The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck shares tips for boosting your energy levels and choosing deliciously healthy foods in her book, The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide.

By Melissa Johnson

Gluten-free diets are all the rage these days as way to lose weight, but the trend has its roots in a very serious and debilitating health condition: celiac disease. Putting a name and face to this often misunderstood disease is Elisabeth Hasselbeck, co-host of the ABC morning talk show The View, New York Times bestselling author, clothing designer (for Dialogue by Elisabeth Hasselbeck), wife of NFL commentator Tim Hasselbeck, and mother of three. When Hasselbeck wrote The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide, she shared her journey from mysterious symptoms and embarrassment to an accurate diagnosis and lifestyle changes that have left her looking and feeling better than ever.

Hasselbeck recently talked to Everyday Health about the differences going gluten-free has made on her body, mind, and spirit.

Everyday Health: When did you first become aware that you might have a problem with glutens, and what were your symptoms?

Elisabeth Hasselbeck: I knew something wasn’t right when I would eat something, and then shortly thereafter, I would feel cramping in my side and have to run to the nearest bathroom. I remember when [my husband] Tim and I were dating and when we would go out to eat, I would want the night to be over as soon as the food came. I just knew that I would feel horrible afterward, and I felt like there was nothing I could do about it. Before I knew it, I would be lying in bed waiting for the pain to subside. I went into sort of a social withdrawal; social situations became really complicated. That can make anybody feel borderline depressed. I was in the prime of my life, but I was plagued with discomfort…

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