Book Review: "Dough Nation" by Nadine Grzeskowiak, RN

"Dough Nation" by Nadine Grzeskowiak, RN, is a memoir, medical confessional, investigative journalistic exploration, and fount of research and information about wheat and gluten, celiac disease, the vagaries of the wheat industry, and the ways in which science, economics, healthcare, and medicine have all conspired to confuse the public and cause great distress to those trying to improve their health by making informed choices. The subtitle of the book says it all: "A Nurse's Memoir of Celiac Disease From Missed Diagnosis to Food and Health Activism."

Nadine Grzeskowiak is a nurse with deep experience in emergency nursing, trauma, and critical care. As a nurse entrepreneur, Ms. Grzeskowiak is known as the Gluten Free RN, a self-chosen designation that allows her to serve as an internationally recognized expert educator of both the public and other healthcare professionals regarding gluten intolerance and celiac disease.

 The book begins thus:

"I stepped out of the shower one day in October 2006, looked in the mirror, and gave myself six months to live. I was forty years old and prayed it wouldn't take me six months to die. I felt like a ninety-plus-year-old woman, and I now have complete and total empathy for people who are just done living. I even smelled like a dying person."

This is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Grzeskowiak's journey, much of which will simultaneously astound, sadden, and enrage the reader.

In tandem with her personal medical and emotional journeys, Grzeskowiak's book serves as a polemic against the political and economic forces that have skewed the ways that food is marketed in the 21st century, and how the medical community so often misses the boat when it comes to solutions that can be found through deeper understanding of nutrition and wellness. While those in Grzeskowiak's camp feel strongly that mass screening for celiac would assuage the suffering of thousands, if not millions, she points out that there are clearly forces at play that fight against the adoption of such seemingly sensible measures.

Not only does "Dough Nation" offer the compelling story of one woman's fight to regain her health and understand the factors contributing to her near death, it also educates the reader regarding testing for gluten intolerance and celiac disease, and the process of improving one's health and longevity through prudent dietary choices.

"Dough Nation" is a thought-provoking, maddening, and empowering read by a nurse who is a consummate advocate, entrepreneur, researcher, educator, health activist, spokesperson, and clinician. If you want to understand the complicated world of celiac and gluten intolerance, Nadine Grzeskowiak, RN is your ticket to knowledge and inspiration.

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Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC, is the Board Certified Nurse Coach behind NurseKeith.com and the well-known blog, Digital Doorway.

Keith is co-host of RNFMRadio.com, a wildly popular nursing podcast; he also hosts The Nurse Keith Show, his own podcast focused on career advice and inspiration for nurses. Keith is also the resident nursing career expert at Nurse.com.

A widely published nurse writer, Keith is the author of "Savvy Networking For Nurses: Getting Connected and Staying Connected in the 21st Century." He has also contributed chapters to a number of books related to the nursing profession, and currently writes for MultiViews News Service, LPNtoBSNOnline.com, StaffGarden, and Working Nurse Magazine.

Mr. Carlson brings a plethora of experience as a nurse thought leader, online nurse personality, holistic career coach, writer, and well-known successful nurse entrepreneur. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his lovely and talented wife, Mary Rives.