Favorite GF Brands

I was in the gluten-free section at the grocery store with my Mom yesterday. She checks that section often to see if there is anything on sale to get my sister, so I thought I'd point out which products and brands I love and which ones she should stay away from. This isn't an all-inclusive list, but I've decided to post it here.

So far, I've liked everything I've tried from:

• Glutino
• Gluten-Free Pantry (in fact, I just found out Glutino and Gluten-Free Pantry are made by the same company)
• DeBoles
• Mrs. Leepers
• Kinnikinnick (They have awesome pre-made items such as pizza crust, chocolate chip cookies, and bread)

I now stay away from:

• Namaste Foods
• Cherrybrook Kitchen

There are other brands I've tried, but they haven't made too big of an impact on me one way or another yet (Envirokidz are good, but I have yet to be wowed. Possibly because their products don't seem to be things that normally have gluten anyway). I'll let you know what I decide on other brands.

GF Product Reviews

I've kind of put this blog on hold for awhile, but I've been saving the packaging from gluten free products I've been eating and I want to get rid of them, so here are my reviews of these products...

Namaste Chocolate Cake: I didn't like this. I won't buy it again unless I'm needing a gluten free, casein free cake. I've also had Namaste Foods brownies and I won't be buying those again (though I did find that I liked them better if I ate them frozen).

Glutino Vanilla Dreams: Delicious! These were so good!

Mrs. Leeper's Rice Spaghetii: Very good. I highly recommend this pasta. I don't have a picture, but I also recommend DeBoles rice pasta. Be sure to never get potato pasta. It's too mushy.

EnviroKidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs: Yummy! These were quite tasty. They tasted like Peanut Butter Capn' Crunch.

EnviroKidz Crispy Rice Bars: Both the Chocolate and Berry bars were very good. They're not like granola bars, so don't expect that, but they're great for a quick snack and to take on the go.

Glutino Chocolate Cake: Delicious!!! So far, I've liked everything I've eaten from this brand. This cake was so good!!!

Cherrybrook Kitchen Chocolate Cake: I wish I liked this because the price is pretty good, but it was disgusting. I could hardly eat it.

Glutino Muffin Mix: These were pretty good. I added chocolate chips and Heath bar chips. I liked them better after they'd sat a few hours then I did fresh. I would definitely buy these again. I froze half of them for my sister and they were still delicious after being frozen. It was nice to have a muffiny texture. You can also add fruit, but I love chocolate.

Kinnikinnick Pizza Crusts: This is another brand I'm impressed with. There were only 4 little 7 inch crusts in the package, making it about $2 per pizza crust, but it was worth it. My husband loves pizza, so I would make him a batch of Jiffy pizza crust and I'd make my pizza on this. It's the perfect amount for one meal for me (sad no leftovers, but at least I get pizza). You keep it in the freezer and just pull out a crust when you're ready to make your pizza. It'll thaw as you cook the cheese.

Mrs. Leepers Beef Lasagna: So good! I was really worried about this because I'm picky about what kind of red sauces I like. I don't like Spaghetti O's or Chef Boyardee (back from when I ate gluten), so I thought this could taste the same. It didn't. It was so good! And so easy to make! It was nice to have on hand for when I needed a quick meal.

Facts and Statistics on Celiac Disease

Here are some Celiac Disease facts and statistics I find most interesting from the UChicago Celiac Disease Center:

• Undiagnosed and untreated, celiac disease can lead to the development of other autoimmune disorders, as well as osteoporosis, infertility, neurological conditions and in rare cases, cancer.
• The average length of time it takes for a symptomatic person to be diagnosed with celiac disease in the US is four years; this type of delay dramatically increases an individual’s risk of developing autoimmune disorders, neurological problems, osteoporosis and even cancer.

Prevalence of Celiac Disease in the United States:

• In average healthy people: 1 in 133
• In people with related symptoms: 1 in 56
• In people with first-degree relatives (parent, child, sibling) who are celiac: 1 in 22
• In people with second-degree relatives (aunt, uncle, cousin) who are celiac: 1 in 39
• In the landmark prevalence study on celiac disease, investigators determined that 60% of children and 41% of adults diagnosed during the study were asymptomatic (without any symptoms).
• Celiac disease affects 1% of healthy, average Americans. That means at least 3 million people in our country are living with celiac disease—97% of them are undiagnosed.

Can you believe that?! Most of the people with CD aren't even diagnosed! It's hard enough to get a diagnosis when you have the symptoms, but according to these statistics 41% of adults with CD didn't even have any symptoms when diagnosed. Crazy! There is definitely a need for more education and research about CD.
I suggest taking a look at the entire factsheet.

Also, keep in mind that these statistics are for people who have actual celiac disease. These numbers don't account for the many people with a gluten intolerance. I believe (my husband hates it when I say this) that the majority of the population would benefit from going on a gluten-free diet.

Great Celiac Disease Website

I just discovered my new favorite site for celiac disease statistics and research. It's The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. It has tons of great information on the current research being done on celiac disease. Click on the celiac disease 101 section of the webpage and you will find a simple overview of celiac disease, symptoms, testing, etc. My favorite part about the CD 101 section is the factsheets and more specifically the facts and figures of CD. Check it out!

Posts highlighting items from UChicago Celiac Disease Center website:
Facts and Statistics on Celiac Disease

Wendy's

Wendy's is an awesome place for gluten-free. They have compiled a very helpful list of all of their gluten-free menu items. Yes, Wendy's chili is gluten-free. Yay!
Menu items without gluten

Wendy's is also great about doing special orders too. I used to just order a normal cheeseburger and take the bun off, but it was a pain because the cheese stuck to the bun (not to mention the contamination issues that would have for someone more sensitive than me). My husband was ordering for me and asked for the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger without the bun. They didn't act like that was weird at all. They put my cheeseburger in one of the baked potato holders and gave me a fork to eat it with. It was great! Don't be afraid to ask for something special.

Sans Gluten mentions that the burgers and chicken are cooked on a dedicated section of the grill and the fries are cooked in dedicated oil (meaning you won't be eating fries that were cooked in the same oil and gluten-filled chicken nuggets). It also suggests substituting crackers and croûtons with almonds. Cool! I didn't know this was an option. I'm excited to try it next time I go.

This site has comments from people worried about cross-contamination and how they handle it at Wendy's.

As always, refer to the information I've provided, but most importantly, use your own judgment to determine what and if you should eat at this restaurant.

Taco Bell

Allergens lists from Taco Bell (updated 7/7/2006):

Original menu items
New menu items

There isn't much you can eat from Taco Bell (I believe the seasoning in the meat has gluten in it). At the bottom of their allergens list they do have a list of how to order gluten-free from their menu foods, which is pretty cool. Here's what they say:

Suggestions for Wheat and Gluten Sensitive Individuals
- Tostada
- Fiesta Taco Salad (order Chicken instead of Beef; order without the shell and without the Red Strips)
- *Express Taco Salad (order Chicken instead of Beef)
- *Zesty Chicken BORDER BOWL® (order without the Zesty Dressing and without the Red Strips)
- Southwest Steak Bowl (order without the Creamy Jalapeno Sauce)

*These two items state that they are "prepared in common equipment; may be in contact with allergen-containing products," so keep that in mind if you order these.

Click here if you want to know what specifically is in the food to make it unsafe (updated 01/08/08).

In my research I also found this website, which I found quite interesting. A comment is made about cross-contamination being so bad at Taco Bell that a person can't eat gluten-free there. I personally don't worry about cross-contamination very much because it hasn't appeared to hurt me in the past, but you need to decide what's best for you.

As always, refer to the information I've provided, but most importantly, use your own judgment to determine what and if you should eat at this restaurant.

Gluten-free fast food

One of the biggest problems I faced when starting out on the gluten-free diet was knowing what fast food was gluten-free and what wasn't. I'd ask the employee if something had wheat or flour in it and they couldn't tell me (at sit-down restaurants the waiter can ask the chef, who should know). I once got some delicious nachos from Taco Bell after making sure the chips didn't have gluten in them. I had a few bites and decided I should ask my celiac-expert friend about them. Come to find out Taco Bell meat has gluten in it. Sad! But at least I found out before I ate too much.

As a result of that experience I am creating a series of posts with information on popular fast food restaurants. There are some obvious gluten-filled menu items and some not so obvious ones. I will point out which ones are not so obvious.

Each time I post a new restaurant I will add it to this list, which will link you to that post. If there is any restaurant you would like to know about that I have not covered, please let me know in the comments.

Reminder: The information I post is from the restaurants themselves and from other research I've done. It is your responsibility to reconfirm that the item is still gluten-free and to address any cross-contamination issues.

Taco Bell
Wendy's

Gluten-free dining options

I actually got this list from the article about the Pier 49 Pizza. It's for the Wasatch Front. I know there are other restaurants besides these that offer a special gluten-free menu, but I can't remember them off the top of my head. I'll do some research on it and post them later.
I've added comments on the places I have had personal experience with their gluten-free menus.

AMERICAN:

• 350 Main Brasserie, 350 Main St., Park City; 435-649-3140

ASIAN:

• China Lily, 133 S. State St., Lindon; 801-796-9666
• Mandarin, 348 E. 900 North, Bountiful; 801-298-2406
• Pei Wei Asian Diner, locations in West Bountiful, Midvale, Sandy and Salt Lake City
• P.F. Chang's China Bistro, locations in Salt Lake City and Orem
• Thaifoon Taste of Asia, 7 N. 400 West (at The Gateway), Salt Lake City; 801-456-8424

ITALIAN:

• Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano, 194 S. 400 West (at The Gateway), Salt Lake City; 801-596-7222
• Carrabba's Italian Grill, 683 E. University Parkway, Orem; 801-755-1222 (this is my favorite restaurant!)
• Spaghetti Mama's, 75 E. 9400 South, Sandy; 801-676-0662 (I went here for a wedding lunch and was pleasantly surprised to find they have Thai noodles for people who can't eat gluten. Even though it was a wedding lunch with pre-decided menu items, the staff was very accommodating and made my meal and dessert gluten-free.)
• The Old Spaghetti Factory, locations in Salt Lake City, West Valley City and Orem

MIDDLE EASTERN:

• Mazza, 912 E. 900 South, Salt Lake City; 801-521-4572
• Mazza, 1515 S. 1500 East, Salt Lake City; 801-484-9259

PIZZA:

• Pier 49 Pizza, 238 S. Main St., Salt Lake City; 801-364-2974 (Soooo good! It's a 10 inch pizza and it just costs $2 more than a regular pizza would. The pizza is gourmet, so it's a bit pricey, but so worth it!)

SOUTHWESTERN:

• Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill, 191 S. Rio Grande St. (at The Gateway) Salt Lake City; 801-456-0450

STEAKHOUSES:

• Maddox Ranch House, 1900 S. Highway 89, Perry; 800-544-5474
• Outback Steakhouse, locations in Orem, Sandy, Layton and St. George

VEGETARIAN:

• Sage's Café, 473 E. 300 South, Salt Lake City; 801-322-3790
• Vertical Diner, 2280 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake; 801-484-8378

If you've eaten at any of these places or know of any others I should add to the list, please let me know.

I got this list from: http://www.sltrib.com/food_ci_8452854?source=rv

Pier 49 Pizza

For my birthday my wonderful husband got me some gluten-free pizza from Pier 49. It was amazing!!! It seriously tasted like normal gluten-filled pizza. So good! The funny thing is that while he was there a family was getting a bunch of pictures taken while eating and it was holding up service for everyone else (it actually ended up taking nearly 45 minutes for him to get my pizza even though I had called in and ordered it beforehand) and then yesterday he came across this article about Pier 49 and guess who is in the pictures? That's right! The family that held up service for everyone. We're actually guessing that they might have accidentally given that family my pizza or something because it really shouldn't have taken 45 minutes. But I'm okay with it because it meant this article was published:

http://www.sltrib.com/food_ci_8452854?source=rv


Here's a link to Pier 49 Pizza: http://pier49.com/

I've heard a rumor that the Pier 49 in Ogden offers personal sized gluten-free pizzas, but I haven't confirmed this myself. I've also heard that the owner of the Downtown Salt Lake location (that does gluten-free) has talked to other Pier 49 Pizza owners/managers about offering gluten-free pizza. Call your local Pier 49 occasionally to ask if they offer it yet and if they don't, suggest it.

Doing tests

So once I figured out there was a good chance I had a gluten intolerance I decided I'd better stop eating gluten, but also that I should find out what my doctor had to say about it. I can't remember the exact time frames, but basically I tried to go gluten-free, messed up within a week or two, saw my doctor sometime during those 2 weeks, had blood tests done, and had the tests come back negative for celiac.

Now, you may be wondering why in the world I would do something as extreme as going gluten-free if I'm not celiac. Here are my answers:

1. I still might be. There are a lot of reasons I say that. Some are founded by medical research (done by other people, of course) and some are just what other people have told me. A few of the reasons are:
   
   • I had already started my gluten-free diet when I had my blood drawn. I don't think my doctor knew very much about celiac disease. I've come to this conclusion based on the fact that he told me it was okay that I hadn't eaten gluten for a week or two. Some sources say you need to have been eating gluten for at least 3 months prior to having your blood drawn.
     
   • I don't think the correct blood tests were done. There are 4 blood tests that are supposed to be done to determine if a patient has celiac disease or not and then the results have to be looked at in a certain way. Many doctors don't know enough about celiac to know the proper procedure for these tests and, like I stated above, I think my doctor is among those who don' t know enough about it.
   • Even if the blood tests were done correctly you can still receive a false negative (they say you don't have celiac, but you actually do). There are other tests that can be done that are more conclusive (I'll discuss these in another post).
     
   • Someone (another celiac) told me that for some people they have to have celiac for at least 9 years before it will show up positive in their blood work (and it will only show up positive if they've continued to include gluten in their diet that whole time). Don't know how true this is (she read it in some book), but I figured I'd share anyway.
     
     
2. I could still have a gluten intolerance. Which can cause just as many problems as celiac, but it isn't doing the damage to your intestines like it does if you have celiac. I have read that if you have an intolerance and continue to eat gluten, the intolerance can become celiac (if you have the gene for it).
   
   
3. Most importantly: I feel better when I don't eat gluten. Actually, that's an understatement. It's more like, I feel awful if I do eat it. Maybe I'm just crazy (like all the doctors thought) and it's all in my head and I don't have any sort of gluten intolerance at all. Maybe it's having the whole "placebo effect" on me, but hey, I feel 100 times better than I used to and that's a good enough reason for me.

Why I went gluten-free

I've had weird aches and pains almost as long as I can remember. It started with stomach aches and nausea, which was diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome when I was in elementary school. I also had body aches, joint pain, headaches, and other issues. Pretty much I think half the doctors (along with friends and family) thought I was a hypochondriac. Not cool.

In the fall of 2002 I moved to Provo for college. One of my new roommates (who has become one of my best friends) had celiac disease. I didn't really know what that meant at first except that she couldn't eat wheat or flour and if she did it made her really sick.

In the summer of 2006 I was pretty fed up with feeling crummy. I always had stomach aches, headaches, body aches, fuzzy/foggy brain, blurry eye site, etc. One evening at work when I was feeling particularly "blah" and frustrated with it all I had a sudden thought- could I have celiac disease? I had learned a lot more about it from my friend throughout the years and had heard her talk to other people who had learned they were celiac and it suddenly just clicked that this could be my answer as well.

I immediately called up my friend and asked her what the symptoms of celiac disease were. She told me there are a ton (I've since found out there are at least 250) and that everyone manifests it differently. I told her my symptoms and she said they all fit celiac. After work I immediately got on the internet to figure this all out. Not only did all of my symptoms fit, but there were more that I'd never have associated with celiac disease. (Sinus infections and canker sores can also occur as a result of eating gluten if you have an intolerance to it.)

I couldn't believe it! All those years of doctors not knowing what was wrong with me (and many probably not believing anything was wrong at all) and I had figured it out! I tested it out and had some blood work done by the doctor and came to the conclusion that I definitely have a gluten intolerance, if not celiac (more on the testing later... this is already a long post).

I am so grateful for my friend! If I hadn't known her so well and learned about celiac I wouldn't have been able to self-diagnose myself. I also wouldn't have been able to get to the point I am now without her. She was (and still is) an awesome support for me in dealing with the changes the gluten-free lifestyle brings, always being there to answer my questions and give me advice. I'd like to pay her kindness forward by doing my best to support anyone else out there who is switching to the gluten-free life.