Chelsea Clinton's Gluten-Free Wedding

Chelsea Clinton is set to wed Marc Mezvinsky today in what can only be described as the most high-profile gluten-free wedding ever! Until now, all-alternative banquet menus have been rare, but with Ms. Clinton blazing the trail for others, the gluten-free trend is sure to continue.

Many people may not realize that Chelsea Clinton has been a vegan since she was a teenager, meaning she doesn't eat meat, dairy, eggs, or any animal products. Chelsea is also said to have a gluten allergy, meaning she cannot eat wheat, rye or barley either; which is why her wedding cake will be gluten-free and vegan, along with most of the other food that she will be serving to her guests on Saturday.

A Gluten-free diet can be very restrictive, and vegan diets can be limiting too. Which is why gluten-free vegan's must be extremely careful with what they put in their body. While Chelsea probably chose her wedding menu due to her own personal health needs, it is likely to also have a trickle down effect on the general public. Grace Clerihew, of Table Tales, a New York Catering Firm responded to Chelsea's wedding menu saying, “This will empower people to make these requests. Prior to this, they might have thought it was not mainstream enough to even talk about, but now that they see it being done by such a public persona it becomes acceptable.”

While gluten-free and vegan diets are often met with a great deal of scrutiny from mainstream consumers, chefs and caterers that understand specific dietary restrictions make delicious dishes that often have even the most extreme critics of the diet going back for seconds. Says Paula LeDuc of Paula LeDuc Fine Catering in San Francisco, “We've gotten very savvy about creating wonderful things with alternative ingredients.” According to LeDuc, she always makes extra vegan dishes because many times guests will want to trade in their meat plate when they see the scrumptious vegan options that others are enjoying. In fact, LeDuc says that gluten-free requests have increased from about one per month last year, to one per week this year. LeDuc goes on to say, “Three or four years ago, gluten-free wasn't even part of the conversation.”

Original article written: 07/31/2010
Source: Celiac.com

Bakery on Main Up in Smoke

Sad news from Greater Hartford: Bakery on Main, home of the best gluten-free granola around, burned up today in a two-alarm fire, local media says nearly all of their stock was destroyed.

If you're a fan it might be wise to stock up on their granola as it maybe a while before they're able to reopen. Here's hoping they're able to recover and get back on their feet.

Woman takes ex-husband to court over a gluten-free diet

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) - The mother of a 9-year-old autistic child asked a New Hanover County Judge to enforce her son's gluten-free diet, something she says her ex-husband has not been following.

Carson Breck was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and a doctor recommenced he be placed on a gluten-free diet. Since, his mother, Janeen Breck, says Carson has been acting and feeling much better and believes the diet is responsible for the change.

"Before, he was kind of to himself and kind of hollow," said Janeen. "[Now] he's more focused. He's more alert. He's more personable. He tends to want to do things with people."

Her ex-husband, Brian Breck, however, feels the diet is too restrictive and allows the young boy to eat whatever he likes.

Friday, a New Hanover County judge was given the task of deciding if the diet needs to be strictly enforced.

According to Dr. David Hill with Cape Fear Pediatrics, it is unlikely that Carson's improvements are a result of the gluten-free diet. He says there are a number of factors in her home environment that caused the child to behave better.

While the verdict is still out on whether the diet is the cause for the improvements, the judge ruled in favor of Janeen, saying Brian must follow the diet guidelines when he sees his son. If he doesn't, his visitation rights will be taken away.

Source

Vitamin D 'can boost survival from cancer'

Posting this article because one, many celiacs are deficient in various vitamins due to malabsorption issues and two, we live in the PNW, where for nine months out of the year we don't think about protection and for three when it's dry and sunny, a lot of us forget to use sunscreen and get burned. I hope you get your levels checked and be sure to take a proper dosage of vitamins according to your individual needs. And now on to the article....

Vitamin D 'can boost survival from cancer'
People who spend more time outside have a better chance of surviving certain cancers, new studies suggest.

Those who had higher levels of vitamin D - produced by the body in the presence of sunlight -when diagnosed with colon cancer were 50 per cent more likely to survive than those with low levels, researchers found. A separate study also found that patients who had high levels of the vitamin when they were diagnosed with skin cancer were more likely to have thinner tumours. Vitamin D, which is also present in a small number of foods, such as fatty fish, is thought to be important in protecting against a number of other conditions, including osteoporosis, diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, depression and Multiple Sclerosis.
Earlier this year scientists cautioned that health warnings about the damaging effect of the sun could be causing vitamin D levels to drop. Prof Kimmie Ng, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, who followed 1,017 patients with colon cancer, also called colorectal cancer, for around nine years, said: "Our study shows that levels of vitamin D after colorectal cancer diagnosis may be important for survival. We are now planning further research in patients with bowel cancer to see if vitamin D has the same effect, and to investigate how vitamin D works.” The findings were published in the British Journal of Cancer and Journal of Clinical Oncology.
A second study found that skin cancer patients who had the lowest levels of vitamin D in their blood when they were diagnosed were almost a third more likely to relapse than those with high levels. Prof Julia Newton Bishop, from Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, who led the study, said: "It's common for the general public to have low levels of vitamin D in many countries.” She added that skin cancer patients tended to avoid the sun as sunburn is known to increase the risk of the disease. The findings suggested that they should increase their vitamin D levels by eating more fatty fish or taking supplements, she said.
Sara Hiom, from Cancer Research UK, said: "Both these studies support the theory that higher levels of vitamin D can improve the chance of surviving cancer. The key is to get the right balance between the amount of time spent in the sun and the levels of vitamin D needed for good health. "But protection from burning in the sun is still vital.”

By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Published: 7:00AM BST 22 Sep 2009
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6214958/Vitamin-D-can-boost-survival-from-cancer.html

The Expense of Eating With Celiac Disease

You would think that after Kelly Oram broke more than 10 bones and experienced chronic stomach problems for most of his life, someone (a nurse? a doctor?) might have wondered if something fundamental was wrong with his health. But it wasn’t until Mr. Oram was in his early 40s that a doctor who was treating him for a neck injury became suspicious and ordered tests, including a bone scan.

It turned out that Mr. Oram, a music teacher who lives in White Plains, had celiac disease, an underdiagnosed immune disorder set off by eating foods containing gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.

Celiac disease damages the lining of the small intestine, making it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients. Victims may suffer from mild to serious malnutrition and a host of health problems, including anemia, low bone density and infertility. Celiac affects one out of 100 people in the United States, but a majority of those don’t know they have the disease, said Dr. Joseph A. Murray, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota who has been studying the disease for two decades. The disease can be detected by a simple blood test, followed by an endoscopy to check for damage to the small intestine.

Seven years after receiving his diagnosis, Mr. Oram, who is married and has one daughter, is symptom-free, but the cost of staying that way is high. That’s because the treatment for celiac does not come in the form of a pill that will be reimbursed or subsidized by an insurer. The treatment is to avoid eating products containing gluten. And gluten-free versions of products like bread, pizza and crackers are nearly three times as expensive as regular products, according to a study conducted by the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University.

Unfortunately for celiac patients, the extra cost of a special diet is not reimbursed by health care plans. Nor do most policies pay for trips to a dietitian to receive nutritional guidance.

In Britain, by contrast, patients found to have celiac disease are prescribed gluten-free products. In Italy, sufferers are given a stipend to spend on gluten-free food.

Some doctors blame drug makers, in part, for the lack of awareness and the lack of support. “The drug makers have not been interested in celiac because, until very recently, there have been no medications to treat it,” said Dr. Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. “And since drug makers are responsible for so much of the education that doctors receive, the medical community is largely unaware of the disease.”

As awareness grows and the market expands, perhaps the prices of gluten-free products will come down. Meanwhile, if you suffer from the disease, here are some ways to keep your costs down.

When people first learn they have celiac disease, they tend to stock up on gluten-free versions of breads, crackers and pizza made from grains other than wheat, like rice, corn and buckwheat. But that can be expensive and might not even be that healthy, since most gluten-free products are not fortified with vitamins.

“The most important thing to do after being diagnosed is to get a dietary consultation,” Dr. Murray said. With planning, you can learn to base your diet on fruits, vegetables, rice and potatoes. “I have some patients who rarely use those special gluten-free products,” he said.

Get in the habit of reading labels, advises Elaine Monarch, executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Studio City, Calif. Soy sauce, for instance, often has wheat protein as a filler. But Ms. Monarch found a brand of light soy sauce at her local grocery with no wheat that cost much less than one specifically marked as gluten-free. “There are often alternatives to specialty products, but you have to look,” she said.

Gluten-free bread is more expensive than traditional bread and often less palatable. And that holds for many gluten-free items. Some people, including Mr. Oram, end up buying a bread machine and making their own loaves. Nicole Hunn, who cooks gluten-free meals for her family of five and just started the Web site glutenfreeonashoestring.com, avoids mixes, which she says are expensive and not that tasty, and instead bakes with an all-purpose gluten-free flour from a company called Bob’s Red Mill, which can be used in place of wheat flour in standard recipes.

If you’re too busy to cook, look for well-priced gluten-free food at large chains like Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s. “Trader Joe’s now carries fantastic brown rice pasta that is reasonably priced and brown rice flour tortillas that can sub for bread with a variety of things,” says Kelly Courson, co-founder of the advice site CeliacChicks.com. Ms. Courson put out a Twitter message to her followers and learned that many were fans of DeBoles gluten-free pastas, which can be bought in bulk on Amazon, and puffed brown rice cereal by Alf’s Natural Nutrition, just $1 a bag at Wal-Mart.

Finally, it may be worthwhile to join a celiac support group. You can swap cost-cutting tips, share recipes and learn about new products. Many groups invite vendors to bring gluten-free products to meetings for members to sample — members can buy items they like at a discount and skip the shipping charges. Support groups typically have meetings, as well as newsletters and Web sites where you can post questions. Groups to check out include the Celiac Disease Foundation and the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America.

Finally, if you itemize your tax return and your total medical expenses for the year exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income, you can write off certain expenses associated with celiac disease. You can deduct the excess cost of a gluten-free product over a comparable gluten-containing product.

Let’s say you spend $6.50 on a loaf of gluten-free bread, and a regular loaf costs $4; you can deduct $2.50. In addition, you can deduct the cost of products necessary to maintain a gluten-free diet, like xanthan gum for baking. If you mail order gluten-free products, the shipping costs may be deductible, too. If you have to travel extra miles to buy gluten-free goods, the mileage is also deductible. You’ll need a doctor’s letter to confirm your diagnosis and your need for a gluten-free diet, and you should save receipts in case of a tax audit.

Do you have a flexible spending account at work? Ask the plan administrator if you can use those flex spending dollars on the excess cost of gluten-free goods — many plans let you do this. For more on tax deductions, go to the tax section of the Celiac Disease Foundation’s Web site.

Yes, managing the disease is a hassle. But untreated celiac disease can wreak havoc with your health. A study published in the July issue of the journal Gastroenterology found that subjects who had undiagnosed celiac were nearly four times as likely to have died over a 45-year period than subjects who were celiac-free.

“Sometimes I resent how time-consuming it is to cook from scratch,” Ms. Courson of CeliacChicks.com said. “But I remind myself that my restrictions actually help keep me in line, more than the next person with unhealthy foods readily available.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/health/15patient.html?_r=3&em