Processed Foods and the Super Sensitive Celiac

Nowadays, it is almost impossible to find any sort of processed foods that are completely gluten-free and allergen-free as well as reaction-free for those of us who are easily glutenized. Often products are run on the same lines as a product along with a common allergen. Sometimes machines may be dusted with wheat flour to prevent foods such as chocolate from sticking.

Since we're finding that our family is becoming increasingly sensitive to gluten, most of the time there is no guarantee that we will be able to eat something safely. That's why we usually prepare our own food and take it with us when we can. Finding a healthy gluten-free snack to take on those days when you're on the go, or for those times when you find yourself without a safe place to eat can be challenging for those super sensitive to gluten.

Gluten-Free Snack Options

Snacks are a tough one in the Clevenger household. This wasn't always the case. We used to be able to eat many processed gluten-free snacks. Then over time, we found ourselves becoming more and more sensitive to gluten. Many others are finding this to be true for them also. Maybe it's because wheat is in so many things now.

So as far as snacks, we usually just stick with fresh fruit and vegetables (salads), and protein leftovers from dinner throughout the day and that is about as safe as you can get.

That's It Snack Bars

But fortunately, we came across these bars one day online

Gluten-free is big right now. Big in that it is a money maker. Manufacturers know this. Manufacturers are in the business of making money and they know that when everyone is talking about "gluten-free", then it's time to start filling the shelves with gluten-free products.

Last year, the gluten-free market hit 4.2 billion dollars worth of revenue. That's a lot of moolah. And let me tell you - our family spent many a day sick by believing that manufacturers would always be telling the truth when they labeled their products "gluten free."

What Do the Words Gluten Free Really Mean? 

I'm writing this post for the "newbies" and "not-so-newbies" out there who are just getting started and may naively believe manufacturer's deceptive advertising. I remember a few years ago when more and more companies first started hopping on the gluten-free band wagon, we would be in the grocery store shopping and we'd stop dead in our tracks when we'd see those magic words:

We were so excited and happy! Finally they were making products for us, too - people who couldn't eat wheat, rye, barley or oats. Foods we could eat. All was wonderful!

Happy But Only Because We Were Gullible 

We were so gullible. So trusting. We were.

But the Clevenger family learned the hard way after several rounds of being glutenized

Ten years ago when we first started following a gluten-free diet, if you had asked me were all fruits and vegetables free from gluten, I would have answered emphatically, “Of course!”

But are they really?

Gluten Cross-Contamination Issues

Yes, fruits and vegetables in a perfect world are inherently, naturally gluten-free. And I'm suggesting getting your freak on and worrying like a crazy person over every fruit and vegetable you eat now. But, if you’re following a gluten-free diet and still have symptoms, it could be possible that some of your fruits and vegetables have been cross-contaminated with gluten. How does that happen? Well, it depends on the farm and where and how they're grown.

Life on a Farm

I’m a farmer’s wife and so I have a first-hand view of some of the practices that take place on a farm. Now that we’re become even more highly sensitive to gluten, I’m much more aware of things and more careful about what I eat.

Small Organic Farms

I’ll start by saying I am the biggest proponent of growing organically. Take that one step further - I basically believe in building up your soil so you never have to spray a chemical on any field ever. But . . . and here’s the big but, small organic farms use some farming practices that a larger conventional farm might not.

1) Using Straw (usually produced from wheat or barley) in fields, between crop rows – organically is a great practice to cut down on weeds and build up the soil. From a celiac view point – can you hear me screaming over here? How much comes into contact, ever, with your food? Hard to say. Maybe none. Maybe who knows how much? Depends on the harvesting practices. 

This photo is a perfect illustration of how wheat straw can cross-contaminate strawberries. 

2) Straw used to cover crops to protect 

My daughter is now 19. For the past several years, life as a teenager took precedent over following a completely gluten-free, dairy-free diet. She did stay gluten-free for the most part - she hated being sick or taking even the slightest chance she might throw up. She has a total fear of that. Thank goodness! But the milk part was another story. Even though we had her tested and she tested positive to an intolerance to milk, she continued to believe she could drink it.

"I'm fine, Mom. I'm fine. I can drink milk. It doesn't bother me. Really."

Can't even tell you how many times I heard that. I tried over and over again to try to make her see that maybe milk was really an issue. But many of you with teenagers may know once they get something into their heads - that's it. Done. It would have been easier to move a mountain, than get her to change her mind.

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Weight Loss

From the time Kelly was 16 or so, she began to put weight on - a little bit here and there. I suggested that going both gf and dairy-free could sometimes help with weight loss. That landed like a ton of bricks onto my daughter's deaf ears. Nope. She wanted no part of that.

"I'm fine, Mom. I'm fine. I can drink milk. It doesn't bother me. Really."

Almost A Year Following a Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Diet

Well, since June of last year, Kelly has not had any gluten, dairy or corn. It's been the best thing for her both mentally and physically. Mentally, because she is a completely different person without these foods in her diet. Night and day. Really. When she ate those foods she could be meaner than mean and then some. I discuss it more in my blog post, Glad to Have "My Daughter" Back - How Gluten Affects the Mind.

Amazing Weight Loss!

And physically, there's no doubt removing these foods has really helped my daughter, too. Yesterday we finally found our scale. It's been packed up since the move. Kelly got on it and could not believe what she was seeing - she had lost an

I'm smiling from ear to ear right now. My daughter was just searching on Pinterest and yelled, "Mom! You've got to come see this! You're being pinned on Pinterest!"

Pinning My Cookbook and Also My Website

We had found two pins a while back and I really didn't think much about it. I've just started back pinning again myself. I always forget to do it or I use the app Evernote for most of my bookmarking.

But today, to find people pinning both my cookbooks and my blogs at www.celestesbest.com - just can't even begin to tell you what that means to me.

One of My Favorite Pins

This was one of my favorite pins so far. But let me say first, that each and every one totally thrills me! 

This pinner's comment was, "The Best Book Ever!" Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank You!

Thank you to all the readers and those who have Celeste's Best Gluten-Free, Allergen-Free Recipes on their Wish Lists for pinning my books!

I recently released a book for Kindle Celeste's Best Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts. You can read more about it here.

A person might think that you could simply take your book and instantly it's formatted into a Kindle or eBook, in much of the same way a copier machine would make a copy.

Nope. I wish!!

And as if formatting for the Kindle wasn't challenging enough if you throw in all the fractions, charts and other special formatting used throughout a cookbook, then you're really asking for trouble. I have a Kindle app on my iPad which I love. And although the Kindle app for the iPad was able to format my book to perfection even with all it's fractions, unfortunately the Kindle version was not being so accommodating.

Kindle does not like 1/8, 1/3 or 2/3

Kindle is able to recognize some fractions - 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4. But for all others like 1/8, 1/3 or 2/3, it inserted a square placeholder instead throughtout the book. Buggers! I have to say that again. Buggers!! And if it couldn't handle a basic fraction like 1/3, you can pretty much figure it wasn't going to have any idea what to do with 1/16th or 1/32th.

Anyway, it made my hours upon hours of time spent formatting these books look like a jumbled mess for some recipes. Very sorry about this. Just ordered my own Kindle so I'll be able to avoid any issues like this in the future.

Again, though, the book appeared perfectly on the iPad - fractions and all. Got to love that iPad!

Ebooks have Been Reformatted

Needless to say, the eBooks have been reformatted and now should work on any Kindle device. One small crisis diverted! Thanks to all who have purchased my books and eBooks! I'd love to hear from anyone who's had a chance to make some of these amazing dairy-free ice cream recipes. Would love to know if your family is enjoying them as much as ours!

I recently found The Gluten Dude's site through his twitter postings. He has a terrific, informative blog. What I love most about the blog is Gluten Dude's sense of humor. And living a gluten-free life, a sense of humor is always welcome. That's for sure! 

The twitter post that first caught my eye was titled, "Instant A**hole…Just Add Gluten"- I couldn't imagine what the post was about, and curiosity got the better of me and I had to check it out. I nodded in agreement as I read through the post, in between laughs, that is, as the Gluten Dude detailed what happens to him when he eats gluten. I think he pretty accurately described exactly how our family turns into crazy, insane, irrational, raging maniacs anytime we unknowingly are glutenized, too. Believe me, you don't want to be anywhere near the Clevenger House after all three of us have been glutenized.

(Update 5/3/2013: And this doesn't surprise me at all The Gluten Dude was just awarded Blogger of the Year by the Foggy Awards - Honoring Those That Bring Light to the Gluten Free Industry.) 

I've really enjoyed the Gluten Dude's fresh approach to living a gluten-free life. You can read more about how the Gluten Dude came to discover he had celiac here and like many of my readers, it was a long road to finally discovering that gluten might be the underlying cause of many of his symptoms.

The Symptoms of Celiac Disease

The Gluten Dude just posted, Celiac Disease Symptoms (from Those Living with the Disease): An Infographic. Another great post and well worth reading.

I can tell you this infograph definitely nailed most of my symptoms: 

• brain fog
• irritability
• irrational anger (so wild and bizarre!)
• bloating
• nausea
• chronic fatigue
• hypothyroidism
• mouth ulcers
• dizziness (my newest wonderful symptom!) 

Celiac Disease Symptoms – Courtesy of Gluten Dude

What Are Your Symptoms?

Looking over this list again, I realize I really have had almost every one of these symptoms at one time or another. Which symptoms have you had? 

Just because you're following a gluten-free diet doesn't mean you have to give up indulging yourself every now and then. In my cookbook, Celeste's Best Gluten-Free, Allergen-Free Recipes, I have a recipe for incredibly delicious doughnuts. 

Yes, Gluten-Free Foods Can Look and Taste This Good! 

A Quick and Easy Way to Make Doughnuts

I was at a huge thrift sale and a woman was selling a Babycakes Doughnut Maker that she'd never used. I couldn't resist the deal and grabbed it. But truthfully, I didn't expect to be able to make gluten-free doughnuts in the machine. Gluten-free baking can sometimes behave differently than regular baking, so I really didn't hold much hope

I was recently interviewed by Dr. Joelle Cafaro. You can read the entire interview about my cookbook Celeste's Best Gluten-Free, Allergen-Free Recipes at Dr. Cafaro's site www.heal4real.com.

Dr. Joelle Cafaro and www.Heal4Real.com

Dr. Joelle Cafaro has been in private practice for more than a decade sharing her passion for natural health. 

She is a Certified Clinical Nutritionist, holds a Certificate of Proficiency in Practical Herbal Therapy from the Australian College of Phytotherapy and a Specialization in Natural Medicine.

She specializes in treating patients who have been unable to find a solution to their health problems via traditional methods. 

She successfully helps patients who have a wide range of problems such as adrenal & thyroid disorders, female hormones, digestion, food allergies, lethargy, fertility, cholesterol management, and insomnia.

Dr. Cafaro offers virtual consultations via phone or Skype to accommodate her diverse patient base in locations across the U.S.  If you would like to know more about Dr. Cafaro’s work please visit her website at: http://www.heal4real.com

I was reading The Thinking Mom’s Revolution: Autism Beyond the Spectrum last night. The book is beyond phenomenal, empowering and inspiring. I can’t even put into words all I’d like to say about the book, but I will write a more detailed review once I complete it.

But here I was, just finishing up the fourth chapter when a thought hit me. I’m sure I’m not the first one with this thought, but it made me realize how ridiculous and insane this all has gotten.

The Vaccinations – The Big Gray Elephant in the Room

If it’s not the vaccinations – then why aren’t they testing, and testing them out the yin-yang to prove it’s not the vaccinations that are causing autism?

Do you get what I’m saying?

Instead, we're constantly being told it's not the vaccinations. It dawned on me that the very fact that they are running in the other direction away from any correlation between vaccinations and autism has got to make a person think.