Posts Tagged ‘gluten-free lifestyle’

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Gling.com: Check It Out!

Gling.com is another GF resource, divided into four helpful parts. First is the Community, not unlike the social network sites which have been growing increasingly popular, such as Facebook and MySpace.

Studies have shown that one of the main reasons why some celiac patients can’t stay gluten-free is that they don’t have a support group to encourage and help them; on Gling.com, users can build a network of supportive friends. After setting up a profile, users connect with gluten-free restaurants, bakeries, and companies as well as with GF friends they’ve already known or with brand-new ones. Don’t have any gluten-free friends? You can make some on Gling.com; soon enough, you’ll have plenty of GF friends you can even connect with in real life, say, at your favorite local GF bakery that you also found on Gling.com. The other three tools comprise comprehensive listings of gluten-free recipes, food product information, and locations, such as bakeries and stores which sell gluten-free fare.

Gluten-free websites, such as Gling.com and my own GlutenFreeHelp.info, make the gluten-free lifestyle less of a challenge. For those who don’t belong to a support group, an online community such as the one on Gling.com can offer similar benefits. It can be tough living gluten-free in a gluten-filled world, but with these websites, you feel instead that you’re part of an exciting adventure.

Tina Turbin

http://www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

If you would like permission to reprint informaton from this page, please contact me.

Tags: celiac, celiac community, celiac disease, celiac patients, gf community, GF resource, gling.com, gluten, gluten free, gluten-free community, gluten-free fare, gluten-free lifestyle, Gluten-Free Recipes, gluten-free websites, glutenfreehelp.info
Posted in Autism and Gluten, Autoimmune Disorders, Dining Gluten Free, Dining Out- Gluten Free, Gluten Free Services, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, Read About Company, Real -True Stories, Travel Gluten Free | 6 Comments »

Monday, September 5th, 2011

How Much Gluten is Too Much?

The amount of gluten that can be tolerated varies among people with celiac disease. In general, research suggests that less than 10 milligrams (mg) of gluten daily is unlikely to cause significant damage to the intestines in most celiac people. However, these small amounts could still be enough to make a person feel unwell.

So how small is 10 mg? A dime weighs about 2,200 mg (2.2 g). Tricia Thompson, RD, a celiac disease authority, explains that a one-ounce slice of regular white bread has approximately 3,515 mg of gluten, or 351 times the maximum daily amount that’s safe for celiac patients. That means even a crumb is too much!

Now, this doesn’t mean that you can cut a slice of bread into 350 little crumbs and eat one of them–even if you’re maintaining a diet that is otherwise gluten-free, chances are good that you’re still getting some gluten daily. Regulations in most parts of the world allow a product to be labeled gluten-free if it contains up to 20 parts per million of gluten (equivalent to about 20 mg per kilo).

Even a slice of gluten-free bread contains a little over 1/2 mg of gluten, so sticking to an entirely gluten-free diet is not only the best way, but the only way, to ensure your gluten intake is at a safe level!

Tina Turbin

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Tags: celiac disease, gluten, gluten allergy, gluten free diet, gluten-free advice, gluten-free lifestyle, Tina Turbin
Posted in Gluten-Free Research, Helpful Information, Tina Turbin | 8 Comments »

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Dining Out with Your Celiac Child

First of all, before you start taking your celiac child to restaurants for gluten-free eating, it’s important that you and your child are already familiar with the gluten-free diet, what your child can eat, what he must avoid, and how to protect him from cross-contamination. This way, you’ll know what to order from the menu and what questions to ask the server or chef.

Make sure before you take your celiac child out to dinner that the two of you eat a high-protein snack about an hour before you think you’ll be ordering your food. The hungrier you are, the more likely you will make a mistake. If you absolutely must go to the restaurant hungry, bring a gluten-free snack for your child and a snack for yourself.

Choosing the right restaurant is an important part of successfully eating out gluten-free. There are many celiac-friendly restaurant directories online. I recommend calling the restaurant when it’s not busy and speaking with the manager or chef, or both. If you’ll be dining Italian, call ahead to see if you can bring your own pasta along. Many Italian restaurants are happy to do this.

Learn how to speak to the server. Make sure he is standing near you and can hear you clearly. Although celiac disease isn’t an allergy, it’s usually easiest to explain to your server that your child has food allergies. Always tell your server to tell the chef that your child is allergic to wheat. If your server doesn’t seem to understand, you’ll need to speak with the manager or chef. You’ll need to ask the server or chef a lot of questions.

Ask your child to pick out several items on the menu that look good, and let him know that you need to ask questions about these first because they may not be safe to eat. Make it clear that his first choice, or even his second choice, may not be okay to eat. Have your child pick out simple dishes without sauces.

Finally, make sure to warn the server about cross-contamination and its dangers. Let him know that your child’s food must be prepared on a clean surface with clean utensils. Most chefs will not realize the risks of cross-contamination unless these are made clear to them.

Going out to eat with your celiac child requires some work and planning ahead, but you’ll find that you and your child will get the hang of it in no time!

Tina Turbin

www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

If you would like permission to reprint informaton from this page, please contact me.

Tags: celiac chid, celiac children, celiac kids, gluten free diet, gluten-free dining, gluten-free kids, gluten-free lifestyle, gluten-free tips, Tina Turbin
Posted in Autoimmune Disorders, Children, Dining Gluten Free, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, Kids Illnesses, R.O.C.K., Restaurants, Tina Turbin | 1 Comment »

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

Gluten-Free Label Reading

One of the first steps in switching to a gluten-free diet is learning to read labels. Here are some helpful tips on how to pull this off successfully.

There are a couple of steps to determine if a food product is gluten-free. First, see if wheat is in the ingredients list or if it’s listed in an allergen statement. If it is, forget about it—the product isn’t gluten-free. However, if wheat isn’t listed, the second step is to read the ingredients list and see if barley, rye, or malt, malt flavoring (which can be made from barley), malt vinegar (made from barley), or triticale are listed (celiac patients are advised to consult with their doctor about including oats in their diet). If any of these are present in the ingredients, the product isn’t gluten-free. If none of these are listed, then the product is gluten-free and safe for you to eat. You can always call the manufacturer to be certain that the manufacturing process doesn’t permit cross-contamination.

The passing of the food allergen labeling law was a landmark victory for the celiac community. The law was the first step in empowering the celiac consumer who, with these helpful tips, can study food labels to make sure his diet stays truly gluten-free.

Tina Turbin

www.glutenfreehelp.info

If you would like permission to reprint informaton from this page, please contact me.

Tags: gluten free, gluten-free labels, gluten-free lifestyle, Gluten-Free Products, gluten-free tips, Tina Turbin
Posted in Children, Gluten-Free Products, Helpful Information, Tina Turbin | 5 Comments »

Monday, February 7th, 2011

The Gluten-Free Diet: Managing Nutritional Deficiencies

Patients who are newly diagnosed with celiac disease often find that they have nutritional deficiencies, and what’s worse, gluten-free products are often low in B vitamins, calcium, vitamin D, iron, zinc, magnesium, and fiber and aren’t fortified in these nutrients.

When Swedish researchers studied adult celiac patients who had been gluten-free for ten years, they found that half of them had vitamin deficiencies, including low levels of vitamin B-6 or folate, or both, and high levels of homocysteine, a risk factor for heart attacks, vascular disease, and strokes. Before the study, all the patients had biopsies to prove their intestines were in healthy condition, so these vitamin deficiencies could not be explained by malabsorption. Italian researchers have found similar deficiencies in gluten-free adolescents.

I recommend that at your annual check-up, you should ask your doctor whether your vitamin status needs to be measured and whether you should be taking folic acid and vitamin supplements.

Tina Turbin

www.GlutenFreeHelp.info

If you would like permission to reprint informaton from this page, please contact me.

Tags: gluten free diet, gluten-free lifestyle, gluten-free tips, nutritional deficiencies, Tina Turbin
Posted in Children, Gluten-Free Research, Health, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, Tina Turbin | 3 Comments »

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Avoiding Cross-Contamination: Watch over Food Preparation

You can teach friends, family members, and even servers and cooks at restaurants about cross-contamination, its serious consequences, and how to prevent it from happening. Then ask food preparers every question you can think of regarding the content and preparation of your meals. Learn the questions you have to ask and have them memorized so you don’t leave out any possibility of gluten contamination. Were the cooking utensils contaminated with gluten from other foods? Did the meat share a grill that had come into contact with a gluten-containing marinade?

It is usually beneficial to write out a list of ways gluten-free foods can get contaminated by gluten (dusting the gluten-free cake’s pan with flour, using utensils that have touched gluten-containing foods, etc.) and a list of gluten-containing foods. Bring this to restaurants and have the server take it to the kitchen. You can give your relatives and close friends this list or an article about cross-contamination. It is usually helpful for people to see instructions in writing.

Tina Turbin

If you would like permission to reprint informaton from this page, please contact me.

Tags: cross-contamination, gluen cross-contamination, gluten, gluten free diet, gluten-free lifestyle, gluten-free tips, Tina Turbin
Posted in Gluten-Free Research, Helpful Information, Tina Turbin | No Comments »

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Living Gluten Free: Avoiding Cross-Contamination

If you’ve recently been diagnosed with celiac disease, it is likely you’re still adapting to a gluten-free lifestyle. It may seem overwhelming at first to a celiac patient to begin the gluten-free road to recovery, as there are many challenges to face in adjusting to your new gluten-free diet. One of these challenges is avoiding gluten that can get in your food through cross-contamination.

It’s important to realize that any food processed on equipment shared with gluten is at risk to have at least some degree of contamination. In order for a product to be truly gluten-free, special handling is required at each step of the process—the growing, harvesting, milling, and processing of non-gluten grains. Shared equipment results in gluten contamination in the field, a manufacturing facility, a restaurant, or a home kitchen.

Make sure you are familiar with cross-contamination and how to avoid it to ensure that you’re eating a truly gluten-free diet!

Tina Turbin

If you would like permission to reprint informaton from this page, please contact me.

Tags: cross-contamination, gluten cross-contamination, gluten free diet, gluten-free advice, gluten-free lifestyle, gluten-free tips, Tina Turbin
Posted in Autoimmune Disorders, Children, Gluten-Free Research, Helpful Information, Tina Turbin | 3 Comments »

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Planning a Gluten-Free Vacation

The key is planning ahead. Call the local health food stores where you’ll be staying well ahead of your trip and ask them about their selection of gluten-free foods. If there aren’t enough gluten-free choices, usually the store will be happy to order your favorite gluten-free foods for you.

If there aren’t any health food stores around, some grocery stores have health food sections and may be able to order gluten-free foods for you as well. You can always bring along your own supply of gluten-free foods, such as gluten-free flour and pasta for instance, or you can order online from your favorite gluten-free sites and have the gluten-free goodies delivered straight to where you’ll be staying. If you won’t be staying with friends or family, I suggest you rent a condo or get a hotel room with a full kitchen for your gluten-free cooking.

If you’ll be staying with family, particularly during the holidays, tell them ahead of time about your gluten-free diet needs so they can stock up gluten-free foods. You can also send them some gluten-free recipes for the family’s favorite holiday foods. Oftentimes you’ll find that your family will be more than happy to make your celiac child feel at home with gluten-free goodies and a generous stock of gluten-free foods for your gluten-free cooking.

Learning how to meet your gluten-free dietary needs has required some planning and a few adjustments, but in the end it isn’t very tough to successfully adopt a gluten-free lifestyle. Similarly, keeping yourself well-fed on gluten-free foods during travel and vacations requires some work and planning ahead, but you’ll find that you’ll get the hang of it in no time.

Tina Turbin

If you would like permission to reprint informaton from this page, please contact me.

Tags: celiac disease, gluten-free lifestyle, gluten-free tips, gluten-free travel, gluten-free vacation, Tina Turbin
Posted in Autoimmune Disorders, Children, Helpful Information, Helpful Tips, Tina Turbin | 1 Comment »

About Me | see more

Tina Turbin became extremely interested and involved in the subjects of gluten free, gluten sensitive and celiac disease a number of years ago as a result of...

Posts Tagged ‘gluten-free lifestyle’

How Much Gluten is Too Much?

Dining Out with Your Celiac Child

Gluten-Free Label Reading

The Gluten-Free Diet: Managing Nutritional Deficiencies

Avoiding Cross-Contamination: Watch over Food Preparation

Living Gluten Free: Avoiding Cross-Contamination

Planning a Gluten-Free Vacation

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