I love my appliances. I’m not one of those people that has wacky appliances like a Salad Shooter or a snow-cone maker (although summer is coming…). The ones I do have are essentials in the kitchen and make cooking allergy-free foods so much easier. Here are my 3 favorites:

1. KitchenAid stand mixer

I really don’t know how anyone can bake without a KitchenAid stand mixer. I’m not trying to be a snob — I know they are not cheap, but I have used other stand mixers and hand-held mixers, and it’s not fun. It’s frustrating. And if you have to bake a lot because you and your family have food allergies, then it is really worth the investment. I have the Artisan Series which I prefer over the Professional Series because it has a tilt-head. If you’re not in a hurry to buy one, keep checking for special sales at Amazon or other stores!

2. Rice Cooker

Last year I got a rice cooker in a family gift exchange. My old one that I carted around with me from apartment to apartment was permanently crusted and stained and every time I made rice I had to scrape it off the bottom of the pan and then let the pan soak for a day to get all the rice out of it. When I received the Cuisinart rice cooker, I embarked on a whole new way to use a rice cooker. It is smaller in size than my old one (this is a good thing) and has a non-stick surface. I make rice in it of course, but also other gluten-free grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, millet, and oatmeal! I love that I don’t have to worry about watching something on the stove — the rice cooker automatically shifts from Cook to Warm when done so I can make it ahead of time.

3. Toaster Oven

I don’t even have a regular toaster. Have you ever tried to put gluten-free bread in a toaster? Chances are you had to fish it out with a fork because gluten-free bread slices are usually smaller than “regular” bread. With a toaster oven, you don’t have to worry about that. Also, if you share appliances with non-allergy-free people, at least with a toaster oven you can lay down aluminum foil or use a separate oven tray.

I not only like the toaster oven for its ability to toast things of all shapes and sizes, but also for its bake setting. Need to bake just a couple Trader Joe’s gluten-free peanut butter cookies, a few Brazilian cheese breads, or some Ian’s allergy-free chicken nuggets? No need to turn on your big oven and wait a long time for it to get hot enough — a toaster oven heats up much faster and is perfect for baking small-sized things (I once made the mistake of trying to bake a loaf of gluten-free bread in the toaster oven and misjudged how high the bread would rise — oops! The loaf of bread was pretty much stuck in there and I had to decapitate it to get it out!)

What are your favorite appliances?

Filed under: Products, Recipes and Cooking Tips | 6 Comments »

I have good bones. In fact, I have never broken a single one (knock knock knock on wood). Somehow my untreated celiac disease decided to take out its anger on other parts of me, but left my bones strong and healthy. Some people’s bones, however, are weakened by the effects of gluten, making them more susceptible to fracture.

Untreated celiac disease can greatly affect the bone health in children and adults. A new report from the Laboratory of Pediatric Endocrinology and BoNetwork in Milan, Italy says that bone mass measurements are greatly reduced in children with untreated celiac disease compared to other children. Lower bone mass can lead to bones breaking more easily. Osteoporosis in adults has been linked to celiac disease, believed to be caused by either the inability to absorb necessary nutrients (calcium) for optimal bone health, or by chronic inflammation present in the body due to celiac disease.

Anyone with poor bone health should look at gluten as a cause, even if they don’t have the gastrointestinal symptoms of celiac disease. One study published in early 2008 suggested that screening of osteoporosis patients for celiac disease is advisable, since it may be the only sign of undiagnosed celiac disease.

Luckily, removing gluten from the child’s diet can restore bone mass to normal levels. The bone density of adults can also be improved with a gluten-free diet, but they may not regain bone mass to normal levels. Anyone diagnosed with celiac disease should talk to their doctor about having a bone mineral density test and about nutritional supplements to help restore bone mass.

Related reading:
About celiac disease
Symptoms of celiac disease

Filed under: News & Research, Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, Symptoms | 1 Comment »

This easy recipe was sent in by Georgia Grisolia, author of the cookbook A Wonderful World of Gluten Free Health, Easy and Tasty, Too.

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Granola

Here is a recipe I make all the time for breakfast or snacks and my husband likes it too. It makes a bunch and in our house we only need to make it every couple weeks and saves money as well. It travels well and is also healthy eating. We vary the fruits and nuts for interest sake and we usually put about half in the freezer after making a new batch. With this recipe you can forget for a while about gluten!

Mix:

3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup oil
1 cup water
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup sliced almonds or other nuts
3 cups shredded coconut, unsweetened if possible
6 cups quick, uncooked oatmeal (or gluten-free rolled oats)
1 cup dried fruit, raisins, cherries, blueberries, etc.

Bake in a 13 x 9″ pan @ 225 for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Cool, place in containers and refrigerate for later use.

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Do you have a gluten-free recipe to share? Email it to alison@surefoodsliving.com along with (if you wish) your name and a picture of either the food you created or of you or your family. Read more about Recipe Share.

Filed under: Recipes and Cooking Tips | 1 Comment »

Q. When my husband was 17 he was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and then just 2 weeks ago his father was diagnosed as well. I know there is a good chance our 14 weeks old baby girl could possibly have it as well, however, I don’t know when we need to get her tested. At three weeks old she lost a whole pound while breast feeding and our doctor suggested putting her on formula. She has been putting on weight, but not much. She weighed 5 lbs 6 oz after losing weight at three months and as of last week she weighs 9 lbs 6 oz even though she eats 4 oz of formula every hour and a half. Not being able to gain weight is only one of many symptoms our little girl has. Even our doctor says she has a lot of flatulence for one so young, her bowel movements have never been regular, one day she has acidy diarrhea and then she will be completely constipated the next. She is also very fatigued taking 4 or 5 two or three hour naps during the day and then sleep a full nine hours every night since she was 3 weeks old. I just want to make sure that we get her tested early enough to see if she has celiac or not before she has to suffer like my husband and father in law did for so long. So when can I have her tested?

A. There is a strong possibility that your baby has celiac genes, but, with a lack of exposure to gluten, it is unlikely that this is a cause unless you have been ingesting gluten during breast feeding. Switching to formula is a good idea: be sure that it is gluten-free. Testing the baby for celiac should include HLA DQ2 DQ8 genes, and be done very soon.

Health and happiness,
Dr. Aron

Have a question?

Filed under: Ask the Doc, Babies & Kids, Celiac Disease | 2 Comments »

Yes, it was my idea that Starbucks should carry gluten-free foods… mine and a thousand other people’s!

I’m sure that every gluten-intolerant person has gone into a Starbucks and thought, “they should have gluten-free stuff here — they would get so much business!” Well, enough people wrote into the My Starbucks Idea website that the idea is now either “coming soon” or “under review” according to the latest post on the website on April 18.

You too can vote for the gluten-free food idea! And if peanuts are a concern, you can vote for the peanut-free food idea. If dairy or eggs are your problem, vote for the vegan food idea, and if you need to avoid it all, vote for the allergy-free baked goods idea.

Maybe soon we will be able to pick a muffin from the case, just like all the normal people! If you do see something gluten-free at a Starbucks near you, please report it here!

Filed under: Food Allergies, Gluten Intolerance, Restaurants/Bakeries/Stores | 5 Comments »

A dog that can sniff out peanuts — yes, it’s true! In Texas they are training dogs to detect peanuts to keep peanut-allergic people safe. In addition to accompanying you to public places, your dog can sniff guests who enter the home and “discreetly scan them for peanut residue in order to minimize the chance of contamination.”

I think this is a great idea, especially for peanut-allergic kids who (unfortunately) always need someone to scan their environment to make sure it is safe. Who wouldn’t want the extra protection? Unless you don’t like dogs or are not a dog-person, like me (boo, hiss! — sorry, when you grow up with asthma and allergies, dog hair plastered to your clothing and being licked in the face aren’t the most appealing things!) I think even I might consider a dog if it meant keeping my child safe. What do you think — good idea?

For more information, visit Peanutdog.com.

Filed under: Peanuts/Nuts Allergy, Food Allergies | 7 Comments »

It is 1992 and I am on a train heading from the south of Spain to Madrid, where I am living and studying for the semester. I have just spent 5 days in Morocco, eating cous-cous, drinking mint tea and staying in beautiful mosaic hotel rooms. I am 21 years old and I am having trouble breathing and it is the first time it ever crosses my mind that I could actually die from an asthma attack.

Inhaler in hand, I take a puff every hour, then every half hour, eventually every few minutes and I am watching the clock to see how long I have until we arrive in Madrid, where I will have to take the subway and then walk to the boarding house where I live. It is taking so long. And I can only breathe short breaths, I can’t get air deep into my lungs. I am starting to feel panicky which only makes asthma worse. I talk to myself — you’re ok, you’re ok, we’re going to get there.

We arrive at the train station. I take the subway, and then a friend carries my duffel bag in addition to his because I can barely even carry myself up the steps of the house. I make it. I take the prednisone that I had left behind, never suspecting that I would need it. I lay sick in bed for 2 days, exhausted from trying so hard to breathe.

I have asthma, or as I now say, I had asthma. Since I was a kid I carried around my inhaler, taking a puff or two at the halftime of my soccer game or if I got a cold. Mine was not serious enough that I ever had to go to the hospital, but in my 20s, it got worse to the point that my doctor recommended I take a steroid inhaler every morning and every night to prevent attacks from happening.

It wasn’t until my diagnosis of celiac disease at age 32 that it ever occurred to me that my asthma could be triggered by food. Not one allergist had ever suggested it. It was my own idea to stop inhaling the steroid medication after 3 months on a gluten-free diet… I have not used it since.

I now know that my asthma was caused by gluten. It got worse with other triggers such as the flu, dust and exercise, but these weren’t the causes, they just made it worse. All those years I believed I had exercise-induced asthma, but within months of changing my diet, I ran an 8 mile race — without a puff!

To those of you out there suffering from asthma or whose kids are suffering from it, think about food being a cause. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) website, “asthma symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, or difficulty breathing due to narrowed airways, may be triggered by food allergy, especially in infants and children.” According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America website, “babies in particular may have food allergies that can bring on asthma symptoms. Some of the foods to which American children are commonly allergic are eggs, cow’s milk, wheat, soybean products, tree nuts and peanuts.” Even adult-onset asthma could be caused by food.

It’s up to you: try a change of diet or be on medication the rest of your life. If you decide to try it, look at which foods are being consumed the most, usually gluten and dairy, and trying cutting one or both out for a few months. Of course, consult your doctor before reducing any medications (not like I did), but also know that your doctor may not believe that food could be the cause of asthma. But it can. Just look at me.

Filed under: Babies & Kids, Celiac Disease, Food Allergies, Gluten Intolerance, Symptoms | 2 Comments »

Performing an intestinal biopsy is still considered the “gold standard” for diagnosing celiac disease, meaning that one usually does not get an official diagnosis of celiac disease unless they have a tube put down their throats and bits of their intestines removed and analyzed. Actually, I didn’t think the endoscopy was that bad. It was painless — I was drugged of course, and in my foggy state I got to see inside my own intestines on the monitor! How cool is that?

But watching your child get prodded and poked is another story. I never had to make that decision since my kids have been gluten-free since the womb. I talk to many mothers whose children have had blood test after blood test as doctors try to figure out what is wrong. I feel for the mothers and fathers who don’t want another invasive procedure performed on their child, not to mention those who may not have adequate medical insurance to cover it. There are some who opt to not have the biopsy, who say “the blood test is good enough for me” and adopt a gluten-free diet. Unfortunately because they don’t get a diagnosis of “celiac disease”, they are considered just gluten intolerant and left out of any statistics that might help raise awareness.

Well, perhaps a positive blood test is good enough. According to a new study out of the UK, the immunoglobulin-A tissue transglutaminase (tTG) antibody test is 100% positive for predicting celiac disease at a certain level. In their research, all people who had a very high tTG blood antibody level (10 times the upper limit of normal) tested positive on the biopsy. What does this mean? That a biopsy is not always necessary!

The conclusion of the researchers was this: “…diagnostic guidelines could be modified so that small bowel biopsy is no longer regarded as mandatory in patients with such high transglutaminase antibody levels. This will avoid an invasive procedure and lead to a more rapid diagnosis and earlier treatment for over half of the new patients with coeliac disease.”

I hope that doctors are up on the latest research — it could save people from unnecessary medical procedures and parents from having to make such a difficult decision.

Filed under: News & Research, Celiac Disease | 1 Comment »

This banana bread recipe was sent in by Leslie who has one son who must be gluten-free and one son who must be dairy-free.

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The Ultimate Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1/2 cup teff flour (if unavailable, try buckwheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 – 1 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (2 or 3 bananas)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk of choice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, margarine, or shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 1/4 x 5 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan or line a 12 count muffin pan with paper baking cups. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and xanthan gum in medium bowl. In small bowl, mix mashed bananas, applesauce, milk and vanilla. Using electric mixer, beat butter, margarine, or shortening in large bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat banana mixture and flour mixture alternately into shortening mixture in 2 additions each. Stir in nuts. Transfer to loaf pan, or divide evenly between muffin cups.

Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes for a bread loaf, and about 25 minutes for muffins. Cool 5 minutes. Turn loaf out or place muffins on rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf, or 12 large muffins

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Do you have a gluten-free recipe to share? Email it to alison@surefoodsliving.com along with (if you wish) your name and a picture of either the food you created or of you or your family. Read more about Recipe Share.

Filed under: Recipes and Cooking Tips | 1 Comment »

Remember the slogan “the incredible edible egg”? Well, not so incredible or edible in my household since my child is allergic to them. I have hopes that she will outgrow her egg allergy, but really, in the back of my mind, I am doubtful.

Kids with egg allergy can become egg tolerant, but the rate that children are developing tolerance to eggs is slower than in the past when it was thought that most children outgrew egg allergy by age 5 or 6. An egg allergy study published in December 2007 concluded the following:

• 4% of children outgrew egg allergy by age 4
• 12% of children outgrew egg allergy by age 6
• 37% of children outgrew egg allergy by age 10
• 68% of children outgrew egg allergy by age 16

They found that a patient was less likely to outgrow the allergy if they had high IgE antibodies when blood tested for egg allergy, if they had other atopic disease (like eczema or asthma), or if they had other food allergies.

So I guess I will just keep on baking without eggs until things (hopefully) change.

Filed under: News & Research, Babies & Kids, Egg Allergy | 3 Comments »