Meet Terri Willingham…

Confronted by her son’s intolerance of wheat products four years ago, Terri, a freelance writer and journalist, did what any good mother and reporter would do.

She began digging for information to help her son, Chris, with his condition, known as gluten sensitivity. "There just wasn't a one-stop book on this," she says.

While searching for details on his condition, Terri kept a list of all pertinent resources, including data from experts in the field,

“The change in eating habits has been very beneficial.”

––Terri Willingham and Chris

the Internet and specialized cookbooks and then began thinking about the possibility of sharing that information. That’s when she decided to write a book.

For her son, now 8 years old, the problem had been chronic diarrhea. "Almost every time we ate, he would have it," she said. "Four weeks after taking the wheat out of his diet, his problem completely disappeared."

Although she doesn't suffer from gluten sensitivity herself, Willingham went on the same diet as her son's so she would have a firsthand account of eating wheat-free.

"We're not eating doughnuts and cookies anymore," she says. "We tend to grab fruits, nuts, healthy food that isn't just empty calories." The change in eating habits, she says, has been very beneficial. "It's the type of diet all Americans would do well to keep to," she says. "It's just a matter of changing Americans' perceptions of food."

Terri lives in Tampa, FL with her husband, Steve, and their three children. She authored human interest, travel, and medical columns and features for the Gannet newspaper, Florida Today, for over a decade. She has written for a number of publications and organizations including the Journal of the Brevard Medical Association, the Florida Institute of Technology, and Home Education Press.