For those of you who missed my last article or have been not been messing with the “online celiac community” in the past few days…let me bring you up to speed…

“Chef” Damian Cardone posted the following on his facebook page:

“Gluten free is B***S***!! Flour and bread have been a staple of life for thousands, THOUSANDS of years. People who claim to be gluten intolorent dont realize that its all in there disturbed liitle heads. People ask me for gluten free pasta in my restaurant all the time, I tell em sure, Then I serve serve em our pasta, Which I make from scratch with high gluten flour. And you know what? nothing, NOTHING! ever happens! People leave talking about how good they feel gluten free and guess what, They just had a full dose! Idiots!”

If you would like more information on him, you can read my last article or click on the links at the bottom of this article.

Now…I have been thinking about this for the past couple of days and I am really ticked off…to say the least!  In my opinion…this man has intentionally poisoned people.  That to me, means that I think he should be brought up on some sort of charges.

I read an article from the Denver Post and I am little annoyed at a couple of things.  First, the chef who owns Florindo’s, Florent Gallicchio, says that Cardone was not a chef, he was a waiter.  Which, fine…Damian lied about that…that still doesn’t cover the fact that he poisoned patrons in the restaurant.  And yes…he can still give them food with gluten in them…he’s the waiter.  All he had to do was not tell the chef that it needed to be “gluten free” and give them the “regular” pasta, or whatever it was. So, that really in irrelevant in this case.  Second, I read some of the comments at the bottom of the article:

“RonMexico

9:20 AM on 3/31/2011

Can we please just amend the Constitution with something that states that everybody from every walk of life, has the right not to get their feelings hurt? Or maybe we can just get rid of all the boxers and briefs and just have everyone wear panties. Okay, everbody, all together…Sticks and Stones may brake my Bones…..”

“

PostToasties

11:13 AM on 3/31/2011

Come on people….Not everyone with special eating preference can be catered to in a public restaraunt. If you have such special needs, cook for yourself or go to places that want to cater to your needs. Leave these people alone and get over yourself.”

I was really annoyed when I read these….first of all…this has nothing to do with “feelings being hurt”…this is all about medical issues…food that can kill a person with this disease.  If someone had a peanut allergy, you wouldn’t give them peanuts…so why give someone gluten who has a gluten allergy?  This all stems from a couple of things…hold on because I am about to get on my soap box….

First, if celiac disease would be recognized by the medical community and there were more public awareness about the disease, we wouldn’t be running into some of these issues.  Yes, you always have your idiots, but you can tell this idiot doesn’t think celiac disease is real.  This disease needs to be taken seriously by the medical community first…after it is taken seriously by them, then it was start to get into the regular community.

Second…restaurants that decide to serve gluten free foods need to train there employees…ALL OF THEIR EMPLOYEES!  I mean the chefs, the cooks, the preparers, the waitress, the waiters, the bartenders….EVERYONE!  The need to go over what gluten is…not just flour and pasta…but everything, then they need teach them how to prepare the foods, whether it’s a salad or a steak, they need to teach them about contamination. Because let me tell you…it makes a huge difference!  I have been to restaurants that the waitress and/or chef have told me that there is no cheese in the dish…so I’ll be fine.  CHEESE?  What flippen’ culinary school did he go to?  But then I have gone to restaurants where they no everything and I don’t feel like I have to be “on guard” with everything I eat…but I still check and double check everything…and you should too!

OK…I am off the soap box now…let me know what your thoughts are on this guy…am I crazy or what?

Here is the link for my last post

Here is the link for the Denver Post article.

Hope you all have a Happy and Healthy Day!!

OK….as you all know, I am trying to get a bill passed to get the FDA to start labeling medication with allergy information.  But, until then, I wanted to give you a small list of items to look for in your medications to make sure you don’t get “glutenized”!  I have also added a link to a flyer that you can print out and bring to your pharmacist or keep on hand for yourself.

The following inactive ingredients should be investigated to see whether or not they contain gluten:

• Wheat
• Modified starch (source not specified)
• Pregelatinized starch (source not specified)
• Pregelatinized modified starch (source not specified)
• Dextrates (source not specified)
• Dextrimaltose (when barley malt is used)
• Caramel coloring (when barley malt is used)
• Dextrin (source not specified, but usually by corn or potato)

Some of these items will say on the bottle if they come from corn or wheat or barley, if not…ask your pharmacist to call the manufacturer and find out where the source came from.  You can also call yourself, but I warn you now…you will be on hold for a very long time and 9 times out of 10, you will end up speaking to someone who doesn’t know English and has no idea what your talking about.  I have found it easier to let the pharmacist make the calls!  Also, remember to double check the manufacturer EVERY time you get your refill, because sometimes the pharmacy will change manufacturers on your prescription and not tell you…and all manufacturers use different ingredients.

I wish you all the best of luck in this and hopefully the government will hear our call and start making some changes in their labeling.

Flyer (from celiaccentral.org)

Hey everyone!

OK…it’s time for everyone to put their typing where their mouth is!  I have started an alert to get congress to write a bill to get the FDA to pass new regulations for the drug companies. FDA passed regulations to change the labeling on foods to include allergen information…now I want that to include medications!

I am so tired of having to call the manufacturer every time I get a new medication.  I sit on hold for sometimes hours…to speak to someone who doesn’t speak English…or at least, not very well.  Then it all comes down to them telling me that they can’t “guarantee” that it doesn’t have gluten in the ingredients!

There are over 3 million American’s will celiac disease…these people all have to adhere to a very strict diet of gluten free foods…that includes medications!  So…if the FDA can pass a law that states they have to label all gluten items…then why can’t they do the same thing for medications!!

So…copy and paste the letter below into the form so that you can tell your congress person that you want this bill!

Copy the words below:

“The FDA passed a law to implement regulations for allergens to be listed on all food items. Now we need those same regulations to include medications.

Celiac patients have to take medications, and some medications include gluten in their ingredients. These medications are not labeled with those gluten ingredients, and therefor consumers have no idea whether they are contaminating their body with gluten.

There are an estimated 3 million American’s with celiac disease and these consumers must adhere to a strict gluten free diet, which includes medications.

We are asking you to please bring forth a bill that will require drug companies to change their labeling to include listing any and all gluten ingredients.”

Then click here and paste them into the form and send….that’s it!

Tell everyone!!!

There has been a bunch of talk about the “new celiac pill” GlutenEase.  I tried GlutenEase for the past couple of months and I have to tell you…they are really good.

It seems people are very confused on what it is and what it’s supposed to do for you.  Too many people think this is the “magic” pill for people with celiac disease.  That is not true!  They are enzymes…simple as that.  BUT…the company has designed GlutenEase with certain enzymes that help people with celiac disease digest small amounts of gluten so that it’s easier for us to get through the “celiac symptoms”.  What does that mean?  It means…if you go out to eat somewhere and eat something that you’re not sure if it had gluten in it or not, after you eat, take the pill.  It will help digest your foods faster and easier, so that you may not have any symptoms, or your symptoms won’t be as bad as they would have been without the pill.

What’s in these pills?  The 4 enzymes in GlutenEase are Protease, Lipase, Amylase and Cellulase.  Now you’re gonna ask…what is that?? Protease is the enzyme that breaks down protein.  Lipase’s role is in digestion, it transports and processes lipids, which are the triglycerides, fats and oils.  Amylase breaks down starches into sugar, some starches don’t have a lot of sugar in them (example rice and potato)…but ever notice how they can taste a little bit sweet?  That’s the amylase in your saliva. Cellulase is the enzyme that breaks down cellulose for digestion.  Did you know that most animals, including humans, do not make cellulase? What is cellulose?  It’s what we call dietary fiber…your greens.  That’s why we call them roughage…because we don’t have enough cellulase to digest all of the greens.  There is so much more to go into about enzymes…but it gets very complicated and scientific.  But, this should give you a quick rundown of the enzymes in GlutenEase.

Now, some people are a little confused about what GlutenEase is for and think that it is to prevent celiac symptoms.  That simply is not true….this is from the company…

”Enzymedica GlutenEase™; supports people suffering with gluten or casein intolerance. GlutenEase is not formulated to prevent celiac symptoms. GlutenEase contains a modified Protease Thera-blend with an enzyme activity called DPP-IV. Proteases high in DPP-IV activity assist in normalizing inflammatory response to the gluten peptide, thus better digesting and utilizing gluten containing foods. This proactively supports the gut, allowing proteins to be properly broken down and absorbed in their digested state; broadening the potential food groups a person may eat. GlutenEase may also be used by those who wish to remain on the GFCF diet to ensure complete breakdown of proteins safe and effectively. “

Now…what do I think about it?  I think it is great!  I take them after I eat out at a restaurant or if I eat at someone’s house, just in case, and they really seem to help with the symptoms.  9 times out of 10 I don’t have any symptoms at all and on the 10^th time, the symptoms have been much less than they normally would have been.

Let me make something clear though, these are not made for you to go to a pizzeria, eat a whole pizza and then take a pill and think you’re not going to pay for it later.  These are if you ingested gluten…by accident…in small amounts.

Here is coupon code for you all to try them out…

Phone: 888.918.1118

Coupon code: MC2010 (phone code only)

This code is good for $2.00 off (60 count) or $3.00 off (120 count)

Enzymedica – GlutenEase

Please write in and let me know what you all think about them after you have tried them!

I am soooo excited!!  I feel like screaming it from the rooftops!!  General Mills will be introducing a gluten free Bisquick AND Hamburger Helper!!

The Hamburger Helper will be available in three flavors; Chicken Fried Rice, Cheesy Hashbrowns and Beef Fried Rice. They will be rolling out the new products this summer.  The Hamburger Helper will be around June and Bisquick in later summer.  So PLEASE…remember to check the ingredients!!!

General Mills will be test driving their Hamburger Helper at the Celiac Disease Foundation Annual Education Conference, so if you get to go to the conference…please check it out and let us all know how was!  I’m sure it will be great!!!