The War on Celiac

Here are some (not so) fun facts about gluten and Celiac Disease:

+ 1 in every 133 Americans have Celiac Disease
 + Of those 133, 80 percent do NOT even know they have it
+ 5-22 percent of patients have an immediate family member that is also diagnosed (my sister and ME)
+ NO pharmaceutical cures for Celiac disease
+ Gluten-free sales reached more than $2.6 billion by the end of 2010
 + Sales are expected to exceed more than $5 billion by 2015
+ Most common inherited autoimmune disorder
+ Children with Celiac disease will visit about 8 pediatricians on average before the correct diagnoses 
+ People can develop Celiac disease well into adulthood
+ September 13 is Celiac Awareness Day (ironically the day after my birthday)

So a little pick-me-up after these facts, check out this hilarious video!

OR check out this great book for more facts and information!

Related articles

• It’s National Celiac Awareness Day! But is there anything to celebrate? (spruestory.com)
• Celiac Awareness Day! (ladysorghum.wordpress.com)
• Where’s your gluten hiding? (73druce.wordpress.com)

Where’s your gluten hiding?

So although gluten is most commonly found in food that is not the only place is may be hiding. Weird enough, it can be found in household objects that you would never even suspect. Although it may just be a trace amount, gluten is gluten and especially for those diagnosed with celiac disease it is important to take this into consideration.

Here are some non-food gluten products:

Lipstick

Some Toothpastes

Hair Products

Fabric Softeners

Adhesive tape

Antibiotics

Cosmetics

Envelopes- MYTH! Envelopes do not contain wheat starch as it is composed of a corn starch instead.

Related articles

• A Comprehensive Gluten-Free Food List (guidetoglutenfree.com)
• Gluten Sensitivity: What we know is that we know very little (fooducate.com)

Well Everyone Else Is Doing It…

All of these hot celebrities have chosen to eat a gluten-free diet for different reasons, here are the top celebs that joined the fad either as weight loss tricks or to treat their Celiac disease.

Miley Cyrus

Lady Gaga

Zooey Deschanel

Elizabeth Hasselbeck

Drew Brees

Chelsea Clinton

Related articles

• Is Gluten-Free good, bad, or just a fad? (hage7410.wordpress.com)

Tastey Adaptations

Going to college can be tough, especially when you are moving into a different, unfamiliar city. For me, moving to DC was a big change but lots of family and friends told me how much I would love it! Another great thing about moving into such a popular city is all of the restaurant tips I got; little did I realize some of them were not gluten-free friendly. Here are a few places that I explored and found to be delicious and friendly to my diet!

1. Fuel Pizza: Offers 35 different options that any desire would crave. Personal sized 12” pizza and also serves gluten-free Red Bridge beer!

http://www.fuelpizza.com/menu/Gluten-Free

2. Baked and Wired: What’s better than a gluten-free dessert?! This bakery works carefully to maintain a selection of gluten-free options of all different sorts! My personal favorite is their Flourless Peanut Butter, my mouth waters just typing it!

http://bakedandwired.com/

3. Chima Brazilian Steak House: This all you can eat meat buffet can be a lot to handle ones first time through! A little pricier but the quality of the food is definitely worth it. Most likely not in a college student’s budget but luckily for me my sister used to hostess at a Chima near my home town (there are several locations) so I got my meal at a discounted rate! Although I could not find their gluten-free menu on their website a simple Google search will do the trick!

http://chima.cc/site/

4. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro: Two words, lettuce wrap. OMG the lettuce wraps are delicious and they serve them in a gluten-free and non gluten-free options but both are as tastey as ever! Also P.F. Chang has a great gluten free menu with a variety of options. What’s even better about this place? There is a gluten-free soy sauce option and some of their products are sold at grocery stores so you do not even have to tip the waiter!

http://www.pfchangs.com/menu/Menu.aspx

Related articles

• Connecting with Your Gluten Free Community (goodbye2gluten.wordpress.com)

Undercover Gluten

So we all may think were big shot gluten-free eaters, but did you know gluten is not only in bread products? Believe it or not gluten has managed to weasel it’s way into other foods that you would never even think to label check. Here are a few examples…

1. Soy Sauce. Forty to sixty percent of soy sauce is made up of wheat. My favorite sushi dip substitute is the gluten free Kikkoman option.

2. Salad dressing. Many companies use salad dressing as a thickener. Rather than eating a plain salad shop for brands like Annie’s or Newman’s Own.

3. Processed Meats. Modified starches are used to bind water in processed meats (cold cuts, hot dogs, sausages, etc.). Be sure there’s no gluten-based starch in any processed meat before indulging!

4. Licorice. Gluten is used in candy to give it those stretchy elastic properties. All big name brand licorice such as Twizzlers and Good & Plenty has gluten in it. There are some brands that make “gluten free” licorice, however I have yet to taste test!

Related articles

• Elizabeth Renter ~ Hidden Gluten: 7 Foods You May Not Know Contain Gluten (shiftfrequency.com)

Happy Hour Can Still Be Happy

Being in college can be difficult with celiac disease. With the social aspect many parties serve beer which contains wheat. Don’t sacrifice your social life for celiac, you can still be the life of the party! The solution to all of your problems is three simple words Red Bridge Beer! Although a little pricier it is definitely worth the buzz!

Top 5 Reasons NOT to Cheat Your Diet

Although those chocolate chip cookies from the cafeteria may look and smell delicious,  the chances are they are NOT gluten-free. One cookies may seem like no biggie but in the long run it is not worth the cheat! Here are the top five convincing reasons to AVOID THE COOKIE!

5. Malnutrition.  It is easy for celiac patients to become malnourished because by eating wheat you are not absorbing the nutrition from the foods. Rather than in taking the vitamins and nutrients, both are excreted in the stool. Some side effects of untreated celiac malnutrition are: weight loss, anemia, and vitamin deficiencies.

4. Decreased Calcium Levels and Osteoporosis. Because vitamin D and Calcium are not being absorbed, osteoporosis is seen to be more common amongst celiac patients. However, there is good news! It has been proved that once transitioned to a gluten-free diet bone density can be recovered!

3. Psychiatric Complications. Certain patients with celiac disease have reported these symptoms when cheating on their diets: depression schizophrenia, anxiety, balance disorders, seizures, and severe headaches.

2. Miscarriages. This symptom is obviously geared towards woman, but in my life this has been a HUGE motivator to sticking to my diet. Because of the nutrition absorption problems, eating gluten may lead to miscarriages or even congenital malformations. If you’re thinking about having children someday and have any celiac symptoms be sure to get checked!

1. Cancer. Although it may seem like in this day and age everything is giving you cancer this one is serious! According to studies a person eating gluten with celiac disease has a greater risk of gastrointestinal cancer, such as lymphoma. On a happier note, these studies also show that with a strict gluten-free diet a Celiac patients odds of being diagnosed with cancer is the same as any other person.

So although one cookies may not hike on ALL of these complications, these are still some scary facts that should make any celiac patient think twice!