Allergy | - Gluten

Gluten Free Bread – Home Made #6

Gluten Free Diet — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:48:24 -0400

Gluten free bread in a bread maker – its tasty, convenient, and eventually cheaper than buying gluten free bread. It really helps reduce the cost of your gluten-free diet.

My home made bread has been very successful so far. The bread is tasty and has a good to great consistency.

Here is my challenge:

Make bread within 15 minutes (and let the bread maker do the rest.
Have consistently great consistency
Have it rise properly into a beautifully shaped loaf.

Gluten Allergy Cause

Gluten-free — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:03:22 -0400

Gluten allergy may have a cause.

First, note that a gluten allergy is considered rare. More common is gluten sensitivity, or celiac disease.

Some people are allergic to wheat, but not the gluten in wheat. For such people, following a gluten-free diet, now growing ever more popular, is a convenient way of avoiding wheat, using language (“gluten-free”) that more and more people are familiar with.

The medical establishment is very conservative in attributing cause and effect, especially when there is not clear surgical intervention or prescription medicine to manage a specific set of symptoms. Keep this in mind as you continue to read this article.

Allergy to Lectin

Allergy — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:35:56 -0400

Lectin allergy problems are associated with the protein lectin.

Lectin is found the the nightshade family of plants, including:

Tomatoes
Potatoes (not yams or sweet potatoes)
Eggplant
Bell peppers
Tobacco

Other Lectin-foods include:

Soy
Peanuts

Besides their high lectin content, peanuts, and especially soy have other negative health effects for a wide range of people.

Skin rash, doctors and gluten

Gluten-free — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:56:45 -0500

I just received the following comment, posted under the Self-Testing for Food Allergies page.

I decided to provide the reply as a separate article, rather than burying it in the comments, because there are a few important points here that I think you will find useful, and I want to make sure you can easily find this article.

Wow! I have been dealing with this since Nov of 2008 and have been to the doc twice. It just don't seem to go away just very little. The Doc put me on some steriod cream which easied it a little then he put me on Aluminum latate cream which really burns bad but helps the nasty rash ease a little. I have it on my hands and clear up to my elbows but no where else. I notice I itch after anything with flour. As my mother has this gluten allergy the Doc says this isn't that. I have scedualed a appointment with a dermatoligist and hope to get to the root of this. It drives me nuts. I have patches that are red and very tiny blisters that bust and ooze. I put these creams on and it clears up the irritated spots and new blisters come out around the edge. I will let you know if this is what I have after I get to this dermatoligist. Thanks this did help a little!
–Suzy

Here is my reply:

Wheat, Gluten and Asthma

admin — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:42:33 -0500

Asthma is strongly linked to environmental irritants and allergens. It is often triggered by physical exertion.

Typical asthma triggers include smoke (tobacco, wood fires etc.), chemicals, pollen, dust and dust mites, mold, pet dander and cockroaches.

Here are hidden asthma factors that no one is talking about: wheat and gluten.

These foods are probably not direct asthma triggers for most people.

A surprising number of people may be experiencing asthma from wheat and gluten, but indirectly.

Gluten and Cross-Reactivity

admin — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:42:56 -0500

If you are sensitive to gluten in any way (allergic, celiac, etc.), the you must eliminate gluten from your diet in order to improve your health.

Even if you do eliminate all gluten from your diet, you may still find that your level of improvement is not nearly as much as it should be.

The fact is that most people who discover one allergy, find out that they have other allergies and sensitivities as well.

Some of the common problem foods for the gluten sensitive are:

Celiac Symptoms

admin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:56:21 -0500

Celiac symptoms can appear as early as 6 months of age, with slow growth and under-weight of your baby.

In some cases, symptoms may be less severe, going unnoticed for years, even well into adulthood.

In other cases, the symptoms are so severe, that there is clearly a problem in childhood.

One the one hand, severe celiac cases are distressing, especially to parents who have no idea what is wrong with their child. Of course they are propelled into action, looking for the cause.

Celiac

Doug — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:02:38 -0500

Celiac

Celiac disease is a disorder that causes severe symptoms when you eat gluten.

Stop eating gluten, and the short-term symptoms are reversed.

Celiac disease is hereditary. If you have the genes for it, inherited from either or both of your parents, then you have celiac for the rest of your life.

This sounds bad, but unlike many other hereditary diseases, it is relatively easy to manage: just stop eating gluten.

Cardiomyopathy and Gluten

admin — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:02:34 -0500

Cardiomyopathy is a heart condition where the heart muscle becomes inflamed and the heart does not pump properly.

There is a little-known connection between cardiomyopathy and gluten. It is called celiac disease. While not the cause in the majority of cardiomyopathy cases, gluten and celiac disease is a significant cause of cardiomyopathy.

There are three types of cardiomyopathy: dilated, hypertrophic and restrictive.

Cardiomyopathy can be caused by infection. It can also be caused by autoimmune disorders. In the second case it is called myocarditis.

Gluten-Free Product Review: PatsyPie Peanut Butter Cookies

Gluten Free Diet — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:32:36 -0400

Like other PatsyPie products, their gluten-free peanut butter cookies are good. Like their other products, they are tasty, have a nice texture, and are not too sweat.

This flavor produces a lot of crumbs when you eat it, so it is not a cookie for all occasions.

It is more salty than their other flavors, almost (but not quite) too salty.

They are not too sweet - which is a big plus. They seem to use quality ingredients over all.

Gluten-Free Product Review: PatsyPie Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Gluten Free Diet — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 19:34:14 -0400

PatsyPie makes some excellent gluten-free cookies. I've not had a chance to review them all yet; this is the first, and several other reviews will be coming soon.

I like their biscotti recipe. When combined with the chocolate chips that they use, it is not as good as it could be. Good but not great.

They are not too sweet - which is a big plus. They seem to use quality ingredients over all.

For one thing, I think the quality of the chocolate they use could be improved. That would make a big difference.

Gluten-Free Product Review: MI-DEL Ginger Snap Cookies

Gluten Free Diet — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:02:17 -0400

For a reasonably-priced gluten-free product, I was pretty impressed with the quality. You can pay a lot more for a lot less in both quality and quantity.

These cookies are quite small, so you can have a really tiny snack if you want to, or eat several if you want more. Of course their size makes them slightly addictive.

Although called a ginger-snap, they are neither snappy nor very gingery.

Gluten-Free Product Review: Enjoy Life Snack Bar

Gluten Free Diet — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:53:16 -0400

Enjoy Life snack bars are neatly packaged, allergen-free, and convenient.

That's the good news.

The trouble with them though, is that they seem to have been designed by food scientists, not cooks or bakers.

While the photo on the package looks appetizing, the bars themselves do not look like much of anything. And that is a good indication of the taste and texture as well.

Basically, this is highly processed food, its just a matter of using a different feed-stock from the usual allergens like wheat and milk.

Gluten Allergy

admin — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:17:47 -0400

"Gluten Allergy" tends to get used pretty loosely. There is confusion and misuse of gluten allergy.

I admit it: the term event gets misused on this site.
This article will explain what a gluten allergy is, what its close cousin, the gluten intolerance is, and celiac disease. I'll also touch on the term "wheat allergy".

The fact is though, that the term "gluten allergy" is pretty convenient. When you tell someone you have a gluten allergy, you are telling them not to feed you gluten or it will make you sick.

Foods That Contain Barley

admin — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:25:39 -0400

For those of you who are celiac or aallergic to barley, avoiding barley may not seem so bad. After all, it is much less common that wheat.

There are a few things to watch out for, and some of them are literally trick questions. Some ingredients look safe, but are in fact made from barley.

Here is a list of foods and food ingredients that contain (or may contain) barley or are derived from barley.

NOTE: This is not a complete list, but it will be updated as we discover additional information.

Gluten, Mold, yeast or Flu?

Doug — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:37:21 -0400

I've not been feeling too great lately. Usually, I can trace it back to one of my allergies.

Could it be gluten or wheat? I doubt it because I'm pretty sure I've not been exposed to any gluten-containing foods. I'd have to say, my gluten exposure risk has been pretty low lately. I've kept well away from wheat.

Gluten-Free Kitchen in Your Hotel - Tips

Gluten Free Diet — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:11:53 -0400

The best way to stay healthy and gluten-free when you travel is to bring and prepare your own food.

Best maybe, but not always the easiest. But if you have allergies, you must find a way.

I have talked about setting up your own gluten-free kitchen in any hotel before.

One of the key requirements for this mobile gluten-free kitchen is a hot-plate.

I always had the feeling though, that the hotel management would not be impressed with having such equipment in their hotel rooms, or with guests preparing their own food.

My Favorite Gluten Free Pie Crust Recipe

Gluten Free Diet — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:20:27 -0400

Over the past little while, I've been posting some pie crust recipes suitable for a gluten-free diet. It has taken a while, but here at last is my favorite gluten-free pie crust recipe so far.

It is made entirely of nuts and seeds. You can play fast and loose with the ingredients on this one. You can have more of one type of nut and less or none of another. You can use different types of nuts and seeds. The amounts are not critical.

Gluten Free Pie Crust with Nuts #1

admin — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:10:51 -0400

Crushed nuts make an excellent base for a gluten-free pie crust - one of my favorites! It is amazing how you can manage your wheat allergy by avoiding all types of flour, although you should certainly check out the gluten-free Quinoa recipes as well.

If you have a gluten allergy, this recipe is great for eating pie and maintaining a gluten-free diet.

This recipe is about right for a 10' pie plate.

Hemp Flour Disaster

Gluten Free Diet — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:42:19 -0400

I've tried yet another experiment in my series of gluten-free pie shells.

This time I made a classic mistake with this wheat-free recipe.

Someone once told me that the air force has an expression: "Don't test a new engine on a new airframe".

Well, I did just that, pretty much.

Firstly, I just bought a ceramic pie plate - something I've never baked with before.

Also, I wanted a change from experimenting with quinoa flour and decided to try Hemp_Flour instead.

Gluten-free Pie Crust with Quinoa #2

Gluten-free — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:32:19 -0400

Here is another experiment with a quinoa flour based gluten-free, wheat-free pie crust.

This one is OK, but I prefer Quinoa crust #1.

The idea is that the vinegar will make the pie more flaky, but this only seems to work with lard, not butter, and the vinegar does not improve the taste of the pie.

This gluten-free crust is for a nine-inch pie plate.

Gluten-free Pie Crust

Gluten Free Diet — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:39:47 -0400

I can't tell you how much I miss the apple pies of my childhood, the ones my mother used to make.

Alas, they use an excellent but wheat-infested, gluten-contaminated crust.

I've been experimenting with gluten-free pie crusts lately, with some success.

I have not actually formulated a formal recipe yet, but when do, I will post it in the recipe section.

The two types of gluten-free pie crusts I've been working on are:

Gluten Allergy and Toasters

Gluten-free — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 20:36:27 -0500

So, you have your gluten-free bread, and now you want to make toast.

Is putting it in a toaster the best solution?

A toaster is a great way of turning bread into toast, but watch out for cross-contamination!

If you use the same toaster that everyone else uses for their wheat-based bread, then you are asking for trouble.

There are two safe solutions.

One is to simply have a separate toaster that is kept absolutely free from wheat - i.e. all bread that is not free of gluten.

This is a good and convenient solution.

Gluten Allergy Risk in Restaurant

Doug — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:10:26 -0500

Yesterday, I went to Nates, an Ottawa-area deli-restaurant.

This was not a good choice for anyone with an allergy to gluten. The choice of restaurant was not mine to make however. I was stuck with the choice of deciding to go, and risk triggering my gluten allergy, or just not going.

For various reasons, which I will not explain here, I decided to go.

This is not a place that is sympathetic to allergies.

Gluten in your Salad?!

admin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:49:55 -0500

If you are allergic to gluten, you may think that a salad is a safe bet at any restaurant.

This is almost true, but you may well run into problems if you make this assumption and do nothing else.

As always, ask questions!

The first and most obvious question is: "does this salad have gluten, wheat, bread crumbs, or any type of flour in it?"

More specifically, watch out for the following in green and Cesar's salads:

Gluten Linked to Seizures and Epilepsy

Doug — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:43:25 -0500

The link between gluten and epilepsy has long been know, but that does not make it widely known.

This is unfortunate because there must be quite a few people out there taking medication to control their seizures, when eliminating gluten may solve the problem.

This does not mean that all seizures are caused by gluten. Still, it is something to watch out for.

If you have celiac disease, you will need to eliminate all gluten in any case, as the health effects of even small amounts of gluten can be serious (cancer for example).

Mini Wheats And Intolerance

Doug — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:32:01 -0500

I recently noticed that a surprizing number of people have found this site by googling "mini wheats and intolerance". Actually, almost any number is surprzing, given that this website ranks at 51 in Google for that particular term. That is a lot of websites to explore, none of which provide an answer.

So I guess I owe it to those of you who are searching to write an article specific to this subject. No one should have to sift through that many search results to get an answer to this question!

Here are a few facts about Mini Wheats:

They contain wheat

Wheat Allergy - What is it?

Doug — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:01:20 -0500

A Wheat allergy is specifically an allergy or hypersensitivity to one of several proteins in wheat.

This is different from a gluten allergy, which is an allergy to the specific protein gluten - found in wheat as well as oats, barley and rye.

Do not confuse a wheat allergy with celiac. Although you must avoid wheat in either case, these two health problems are fundamentally different in two ways. One is the underlying problem. Celiac is an autoimmune disorder, not an allergy.

Allergy to Gluten? Try Rice Wraps for Lunch!

Doug — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:40:32 -0500

For years I avoided bread because of my allergy to wheat. The gluten-free bread on the market was expensive and not very good. Some of that has changed - it is now possible to get excellent gluten-free bread, although it is still expensive.

A great alternative is rice paper. Traditionally, it is used to make spring rolls (a Vietnamese dish), but you can wrap almost anything in rice paper.

The pros of using rice paper to make a gluten-free meal is that it is versatile and inexpensive.

The cons of using rice paper is that you have to prepare it (easy to do, but this makes it less portable) and it does not keep well, making it hard to pack a lunch.

Gluten-Free Allergy Management - Avoiding Bread Crumbs

Doug — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:07:46 -0500

Does sharing a meal with people who do not understand your gluten-free/wheat-free diet make you nervous?

Since a bread crumb or two could ruin my week, I can't relax when I am at a table that includes bread made from wheat.

I generally deal with this by taking my share of food first and putting it on my plate, and keeping my gluten-free bread well away from regular bread, or anything else made of wheat.

This Christmas though, I took it one step further.

Everyone had the same gluten-free bread as I did.