Sure Foods Living - gluten-free and allergen-free living

Last night my daughter ate a dinner of pasta (gluten-free) with a sauce of olive oil-sauteed red onions, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, yellow bell peppers and chicken apple sausage. There was nothing left in her bowl… not because she is an amazing kid who eats anything, but because tonight she cooked it with me.

Let me back up a bit and introduce you to Michelle Stern of What’s Cooking. I was introduced to Michelle on Twitter by Stephanie O’Dea, the Crockpot Lady — this is the virtual blogger world that I live in, but we all live in the Bay Area and I now know them as real people. Michelle teaches cooking to kids. She has built a business around it, not because she is a businesswoman as much as she is a teacher, which is where she and I really connected. It turns out that she was a student teacher for a science class at the same high school where I was teaching history. Our paths didn’t cross at that time, but here we are now!

Michelle’s work inspires me to get my kids more involved in cooking and understanding where their food comes from. Her blog is full of great advice… recently she gave two tips for cooking with kids:

1. “Let go of perfection.” - I don’t know about you, but this is a hard one for me!
2. “Let kids DO.” - seems obvious, but this is easy to forget.
3. And I would like to add: “Have patience.” Give them time to learn.

Michelle and I met up for the first time at the farmer’s market where she encouraged me to buy kale to make kale chips (they were yummy!) Her passion has stuck with me since that day, although I really do forget to involve my kids enough in food preparation.

But not last night! Last night my daughter cut cherry tomatoes in half with a serrated knife for the first time. I taught her how to hold the knife, how to hold the tomato and how to cut with a forward and back motion. She was so proud of herself. (If your child isn’t ready to use a sharp knife, you can let him/her use a butter knife to cut olives, as shown in the picture.) She also stood at the stove on a step stool and stirred, as I added each ingredient. The result was that she felt that she cooked the dinner, and so of course she thought it was delicious! (Bonus: little sis also ate most of it, even the yellow peppers, because big sis was eating it!)

Involving your children in the preparation and cooking of healthy food helps them to appreciate it, understand it, and best of all — eat it!

When I hear of someone who is vegetarian or vegan and doesn’t feel well, I think of gluten. I have nothing against people who don’t eat meat. I just think that vegetarianism has changed over the years from being about eating grains, fruits and vegetables to eating processed meat alternatives. There is a danger lurking in the meat substitutes that have become so popular, and that danger is gluten.

Gluten is a primary ingredient in meat replacement products because of its ability to have the texture of meat. Extracted from wheat, gluten is pure protein, the very part which many people cannot tolerate. In my 20s, I decided to cut down on my meat consumption and Boca Burgers became a common item in my freezer — I loved them and thought I was being healthy. It was also in my 20s that I became sicker and sicker. I’m not blaming Boca Burgers for my downfall– that would be stretching it! But I do think that there is far too much gluten in the average diet, and even in the diets of people who think they are being ultra-healthy by not eating meat.

Just to give an example of how gluten shows up in place of meat, I will compare a hamburger to a Morningstar Farms Veggie Burger:

In a homemade hamburger, there is usually one ingredient: BEEF, and maybe some SPICES.
In a Morningstar Farms Veggie Burger, there are many ingredients involved in making it taste and feel like meat, including gluten ingredients (shown in bold below):

TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (WHEAT GLUTEN, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, WATER FOR HYDRATION), CORN OIL, SUNFLOWER OIL, EGG WHITES, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF CORNSTARCH, NATURAL FLAVORS FROM NON-MEAT SOURCES, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, ONION POWDER, SPICES, HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (CORN, WHEAT, AND SOY), GARLIC POWDER, POTATO STARCH, MALTODEXTRIN, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, SUCCINIC ACID, SUGAR, NONFAT DRY MILK, SOYBEAN OIL, WHEAT FIBER.

Here are the ingredients of the original Boca Burger that I loved:

WATER, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, WHEAT GLUTEN, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF METHYLCELLULOSE, SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, DRIED ONIONS, YEAST EXTRACT, SESAME OIL, HYDROLYZED WHEAT PROTEIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR (NON-MEAT), DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE. CONTAINS: SOY, WHEAT, SESAME.

In addition to eating a lot of gluten in these specialty non-meat foods, many vegetarians are also consuming gluten in other foods such as pasta, cereals, crackers, breads and all the other wheat-based foods that are staples in our society.

I write this post as a caution to those who think that they should be feeling better than they do because they eat a vegetarian or vegan diet. It could be what you are eating a lot of that is making you feel worse, not better. I don’t believe that overloading on gluten and soy is a healthy way to live. There are many people living both vegetarian or vegan AND gluten-free.

What do you think? Do vegetarians and vegans eat more gluten than others?

Today I am the guest blogger for 30 Days to a Food Revolution, inspired by Jamie Oliver. I share my ideas for making your own salad dressing (ditch the bottle!) and for getting your kids to eat vegetables before dinner.

The Food Revolution is still stuck in my head, and I hope it starts to stick in everyone’s else’s! If you didn’t get to see the T.V. series, you can at least watch Jamie Oliver’s talk on his Food Revolution mission and his wish: “I wish for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.” Yes, yes, yes! Go Jamie and believers in real food everywhere!

I hope that many of you got a chance to watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. I found the T.V. series so inspiring, and like Jamie (otherwise known as the Naked Chef for his use of honest, real food) said: “Yes, this is a T.V. show, but it’s real life.”

He succeeded in making change in the school lunch program in a town chosen for its high rate of obesity. His mission — OUR mission — is so important: feed our kids well so that they can live healthy lives. Of course, there needs to be change not only in our lunch programs, but throughout our society. This change won’t come about easily, as we need education, dedication, motivation and of course, money. But it CAN be done and we need to try.

Many bloggers (including me!) are hoping to make a small difference by sharing tips and recipes for cooking real food in 30 Days to a Food Revolution, an online event dreamed up and organized by Diane of The W.H.O.L.E. Gang.

For 30 days, there will be 30 different food bloggers sharing 30 different ways to eat real food.

Less processed food, more real food is the goal! Most of us are living gluten-free or with other special diets, so hopefully you will find a wealth of good stuff to use in your own kitchens, and discover new blogs too.

I will be contributing my tip and recipe on May 4. In the meantime, you can follow these  participating blogs:

• gluten free easily – Day 1
• The Spunky Coconut – Day 2
• I Am Gluten Free – Day 3
  
• The Gluten Free Homemaker – Day 4
• Delectably Free – Day 5
  
• Jenn Cuisine – Day 6
  
• Sure Foods Living – Day 7
  
• dinners & dreams — Day 8
• The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen — Day 9
• The Messy Chef – Day 10
• One Frugal Foodie — Day 11
• Celiac Teen - Day 12
  
• Gluten Free For Good - Day 13
  
• Gluten Free Vegan Family - Day 14
  
• Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried - Day 15
  
• Simply Gluten-Free - Day 16
  
• Lexie’s Kitchen - Day 17
  
• Food Blogga - Day 18
  
• What’s Cooking Blog - Day 19
  
• Cook 4 Seasons - Day 20
  
• Gluten Free Gidget - Day 21
  
• A Year of Slow Cooking
• Tasty Eats at Home
• Gluten Free Doctor Recipes
• Ginger Lemon Girl
• Simply Sugar and Gluten Free
• The Daily Dietribe
• Celiac Family
• Andrea’s Recipes
• London Foodie in NY

There are also prizes to win! Go to the 30 Days to a Food Revolution page to see the details about how to enter.

Chalk this one up to Weird Food Reactions that your doctor doesn’t know about…

I went out the other night with some girlfriends and as we were deciding what to order, one of them complained to me that everything she has been eating for three days tastes bitter and leaves a metallic aftertaste. Worried that this was a sign of a health problem, she had emailed her doctor who recommended she check with her dentist first. The doctor also suggested that perhaps the bitter taste was a result of her body detoxing because she had started a gluten, dairy and sugar-free diet. (huh? makes no sense to me.)

This is where I come in:
“Did you eat pine nuts?” I asked her.
“Yes… why??”
“It’s the pine nuts.”
“What? The pine nuts? Yes, well, I did have a lot of pine nuts a couple of days ago. It’s the pine nuts?”
“Yep.”
“HOW do you know that?”
“Because it happened to me.”

About two years ago I experienced the same thing. I suddenly had a bitter taste in my mouth whenever I ate something. Didn’t matter what it was — something sweet or sour, fruit, vegetables, wine or chips. Every single thing I ate tasted bitter. After it went on for a few days, I feared that this was some permanent condition and I would never enjoy eating food again! I finally turned to Google and found a forum of people discussing the bitter taste and they all realized that they had eaten pine nuts in the days prior to the bitter taste starting. I was surprised to find the cause, as were all the people in the online forum — and I was relieved! It lasted a week, and was really annoying, but at least I knew it would go away. And I didn’t pay to see any specialists!

I’m not sure if I have eaten any pine nuts since then. We don’t have any nuts in our house due to my daughter’s nut allergy, and I don’t remember if I have eaten them out at a restaurant. I had sort of forgotten about this until hearing my friend’s story, and wondered how common this really is. Back to Google again to find out more…

It turns out that quite a few people have written about “Pine Mouth,” as they began calling it, since my first query years ago. A search of the medical journals turned up a 2010 article in the Journal of Medical Toxicology that concluded: “‘Pine mouth’ appears to be an emerging problem.”

The symptoms generally come on 2 days after ingesting the pine nuts, and can last up to 2 weeks! Though there has been no formal connection made, it seems that the people who were affected by pine mouth ate pine nuts that were imported from China. The China Tree Nut Association even held a national pine nut conference on November 24th, 2009, to try to find out where the bitter taste comes from!

Trader Joe’s and Costco brands were mentioned often in the forums that I read. No conclusion has been made as to WHY this happens and whether some people are affected by it, while others aren’t.

So, if you’re pining for pine nuts, be aware that you might just be left with a bitter taste in your mouth!

First, I would like to say thank you for the nice comments about my website and about the beverage bottles! My husband and I had a lot of fun doing this giveaway together.

And now… congratulations to the randomly chosen winners of a Lifefactory Glass Beverage Bottle in the color of their choice! The winners are:

Shelley Silva - Spring Green!

Betty Lyle - Spring Green! Happy birthday!

Robin - Midnight Blue!

Don’t forget that you can still get a 15% discount by entering go glass when you purchase any of the bottles from the Lifefactory website. Go Glass!

I am so excited to tell everyone about the new glass beverage bottles from Lifefactory, and do a giveaway to THREE lucky readers! I have been using one of the bottles (the orange one) for the past few months now and I LOVE it. I was privileged to get one before they were available to the public because (disclosure alert!) my husband works for Lifefactory, and I demanded that I have one!

So, let me tell you about these and why you’re going to want one…

In case you missed it, they are GLASS. Yes, glass. You are most likely currently drinking out of a plastic (need I say it?) or a metal (that tastes like metal) water bottle. Besides the great environmental and health reasons why this new bottle is a necessity, the #1 reason I like this bottle is TASTE. My water tastes like water! I would never choose to drink from plastic or metal at home, and now I get to drink from glass when I am in my car, taking a water break from a volleyball game, hanging out at the park with my kids, or attending an all-day conference. I also love that the bottle has a wide mouth so I can easily drop ice cubes in. (I hurt my hand trying to whack ice cubes into my old metal drinking container.)

You might still be wondering how a glass bottle is going to make it to all of these things without breaking. The bottle has a non-toxic tight-fitting silicone sleeve that protects it from breaking, and also gives you a good grip on the bottle. The sleeves are brightly colored with a cool, modern design. My bottle attracts attention wherever I go! You don’t need to take the sleeves off of the bottles — just put the whole thing in the dishwasher. My daughters have been using the Lifefactory baby bottles as water bottles (with caps instead of nipples) every day in their lunches to school for about two years now, and they still look brand new (and they haven’t broken them).

To win a 22 ounce glass beverage bottle from Lifefactory, please leave a comment choosing which color you would want. The colors are: Midnight Blue, Orange, Pearl White, Red, Sky Blue, and Spring Green. I will choose THREE winners at random. You have until Friday, March 26 at 5pm PST to comment (only one comment per person please). I will notify the winners on Saturday.

For those of you who don’t win, or would like to purchase more bottles, you can get 15% off the Lifefactory online store by using the discount code: go glass (with a space).

GOOD LUCK!

The osteoporosis drug Fosomax which is supposed to strengthen bones may in fact cause spontaneous fractures, with many women’s femurs actually snapping, according to a report on ABC news. One doctor explains the problem: “When [women] are on it for five, six, seven or eight years, they lost their ability to remodel and regenerate their skeleton,”… and so the women “are very vulnerable and they will then develop problems of brittle bone.” The drug has also been linked to osteonecrosis of the jaw, a bone disease known as “Dead Jaw.”

I found this report so disturbing! And then I read the comments below the article on the ABC News website… all these people talking about their broken femurs! I can’t believe this drug is on the market.

Another thought I have is: how many of the people being prescribed medication have been tested for celiac disease? In my opinion, this is another example of doctors treating a symptom with medication without looking for the cause. People with celiac disease are at a greater risk for developing osteoporosis or osteopenia — in fact, it is a very common symptom. If you have osteoporosis or osteopenia, please go get tested for celiac disease! Even women without any known bone issues have been prescribed the drug. If you are taking Fosomax (alendronate sodium), please check with your doctor about the risks that may be associated with this drug!

To read the original article, go to ABC News. Don’t forget to read the comments.

“Winning Without Wheat: How a gluten-free diet powers one of the best cycling teams in the world — and how it can help you perform better and recover faster.”

This is the title of this month’s Men’s Journal Magazine report on a professional cycling team that was advised by their team doctor to cut out the gluten during the racing season. The results? Improved performance all around.

A couple of quotes from team members, as reported in the article:
“I just had all-around better digestion, and digestion is the biggest thing in utilizing the energy I consume.”
“My performance really improved a lot — there was definitely a correlation.”

Would being gluten-free help every athlete’s physical performance? It depends on who you ask. There are mainstream celiac-focused doctors who say that there is no evidence to suggest that a gluten-free diet helps those who do not suffer from celiac disease. However, there are other doctors and diet specialists who are now realizing the far-reaching effects of gluten, not just on those with biopsy-proven celiac disease. Gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity may affect much more of the population than anyone currently knows, or that any studies currently show. And there is still another thought that wheat is simply difficult to digest for any human being. So, bad tummy = poor performance.

My own athletic performance was certainly affected in the years before I was diagnosed with celiac disease. An avid runner, volleyball player and skiier, I experienced physical challenges. Exercise-induced asthma, aching knees and leg cramps forced me to stop in the middle of my runs. Temporary blindness like whiteouts halted me at the top of ski runs, and again those painful leg cramps inside my ski boots practically made my cry. Playing volleyball with digestive problems certainly didn’t help me soar to new heights! Since being gluten-free, I am a better athlete physically. No more asthma, leg cramps, joint pain or bad stomach to hold me back. (So what’s my excuse going to be now??)

The question that really remains is: how many people out there are sensitive or intolerant to gluten? If the number is high (as I believe it to be), then it makes sense that many athletes would experience benefits from a gluten-free diet.

A friend said to me recently, “If I bought everything organic, my husband would kill me.” Well, it’s either him or the toxic pesticides, my dear!

But seriously, I understand her financial dilemma. Buying organic in this country usually means spending more, shopping at higher end grocery stores, and seeking out farmers markets. Add the fact that critics question if eating organic really makes a difference in people’s health, and it’s not a surprise that most people are going to shop at supermarkets and buy what’s cheapest.

So what do you do if you want to buy organic, but can’t afford it? One solution is to buy organic when it matters most: when buying the fruits and vegetables that are the most likely to be contaminated with pesticides.

The Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides can help you with your organic shopping list. The guide includes the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and the 15 least contaminated fruits and vegetables.

THE DIRTY DOZEN
Buy organic when possible:

1. Peach
2. Apple
3. Bell Pepper
4. Celery
5. Nectarine
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes (Imported)
11. Carrot
12. Pear

THE CLEAN 15
These conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables are lowest in pesticides:

1. Onion
2. Avocado
3. Sweet Corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mango
6. Asparagus
7. Sweet Peas
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Papaya
12. Watermelon
13. Broccoli
14. Potato
15. Sweet Potato

You can read the full list here: 47 fruits and vegetables.

Other reasons to buy organic: GMOs

When the DNA of foods has been genetically altered, these foods are said to be Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs. There are many arguments in favor of genetically engineering foods, such as improving a food’s resistance to disease, increasing the nutrients of a food, making a food taste better, and decreasing the allergenic component of a food. There are also many arguments against genetically engineered foods, such as potentially introducing new allergens into foods and that “messing” with the natural state of the foods could lead to unknown effects on humans, animals and the environment. A major concern in the U.S. is that there is no labeling requirement for the use of GMOs in foods, meaning that people are consuming genetically engineered food without knowing it.

How do you know if you are eating GMOs? Most genetically modified foods are made from corn, soybeans, canola and cottonseed. Since corn and soy are used in so many of our processed foods, chances are that GMOs are being consumed a lot! Remember that corn can come in many forms: corn starch, corn oil, corn syrup, and dextrose to name just a few! Soy also is used in many forms: soy lecithin, soybean oil, soy protein isolate, and more.

How can you avoid GMOs? Buy organic! Foods that are labeled organic cannot contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). An organic label is really your only guarantee unless a company voluntarily states on their product that it is made without the use of GMOs. If you are concerned about GMOs, make sure that buy organic when buying products made with corn, soybeans, canola oil and cottonseed oil.

Organic animal products?

Animal products — meat, poultry, eggs and dairy — labeled organic means that they are raised without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones (rBST or rBGH).

If it isn’t labeled organic, does that mean that pesticides and GMOs and hormones are used?

No. Just because a food is not labeled organic doesn’t mean that it does contain pesticides, or GMOs, or growth hormones. Some companies haven’t gone through the certification process to be able to bear the organic label. To find out more information about a food, check the package, ask the farmers directly or call the product manufacturers.

Learn more!

• Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides
• Non-GMO Shopping Guide
• “Organic” Frequently Asked Questions
• The dangers of growth hormone in dairy products
• “Don’t Cry Over rBST Milk” - a counterargument to the dangers of bovine growth hormone