Vibrant Health Products, a family-owned bakery in Abbotsford, B.C., Canada, has voluntarily recalled one lot of liveGfree Gluten Free Classic Soft White Hamburger Buns due to a packaging error. As a result, this product may contain undeclared egg.

The company discovered liveGfree Gluten Free White Bread was incorrectly packaged into liveGfree Gluten Free Classic Soft White Hamburger Bun packaging. The liveGfree Gluten Free White Bread contains egg, which is not listed in the ingredients or as an allergen on the liveGfree Gluten Free Classic Soft White Hamburger Buns. Read More »

Fixing healthcare is a big topic in the United States at the moment.

No healthcare plan is going to work because no one in government or the medical industry is looking at healthcare the right way.

People should be healthy. Instead, they are sick and getting sicker – almost 60% now take a prescription medication. What does that look like? Line up 5 people. Three of those five are taking a prescription drug to treat some health problem. 15%, or almost 1 in 7, take five or more medications.

You cannot fix a system by shifting money around when the underlying causes of health problems are not being treated or prevented.

Doctors are trained to treat acute symptoms. Chronic diseases are being treated like acute symptoms. As a result, medications that are only supposed to be taken in the short term, like Read More »

A recent New York Times article with the title “Vatican Refuses to Go Gluten-Free at Communion” has caused quite a stir, with other news organizations quickly picking up the story and running similarly sensational headlines. Opinion leaders on social media jumped on the topic and word spread that gluten-free Catholics were being refused Communion.

I am not sure if this qualifies as “fake news,” but the headlines are definitely wrong.

According to the Catholic Church, Communion is the joining of the person to God by eating bread or wine that has been transfigured into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

The New York Times and any other media outlet or individual who claims the Vatican is withholding gluten-free Communion from Catholics is factually incorrect. The Catholic Church offers multiple ways to receive Communion, and some are gluten-free.

In fact, all Catholic bishops have informed their parish priests that they must make Communion available to Catholic parishioners with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity in forms other than the regular bread hosts in order to meet their needs.

The Vatican simply published a statement reaffirming the position it previously stated in 2003 on the subject of gluten-free Communion. Hosts not made from wheat are invalid. So, what forms are gluten-free? Read More »

[Editor’s Note: The following is a post I recently submitted to a listserv concerning attitude and nutritional deficiencies in celiac disease. I posted it in response to a heated exchange folks were having on the topic.]

Hi there,

The “rage” we see in posts from time to time is part and parcel with celiac disease. My business is celiac disease. I own Glutenfreeworks.com and edited the groundbreaking medical reference, Recognizing Celiac Disease.

I frequently see abnormal personalities in my travels, presentations, discussions and on listservs. I meet people with anxiety, depression, irritability, distrust and other unexplained “attitudes.” There is an explanation – and no they aren’t jerks, as much as people might want to call them that. Whether they are gluten-free or not, they are sick – malnourished in fact.

Nutrients play a huge part in our attitude.

Here is an example. While dropping off a shipment of Recognizing Celiac Disease books at the post office on Friday, a woman in line with thinning hair and poor skin color noticed my Gluten Free Works label. She asked what the packages were and I told her the packages contained books I was sending to customers.

She immediately launched into a tirade about how only biopsy-proven people have celiac disease and people are making money off celiac disease and how she should write a book because her daughters have celiac disease and she has read all the research and knows everything… Read More »

Hey Friends! Here’s a quick money saving tip when it comes to buying rice flour and tapioca flour.

Check out your local Asian grocery store. We use Erawan. $.99/lb.

Erawan comes from Thailand. Don’t let the inexpensive price fool you. This is an excellent choice. The flour is superfine, not gritty like many gluten free flours. It is also truly flavorless.

We Erawan rice flour for pancakes, cakes, cookies, gravies – pretty much everything calling for rice flour.

Coeliac Australia, the Australian national celiac disease organization recommend Erawan. Their limit is 3-5 parts per million, so you know Erawan is safe.

-John Libonati

In the M. Night Shyamalan thriller, The Happening, a worldwide plague strikes humanity that causes anyone affected to kill themselves. The trigger turns out to be a substance released by plants into the air that affects the minds of humans. According to the movie, plants developed the toxin to save themselves from humans.

As we discover more about gluten, lectins and now a new protein called ATI, it seems Shyamalan’s film may have been closer to the truth than anyone could have thought. Plants may be fighting back against their predators, including us. Read More »

Woohoo! Chick-Fil-A just announced in a press release that they will be carrying individually wrapped gluten-free buns at their restaurants nationwide. (USA)

In the video, I explain the bun and how it arrives so you don’t get cross contaminated. I also walk you through Chick Fil A’s gluten-free menu on their website.

Read More »

This is a Celiac Disease Awareness Month Public Service Announcement.

Although doctors have traditionally thought celiac disease to be a childhood disease, it can affect anyone and first present symptoms at any age.

 

Be sure to visit the Gluten Free Works Health Guide for everything you need to understand your symptoms and regain your health! This message was brought to you by our sponsors, and !

[Editor’s Note: This video is from 2007, but it is still true. Celiac Disease research still lags other, less prevalent conditions. Yet, it is the easiest to treat, requiring a gluten-free diet and nutrient replenishment. The focus has been on the Gluten-Free Diet. Let’s shift it back.]

 

Doctors are missing over 95% of people with celiac disease – over 3 million in the United States.  That’s more people than autism or Type 1 Diabetes, yet celiac disease receives a fraction of the funding of these diseases.  Lives are being destroyed every day, when a simple change in diet could cure them.  Let’s get the word out…

Read More »

1. Celiac disease is the most common genetic autoimmune disease in the world.

2. Celiac disease is the most commonly misdiagnosed disease in the world.

3. Celiac disease blood tests are not pass / fail. They measure antibody levels that suggest how likely an intestinal biopsy will discover damage consistent with celiac disease.

4. Celiac disease can affect any genetically predisposed person of every race or gender and can first present symptoms at any age.

5. Optimal treatment of celiac disease includes 1) a 100% strict gluten-free diet, 2) nutrient deficiency identification and replenishment and 3) education and support that meet the physical and emotional needs of the patient.

6. Most cases of unresponsive celiac disease are due to inadvertent gluten exposure, where the person is consuming gluten without realizing it.

7. The average person with celiac disease has a normal body mass index. The traditional thinking was that a person with celiac disease would be underweight.

8. Silent celiac disease refers to a person who tests positive on blood test and villous atrophy on intestinal biopsy, but exhibits no overt symptoms.

9. Celiac disease presents submicroscopic damage causing nutrient deficiencies before villous atrophy. That is, before an endoscopy with biopsy finds intestinal damage, damage can already be occurring.

10. 50% of people diagnosed with Celiac disease exhibit neurological symptoms at the time of diagnosis.

11. Doctors consider celiac disease to be a gastrointestinal disease. Many people with neurological symptoms due to celiac disease do not exhibit gastrointestinal symptoms. These people have a decreased chance of receiving a proper diagnosis and treatment.

12. Anxiety can be the only symptom of celiac disease. In this case it is due to nutrient deficiencies.

13. Celiac disease tests are not pass / fail. A patient can test “negative” on one day and positive two weeks later. Follow up testing should be performed if symptoms do not resolve.

14. Patient education is the most important predictor of good clinical outcome in celiac disease. The more you know, the more likely you will be to avoid gluten, develop a diet that works best for your health and lifestyle, get well and stay healthy.

15. Celiac disease symptoms can be completely different among family members.

16. Celiac disease symptoms number over 300, are widely varied in nature, affecting every and any body system and organ. (The 300 symptoms list was first presented in “Recognizing Celiac Disease,” authored by Cleo Libonati, RN, BSN and published by Glutenfreeworks.com in 2007.)

17. Symptoms in celiac disease are due to inflammation and/or nutrient deficiencies from chronic intestinal damage.

18. Celiac disease diagnosis can take10 years or more from the time symptoms first present. It is frequently the last disease doctors consider.

19. Celiac disease affects over 3 million people in the United States, yet the vast majority are not diagnosed. The symptoms of celiac disease are frequently considered the definitive diagnosis, leaving the true underlying cause untreated.

20. Exposure to gluten is the most important environmental factor in celiac disease. The sooner gluten is removed from the diet, the more likely full remission will be achieved and long term complications can be avoided.

21. Although celiac disease is now known to cause over 300 symptoms, the medical community has traditionally instructed doctors that celiac disease affects children, presenting symptoms of 1) diarrhea, 2) wasting muscles, 3) anemia, and 4) abdominal distention (bloating). You must request celiac disease testing if you do not fit this list, and often even if you do. Assuming doctors look for celiac disease is a mistake.

This article brought to you by the Gluten Free Works Health Guide! Everything you need to know about celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, your symptoms and how to fix them!