Joan’s Gluten Free Treats

Although many of you have already discovered Joan’s Gluten Free Bakery products, I was a bit slow on the uptake here. I was sent a gift package of her foods to try by my brother, also a celiac. I was so amazed at how delicious her products were, that I immediately turned around and ordered some more for my family. Unfortunately, the packaging meant to keep the foods frozen failed, and much of the food I ordered perished. When I called to let the manager of the bakery know what had happened, I got Joan herself. She was so gracious about the mishap, that we wound up speaking for quite a bit of time. She is as wonderful as her products!

Joan is not a celiac herself. Her venture started when her son, and now her twin grandchildren, were found to be gluten-intolerant. They had the unfortunate experience of nosebleeds with ingestion of gluten. So, being the good grandmother that she is, she started to bake for them. It did not take long for her products to be discovered and written up in a local paper. The rest is history.

Joan’s bakery is not a walk in facility. However, Joan wrote me that she enjoys when people do come in so she can meet her customers face to face. She will ship anywhere in the country, although her products are also carried by many local health food stores. We have tried several of her products and one is better than the next. The pizza crusts are fabulous. They cook up like real pizza, but at the end you have an outside crust that is just like a breadstick. Her bagels bake up at home. Out of the oven, they are toasty on the outside and soft on the inside. My childrens’ favorite are her chocolate chip cookies. I dare anyone to tell the difference between Joan’s cookies and Nestle Toolhouse cookies. I am looking forward to trying the english muffins and sugar cookies. Those are on tap for tomorrow. I was also told that bialys are coming soon as well.

If you would like to check out Joan’s website, please go to www.gfgreatbakes.com. I promise, you will not be disappointed!

 

Results of Poll

So, as promised, the results of my poll are in. To review, the question was would you trust your child’s school to safely prepare a gluten-free meal for your child. The supposition of training and good communication with the parents was inherent to the question. I had only seven responses. However, the vote was a unanimous No. It is somewhat disheartening to know that many of you feel as I do. So, although  the American with Disabilities Act allows us to demand the choice of a gluten-free meal for our celiac/wheat-allergic children, none of us will enact this choice.

 My opinion on this reaches many levels. I believe that the kitchen staff genuinely care about the kids. Yet, in the midst of a busy lunch time, coupled with incomplete knowledge of the complications of the disease, I believe that things will inadvertently occur. I am not comfortable with my childrens’  health riding on this. So, I will continue to prepare lunches from my gluten-free kitchen, apparently right along with the others who took part in the poll.

 Thank you for your time and input. It was a reality test for me as I tend to be a bit neurotic with these types of issues. To our children, continue to enjoy your homemade meals. You do not know how lucky you are!

 

New General Mills Web Site

General Mills is really making great strides in helping to bring its products to people with celiac disease. The front page of the latest Celiac Sprue Association Lifeline newsletter noted that General Mills created a web site called “Liveglutenfreely.com” that lists all of its gluten free products and also lists a lot of great gluten free recipes.

General Mills now boasts more than 200 gluten free products! Several Progresso Soups are gluten free, including Chicken Cheese Enchilada and New England Clam Chowder. General Mills also has gluten free brownie mixes, devil’s food cake mixes, and yellow cake mixes. Their web site says to “look for the words ‘gluten free’” on the package near the ingredient list as show at the right.

There is also a link to General Mills’ references for health care professionals and food service personnel that contains information on celiac disease and on healthy eating in general.

It is great to see that large corporations are making a commitment to produce so many great gluten free products.

 

Celiac disease and Type 1 Diabetes

While reading thru the Celiac Sprue Associations Newsletter, Lifeline, I came across a very interesting article on the link between Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease written by Diana Stuber, M.A, R.D., C.D.E.. The author states that six percent of those with Type 1 Diabetes will eventually develop Celiac Disease, per current estimates.  This puts the risk at 4.5% or  at least equal to the risk of a first degree relative of those with celiac.  The association between the two lies in the fact that both are linked to either the HLA DQ-2 gene or the HLA DQ-8 gene.  The research has not narrowed down which areas on these genes are responsible for this predisposition. But, the search continues. Once these loci are determined, we can then ascertain triggers and look toward prevention. 

 Another interesting piece in this newsletter was an article written on celiac disease and  school lunch programs. Celiac disease is considered a disability under the American with Disabilities act. Further, the Individual with Disabilities Education Act of 1997  requires that all students with disabilities be given the same opportunities as other children to receive an education and education-related benefits such as school meals. The article states that as long as there is intensive training and good communications with the food service staff and the parents, children with celiac disease can be provided with nutritious, safe meals in school.

So, I pose a question to anyone/everyone reading this post; would you trust the school to provide a safe meal to your child living with celiac disease? Please vote below. I know how I feel on this subject. However, I am curious about other opinions. I appreciate you taking part in this survey. I will follow this for a week and then post the consensus of opinions.

 

Thank you Steve and Johnnie

I want to thank the WGN radio hosts, Steve King and Johnnie Putman (spelled it right this time!) for inviting Bill and me into the studio last night. We had a wonderful discussion about many aspects of celiac disease ranging from diagnosis to treatment to cooking gluten-free. We  shared some personal stories of our journeys both before and after the diagnosis of celiac disease, as well as related illnesses that can affect patients once they have been on a gluten-free diet.  The conversation flowed, the time passed by in a blink, and Bill and I were left feeling so impressed by these two talented individuals fighting a very similar fight to our own.

I hope that those of  you who were able to stay up for the broadcast were able to connect with one or several things discussed. If you were unable to hear the broadcast, it  is being continuously run, via podcast, on Steve and Johnnie’s website. You can find it at Steve and Johnnie’s web site, under the “uncut podcasts” link. Just click on the audio segment of the topic you want to hear.

We hope that last night was the start of a long, collaborative relationship. As I wrote to Steve and Johnnie, we feel as if we have added new members to our extended family. Thank you, once again, for a wonderful experience.

 

WGN Radio

 Would love to invite everyone reading this to listen to Chicago’s WGN radio 720 AM on Monday night, January 11th. I was invited by the night-time DJ’s, Steve and Johnnie,  to come into the studio and have a conversation regarding celiac disease. Steve King and Johnnie Putman are a husband and wife team. Steve actually lives with celiac disease. I, in turn,  invited my husband to speak with me so there would be dual husband and wife teams. We will see if he takes me up on it. The dialogue is to start at around 11:15pm, a bit late but worth the time!

 I hope everyone will make a bit of time to drop by on the AM dial. I will make a great attempt to talk slower than normal!

 

Happy New Year

I want to wish everyone reading this a very Happy, Healthy and( if needed)  Gluten-free New Year. I would love to see this year bring more advances in the area of research for celiac disease. I hope, with proper funding, for the University of Chicago’s Celiac Disease Center to complete their mouse model and present hope for the generations yet to come. I further hope for the breakthrough that will allow us to sneak in some real pizza (notice a theme- I love pizza!). But mainly, I hope for those that remain undiagnosed, to find the knowledge and courage to seek out the help they need. We are still looking for the remaining 97% living with untreated celiac disease. Let’s see how close we can come in 2010!

 

CSAGC News

I would like to offer my congratulations to Mr. Tony Deany on his election to the post of president of the Celiac Sprue Association of Greater Chicago. We wish him luck in his coming year and look forward to witnessing his accomplishments. The CSAGC is a wonderful resource for all people in northern Illinois living with celiac disease. From advice to restaurant critiques to fundraising, this organization is an advocate for all of us. I strongly recommend joining and supporting this worthwhile cause. To learn more, please go to csagc.park-ridge.il.us/aboutus.html .

 

A new resource

A patient called me earlier today regarding an antibiotic, amoxicillin, prescribed to her by her dentist. Upon receiving the prescription,  the patient, being the good celiac that she is, called her local pharmacist to confirm that the drug was gluten-free. The pharmacist “double-checked” the ingredients and told her that the drug had wheat, barley, rye and oat in the inert ingredients as fillers. The pharmacist was asked if he was sure of his information, as those just happen to be all the same foods that we as celiac patients cannot have. He stated that he was aware of the restrictions in this condition and he was sure. This same patient then called asking me if there was another antibiotic that would be safe for her to take. At this point, I felt as if I were in a tunnel that was closing in around me.  How many times had I prescribed amoxicillin to my celiac patients without being sure it was gluten-free?  The research bell then went off in my head and the phone calls started. I spoke with a very helpful person at the FDA who gave me an even more helpful PUBLIC website to check on ingredients in drugs. The website is http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/about.cfm  Once on the website, type in the drug in question. The site will then navigate to a page with a listing of every manufacturer making that drug, both brand and generic forms. Click on the formulation you would like to check and it will take you to the prescribing reference . Scroll down to the bottom of this page and there is a listing of every ingredient in the drug, both active and inert.

 To make a long story a bit shorter, absolutely no formulation of amoxicillin  listed had any gluten. But the whole saga was worth the time and energy to come upon this resource. Good luck!

 

The Dr. Oz Show

Dr. Oz had a show on celiac disease yesterday. There has been quite a bit of buzz about it. It is wonderful that the mainstream media is picking up on this topic and bringing it to the forefront. The more attention this topic gets, the more money donated  for research, the closer we get to real pizza!( just kidding!)

 I can admit that I did not see the entire section on celiac disease.  However, there were two points that I felt were misrepresented and would like to comment on. First, Elizabeth Hasselback made a blanket statement that ALL instant coffees have gluten. I can only imagine the thousands of coffee cups that hit the floor at that moment. However, the statement is false. I contacted Nescafe, a very large manufacturer of instant coffee, to determine the validity of this statement. They stated that their instant coffees are made from ground whole bean coffee and nothing else. If anyone has a question regarding the purity of a product, I suggest calling the company directly rather than accepting someone else’s word. Imagine how much could be missed out upon if we all believed the rumors churning in the mill.

 Second,  Mz. Hasselback stated that most people lose weight on a gluten-free diet. This is false on many levels. Acutally, most celiac patients gain weight on a gluten-free diet. In fact, it is one of the positive responses we look for in a newly diagnosed celiac. Following the induction of a gluten-free diet in a celiac patient, the villi of the small intestine begin to heal . It is at this point that nutrients from the food eaten are finally absorbed after years of malabsorption. This is where we begin to see a mild weight gain. Again, this is a positive response. Agreed that one does attain more energy through this process. I am not sure I agree that it is enough to lose the weight that was placed after the initiation of the diet. Further, I find the statement worrisome in that there are many individuals who are desperate for weight loss options. Going gluten-free sounds easy, especially if they think it will help them to lose weight. What will then develop is a subset of partially treated, undiagnosed celiac patients . Going gluten-free requires a large amount of research and should not be used as a weight loss tool. If it not done properly, and the patient has celiac disease ( either known or unknown), small amounts of continued inflammation will continue to occur and lead to all of the detrimental complications we fear so much. Word to the wise, do not engage in a gluten-free lifestyle unless told to by your doctor. It is not to be used as a  weight loss tool!

 I am grateful to people like Dr. Oz who have the power to touch many lives. It is also my hope that many lives were changed by yesterday’s broadcast. I just want to keep all the information valid so people can make fully informed decisions regarding their health.