Tag Archives: Gluten free

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Karen Cranford, the president of our very own Celiac Sprue Association (CSA) chapter in Denver. I’ve known Karen now for about 7 months.  We met when I became involved in the chapter and she helped me become the secretary.  However, I feel that during this interview, I got to REALLY meet Karen and get to know her, which was such a joy.  She has been the president of CSA for over two years and has helped, along with her many board members, build such a strong organization that has helped bring Denver to the top of the list in Celiac Awareness.  She has helped the chapter bring the  ‘Incredible Edible Gluten-Free Food Fair™’ to Denver as well as worked hard to get incredibly knowledgable speakers, such as Dr. Ford, Dr. Fasano, and Dr. Wangen, to Denver to educate us all on Celiac disease and gluten intolerance.  We all get the joy of experiencing the hard work she puts in on a volunteer basis to make living gluten free easier on all of us, but now we get the special treat of actually getting to know Karen.

Interview

Jenn: How old were you when you were first diagnosed?

Karen: So it’s been 7 years, when I turned 50.  I’ve always laughed and said “Turn fifty…get celiac disease!”

Jenn: How long were you having symptoms before receiving a diagnosis?

Karen: Well, it’s easy to look back and say maybe I was having symptoms for a long time.  I started having migraines around 22, and now I wonder if that was a symptom.  But, I was probably really sick for about Read More »

Chef James Aptakin serves his delicious Hawaiian short rib sauce. Credits: A. Fothergill

The Fancy Food Show is put on by National Association for the Specialty Food Trade two times per year; a summer show in New York City and a winter show in San Francisco. With over 17,000 attendess and 80,000 products from 1300 vendors, it is a chance for retailers, restaurants and food service professionals to sample some of the best products on the market. For the vendors, it’s a way for them to connect with those people, in hopes of future sales. It’s also a good way to be “in the know” as new products come out.  Some vendors are already established and some are brand new, hoping to be picked up by small or large grocery stores. Either way, there is always something new.

Last year, there were more new gluten-free products. Whether it’s not quite the right venue or there are less new-comers, it was surprising there were not as many. Last year, gluten-free was a top trend. One reason might be in the labeling.

Some manufacturers are hestitant to call their products gluten-free because they worry about giving the right information to the public. One owner of a spice company said he doesn’t put gluten in any of his products but he can’t Read More »

Valentine’s day is approaching! Instead of spending hours searching for allergy-friendly Valentine’s candy for your loved ones, consider offering safer sweets with Lucy’s cookies.

 

In light of the recent article by Huffington Post entitled “Famous and Gluten Free?” it seems like the perfect time to update my article on celebrities who have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease to include those who are also gluten sensitive, wheat intolerant, or those who choose to eat gluten-free foods.

The term gluten free is being used in the media quite often.  Sometimes it is use appropriately and other times the gluten-free diet is touted as a ‘fad diet’, ‘weight-loss diet’, ‘dangerous diet’, etc. Jeopardy recently used gluten free foods as a category.

It is also apparent that TV shows want to get in on the action and openly ‘mock’ the disease and perpetuate the ‘fad diet’ aspect.  Gossip Girl, 2 Broke Girls, and Man Up are the recent offenders and it seems Read More »

There are many reasons people who wish to lead a healthier lifestyle chose to avoid gluten in their diets. Those with gluten allergies and intolerances, however, don’t have a choice. For them, consuming undetected gluten poses a real health risk. The trouble is that traces of gluten can be found in foods that don’t naturally contain it, due to cross-contamination, cooking methods, food additives, etc. This is especially true when it comes to restaurant and commercially processed food.

Well, it’s that time of year yet again…we’ve all made our new year’s resolutions…and more than likely, we’d all like to shed a few pounds :0)

In my 2011 weight loss post, I talked about 5 important factors for weight loss success:
1) Eating more lean, healthy protein
2) Chowing down on veggies
3) Cutting back on sugar
4) Avoiding processed foods
5) …and exercising!

Hopefully all of us are doing our best at these things… if we do, the weight should come off pretty easily without having to really “diet.” I’d just like to add a few more things that have helped me, and hope they can help you too :-) Read More »

On a recent visit to a museum, my husband and I stopped at its cafeteria for a snack. The choices were cookies and cupcakes, pretzels and potato chips, and assorted drinks.  Clearly, the cafeteria didn’t cater to those of us who are gluten-sensitive, lactose-intolerant, and/or weight watchers.

Much against my will, I bought the only snack I could tolerate although it meant throwing my diet out the window: potato chips.  And much against my dislike of being labeled a complainer, I decided to speak up.  “Would you consider carrying gluten-free products?” I asked. “I can’t eat most of what Read More »

There are a number of nutrient deficiencies associated with Celiac and other autoimmune disorders. These occur not only BEFORE diagnosis, due to flattened villi and malabsorption, but AFTER diagnosis as well.  It’s up to us to choose healthy, naturally gluten-free foods (like fruits, veggies, lean protein and brown rice) in order to feel the best we can. Even then, we may still have deficiencies.

I was diagnosed about 5 years ago. Although I have experienced dramatic improvements in my health, sleep quality, and energy level, I have still been dealing with some “weird” symptoms that I wasn’t sure were going to go away. These include eye floaters (which I’ve noticed for about 2 years now), shakiness and rapid pulse especially during the first half of the day, and carbohydrate intolerance. (Eating high carb meals have been giving me headaches). So…. I was VERY excited when I heard that Gluten Free Works was going to be offering . I couldn’t wait to try it out.

When I got my results back, I was AMAZED at how many nutrient deficiencies I still had after being Gluten-Free for this many years. I came up deficient in:

VITAMIN A (this explained the eye floaters)
CHROMIUM (I had never heard of chromium before now, but this explained my problem with carbs. I have since read that a deficiency in Chromium leads to DIABETES… so I’m glad I figured this out now, rather than later ;)
SELENIUM (had never heard of that one either) Read More »