The Danger Zone

There are times where I just don’t eat.  Yes, I know that that isn’t healthy for me but sometimes it comes down to necessity.  There are other times where I’m limited on what to eat because I KNOW what is safe and what isn’t.

What I’m referring to are the parties that are coming up for the holidays.  If you are Celiac, or gluten intolerant or have any type of food allergy, you know what I’m talking about.  You walk into a party, look at the food and just know that you can’t have any of it.  There are times, like the fundraiser I was at last night, where I don’t even bother to look at the food or ask because it just seems like a waste of time.  I’m not being negative, just realistic.

But there are options, besides starving (like I did last night because of lack of preparation, totally my fault!).  Here are a few of my tried and true tips:

1.  Eat before.  What can it hurt to at least have a snack before you go so if there isn’t anything, you at least don’t want to chew your arm off in hunger.  It nearly happened to me last night, don’t think I won’t do it.

2.  Take a snack.  Yes, you might look odd grabbing crackers out of your purse but at least you know it’s safe and you can eat with the people you are hanging out with.  If you don’t want to be “that person”, sneak away to another room and quickly eat.

3.  Suck it up and eat later.  This is what I did.  Well, not the suck it up part, I did whine a little but I waited and ate after the event.  This was bad because I was so hungry that I didn’t eat anything healthy, it was all junk.

These are things I consider when I go out to someone’s home, to a party and, sometimes, when dining out with friends.  Sometimes I know that all I can have is a plate of veggies which won’t take me far so it’s better to be safe than sorry.  So the lesson is prepare, prepare, prepare!

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And on the outside…

There is a debate in the gluten free world over whether or not skincare, shampoos, etc that might have wheat, barley or rye in them can affect those with Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance by bringing out the symptoms of these two diseases.

I’ve talked with several people who have the skin rash symptom of Celiac Disease, Dermatitis Herpetitformis, have breakouts when using lotions, shampoos, conditioners and even hair coloring which asks the question:  “If Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease and affects the gut, why do “topical” items bother us?”

I don’t have an answer to this and hope to speak to a dermatologist (I’ve found one who is well versed in this, so I hear) and find out what the story really is.  I know as a Celiac, I’ve slowly started changing from the store brand skin care items to ones that are certified gluten free, just so I know I’m on the safe side.

Thoughts out there?

It’s not as easy as it looks

People go on diets all of the time to lose weight or, as in the case of my athlete/bodybuilding friends, to do a competition of some sort.  Cutting out certain foods helps you achieve those goals and can help you get much healthier.

But there is a difference between choosing to cut out a food group or just a couple of foods and being forced to cut out foods.  When you choose to cut foods out, you have the option of bringing them back into your life when, or if, you choose to.  When you HAVE to cut a food out it’s not quite as easy.  Especially when the item you have to cut out of your life is in EVERYTHING.

Which is where the bet comes into play.  I was out with some friends a couple weeks ago watching football and enjoying an adult beverage.  When it came time to eat, my friend Kim and I discussed what we wanted (we are quite familiar with local restaurants and what we can and can’t have) and ordered.  Somehow the topic turned into an “it’s not that easy” discussion.  Now, Kim is right, eating gluten free can be challenging and frustrating.  Gluten is in all different types of foods, most you wouldn’t think.

So Kim and Craig bet.  Kim bet Craig that he couldn’t go a full week of eating gluten free and he accepted.  Then I told him where wheat was and what he couldn’t have.  First, beer.  He looked at his beer sadly but decided he could give it up for a week.  Then I moved into the liturgy of “you can’t have pasta, bread, breaded foods, certain kinds of ketchup, certain types of soy sauce, most Chinese foods, cereals…” and the list went on and on.

I think finding out that “little” things like ketchup, soy sauce and salad dressings can contain wheat is surprising but wheat is a binder, and thickener, in almost everything.  I mean, a friend of mine made chili with a seasoning packet that had, yes, wheat.

Well, the bet lasted under eight hours when Craig decided it wasn’t going to happen.  I don’t blame him, if I wasn’t Celiac, I wouldn’t be gluten free either.  I would be feasting happily on my Chinese food with soy sauce.  I won’t lie, though, I helped enjoy the spoils of Kim’s winnings and was happy about it.

Go on guys…bet again.  I’m ready for it!

Six things you shouldn’t say to someone who is gluten free

There are many misconceptions when it comes to eating gluten free and I hear things quite often that shouldn’t be said to someone who has a condition, especially a disease or an allergy.  Here are a few that I’ve heard and just shouldn’t be said.

1.  “A little bit won’t hurt you.”  If you have a peanut allergy, a little peanut will hurt, right?  So, if I have an AUTOIMMUNE disease, why wouldn’t a little bit hurt me?  I know my body and it would hurt.

2. “Gluten free is just a fad.”  Yes, to some people it is and I will admit that there is a lot of info out there that would make it seem that way.  For many of us, this is a way of life.  It’s the way it HAS to be and I don’t have a choice in it.  By the way, if you are following a gluten free diet to lose weight, it doesn’t really work that way.  I would encourage you to look into a Paleo diet.

3.  “I couldn’t give up bread and pasta.  I don’t know how you do it.”  This one cracks me up because it usually comes from someone who has never had to give anything up.  When you HAVE to do something for your health, you do it, even if you don’t want to.

4.  “I can’t believe that they haven’t come up with a pill so you can eat wheat.”  They are, honestly, working on it but I’m still not sure if I would take it.  I mean, what if it doesn’t work?  So, until it is a for sure thing, I will avoid anything with gluten.

5.  “I think this is gluten free.”  Think?  Really?  I think my brakes work on my car.  This is something I run into at restaurants a lot and a lot of this is just not educating people, which is our responsibility.  Either an item is or it isn’t gluten free, end of story.   And by the way, removing croutons from a salad, taking a bun out from under and on top of a hamburger, etc doesn’t make an item gluten free, it just makes it bread free.

6.  “If gluten is so bad, why do people still eat it?”  This is a super good question.  For most people, gluten doesn’t affect people, just like peanuts aren’t dangerous for people without a peanut allergy.  My body won’t process the gluten (the protein found in wheat, barley and rye) and actually causes my body to reject food, to cause my body to not absorb minerals, etc.  If your body can still process gluten, there is no need to cut it out although I would recommend limiting your intake.

These are just a few things that I hear and, to be honest, most just roll of my back.  The lesson here?  Just be cautious of what you say!

By the way, don’t forget to follow me on Facebook and on Twitter at @MissSillyYak!

Never take it for granted

Last night we had our monthly meeting of Gluten Free Grand Valley, the gluten free support group in Grand Junction, CO.  I am pretty proud of this group as I am one of the co-founders and we have great people that attend as well as a large group on Facebook.

Our meeting was a 2014 kickoff and we (the board) wanted to get an idea of what people are looking to get out of our meetings.  The feedback was great but the part that I think really tickled people was the food.  I had been to the Denver Gluten Free Food Fair in August, was able to get a hold of some of the vendors and they, very kindly, sent samples to me.

People that don’t have food issues may be thinking “what’s the big deal?”  It is a big deal.  You may think that if tomorrow you couldn’t have bread, you wouldn’t miss it.  That is, until you wanted to have a PB&J and you were going to have to eat it either without bread or, in the case of most gluten free breads, nearly a piece of cardboard.  One of the vendors that sent samples was Kinnickinnick.  They make many types of foods from bread/cake mixes to cookies to loaves of bread.  They sent bread.  I was skeptical since most gluten free bread is either good for only toasting, for Thanksgiving Day stuffing or great for sawdust.  Yes, it’s that good.  Not this bread.  Soft, chewy, almost REAL bread!  I may have been in heaven for a while, I’m not sure.

Seems silly, right?  Bread?  Big deal.  You’re right, it IS a big deal.  It’s a big deal because growing up I could have a grilled cheese sandwich.  I haven’t had one in almost two years.  I couldn’t just make a PB&J because cardboard bread doesn’t have the right texture or taste.  I couldn’t have bread with my soup (yes, I like to dip bread in soup, so sue me).  Anything that you can’t have because your body will hate you for it is something you crave, something you desire and something that you SHOULD be able to have.

Those of you who don’t have food issues, whose bodies will accept anything you put into it, never take it for granted.  Consider it a blessing that you don’t have to worry about getting sick from foods. Enjoy them and enjoy them often.

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Gluten Free…FOREVER!

I was at a local restaurant with a friend of mine.  It’s actually a good restaurant chain, Red Robin, and has great gluten free buns along with high standards for keeping me (and others) safe when dining there.

It was actually an accident that Craig chose this restaurant for lunch and when I asked for an allergen menu he stated “not a great place to choose to eat.”  I reassured him that it was a great choice and that they had gluten free buns and that they were good.  The part of the experience that settled in my brain was the server’s words when she saw the allergen menu:  “We have a wheat allergy today?”  Craig was quick with a response and said “WE have a wheat allergy everyday.”  The server saw his point and scooted away.

I find that this statement bothered me in a few ways. First, who was the “we” she was talking about? Did she have a mouse in her pocket?

Second, a wheat allergy/gluten intolerance/Celiac disease is an everyday thing for me. It’s not a “today I will eat GF, tomorrow I’m having bread!” kinda thing. I live with this 24-7.

It bothers me that people sometimes take it lightly, that it’s a flippant thing. This is an important, life altering lifestyle. Something that I have to think about every time I grocery stop because items like salad dressing and spices can have wheat. It’s something that I have to think about when my friends want to go out to eat. It’s an everyday, all day, rest of my life DISEASE.

So, I’m not gluten free just yesterday or today. I am gluten free…forever.

Just a Little Bit

I’ve been asked often “A little bit can’t hurt, can it?”  And at first, I thought it couldn’t but the truth is, it can.  It can hurt a lot.  Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disorder and the damage done can’t be undone with an epi pen so when I eat something with wheat, barley or rye it damages me.  It take months, maybe years, to undo the damage and sometimes the damage can’t be undone.  All of this depends on how long it took for diagnosis and then how long it takes to completely be gluten free.

A little bit can hurt a lot.

Nicole Kuhl, CCN, Director of Nutrition, and Health Coach at LifeSpan, says, “Another way to think about it would be to consider the effects of adding a couple drops of cyanide to a glass of water. A couple of tablespoons would be more toxic than a couple drops, but a couple of drops is still toxic.”

That bite of a muffin, taste of a pasta dish, sip of beer can have a huge impact on my well being.  That is why the FDA will be strongly enforcing the 20ppm limit for things labeled gluten free.  This law will go into affect next August and I will be happy to know my food is safe for me to eat.  Because the FDA believes that this is the best way to prevent me, and many others, from being accidently “glutened”, it MUST be important to not have it.

So next time someone says that they follow a gluten free diet, refrain from asking “don’t you want just a little?”  The truth is that they probably do but can’t.