Dave, Gluten Free Advocate

What is celiac disease?

Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also be found in everyday products such as medicines, vitamins, and lip balms. When people with celiac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Villi normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food they eat.

Currently the only treatment for celiac disease is to avoid the gluten. For most people, following this diet will stop symptoms, heal existing intestinal damage, and prevent further damage. Improvement begins within days of starting the diet. The small intestine usually heals in 3 to 6 months in children but may take several years in adults. A healed intestine means a person now has villi that can absorb nutrients from food into the bloodstream. Celiac disease is both a disease of malabsorption—meaning nutrients are not absorbed properly—and an abnormal immune reaction to gluten. Celiac disease is genetic, meaning it runs in families. Sometimes the disease is triggered—or becomes active for the first time—after surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional stress. Continue Reading »

It’s hard to believe that another year is almost over, and Christmas is just a few days away.  With that said, this is the time of year that most of us celebrate with food and that can be tricky for someone with gluten issues. Most people who do not have to avoid certain food groups don’t give a second thought to what ingredients are going into their holiday dinner. So as hard and uncomfortable as it may be, you have to take responsibility for your health and plan ahead. The worst thing you can do is show up for your holiday dinner unprepared and hungry. I know from personal experience if I am hungry I am much more likely to take risks on foods that I am unsure of than I otherwise would. I know I have said it before, but always have a plan B. It can be a dish that you have brought to share with everyone, or some snacks stashed in the car. It also never hurts to call ahead and find out what is being served. If it makes you uncomfortable you can always say that you would like to bring a dish that compliments the main course. I hope these suggestions help, and wish you a happy holiday season

Well we have made it through Thanksgiving, hopefully unscathed. Now we must look forward with Christmas looming and a veritable pitfall of yummy gluten containing treats to tempt us at every corner. With that said, however, I must say that no treat no matter how good, is worth damaging your body over. We unfortunately are only given one so it is paramount that we do as much right for that one as we possibly can. So to avoid those temptations with which you may be presented, I would say be proactive and plan ahead. Thanks to many great manufacturers like Betty Crocker, King Arthur flower, and Bob’s Red Mill to name a few, it has become so much easier to do so. With my family I like to keep boxes of cookie, brownie, and cake mix on hand so that we can whip up some treats if the occasion arises that we need to take some treats to a last minute party or event. As an adult and having lived gluten free for three plus years now, it is fairly easy for me to stay away from, besides the occasional misguided mess ups. But for my kids it is a whole different story. It is much harder for them to turn down a cookie or a cupcake, especially when their friends are all enjoying them. So with all that said, to stay safe this holiday season try giving a little forethought to what lies ahead, and if you find yourself in a situation where there is simply no time to plan try to be ready with a plan B of sorts at home. Hope you have a happy holiday season.

Now that the weather outside has turned a bit colder, I wanted to share with you one of my family’s favorite soup recipes. Zupa soup is a creamy hearty soup that is sure to warm you up when temperatures plummet. If you need this to be dairy free as well you can substitute soy milk for half and half, just make sure the soy milk is unsweetened. As always, please read all ingredient labels carefully because our customers continued health and well-being is of utmost importance to us.

You will need:

1lb ground spicy Italian sausage

1 ½ tsp crushed red pepper

1 large diced white onion

½lb Hormel thick sliced bacon chopped into small pieces

2tsp Christopher ranch garlic puree

2 boxes kitchen basics chicken stock

2 cups half and half

4 large potatoes sliced

½ of a bunch of fresh kale

In your soup pot sauté the spicy Italian sausage and crushed red pepper. Drain excess fat, remove the sausage from the pot and refrigerate it while you prepare the other ingredients. In the same pot sauté bacon, onions, and garlic together until onions are soft should take roughly 15 minutes. Once your onions are soft add your chicken stock.  Bring it to a boil then add your potatoes, cook until soft usually takes about half an hour. Add your half and half and cook until heated all the way through. Stir in your pre cooked sausage. Add your kale moments before you serve the soup (don’t add it too soon or it will become soggy). Hope you enjoy this as much as my family does!

Halloween can be a scary time if you have children who are on the gluten free diet, I have been trying to navigate the major candy companies websites looking for information about which if any of their products are gluten free and all you get is a basic description of what you cannot eat such as wheat, barley, rye, etc… Hershey’s for instance does not have a gluten free candy list, they simply say that they will list any gluten containing ingredients, or possible cross contamination on their label. Mars Chocolate makes M&M’s, Dove, Snickers and other products. The company urges gluten-free consumers to check labels, even if a product normally is gluten-free; in busy times of year (such as Halloween), Mars uses alternative facilities to make its candy, and some of those may introduce cross-contamination risks. The company says it will label any gluten ingredients or cross-contamination. Nestle USA considers “gluten-free” to mean “no gluten ingredients are in the product, whether directly added, or potentially present due to cross-contact. If a product label has an allergen advisory statement such as ‘made on equipment’ or ‘facility that also processes wheat etc.,’ we do not consider that product to be gluten-free. So in short the theme seems to be always read the label weather you have bought the product before or not. Here is a list of products that are said to be safe by their manufacturers. Continue Reading »

This week I wanted to let you all know what a great job our dieticians, Jessica and Jonnell are doing to make shopping for gluten free items less of a hassle. They have compiled a list of several hundred gluten free items (only those that state gluten free on their label) and posted it on our website. When on our home page, highlight the Great Health tab towards the top, click on Complete Nutrition, scroll down to Celiac Disease and then gluten free store item list link is right there. Here is the link to go directly there as well http://www.harmonsgrocery.com/images/pdfs/GlutenFreeList.pdf. Also look for the tags on the shelves that identify gluten free items.

A few days ago I had a very nice customer ask me if any of our delicatessens’ deli meats are gluten free, and frankly I am embarrassed to say that I was not sure. Obviously I am not sure is definitely not the right answer, so I did the thing I do best, research. I found out that not only are all of Boars Head® meats, cheeses, and condiments of the highest quality, they are also gluten free, we carry a large variety of Boars Head® products so please come by our delicatessen and pick some up today! For those watching your sodium, there is also a good selection of low sodium options. If you want to make a sandwich with your new found delicious deli meat, try Udi’s white sandwich bread. You can find it in the healthy living section in our frozen department.

I just happened to walk down our cereal isle the other day and noticed that Kellog’s is now making a gluten free version of their rice krispies cereal. To be honest, as weird as it may sound I was excited to see them, if for no other reason than having a real homemade rice krispie treat. The pre-packaged gluten free versions that are on the market today are just lacking the taste and texture that you get from the ones that you make at home. So I bought a box and went home to make my family a batch. I have to say they were everything that I had hoped for, they tasted exactly how I remembered them tasting, and the texture was crispy, not mushy like the others that I had tried recently. To ensure the safety of this cereal they have eliminated the barley that the original recipe contains, and it is being produced in a separate facility with batches being tested regularly for gluten. So buy a box and treat yourself. If you do not remember how to make them, the recipe is on the box.

I had the opportunity to try Kinnikinnick’s gluten free chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon and sugar doughnuts a few days ago and have to tell you I was very impressed. If you didn’t know it was a gluten free product you would think that it was a regular cake doughnut. The texture was not light and fluffy like our bakery’s doughnuts, so you should buy them knowing that they are a little heavier than the doughnuts that you may be used to. But, with that said, the flavor of these doughnuts was phenomenal, no gritty nasty after taste that you get with so many gluten free products. And the best part about Kinnikinnick’s doughnuts is that they are low in fat, they use only non-hydrogenated oils and contain only six grams of fat per serving as compared to 20 grams in a regular doughnut. You can find these and other great Kinnikinnick products in the healthy living frozen section of your favorite Harmons store.

I have heard a lot of talk about wheat starch possibly being gluten free, so I did some research and came across this article on celiac.com about a study in Finland. Please keep in mind that this study was performed in Europe, where they do have different standards as far as acceptable gluten intake for celiac sufferers, so take it with a grain of salt and do not think I am endorsing the consumption of wheat starch. I personally have chosen not to take the risk on wheat starch until more research has been done mostly because there is no way to get all of the gluten out. As and as far as I am aware, no study has been able to fully answer what a safe level of gluten is. In the US, our government uses 20ppm (parts per million) as our maximum standard and time will only tell if that standard will remain.

Researchers recruited 90 adults who had been eating a strict gluten-free diet for at least a year, and randomly assigned them to one of three groups. Depending on the group assignment, participants consumed drinks daily containing wheat-based glucose syrup, wheat-based maltodextrins, or a placebo with no wheat starch. The amount of glucose syrup or maltodextrins given to the participants in the first two groups was comparable to the amount of gluten a person might consume while eating an average amount of processed foods.

Effects of the wheat starch products were tested in several ways. To determine whether the trace amounts of gluten were sufficient to trigger an immune reaction, researchers examined biopsies of the small intestine for signs of inflammation and damage, and tested the blood for specific antibodies that are elevated after gluten consumption.  Small intestine biopsies taken after 24 weeks of wheat starch product consumption did not show increased damage or inflammation compared to biopsies taken before the study began, or compared to biopsies of subjects consuming the placebo.  Similarly, levels of antibodies were not increased by daily consumption of this very small quantity of gluten.

Because eating gluten reduces nutrient absorption in people with celiac disease, blood levels of iron, folic acid, and calcium were tested in all three groups before and after the 24 week study.  Concentrations of these nutrients did not decrease in any of the groups during the study, indicating that nutrient absorption was not affected by this amount of wheat starch consumption. Additionally, gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, indigestion, constipation, abdominal pain, and gastro-esophageal reflux, did not increase significantly in any group and none of the patients who suffered from dermatitis herpetiformis developed a rash during the study.

Results of this study suggest that the trace amounts of gluten in processed foods containing wheat starch products were not harmful for most people with celiac disease. Although additional studies will help clarify the issue, it may be unnecessary for people to avoid these products, making it easier to adhere to a “gluten-free” diet.

Kaukinen K, Salmi T, Huhtala H, et al. Clinical trial: gluten microchallenge with wheat-based starch hydrolysates in celiac disease patients:  a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study study to evaluate safety. Alimentary Pharmacolgy

Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2008 Aug 17.Departments of Gastroenterology and Alimentary Tract Surgery, University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland