My Celiac Blog

Years ago when I was first diagnosed with celiac disease the common wisdom was that people with celiac disease had to avoid oats. As science began to determine that this was not exactly correct those who were more militant in their condemnation of oats gradually retreated to a position of "all oats grown in the United States are contaminated with wheat".

As a person inclined to rational analysis and skepticism, claims that include the word "all" get special attention in my way of thinking.

Recent studies have determined that a minority of people with celiac disease react in exactly the same way as they do to wheat when given absolutely pure oats. These people must avoid oats. But these studies also found that a majority of people with biopsy confirmed celiac sufferers are able to eat oats if they are not cross contaminated. For these people eating oats does not provoke the characteristic immune reaction as determined by blood work and biopsy samples. I seem to be among this larger group of people that can tolerate oats.

In fact I have eaten instant oatmeal packets indiscriminately for years, but then others with celiac disease managed to convince me that cross-contamination, especially with wheat, is a serious concern for the gluten free diet. Fortunately there are some growers and mills that co-operate to produce oats they can guarantee are gluten free. This was comforting news to me, because my gut feels really happy and content when I eat oats for breakfast.

We found the listings below by searching on Amazon.com for the term "gluten free oats", however we make no representation that these products are actually gluten free. Please do your own due diligence if you have celiac disease or any other medical requirement for a gluten free diet.

	Gluten Free Oats - 32oz Sale Price: $15.95

	Bob's Red Mill, Extra Thick Rolled Oats, 32 oz (2 lbs) 907 g (FOUR PACK) List Price: $5.76 Sale Price: $14.18 Average Rating:

These days, with the economy so badly off, we are looking for less expensive ways to shop just like everyone else, affected by celiac disease or not. In fact we spend more time working on shopping websites than anything else at all. Our latest trick is a new way to offer items listed for sale at eBay.
Here is an example, a search for gluten free vitamins:

NEW ENHANCED LIQUID CELLFOOD OXYGEN SUPPLEMENT 1 Month

US $15.97

21d 18h 11m

COQ-10 Q-10 COQ10 CO Q10 Coenzyme 100MG - 100 CAPSULES.

US $19.00

28d 12h 18m

NOW Foods ADAM -Superior Men's Multi Vitamin - 120 Tabs

US $23.95

1d 12h 43m

Inositol Powder - 227 g (8 oz) Powder - Jarrow Formulas

US $16.99

29d 16h 41m

With this new method we can search for anything sold by eBay. We've added a few new pages here for books related to celiac disease and GF cooking. Since used books are often available on eBay, these book pages might help to stretch your shopping budget, we hope so.

Woo Hoo! Food scientists working together at Washington State University and Oregon State University are planning to develop a new variant of wheat that would not contain the gliadin proteins which cause trouble for people with celiac disease. This, if it comes to pass, would be earth shatteringly good news for those of us with grouchy tummies!

An article on the website Capital Press, which caters to the agriculture industry, reports the good news.

I'd like to thank these food scientists for caring about this issue, and wanting to help overcome this annoying disease.

Imagine sinking your teeth deep into a nice French Baguette like the one shown here, then pulling it ever so slowly away, teeth still clenched firmly, and watching as it stretches and then tears in a way that gluten-free bread just does not do at all.

Imagine eating bread that tastes like bread. Oh yes, I am so there. I might gain 10 pounds in the first week such a wheat-based gluten-free bread becomes available, but I would cherish each and every one of those pounds. Sock it to me, science!

Technorati Tags: celiac disease, celiac diet, gluten-free, food science, research, GF wheat, woo hoo!, gluten free bread

California baker Food For Life has recalled their spelt bread product because it contains spelt. No, really.

Food For Life Baking Company of Corona, California is voluntarily recalling 2,241 cases of Spelt Bread (UPC# 07347200168) because they contain spelt grain which is known to be a hybrid of wheat.

You see under the newly revised food allergen labeling laws, any product that contains one of the leading food allergens must be labelled as containing that allergen. Food For Life Spelt bread contains Spelt, Spelt is a wheat hybrid, the package did not state that the product contains wheat. Ooops.

Technorati Tags: Spelt, Food For Life, FDA, Recall, celiac disease, gluten free, gluten free diet, wheat hybrid

On the late TV series Futurama, an episode once contained a short skit about Crelm toothpaste, which had the miracle ingredient Fraudulin.

This post is not about Crelm toothpaste.

There is a company named Enzymedica that sells, among other things, a product called Glutenease. In their literature describing this product they make some rather startling statements, let us examine one in particular, the context is a discussion of the usefulness or lack thereof of the gluten free diet as a means of treating celiac disease, which is also called gluten intolerance.

Glutenease by Enzymedica Marketing Statement
"Though effective in the short term, removing foods does not provide an ultimate solution. Once those foods are reintroduced to the diet, the symptoms return. "

Now imagine a person who is drunk, or high, playing Russian Roulette, and then suddenly realizing it is not a very smart thing to do:

Russian Roullette Claim Using Similar Logic

"Though effective in the short term, putting the gun down does not provide an ultimate solution. Once the gun is reinserted in the mouth, the person could die".

We do not recommend that people with celiac disease, which is sometimes called gluten intolerance, should play Russian Roulette with their health. You can see more discussion of this product here.

Technorati Tags: Gluten free, gluten free diet, deceptive marketing, celiac disease, celiac diet, woo, dangerous products, misleading advertising

Today I had my first complete success in baking GF bread, the first loaf that was completely vegan, gluten free, and did rise without collapsing during the bake cycle. There were two new factors in this loaf that I had not used before. First I used silken tofu as an egg replacer, and second I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF Baking Flour, which I will definitely be using in the future. There was no brown rice or white rice flour in this bread at all.
This mix contains Garbanzo Flour, Potato Starch, Tapioca Flour, White Sorghum Flour, and Fava Bean Flour.

I used a recipe based on "Chickpea Yeast Bread" on page 116 of The Best ever Wheat and Gluten-Free Baking Book, I substituted the Bob's Red Mill mix for the 3 cups of various flours, and I used tofu instead of eggs.

Wet Ingredients:
5 ounces silken tofu
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 and 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon Vermont maple syrup

Dry Ingredients:
3 cups Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF Baking Flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 cup Better Than Milk Vegan Beverage Mix, Soy
1 package yeast

Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, try to break up the brown sugar clumps.
Put the silken tofu, olive oil and 1/2 cup of the water in a blender and mix thoroughly.
Put the dry ingredients in your Zojirushi or other bread machine
Pour in the tofu/oil/water blend
Pour in the remaining cup of water
Push the quick cycle (or gluten free cycle) button
Then wait about 2 hours for your delightful bread-like loaf of gluten free bread. Loveses it!

Technorati Tags: Gluten Free Recipe, gluten free bread, gf bread, wheat free, celiac diet, gluten free food, Bob's Red Mill, Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF Baking Flour, Zojirushi, bread maker, bread machine

There is a new website for people with celiac disease, the intended use is to provide information and news about celiac disease. Users can register free, and each user is encouraged to maintain their own blog as well as posting messages to a fairly basic forum. Users can also create polls which anyone can vote on, registered or not.

Perhaps the best feature of this new website is the Celiac-related news. It is categorized, mixed, blended and served in your choice of several ways -as just headlines in the left and right sidebars, or in more detail if you use the navigation links.

There is also a big long section of GF recipes, and links to a few GF food items.

The site designer (c'est moi) hopes to build a community of people with celiac disease, and people on a GF diet for other reasons, like autism, are certainly welcome too. There is still time for you to be among the very first people to create an account at All About Celiac. Really, visit http://allaboutceliac.org/ today! It's all free, of course.

Technorati Tags: celiac, gluten free, celiac disease, gluten free diet, gf, autism, gluten free recipe, GF videos

One of the leading sellers among gluten free breakfast cereals is Erewhon brand Crispy Brown Rice Cereal. Recently the manufacturer has changed their packaging. On Amazon it seems to be the number one selling GF cereal.

You should be aware that Erewhon makes a number of different breakfast cereals, please be certain that the product you buy has the words Gluten Free displayed prominently on the package (if you have celiac disease). Most breakfast cereals contain barley malt flavoring, and since barley is one of the grains that people with celiac disease must avoid, that eliminates the vast majority of breakfast cereals from the gluten-free diet. In some cases malt flavoring is derived from non-barley sources like corn, which should be safe for people with celiac disease.

I like this cereal, it reminds me of another similar looking product that is known for sounds it creates in milk. I use soy milk with my breakfast cereal because I'm vegan as well as having celiac disease. You can buy this cereal at our celiac friendly food shopping site, The GF Store.

Technorati Tags: GF food, GF breakfast cereal, gluten free cereal, gf diet, celiac disease, coeliac, gf shopping, Erewhon, Crispy Brown Rice Cereal, Gluten Free, Organic

The US Senate has declared September 13th, 2007 as Celiac Disease Awareness Day (see attached PDF file). At our sister site The Sensible Celiac we hope to raise awareness, not just in the US but worldwide, about this dramatically under-diagnosed condition.

Although this may change in a few more years, at the present time there are no over-priced medications for celiac disease, and there are no multi-billion dollar drug companies offering free samples and golf tours to doctors for these drugs that don't exist - yet. So, doctors in America are not as conscious of the condition as they might be if a drug company sales rep was dropping in every Wednesday with brochures for the waiting room and free sample packs.

But it's out there. An estimated 1 person in 133 in the USA has celiac disease, but very few are aware of their illness. Symptoms vary widely, adding to the difficulty of diagnosing this disorder.

Have a gluten free day today, and tell a friend, acquaintance or neighbor about celiac disease. Information is the key to progress.

Technorati Tags: Celiac Disease, Celiac Disease Awareness Day, National Celiac Day, gluten free, gluten-free, Senate resolution

the sensible celiac

2007-06-14 19:22:54 - For 3 years now The Sensible Celiac has been serving the celiac disease community and all those following a gluten free diet. With a discussion forum, celiac-related news, videos, recipes, and several shopping pages, The Sensible Celiac is a much used resource. Visit sensibleceliac.com to learn more about celiac disease.

The Sensible Celiac was founded by a webmaster with celiac disease whose daughter, a Registered Nurse, also suffers from the disorder. The original motivation for starting the site was to debunk false information about the gluten free diet, and to give people affected by celiac disease a place to share their experiences.

Celiac disease is a genetically mediated auto-immune disorder characterized by an intolerance for specific protein peptides found in certain widely used grains. When a person with celiac disease ingests any of these grains, even in very small amounts, their immune system reacts to these protein fragments as though they were an invading organism, and attacks the villi lining the small intestine in a misguided defense strategy.

In order to prevent triggering this self destructive immune response, persons with celiac disease must avoid certain grains for the rest of their lives. The offending grains are wheat, rye and barley.

At first this might seem like a simple thing to do, but in fact there are many foods that contain ingredients derived from wheat, barley or rye.

Celiac disease was once considered to be a rare disorder, but random blood tests in the general population for the antigens produced by a person with this autoimmune disorder suggest as many as one person in 133 suffers from celiac disease. There may be as many as 2 million undiagnosed cases of celiac disease in the US alone.

Today several hundred people are members of the discussion forum at the Sensible Celiac Sensible Celiac Discussion Forum and the site is still growing. Visit sensibleceliac.com today to learn more about celiac disease.

Technorati Tags: celiac, celiac disease, coeliac, gluten free, gluten-free, celiac support, gluten free food, gluten free diet