here’s a rundown:

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by Melissa Diane Smith

If you eat a Paleolithic, gluten-free, grain-free, or sugar-free diet—or if you’re looking for easy-to-grab prepared foods free of most genetically modified organisms (GMOs)—I have some great news for you: Whole Foods Market now offers Paleo Specials of the Week every day in its deli case and at least one day a week in its hot food bar. Though specifics may vary in areas around the country, the Northern California region of Whole Foods started the Paleo items first, and several other regions, including Southern Pacific, have begun to carry the options. In Arizona where I live, there are Paleo offerings in both the hot bar and cold bar all day every Thursday.

“Whole Foods Market wanted to better serve our Paleo lifestyle customers, which is why we have added these unique items to our Prepared Foods Department,” says Laura Kruszewski, marketing team leader for the River Road Whole Foods Market in Tucson, Arizona.

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On Sunday, November 2, 2014, from Noon to 3 p.m., I will be doing book signings of Going Against GMOs, Going Against the Grain, and Gluten Free Throughout the Year at my booth at the outdoor Gluten-Free Awareness Expo at Lifegain Park on the Tucson Medical Center grounds. This event will be a great opportunity to get my three gluten-free books at special discounted prices and to talk to me in person and ask me any questions about gluten, gluten sensitivity/celiac disease, or genetically modified foods that you’d like. All three of these books are written for people who eat a gluten-free diet. (That includes my new book Going Against GMOs, which names non-GMO, gluten-free and grain-free products to look for when shopping and includes more than 45 easy-to-make, non-GMO, and gluten-free recipes!)

At this free event, you also will receive a goody bag filled with gluten-free resources, snacks, coupons, and more. Plus, there will be other booths giving away samples of food and presenting gluten-free resources, activities for kids, raffle prizes, live music, cooking demos, and gluten-free games.

View a flyer about the event here and learn additional information here. Make sure to mark the date on your calendar, and hope to see you there!

Copyright 2014 Melissa Diane Smith

by Melissa Diane Smith

Here’s how to stay well through the hustle and bustle of the season.

How do you maneuver through the holidays without gluten? With a little help from this guide!  To keep your health up and your stress level down, try these tips:

• Get properly stoked for holiday parties. To avoid eating something you shouldn’t and feeling awful, fuel up on food that you know is safe. Either bring your own gluten-free dish to the party, or if you can’t, eat a sustaining mini-meal beforehand.

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