Diet & Health Guide

Many will be gathering with friends and family to see who this year’s Superbowl champion will be.  I am not a football fan, but I will most likely find  myself at a party on Sunday.  Since I am gluten free, I will need to be careful that I don’t eat anything that will make me sick.

Here are some suggestions on surviving the big game day gluten free. Some of the common causes of accidental gluten ingestion are cross contamination from crumbs or pieces of gluten food dropping into gluten free foods or on plates, serving utensils used with gluten foods used on gluten free foods, or not knowing ingredients in a dish.

If you are hosting a party:

1. Separate tables.  If possible, have separate tables for gluten and gluten free offerings.  This is the most reliable way to keep cross contamination from occurring  at a party.

2. Label serving utensils and dishes that are gluten free with the same color ribbon, so guests can tell which serving utensil goes with which dish. Read More »

Ever get tired of cooking? Or maybe you live alone and don’t enjoy cooking for one?

One of the best lessons I’ve learned while being gluten-free is that in order to eat the best you possibly can, you’ve got to cook it yourself. You know that gluten-free doesn’t necessarily mean healthy, so you can’t count on just purchasing products to meet the nutritional needs of your body. But I think you already know that, right? (If you don’t, consider one of these options for learning more about being gluten-free AND healthy!)

Though you know you need to cook, I’ve heard the full spectrum of why people get into a rut and feel like they just can’t make cooking a priority. Whether you Read More »

Celiac Disease (CD) is not curable, but it is manageable by eating a strict gluten free diet.  That may not be enough.

Many suffering from CD still feel ill even after being faithful to a gluten free diet.  Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease which causes your body to attack and destroy the microvilli and villi in your small intestines.  These are key to the absorption of nutrients from food and are also where many enzymes used in digestion are made.  When these are destroyed, the ability to absorb nutrients decreases and can lead to malnutrition.

This is not all that happens in a damaged intestine.  Gluten can cause the tight junctions, spaces between cells lining the intestines, to be damaged or destroyed allowing larger molecules such as proteins and even microorganisms to pass into the blood stream.

Under normal circumstances, the intestinal wall only permits small particles to pass through the intestinal wall and into the blood stream. When these larger molecules make it through into the blood stream our bodies do not recognize these  larger molecules and an autoimmune response begins.  It is these autoimmune responses that may be the cause of you still feeling ill.  What needs to happen to feel well again, is to heal the gut.

Are you just starting out on the gluten-free journey? It doesn’t have to be intimidating. We have tons of helpful information at Glutenfreeworks.com.

Here are 4 articles and resources to get you started! Read More »

Dropping gluten is the first step toward good health.

But, all too often people still eat foods that do not give them the nutrients they need or cause inflammation and other problems.

Eating to meet your body’s individual needs is crucial.

Watch this short video to learn how.

The Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide tells you what you need to eat and what you should avoid based on your symptoms.

Click here to discover more. 

Do you feel tired all the time? Maybe tired isn’t even strong enough of a word to describe the extreme fatigue you feel all day, every day. The problem seems to be pretty common place for those who eat a gluten-free diet.

Or maybe you have trouble falling asleep at night and wake up completely drained as if you were running a marathon in your sleep. Sure, you could chalk it up to a busy, stress-filled life, but the answer is more complex and hits closer to home that you even realize.

Allow me share with you a personal story… Read More »