Jens Gluten Free Blog

You know you’ve gone from niche to mainstream when the Los Angeles Times does a story on packaging claims (see: Those healthy claims on packages: we love them!) and gluten-free makes the top ten list.

With only two weeks until Valentine’s Day I’m digging up romantic themed recipes that my family will not only appreciate eating but will also participate in creating. Of course as a certified chocoholic I look for chocolate themed recipes and I love this gluten-free chocolate candy recipe most for its simplicity.

This is the time of year when I solemnly declare that I’ve had ENOUGH of winter. Of course, it’s only January and I’m still dressing my kids in layers and layers of clothes, but at least we’re a couple of months closer to warm weather, spring training and chili dogs! While winter doesn’t seem to care what I think I’m not going to accept my frozen state sitting down – I’m going to make chili!

Celiac disease can severely limit a person’s food choices, but I always say the most important food item generally remains untouched by the celiac diagnosis: chocolate. Thank God for chocolate!

Sometimes I feel like the Cat in the Hat with a fish and a rake on the top of my hat as I hop on a ball. Juggling my family’s multiple food allergies can be quite a circus trick. Today we have a guest blogger who can empathize with my situation and has some fantastic tips for dealing with multiple food allergies as well as gluten-free living. She also provides links to some very useful websites that I for one intend to make use of.

I just read about an astounding study about the effects of gluten. Dr. Mark Hyman writes about it in the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/gluten-what-you-dont-know_b_379089.html). Dr. Hyman reports that according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association people with diagnosed celiac disease, undiagnosed celiac disease, and gluten sensitivities have a higher risk of death than the average person.

We all love cake, but there is only one kind of cake whose heavy creamy texture relentlessly visits me in my dreams night after hungry night until I finally break down screaming “all right I’ll make some! I promise!”: Cheesecake, of course! (I know, I need help.)

Remember that first week after your celiac diagnosis? Perhaps you have actively wiped it out of your memory, but I still have vivid nightmares about it. I remember leaving the doctor’s office thinking that I simply needed to take certain baked goods out of Amy’s diet. And then I got home and Googled it. Then I went to my kitchen and searched through my pantry. When it was all over I just sat down and cried.

So you were sick as a dog, found out you were a celiac, and now you feel great, right? One mistake many celiacs make is the assumption that now that their stomachs are no longer giving them problems, as long as they stick to gluten-free food they no longer need to watch what they eat. This is the attitude that leads to a lifetime of poor eating habits which nobody can afford, especially celiacs.

Anyone out there enjoy crunching on ice? I remember as teenager I liked to do that. I think it was the sound it made that appealed to me in some inexplicable way. I also liked the cool sensation going down my throat. But after a few months of it I gave it up. A friend told me that it was very bad for my teeth. I recently read that there are people who are unable to give up the ice-crunching habit. They are simply addicted to it. It has caused teeth and jaw problems, but they relent. If you know someone like that, take her or him to get blood tests. This is one of the classic symptoms of anemia. And anemia can be caused by celiac disease.

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