Archive for the ‘Gluten’ Category
January 14th, 2012 by Erika Krull
Gluten is the trouble-making ingredient you’re supposed to avoid when going on a gluten free diet. But how do you avoid something if you aren’t sure what it is or where to find it? I’ll admit, this can be a challenge. It’s just not as obvious I’d like it to be, but once you learn how to spot it you’ll feel more confident about grocery shopping. Also, knowing what gluten is and how it works in food can help you understand how to cook with gluten free ingredients.
What Is This Gluten Stuff?
Gluten is the stretchy glue that helps bread, pizza crust, and other baked goods get nice puffy air pockets. It creates a flexible structure that helps each baked good hang together without necessarily being tough or chewy. When a baker knows how to properly activate the gluten protein, it will start doing its thing. The presence of gluten has influenced baking techniques for decades, even centuries. Sorry, I’m not trying to build up gluten as some kind of magical essence that turns good food into great food. It’s just one of many ingredients with useful properties out there in the world. It happens that wheat is commonly grown and used across the world, and it affects a lot of food in Western cultures.
Ready for a little science? Gluten is made up of two types of proteins – one is the (more…)
Tags: Diet, Gluten, Gluten free, Shopping
Category: Diet, Gluten, Gluten free
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December 27th, 2011 by John Libonati
On December 13, I posted a question on the Glutenfreeworks Facebook page to ask people who had adopted a gluten-free diet if they no longer needed medications they had been taking. The response was incredible. Dozens of people described how they no longer needed drugs, some of which they had been taking for years or decades.
Here is my post and their responses…
“I gave a presentation to a group and mentioned a friend who had been on Zantac for 20 years. I went on to say that once she went gluten-free the acid reflux disappeared. A woman in the audience stood up and said the same thing happened to her – she had been on it since she was 10 (I’m guessing she was in her mid to late 30s.).
My question for you is what medication (of any kind) were you on, before you went gluten-free, that you no longer need to take and how long did it take before you did not need it anymore?”
Tags: Celiac disease, Cures, Diagnosis, Doctors, Gluten, Gluten free, Health, Physicians, Treatment
Category: Celiac disease, Diagnosis, Gluten, Gluten free, Gluten Sensitivity, Health, Medical Fields, News, News, Symptoms, Symptoms, Testing, Treatment
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December 9th, 2011 by John Libonati
It is well documented that only a small minority of those with celiac disease are successfully diagnosed in a medical setting.
Gluten sensitivity, which we based on medical research and proposed in Recognizing Celiac Disease in 2007, has only recently been accepted as a true medical condition. So we decided to hold an informal survey to see just how people are becoming gluten-free? How are they finding out that gluten sensitivity or celiac disease are the cause of their health problems and are doctors diagnosing them or are they figuring it out on their own?
We posted this question to our GlutenFreeWorks Facebook friends and here are their answers. Were YOU diagnosed by a doctor? Leave your comments below! (more…)
Tags: Celiac disease, Diagnosis, Gluten, Gluten Sensitivity, Health, Symptoms, Testing
Category: Celiac disease, Diagnosis, Gluten, Gluten free, Gluten Sensitivity, Health, Symptoms, Symptoms, Testing
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November 20th, 2011 by Stephanie Diamond
Thanksgiving can be the most depressing holiday for a celiac. It’s a whole day that centers around food. And no one wants to feel left out of the festivities. Part of being a celiac isn’t just the food, it’s the psychology of standing out in a crowd. I’ve found that I hate being pegged with the “special meal.” I want to fit in and eat the same food as everyone else. Thus, the most comforting thing for me is being invited to the home of someone who is aware of the simple steps that can be taken to make a gluten-free Thanksgiving that’s delicious for everyone.
It’s not necessarily about making gluten-free alternatives of “regular” food. It’s about finding regular food that happens to be gluten-free. You don’t need to spend a fortune at a specialty grocery store; most of (more…)
Tags: Appetizers, Baking, Pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving, Turkey, vegetables
Category: Cooking, Diet, Foods, Gluten, Gluten free, Holidays, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized
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November 17th, 2011 by Cristi Comes
We discovered during the past year that my 4-year-old son Ronin and my 21-month-old daughter Ellie are both gluten and dairy intolerant. My husband John is gluten-free too. The good news is that changing Ronin’s diet has helped his anxiety-related sleep issues decrease immensely. He used to have night terrors every night, but now only has them on the rare occasions we miss cutting out the gluten.
Since John has been gluten free for a while, I came up with this stuffing recipe a few years ago for Thanksgiving. And its always been a huge hit. This year I’ve modified it to also remove the dairy for the kiddos.
It. is. SO. Yum. If I do say so myself!
MANGO CASHEW CORNBREAD STUFFING (Modified Gluten & Dairy Free)
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Tags: Dairy free, Gluten free, Recipes, Stuffing, Thanksgiving
Category: Children, Cooking, Cooking, Dinner, Gluten, Gluten free, Gluten Sensitivity, Health, Holidays, Recipes, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving
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September 7th, 2011 by Jennifer Slack
I have had the opportunity to connect with Dr. Stephen Wangen, the founder of the IBS Treatment Center in Seattle, WA. Awhile back, at a CSA (Celiac Sprue Association) meeting I had the pleasure of helping Dr. Wangen with his book signing. He had flown in to Denver to speak on his books, Healthier Without Wheat and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Solution. There was a full audience of folks, just like you and I, who were able to ask personal questions and learn more about living with Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance, as well as exploring other areas such as food allergies.
Since that time, Dr. Wangen and I have had the chance to talk about what the IBS Treatment Center does to help people really understand their bodies and how food can be affecting them. He explores the possibilities of Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance and food allergies and helps people to develop a healthier lifestyle tailored to their specific needs. At the same time, Dr. Wangen has observed the emotional affects these conditions can have on people and understands that not feeling well emotionally has an affect on how people take care of their physical well being. What makes his practice so fantastic is the positive nature. Dr. Wangen helps people view the changes by looking at the benfits and the gains and focusing on what people can have, rather than on what they can’t. Here is what Dr. Wangen had to say when I asked him about his own experiences. (more…)
Tags: Celiac disease, Diet, Gluten, Gluten intolerance, Gluten Sensitivity, Health, IBS, Lifestyle, Symptoms
Category: Celiac disease, Diagnosis, Gluten, Gluten free, Gluten Sensitivity, Health, Interviews, Lifestyle, Nutrition Labels, Symptoms, Weight Loss
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August 29th, 2011 by Christie Bessinger
Living 100% Gluten-Free is a challenge. Most of us, even after we’ve learned about hidden sources of gluten and done our best to stay away from them….are going to get “glutened” from time to time. This happens most often with:
1-Cross contamination
2-Eating out at a new restaurant
3-Eating products that don’t have any “gluten” ingredients…but still aren’t 100% GF.
We have to be extremely careful with cross contamination in our own homes. Most of us are living with non-GF people. So make sure everyone knows which toaster is the GF one….and when your grandma is baking glutenous pies, cakes, and bread….stay far away from the kitchen. Trust me, I know. Even a TINY bit of gluten will do THIS to me:
Of course, I often get the same reaction when eating out at a new place I’m unsure about. Many restaurants offer “gluten-free” items, but they (more…)
Tags: Beginning gluten free diet, Diet, Gluten free, Gluten Sensitivity, Leaky gut, Symptoms
Category: Diet, Gluten, Gluten free, Gluten Sensitivity, Symptoms
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June 20th, 2011 by Cleo Libonati, RN, BSN
The suitability of oats as part of the gluten-free diet has been a source of controversy, with some groups pointing to research suggesting oats are safe and others pointing to other research demonstrating oats are dangerous to those with celiac disease. Close inspection of available medical research clearly shows that oats, even “gluten-free” oats, should not be included in the gluten-free diet at this time.
Until the early 1990’s, oats were excluded from the gluten-free diet, along with wheat, barley and rye. Then, a few pilot studies suggested oats may not cause the harm previously thought. The idea was proposed that people with celiac disease would find their diet more palatable, and would benefit nutritionally, if they were allowed to eat oats.
Heavy contamination of many oat products with wheat, rye, and particularly barley, was a concern. Companies began to produce so-called “gluten-free oats.” These oats were tested for the presence of wheat, barley and rye. They are vigorously marketed as “safe” for celiacs. However, studies show that even “uncontaminated oats” (oats not containing wheat, barley or rye) are toxic to an unknown number of people with celiac disease.
Early studies proclaimed oats to be safe, but they have since been judged faulty with poor validity. Nevertheless, they opened the floodgates to (more…)
Tags: Diet, Gluen free diet, Gluten, Gluten free, Oats, Research
Category: Celiac disease, Diet, Gluten, Gluten free, Research
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April 18th, 2011 by Jennifer Slack
This video from the Food Allergy Initiative is a great representation, straight from the parents mouths, of how food allergies have impacted the lives of their children and themselves. It reinforces how important it is for people to really understand how food allergies affect children and their parents.
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Tags: Allergies, Food Allergy Initiative, Food allergy training, Interviews, Kids, Videos
Category: Children, Gluten, Health, Interviews, Symptoms, Videos
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February 25th, 2011 by Liz Schau
"Real Foods" are the whole, natural, and traditional foods man has always eaten. Photo: eHow.com
“Real Food” can be defined as natural, unprocessed, traditional and nourishing foods that human have always eaten. This includes things like whole fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices, fish and seafood, and animal protein. These lie in stark contrast to our modern foods which have been grown with the use of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, have very often been genetically modified, and had chemicals and flavorings (synthetics and other highly-addictive allergens) added.
For those living a gluten-free lifestyle, supporting “real food”, or “pro food” as it’s sometimes called, with our purchases is important because it reduces the risk of being exposed to and ingesting gluten. Processed foods — both conventional and (more…)
Tags: Diet, Gluten free, Gluten free food
Category: Diet, Foods, Gluten, Gluten free
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