Saturday, December 12, 2009

Wheat! Gluten! Alert!

WHEAT ALLERGY ALERT
December 7, 2009

College Inn is recalling “College Inn® No MSG Chicken Broth” due to undeclared wheat.

The product was distributed nationwide.

The 14 ½-oz. cans are mislabeled “No MSG” and bear any “best by date” with UPC 2400032230.

Consumers may return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may call (800) 552-7684 or visit www.CollegeInn.com.

Friday, September 25, 2009

New Gluten Free Website! Check it out New Jersey!


I've been wandering aimlessly around the web and happened upon a GREAT website for all us New Jersey Celiacs.
Check out www.myglutenfreenj.com

This site lists all the places in New Jersey to get gluten free food! Restaurants! Health food stores!

It also has a gluten free alcohol page! Whoo hooo!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Apologies...

I don't post here as much as I should. Good intentions often go out the window as life comes in.
I recently came back from Florida. Food issues always drive me a bit batty when I travel. I fear food. I don't want to eat out for eight days and nights due to cross contamination issues. How do I know what goes on in that kitchen behind the swinging door? I've worked as a waitress and seen what's back there. Dinner hour in a restaurant kitchen is like a hurricane blowing over a tiny island of chaos. Food moves through at the speed of light. Order up, cook, slap it on the plate and move it out. Mistakes are easy to make.
I got sick the third day of my trip and felt like crap for three days. Blah.
Which put me off food for the rest of the trip. I ate very little, saving my appetite for home when I could eat without risk. (Can we ever really eat without risk?)
Florida was nice. Hot, humid and relaxing but its good to be home.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!


Betty Crocker is doing GLUTEN FREE!
Just picked up the Browie mix and Yellow Cake mix in Pathmark in Hazlet, NJ. (They also have Chocolate Cake mix and Chocolate Chip Cookie mix).
The Brownies are in the oven now....I'll let you know how they come out.
Doing the happy dance here!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Everybody's Nuts AND Gluten Free (Almost)



Thank you for contacting Everybody’s Nuts concerning pistachios processed and packaged by Paramount Farms. With the exception of the European Roast Flavor, all the other flavors are gluten free as the European Roast does contain some barley in the malt vinegar. I hope the information I provided you with was useful.
Regards,
Paramount Farms
13646 Highway 33
Lost Hills, CA 93249
kgettenpowell@paramountfarms.com

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Celiacs and other issues


I've been diagnosed with hypothyroid for about ten years. Celiac's since 2003. Going gluten free definitely made me feel better but underneath I still felt there was something else.
One lovely Saturday afternoon I was cleaning and my dd was watching a show called Medical Mysteries. The woman in the show had IBS, dizziness, and a few other issues. As each ailment was brought up I said, "I have that." After the third or fourth time my dd turned to me and said, "Hey, maybe you should get checked for whatever she has."
The woman in the show had Pernicious Anemia which is a B-12 deficiency.
Hmmm, so to the doctor I went for a test.
My B-12 was low. Now I get shots once a month and take a perscription B-12 vitamin every day. And I'm feeling much better!
The Internet doesn't have a lot of in depth information on Pernicious anemia but I found one wonderfully interactive site:

Friday, June 19, 2009

STOP!


Sometimes a really nice doctor will tell you..."Just go off gluten for a while and see how you feel."
VERY BAD ADVICE
Sheesh! You might feel better, headaches clear, tummy and bowels improve, joint pain gone...but you will never know if you have Celiac Disease. When you stop ingesting gluten the antibody level in your blood will also change. Thereby altering a positive test result.
Going off gluten forever is life-altering. You have to change not only the way you eat but also the way you cook, shop and party.
Yes, I said party. Gone are the days where you can grab a quick slice of pizza from the corner store, a buttered roll with that morning coffee or share a random treat from the vending machine at work. The neighborhood BBQ? You'll now have to bring your own food...and yes, maybe their burgers are gluten free but I'm betting they put the rolls on the grill to toast them. Hence, anything else on their grill is GLUTENATED.
Do you really want to make this big a change without knowing for sure?
I didn't think so. So continue eating gluten every day until all tests are completed. It's the best way to know for sure.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

More Gluten Free bars.

I was shopping the other day and the words GLUTEN FREE just jumped out at me.
I love it when they put it right in the middle of the lable so I don't have to spend 20 minutes searching the fine print.
Lately I've been seeing more and more gluten free products in the local grocery stores. Watch out! Celiacs are all around us.
This bar I found in Shop Rite.
The best part is-it's really good! Definitely on my buy list from now on. Cost of about $1.59 or so, it was sold in singles.
170 calories
5g fat
27 total carbohydrates
9g protein
On Weight Watchers it's 3 points.
:)

Monday, March 30, 2009

Celiac snack attack!


All these bars are GF (Gluten free) and great for the days when you're eating on the go. I keep these in my drawer at work, in the back pack for the gym or anytime you need a quickie.
At home we eat a lot of fruit, cheeze and crackers or fresh cut up veggies.
What do you do for the snack attacks???

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Celiac? Gluten Free? Go here:

If you're Celiac or just going Gluten Free to try and feel better you have to check out this site: http://forums.delphiforums.com/celiac/start
It's THE BEST site on the web. They have GF food lists that you can print out and take to the store with you. I put the pages in a little notebook so as I prowl the grocery store I can find out which spagetti sauce, cereal, yogurts, etc, are gluten free.
They also have a great message board where you can post questions about food, diagnosis and how to handle social situations and still stay Gluten Free. You can even vent when the lifestyle gets you stressed. Great people hang out there.
Check it out. In the beginning they saved me.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Gluten free pit falls

When I first went gluten free I had been sick for a long time. Every piece of food I put in my mouth made me sick. Teetering on the brink of insanity, wondering how much longer I could stand never feeling good. Doctors didn't seem to help. They had no answers. I was getting desperate.
Finally, I would drive home from work each night and talk to God. I said I needed answers, that I didn't care what was bothering me, but I had to know. I prayed for answers.
So, after another show down with my doctor (You know the kind where you insist there's something wrong and the doctor offers you Valium-or whatever the latest anti anxiety drug is-and you tell the doc its not nerves, there's really something wrong...etc) Okay, then I kinda yelled at him because I really felt he wasn't listening. When I said that even bread made me sick he stopped and said that magic word; Celiac.
Two weeks later I'm mastering the diet and feeling better. (Not great, but definitely better.) And then I discovered ...FOOD!
Something I haven't really enjoyed in years. And I found out a most dangerous thing; Breyer's Ice Cream. (Check the label but most flavors are GF.) And those Whole Foods GF cookies. The more I explored the gluten free land the more I found I could eat safely. However, safe did not always equal healthy. Lots of the GF foods were high in sugar and fat and calories.
Through out the whole time I was sick I still had a problem with weight. I often wondered how I could be so sick all the time and still not lose weight. My new doc had a theory on this one; Starvation mode. Since food made me sick, Whenever my tummy was upset (like any day that ended with a Y)I would go all day without eating and basically starve myself until I was safely home. So, the human body, wondrous creation that it is, held onto the calories because it thinks it's starving.
Hmmm, could be possible? I've read that bodybuilders eat six or eight times a day to maintain their energy. Could this be a key? And if so, how long does it take the body's metabolic clock to recalibrate into a fat burning machine?
Are you a Celiac who needs to shed a few pounds? Tell me your weightloss secrets!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

NEW Gluten Free Magazine!


There's a New Gluten Free Magazine! I'm so excited. I believe this is the FIRST magazine completely dedicated to the Gluten Free lifestyle.

Check out this amazing new magazine! Delight gluten free is a fun food & lifestyle magazine for people with Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance and food allergies. It hosts delicious gourmet recipes and easy semihomemade as well. Don't miss the Gluten-Free Meals on a Budget either. Whatever your food allergy you should be able to find something that fits your household, in their February issue they offer gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, soy-free and even some rice-free recipes. Not only that, this magazine has a travel section coming in May that will host lots of fun ideas and good advice for when you venture out on the road. Personal stories, inspiring articles on Autism, Q & A with the Doc are among the other features of this magazine.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

B-12 deficiency?

Still having tummy problems after five years of being totally gluten free. Not finding any help anywhere. Then I watched Mystery Diagnosis on TLC. The woman there had horrible D, balance problems and migraines with visual disturbances. As I'm watching this I kept saying, "Yes, I have that."
A doctor finally diagnosed her with Pernicious Anemia; a B-12 deficiency.
According the websurfing I've been doing a B-12 deficiency can cause a whole host of random problems from diarrea to balance problems to shortness of breath. I have these and a few more from the list (see here) . One interesting note is that this is often associated with absorbtion problems like....Celiac Disease!
So I asked for the test and today it came back with low B12 levels.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have linked the symptoms of the big D, breathing issues, and the fact that I often trip over my own two feet almost everyday. Who knew?
I started B12 shots today and perscription supplements. I'll let you know how it goes.