Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Turn your lemons into lemonade

It’s so easy to get down on ourselves when life gets hard. But staying positive is an important part of being healthy.  Remember… this too shall pass, there is always someone going through something worse, and think of all the other blessings in your life. Also, try to remember that the things we go through shape the person that we are today.

 When life gets you down try to find the good side of things. For instance, I am a type one diabetic but whenever I get down on myself for all the things I have to do and all the ways that my life has to be different I try to remind myself that my experience with diabetes is what got me interested in medicine and that because of it I know my body better than most people.

What are your lemons?

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Hidden Gluten – for those sensitive but not intolerant to gluten

Who might be sensitive to gluten? Here are a few examples: Women during pregnancy, type I diabetics, and those suffering from IBS. The biggest problem when you are sensitive to gluten is that no one meal matters. It’s the build-up of gluten in your system overtime that matters. It can take your body a couple of days to digest and process all the gluten you have eaten, so it’s easy to ‘stack’ the gluten up to the point where it bothers you.  You might know not to eat a whole bowl of pasta, but if you eat several foods that have hidden gluten in them throughout the day it could add up to just as much gluten. Here are some items that might have gluten and you should be aware of…

·         Processed rice and corn products can be contaminated in the factory or have other ingredients that contain gluten.

·         Ice cream because wheat is often used to prevent crystals from forming

·         It’s not just wheat but barley and rye that have gluten in them, so make sure to check the labels for those items as well.

·         Vinegar can contain malt made from barley

·         Coolers and hard lemonades often contain malt/barley (and obviously beer). But the good news is that typically wine, champagne, and distilled spirits are gluten free (but the mixes for drinks typically are not).

Here are just a few suggestions. If you want to look up what other products/brands might have gluten in them you can visit

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Hidden Gluten – for those with Celica’s disease and gluten intolerance

Making sure that is no cross contamination is extremely important because a little gluten will have a large response.  Getting products that are certified gluten free will insure they were not contaminated in a factory that might produce other products with gluten in them.  It’s also important that if you do not have a gluten free household that you do not contaminate your gluten free foods. Some advice on this front; make sure that no one double-dips a knife used on bread back into the butter, jam, ect or the gluten from their bread will get into the container, don’t use the same toaster for gluten free bread, and cook all gluten free products (like cookies and muffins) before the gluten ones.

There are also many non-food products that may have gluten in them that should be considered. For instance, the glue on envelops, lip sticks/balms, shampoos, skin lotion, ect. There are also some medications and supplements that use gluten products as an added filler/binding ingredient. You can go to for some suggestions on safe brands.

These are just some suggestions. For more information on products to watch out for you should consult with a health care professional.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Is there Gluten Hidden in your food?

If you are not able to eat any gluten, or if you are just sensitive to it (women during pregnancy, Type I diabetics, those with IBS, ect) it’s important to know what foods are naturally gluten free and what foods might be have hidden gluten.  It’s common knowledge that bread had gluten but what about salad dressings, soy sauce, and ketchup? Do you have to buy the item that is certified gluten free or is the regular item naturally that way?  Here are a couple of foods that could have gluten hidden in them: soy sauce (gluten free brands LaChoy and Kari-out), salad dressing (gluten products are often used as a thickener), gravies/sauces, reduced-fat products, processed meats (modified starch are often used to bind the meat during processing), and ice cream (wheat is used to prevent crystals from forming).

In the following posts there will be more specific recommendations/suggestion for those who are completely intolerant to gluten and those who are just resistant to the product.