The Limelight is on celiac disease after obscurity

Dr. Paul Donahue writes a column in our local newspaper. Today's topic is celiac disease.
J.B. wrote: My wife has been diagnosed with celiac disease. Since her diagnosis, she has adhered to a strict gluten free diet and appears to be recovering nicely.
What can be expected if she were accidentally to consume a small amount of wheat from cross-contamination in a restaurant?
Is any effort being made to develop a medicine that could counteract the reaction to gluten? Please encourage food manufacturers to display "gluten-free" on their products when applicable.

The Doctor replied:
If you're ever asked to name an illness that lived in quiet obscurity for decades and decades but has vaulted into the limelight in the past few years, the answer is celiac disease, a somewhat common disorder. It's intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. In susceptible people, gluten creates havoc in the digestive tract. It gives rise to diarrhea, stomach pain, bloating and weight loss.
Often, the diagnosis isn't made until people come down with another illness, like early-age onset of osteoporosis because their digestive tracts, damaged by gluten, can't absorb calcium.
A diet that excludes gluten is the treatment for celiac disease. That's somewhat of a tough diet to manage. Gluten is every where. It's in places where you'd least expect. It can be filler for some medicines. Even communion wafers usually are made from wheat. So, small amounts of gluten have caused some celiac patients trouble, and I suppose cross-contamination with it in a restaurant is possible. The only way to know is to have your wife try eating in a restaurant and see what happens.

There are many efforts to find a control medicine for celiac patients. One effort focuses on finding an enzyme that digests gluten, so it's no longer a problem.
You and your wife might not know of a powerful ally, the Celiac Disease Foundation, which can be contacted at www.celiac.org or 818-990-2354. The foundation provides information for patients, fields their questions and puts them in touch with support groups.

Dr. Paul Donahue's column is distribute by North America Syndicate Inc. It appears Monday thru Saturday in the Syracuse Post Standard. Readers may write him at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, Fl 32853-6475.


I read Dr. Donahue's column quite often myself. He is always a good source of medical info.
Thought you might find this interesting.

Recipe(gluten free)Substitutes

I have been developing several substitutes for recipes for people with Celiac Disease. Here are a few to get you started.
1. Instead of using flour to thicken gravy or sauces and soups, use corn starch or tapioca. You don't need as much as the recipe calls for flour. Just experiment until you get the right consistency.
2. When making Lasagna, you can use zucchini sliced thinly lengthwise. You don't need to cook it first, just alternate it as you would lasagna noodles.
3. When making meatballs, meatloaf, or stuffing (dressing), instead of using regular breadcrumbs, you can use rice or flax seed bread toasted and crumbled. It doesn't change the taste at all.

Celiac Disease--Foods You Cannot Eat

I promised in October that I would get back to you and tell you about some of the foods you cannot eat. Most every bread, pasta, store bought gravy and most processed foods have wheat in them. You must get in the habit of reading ingredient labels. Even then, if you don't know what you are looking for, you might buy something with wheat in it.
Don't eat anything that is:
1. Breaded
2. Deep fried (cross-contamination)
3. Prepared on a grill where other foods are prepared. (Cross-contamination)
4. States that it has Modified "Food" starch in it. Most mayonnaise has modified food starch.
5. No pasta at all
6. No Pizza
7. No cookies, Cakes, Pies, or other desserts that are made with a thickener.
8. No prepared dishes, unless you read the ingredient label and it states soy, rice, potato, corn or bean flour.

Thats right, you can get all those different kinds of flour at specialty stores. Some grocery stores have a "gluten" free section. It's the gluten that does all the damage.
In my location, which is Central New York State, we have a Wegman's grocery store that has a great gluten free section. You can buy gluten free cookies, pasta, bread, pizza,bagels, cookie mixes to make your own, bread mixes for bread machines, crackers, mayonnaise, all kinds of foods. I even found some breakfast bars in blueberry, chocolate, and almond. There are also Mennonite stores that carry gluten free products, but not as much as Wegman's does.
If you have a Mennonite Community near you, they should also have their own stores. Sometimes, if they know you have Celiac Disease, they will order products for you that are gluten free.
Well, that's about it for today, but next time I will give you some recipes for gluten free foods.
See you all then.