THE GLUTEN LIE

FREE YOURSELF FROM ANXIETY ABOUT WHAT YOU EAT: An incendiary work of science journalism debunking the myths that dominate the American diet and showing readers how to stop feeling guilty and start loving their food again—sure to ignite controversy over our obsession with wheat, salt, sugar, fat, and carbs.

Gluten. Salt. Sugar. Fat. These are the villains of the American diet—or so a host of doctors and nutritionists would have you believe. The science is far from settled and we are racing to eliminate wheat and corn syrup from our diets because we’ve been lied to. The truth is, almost all of us can put the buns back on our burgers and be just fine. Remember when butter was the enemy? Now it’s good for you. You may have lived through the years in which the Atkins Diet was good, then bad, and is now good again; you may have wondered why all your friends cut down their salt or went Paleo; and you might even have thought about cutting out wheat products from your own diet. For readers suffering from dietary whiplash, The Gluten Lie is the answer. Scientists and physicians know shockingly little about proper nutrition that they didn’t know a thousand years ago, even though Americans spend billions of dollars and countless hours obsessing over “eating right.” In this groundbreaking work, Alan Levinovitz takes on bestselling physicians and dietitians, debunking false myths about our health and showing how we come to believe which foods are good and which are bad—and how we can live a truly healthful life, free from anxiety about what we eat. Alan Levinovitz is an assistant professor at James Madison University. His writing has appeared in Slate, Salon, Wired, The Believer, and The Millions, as well as academic journals. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia with his wife, his daughter, and a cat. Fake cheese is his one food taboo.