At Natural Products Expo West last week, Rudi’s Organic Bakery announced it would launch Rudi’s Gluten Free Bakery, further leveraging the company’s long-standing heritage of baking better, great-tasting breads for everyone to enjoy. The new line will include an original sandwich bread, multigrain bread and cinnamon raisin bread, and will be nationally available starting in July 1, 2010.
The globe-spanning presence of wheat and its exalted status among secular and sacred institutions alike differentiates this food from all others presently enjoyed by humans. Yet the unparalleled rise of wheat as the very catalyst for the emergence of ancient civilization has not occurred without a great price. While wheat was the engine of civilization’s expansion and was glorified as a “necessary food,” both in the physical (staff of life) and spiritual sense (the body of Christ), those suffering from celiac disease are living testimony to the lesser known dark side of wheat. A study of celiac disease may help unlock the mystery of why modern man, who dines daily at the table of wheat, is the sickest animal yet to have arisen on this strange planet of ours.
THE CELIAC ICEBERG
Celiac disease (CD) was once considered an extremely rare affliction, limited to individuals of European origin. Today, however, a growing number of studies indicate that celiac disease is found throughout the US at a rate of up to 1 in every 133 persons, which is several orders of magnitude higher than previously estimated.
I reported this week on a new iPHONE application, My Grocery Master, which allows users to locate gluten-free foods and brands according to zip code. The application claimed to not only allow users to locate gluten-free and lactose-free food items in popular grocery stores nationwide, but it also claimed to help users locate the product via detailed driving directions, all for an annual fee of $4.99.
While this iPHONE application (also available for iPAD and iTOUCH) purported to aide gluten-free consumers in their quest for all things allergen-free, it seems the app isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Dr. Kenneth Fine will give a lecture on Sunday, April 18th from 3:00pm – 5:00pm at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (at Scottish Rite) in the Main Auditorium. Dr. Fine will be addressing the members of the Atlanta Metro Celiacs, the local adult support group for people on the gluten-free diet.
The topic for Dr. Fine’s lecture is: “The Historic and Current Clash of Man vs. Gluten: Understanding the Gluten Sensitivity Epidemic”. Dr. Fine will describe some of the history and anthropology of how gluten-containing grains became our primary foodstuffs and why it has resulted in so much disease and immune reaction today.
Recipe by Thomas Haas and reviewed by both the LA Times and The Vancouver Sun as “the best cookies”. They are gluten free and packed with chocolate to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Invented by Haas who is a pastry chef and describes these as baked truffles. The cookies have a very powerful chocolate taste and a smooth, soft texture.
Below is an important letter by Cleo Libonati, celiac disease author and speaker. She explains why you must be your own health advocate if you wish to be healthy and receive optimal care.
Dear Friend,
For the past three years, I have met with HMOs, pharmaceutical companies, politicians, doctors, dietitians, celiac support groups, and patients across the United States. One thing is abundantly clear. Doctors are not recognizing celiac disease and do not realize how little they know about the disorder.
In 2004, the National Institutes of Health called for education of physicians and other healthcare providers about celiac disease. To date, few efforts have been undertaken and none has succeeded.
The result is missed diagnoses, inadequate follow-up, unnecessary surgeries, improperly prescribed medications and needless pain. During my presentations, I meet many people who think they are receiving good treatment and cannot understand why no one has told them their persisting symptoms are due to simple nutrient deficiencies.
One of the most difficult challenges that people with food intolerances (or allergies) face is staying safe while traveling. Finally, someone figured out that there was a huge need for small, individually packaged gluten free food items. They even went a step further and put together both snack and meal packs for those on the go.
comes to our rescue with nutritionally dense meals and snacks that will sustain anyone in need of protein and carbs, when safe food options are not available.
The Philadelphia 76ers will host their third Celiac Awareness Night on Friday, March 26th when the Sixers meet the Atlanta Hawks. Game time is 7:00 pm at the Wachovia Center.
To order tickets, go to www.nba.com/sixers/celiac. To get the special Celiac Awareness Night discount, be certain to enter the code CELIAC. This also will ensure that proceeds from ticket sales go to support raising celiac awareness.
Glutenfreeworks.com Editor’s Note: Shipping is $10 on orders less than $100 and free above it.
I recently had the opportunity to try some of the gluten-free mixes sold by Mixes From the Heartland. I was impressed…
Located in Amarillo, Texas, Mixes From The Heartland makes it their mission to “make mealtime healthy, easier and normal for all people with celiac disease.”
Mixes From The Heartland offers a cornucopia of gluten-free foods: more than 300 all natural, nutrient-dense soups, stews, meals, muffins, cakes, desserts, gravies, pancakes, snacks and the best sweet potato brownies I have ever had – period.
Wendy’s has always been good about listing a list of their products on their website that are gluten-free. This list has just been updated as of February 2010. Please pay special attention as it appears that some of the salads have been removed from the list.
Items that are no longer on the gluten-free list (it is not clear whether these items are no longer offered or if they have changed gluten-free status due to suppliers or recipe changes.)
