"The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck once viewed pasta as an essential part of her life, but since diagnosing herself with celiac disease, the mother of two realized that a gluten-free diet can change lives. For those of you who are unaware, celiac disease affects nearly three million adults and is an autoimmune disease in which the body rejects gluten and causes intestinal inflammation. For years Hasselbeck suffered from stomach pain and fatigue — and it wasn’t until she removed gluten from her diet that she began to recover. Now, Hasselbeck’s penned a new book, The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide.

Here’s an excerpt, via ABC:

I noticed that the moment I ate a starchy food, all the symptoms returned, and with even more fury than before. I went on the Internet to research what this reaction might mean, and soon after thought I had discovered the cause: Wheat! Out it went from my diet.

There were some days when I didn’t feel so bad. Still, every so often, I would get tripped up after eating sushi or teriyaki chicken, and I couldn’t put my finger on what was making me sick. After more and more online research, I stumbled upon some information about gluten intolerance and celiac disease. In 2002, five years since the onset of my symptoms, I diagnosed myself with celiac disease, an autoimmune condition triggered by gluten, the protein found in everything from pasta to bread to cookies. The only known treatment for celiac disease — which can cause acute damage to the small intestine and the digestive system as a whole — is a lifelong gluten-free diet.

Not only can removing gluten from one’s diet help those with celiac disease, but it has been proven to help people with diabetes and arthritis. And all it takes is a little willpower!