Apr
22
Filed Under (Food Allergy) by Julie Kim on 22-04-2010

You may want to try the idea of gluten free cooking for many different reasons. Some people are highly allergic to gluten, so this answer is the only option for their health. For others, the avoidance of gluten can help with certain health problems or diseases they may have. Staying away from this food product has been known to reduce the frequency and severity of migraines.

Gluten is mostly found in carbohydrates. It is a staple of wheat and grain structure. Some happily discover that though they cannot eat wheat, oats sit fine with them. This is not one hundred percent, though. Some have a very bad reaction to oats, so it is important to speak to your doctor before you try it.

If you can eat oats, though, cooking will be a much simpler task for you since oats are so readily found and can be a wheat substitute in many recipes. If you cannot handle them, do not despair. There are plenty of other ingredients which can be used instead. The trouble is finding out which ones are good for you.

More than likely the substitutes you will rely on are corn, potato, and rice. They have much of the same consistency and health benefits. Though cooking may be difficult because these things need to be handled differently and they may not taste exactly the same, taste should not be a negative factor. This market is growing to help out people with allergies, so the chances of you finding delicious substitutes are only going to go up.

There are other less used products that can be just as good. They are not as fast growing or grow such large crops so easily, so they may be more expensive. Buckwheat is one. Soybean is another. You can also find taro and millet products to replace gluten. Be very careful, though, since they are often mixed with glutenous products like wheat flour. Unless the label specifically says it is gluten free or a gluten substitute, you need to read all of the ingredients.

It is not just food you have to watch out for. Gluten is a multi-purpose food source that can be used to thicken products or give them a pleasing consistency. Your doctor should alert you to other things apart from bread products that contain gluten. Some you would never guess. Alcohol, for one. Make up and lotions, for another. Sometimes even medication can use it in some form.

Beside gluten is usually such a staple of a person’s diet, you may want to rely on vitamins to preserve your health. Vitamin deficiencies you can get by avoiding certain foods could put you at risk for other health problems.

It is therefore twice as important if you are skipping on gluten to eat very well balanced diets full of fruits and vegetables. Take daily vitamins, especially fish oil capsules. Just make sure to check the label first. Your carbohydrates, proteins, and calcium are likewise important to get enough of since these are the products that often have gluten foods.

What can i eat on a gluten free diet? Check the link for more information.

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Apr
22
Filed Under (Food Allergy) by admin on 22-04-2010

Dr. David Fleischer of National Jewish Health offers the following tips for dealing with food allergies over the holiday season.

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Apr
21
Filed Under (Food Allergy) by Erin Andrees on 21-04-2010

The concept behind this short report is to give some information to people who have discovered their need to know more about gluten free cooking. What is gluten and why is it a problem? When it gets into the digestive tract (specifically, the intestines) it grows into a mass of glutinous material that is close to being indigestible. The lifestyle most people live today, in tandem with factory produced processed foods has caused, and continues to cause an ever increasing risk to ones health.

Gluten acts like a foreign body, having the effect of causing your system to react against the lining of the intestines under attack. This can create bloating, nausea, constipation and a host of other health conditions in a sensitive person. Many today are unlucky enough to have an intolerance or sensitivity to gluten at a dietary level and find that their bodies react against symptoms which can suddenly manifest. Others may have a similar reaction but have, in fact celiac disease.

The gluten, which is indigestible, acts in a catalytic fashion causing your immune system to assault the small intestinal lining causing untold trouble;diarrhea, bloating, nausea and constipation to name but a few of the illnesses that can develop.There are folks who have an intolerance or a sensitivity towards gluten that can suddenly appear, and other people are reacting to an effect from possibly celiac disease.

If you want to avoid gluten, making bread means using more ingredients than wheat, and so you would be forgiven for assuming that it would be more costly to make. That though is rarely true, since store purchased bread is as much as eight or nine dollars currently! Just a note of caution here; be careful of cross contamination in your culinary work area constantly. The simplest routine is, on a regular basis, to scrub out the whole kitchen area, thus ensuring it is free of any type of product residue that could contain gluten. Especially watch out for tableware, cooking utensils, and cutlery too.

Bread making requires a few more products than wheat.Having said that, overall the expense is not as high as store bought bread which can quite easily be around the seven or eight dollar mark. A word of warning: be especially careful of cross contamination in the kitchen area at all times.

The easiest way is to cleanse thoroughly the entire area ensuring there are no products of any kind that contain gluten. Be very careful of cookware, cutlery and tableware also. Just the smallest amount of gluten can set off a chain reaction causing a serious condition to develop with intolerant people. Incidentally, don’t be unduly worried about the regular kind of cooking for the family, since few people can tell the difference between glutinous or non glutinous foods.

You can get away with using potato flour for gravy thickening, and rice flours for bread. You will discover that gluten free cooking is not the chore you perhaps thought it would be.There’s always the win some lose some scenario, just as in regular cooking! Don’t be afraid to try your hand at new dishes. Be adventurous, and don’t run away with the idea that you have to reinvent the wheel as it were.

Life has been made easier now that stores are stocking more gluten free produce.They even provide separate areas, and the public perception of the issues of diet are much more informed.That certainly was not true of even five years ago, so it is definitely heartening to realize the great stride forward in understanding. The feeling of knowing that you are contributing to not only your own health issues but that of others (perhaps family)will encourage you in your gluten free cooking.

You can find more info about basic gluten free pizza dough at this site.

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Apr
20
Filed Under (Food Allergy) by Lance Baker on 20-04-2010

A nut allergy in a child also has a great effect on the parents. They have to be constantly checking that nothing their child eats contains even a trace of nuts. This can make the grocery shopping last for hours.

All nut allergies are problematic, but the main one that can result in death an allergy to peanuts. The allergic sensitivity is so high that contact with another person who has been in contact with peanuts can put the sufferers life in peril.

The problem with peanut allergies is that they aren’t normally diagnosed until they are at least 2 or 3 years of age. If anyone else in the family suffers from this allergy, don’t let your child come into anything remotely peanut related until they are 3 years old at least.

There are a lot of doctors now telling their patients who are pregnant to stay away from peanuts during their 3rd trimester, whether there is a history of allergy in the family or not.

Here’s the reason that they suggest this; whether you should take heed or not is your decision.

There is a possibility that a peanut protein can go through the placenta and enter the fetus. A separate study has shown that if peanuts or peanut butter are eaten by the expectant mother, their baby’s chances of developing this allergy are greatly increased; by up to 4 times.

What this doesn’t mean however, is that if there is no history of any kind of peanut allergy in your family you should stop eating them altogether. Peanuts and their by products can actually benefit both of you.

Don’t think though that just because you have no history of allergy that you can eat peanuts by the bucket load throughout your pregnancy. There have been cases of this type where the children have gone on to become allergic to peanuts, and they are the first ones in their family to suffer the allergy.

Get additional pieces of work created by this very writer about products including New Balance baseball and New Balance shoes.

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Apr
10
Filed Under (Food Allergy) by admin on 10-04-2010

What is it like to be a kid dealing with food allergies? Find out from these children, who spend every day avoiding peanuts, milk, eggs, and other foods all of us take for granted. Luckily, through existing science a cure is possible: Visit the Food Allergy Initiative at www.faiusa.org for more information.

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Apr
09
Filed Under (Food Allergy) by Felicity Jones on 09-04-2010

Getting the diagnosis of celiac disease can be quite disheartening, especially when you think about baking. Since it is important to follow a strict gluten-free diet, try these gluten free recipes that will leave your tastebuds and the villi in your intestines happy.

Baking can be especially daunting. If you are not able to use white flour or wheat flour anymore, what are you supposed to use when you bake, or are you just supposed to give baking up altogether? Fortunately, you do not have to give up baking. There are some very easy substitutions for white and wheat flour. Bette Hagman created a recipe for Featherlight mix to use as a flour substitute. To create this combine one cup each of rice flour, cornstarch and tapioca starch with one tablespoon potato flour (not potato starch). Mix it together and use it as a cup-for-cup substitution for flour.

A yummy chocolate brownie recipe calls for 3 eggs, 1 c. Sugar, 1/2 c. Oil, 2 Tbsp. Cocoa, unsweetened, 1/2 c. Potato starch, 1 c. Nuts, chopped. Beat eggs till fluffy. Add oil. Add dry ingredients. Mix. Add nuts. Bake 30 minutes in a preheated 350F oven.

Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies require 8 oz butter, unsalted, 2 c. Brown rice flour, 1/4 c. Cornstarch, 2 Tbsp. Tapioca flour, 1 tsp. Xanthan gum, 1 tsp. Baking soda, 1 tsp. Kosher salt, 1-1/4 c. Brown sugar, 1/4 c. White sugar, 1 entire egg and 1 additional egg yolk, 2 Tbsp. Milk/milk substitute, 1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla, 1 12 oz bag of milk chocolate chips. Mix dry ingredients. In another bowl cream the butter and sugars. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. Combine well. Stir in the dry mixture a little at a time. Add chocolate chips. Chill an hour. In preheated 375F oven, bake approximately 14 minutes.

Boxed cake mix does not have to be a thing of the past when you are cooking to avoid gluten. This recipe for sans gluten red velvet cupcakes is quick and easy. You will need one box of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix, one package of Jello brand chocolate instant pudding, one stick of butter, eight ounces sour cream, three eggs, two-thirds cup milk or milk substitute and two tablespoons Tones (or other brand without gluten) red food coloring. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Spoon into cupcake pans that you have lined with cupcake liners. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely, then frost.

What to do with all of those extra-ripe bananas nobody wants to eat – even people who are gluten free can eat banana bread if you follow this recipe. Combine a third of a cup of softened butter with two-thirds of a cup of brown sugar and cream. Then add two-thirds of a cup of egg substitute. Mix until it gets fluffy. Put in the teaspoon of vanilla and a cup of mashed up ripe banana. Mix this all together very well. Then in another bowl combine two-thirds of a cup of light or dark bean flower, two-thirds of a cup cornstarch, a half a cup of tapioca flour, a half a teaspoon xanthan gum, three-quarters of a teaspoon of baking soda, one and a quarter teaspoons of cream of tartar a half a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon and a half of cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan and pour batter in. For almost an hour bake at 350 degrees. You should let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes after taking it out of the oven. Then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Pancakes have always been a favorite weekend breakfast. Just because you have a diagnosis of celiac disease, does not mean your pancake-eating days are gone forever. This pancake recipe is as so much like wheat pancakes only you will know they are gluten free. To make them you will need to assemble 1 c. Of rice flour, 3 Tbsp. Tapioca flour, 1/3 c. Potato starch, 4 Tbsp. Dry buttermilk powder, 1 packet sugar substitute, 1-1/2 tsp. Baking powder, 1/2 tsp. Baking soda, 1/2 tsp. Salt, 1/2 tsp. Xanthan gum, 2 eggs, 3 Tbsp. Oil, 2 c. Water. Blend dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix until only a few lumps are left. Cook on a griddle or pan.

Any flours called for in these gluten free recipes are interchangeable with the Featherlight mix. Bon Appetit!

Visit us to find out more about cooking a gluten free pancake.

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Apr
08
Filed Under (Food Allergy) by Pamela Landerson on 08-04-2010

When you are living with a gluten allergy, being able to travel can sometimes be hard. Just finding the foods you need is often an extremely difficult task to accomplish. You see, gluten is found in things such as barely, wheat and rye. When you are allergic to it and ingest it, you can experience excessive gas, painful stomach cramps and diarrhea. Even more serious, if the gluten triggers your immune system, you can develop celiac disease. These health risks make it very important to be ready to travel and find the gluten free foods your body needs.

Don’t be discouraged and start to think that you will not longer be able to travel just because of a stricter diet than most. With some planning and preparation you can go as much as you want and enjoy the time you spend away from home. Keep reading for a few tips to help you achieve this.

Before you leave for your trip, try to locate a celiac support group in the area you are traveling to. Support groups can provide you with a list of local establishments that serve gluten free foods. You can often find this same information on the internet as well if you go looking for it. If you can’t pack any of the foods you need with you, check in with the health food stores in the area to see if they will have the things you need. In some cases, stores are willing to order the things you need and have it there when you arrive.

As you are busy looking at hotels in the area you are going to be traveling to, look for rooms that have a kitchen. If you can manage to get at least a sink, refrigerator, stove and microwave you should have no problems cooking anything you would want during your stay there.

Sit down and make a list of the foods, cooking utensils and other ingredients you will want to take with you. If you are traveling in your own car, this part is a lot easier to do. If you have to fly, use an extra piece of luggage for holding all of these things together.

If the trip is long, prepare some snacks to take along. Gluten free cookies, cakes, crackers and chocolates are all excellent choices. Go online to look for a lot of different gluten free snack ideas that will be filling and easy to pack.

If you plan to cook and bake while you are away, go online to look for things like gluten free cake and bread mixes, flours, pasta, gravies and pastries. There is a vast selection of these types of products that come from many different companies.

If you do have to stay on a strict gluten free diet, don’t let the stress of it all ruin the fun you can have while traveling. The tips above can help you to eliminate the stress of traveling and allow you to relax more. Make sure you do a little planning ahead of time, and take the time to prepare and you will be able to travel with no issues what so ever.

Visit us to find out more about gluten free bread.

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Apr
07
Filed Under (Food Allergy) by Pamela Landerson on 07-04-2010

When you are living with a gluten allergy, being able to travel can sometimes be hard. Just finding the foods you need is often an extremely difficult task to accomplish. You see, gluten is found in things such as barely, wheat and rye. When you are allergic to it and ingest it, you can experience excessive gas, painful stomach cramps and diarrhea. Even more serious, if the gluten triggers your immune system, you can develop celiac disease. These health risks make it very important to be ready to travel and find the gluten free foods your body needs.

Don’t be under the misconception that a gluten allergy will prevent you from traveling when you want to. Planning and preparations are all that is needed to enjoy traveling just like everyone else. You will find a few helpful ideas below that can ease the burden of maintaining a gluten free diet.

Long before you are ready to actually leave home, attempt to find a celiac support group in the are you are going to. These support groups can usually send you a list of local businesses that carry and serve gluten free foods. Sometimes you can find this same information online as well. Make a few calls to the health food stores in the area as well if you are unable to pack any of the foods you need with you. Sometimes they are willing to order stuff you need and have it waiting when you arrive at your destination for pick up.

As you are busy looking at hotels in the area you are going to be traveling to, look for rooms that have a kitchen. If you can manage to get at least a sink, refrigerator, stove and microwave you should have no problems cooking anything you would want during your stay there.

Sit down and make a list of the foods, cooking utensils and other ingredients you will want to take with you. If you are traveling in your own car, this part is a lot easier to do. If you have to fly, use an extra piece of luggage for holding all of these things together.

If the trip is long, prepare some snacks to take along. Gluten free cookies, cakes, crackers and chocolates are all excellent choices. Go online to look for a lot of different gluten free snack ideas that will be filling and easy to pack.

If you are, however, planning on doing your own cooking and baking as you travel, you can locate things like gluten free bread mixes, pastries, flours and even gravies online. There are tons of companies all offer gluten free options in their products.

Having to stick to a gluten free diet while you are traveling should not prevent you from having a little fun. You can use the tips provided here to ease your worry so you can relax and have a great time. Planning ahead and packing things with you when you can is the easiest way to alleviate the stress of having the foods you need to stay healthy when you are away from home.

You can find more info about bread recipes soy free gluten free at this site.

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Apr
05

Are you thinking about traveling, but have to eat a gluten free diet? This might sound hard for you to do as this might be your first time traveling when you have to monitor your diet. We have some tips that can help you when eating a gluten free diet when traveling. So, stick with us as we tell you what others have done when in your situation.

The first tip that many say they do is they call ahead. There are a few places that you can call ahead for and tell them that you have a gluten free diet in which you need to follow. You give them your name and so forth and they will mark it down so they can cater to your needs. These sort of places include airlines, cruises, and some other areas as well. It does not hurt to ask.

Another tip that we can give for you who are the ones who need help with eating a gluten free diet when traveling is to pack snacks. As you know with traveling, almost anything can happen. If you have those gluten free snacks that you like so much like nuts handy, then if for some reason or another you get delayed, you have something to munch on if you find yourself feeling a little off due to hunger.

When you travel to another country, you might have to try explaining to the waiter what the disease is that you have and you might have to figure out how to explain to them that you cannot eat anything with gluten in it. Yet, you might wonder how you do this. One method is going to a few sites that you can find when you go to a search engine. These cards explain everything in detail in a few languages so you are able to communicate that you cannot have gluten.

If you are traveling out of country, speaking to the waiter might be a bit difficult. There are cards that can be downloaded which explains to the waiter when you show them this card the situation that you are in when it comes to gluten. This is in a few different languages as it takes time to look up all the words needed to talk to the waiter in another language.

As you are not familiar with the area, sometimes you can ask around. You never know that someone might have the same issue as you. The locals of an area are not only helpful in telling you the hot spots, but they can also tell you of some places that you might benefit from when it comes to a gluten free diet.

The last thing is to go when there is not a crowd. This is what you should also ask the locals so you can beat the crowds. This benefits you because if there are not a whole bunch of people in front of you, the kitchen is a lot better at working with you to get a gluten free order. They will not have as many orders to fill which will allow you to have the meal you need and them the customers they want.

As you can see, you can travel even when you have to use a gluten free diet. Check out these tips and see how they can apply to you. You might find that some of these are rather simple to do. Others might not be so easy to do, but still check it out. What used to be a task is becoming much more common these days.

Visit us to find out more about gluten free dairy free yeast free pizza.

categories: gluten free diet,gluten free food,celiac disease,food,allergies,nutrition,diet

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Apr
01
Filed Under (Food Allergy) by Monica Potter on 01-04-2010

Children are a handful when they can eat the things that they want to eat. When they have to have a certain thing it can be a disaster. They know they are different and they want to know why. Here are some tips for if you have to deal with children and a gluten free diet. These might come in handy for your well being as well as theirs.

When you have a child who needs to follow a gluten free diet, it is important that you educate them on what happens if they have gluten and what to do if there was gluten in something that they did not recognize. The more they know the more things they can do to help themselves when they are not around you.

This might be hard to do depending on their age. That is why you need to think of ways to break it down for them. One way that people have done this is by using visuals. This means show them the foods that they cannot have. Show them how they know if it has gluten in it. Teach them the questions that they need to ask when they go out to eat.

For you as a parent it might mean that you need to plan ahead. You need to figure out what you are eating and make sure that you make something close to that which is gluten free. As a family you have to decide if you all are going to stay away from gluten or if you are going to just make two separate meals.

The transition to the gluten free foods might be a bit harder for some children. They go to school and see what their friends are eating and they want the same thing. There are a few things that can be made which are just like the normal things that other children eat. Two of the favorites are macaroni and cheese and then there is the great spaghetti.

So, what foods can you give your child to help them to transition to this sort of eating a lot easier? There are some foods that are known to make kids happy and be the food of choice that you can make. These are foods such as spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, and cookies as this will help them to feel normal.

The last thing that you as a parent can do to help them is to make sure that while you might be eating the non gluten free foods, you make the same thing or something they like more than that which is gluten free. It singles them out when you do not do this as they begin to wonder why you can have pizza and they are not allowed to have it. So, that is where planning ahead comes into play.

As you can see, there are ways to go about to help children when it comes to changing their lifestyle. This will help them ease into the transition. It can be a psychological trauma depending on the age as they find that they are different from other kids their age. By preparing them and finding ways to work around this, you can help your child to feel more at ease. For those who do not know about the condition, have the child carry a card so that they know about this and can plan ahead themselves.

Free information on a gluten free diet plan is available via this link.

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