Gluten what? Gluten who? GLUTEN FREE!

Im sure that some of you may know what Celiac Disease is but, for the ones that dont know what it is, i will fill you in! Its a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are very important for staying healthy! The damage is due to a reaction to eating Gluten, witch is found in wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats! Going Gluten free is the only medically accepted treatment for Celiac Disease!

What you Probably dont know is that Gluten can be found in a lot more products then you think, not just bread! Like some canned fruits and veggies could have it in there syrups! Processed lunch meat, hot dogs, sausages and frozen dinners containing meat usually include gluten, unless they are labeled otherwise! Condiments, including soy sauce, ketchup, white vinegar, mustard, malt, horseradish and curry powder may contain gluten and should be avoided! any beverages containing malt, including malted hot chocolate, malted milkshakes, some chocolate milk, beer and ale. Additionally, alcoholic beverages containing rye, wheat, oats, barley or buckwheat must be avoided. Beverages that may also contain gluten include instant coffee and root beer.

As you can see it can be a very hard life to live if you have to read labels so thats why im here Crazy Savings Mama (super hero music playing the background) In this blog i will give some tips, links, recipes and even a list of products that you can find in a store near you! So grab yourself a glass of 8th Continent Soymilk and get cozy because i am ready to fill your heads with lots of fun stuff!

First of all here is a great web site that i found that has it all, recipes, tips and best of all has there own line of foods that you can order! its a must to check out!! I reviewed some of the recipes and some of them sound so good that i may even try them! like the Quick Garlic-Shrimp Pasta! How yummy does that sound... and it is all Gluten free... for more recipes check out: http://www.glutenfreeda.com/recipe-index.asp
and if you want to buy there food witch may i add looks very yummy as well check out:http://www.celiac.com/glutenfreemall/glutenfreeda-m-140.html

Something that i did not know is that Betty Crocker has its own Gluten free line of products as well, SWEET right, they have: Bisquick, Brownies, Devils food cake mix, Yellow cake mix, Chocolate chip cookie mix! and the best part is that you can always find coupons for these at coupons.com and or smartsource.com
A lot of General Mills products come Gluten free check it out here: http://www.glutenfreely.com
Another know name in the stores near you would be Newmens Own, they have Gluten free salad dressings and one of mine and my kids favorite snack ever is Pop corn.. thats right they have a gluten free pop corn, witch can be bought off of walmart.com!

Tips On How To Determine If A Product Is Gluten-Free

The best way to determine if a product is gluten-free is to contact the manufacturer. Reading labels only tells part of the story; you can determine if a food contains gluten by looking at the label, but you cannot determine if it is gluten-free; this is true even with the labeling law that went into effect in January 2006: only wheat is specified on the label, not barley, oats, or rye. Very small amounts of ingredients may not be listed on the label; products may also be processed with ingredients (i.e., flour on the conveyor belt) that are not listed on the label or processed in a facility that also processes gluten-containing products, and this is not always listed on the label.
First thing, check the label to see if it says “gluten-free” anywhere. This can be on the front, back, by the ingredients, buried in a paragraph of information about how great the product is, in big letters, in small letters; there is no standard. Even if it says gluten-free, you still have to check the label. Some manufacturers consider their products gluten-free, even if they contain wheat, as long as they test at below 20 parts per million of gluten. For some people who only avoid most gluten, this may be acceptable, but for most celiacs it is not.
If the label does not state that the product is gluten-free, read through the ingredient list for obvious sources of gluten. Direct mention of wheat, rye, or barley means the food contains gluten and is not suitable for a gluten-free diet. Oats is also a questionable ingredient as well because of the likelihood of oats containing gluten through cross contamination. All other foods should be checked in one of the following ways to determine if the product is gluten-free.
If the label states that the product is processed in a facility that also processes wheat or if it is produced on the same lines as a product that contains wheat or gluten, the product should not be considered gluten-free without further investigation, even if the label indicates that good manufacturing processes are used to separate ingredients (more about this below). In many cases, these products may be acceptable, so don’t eliminate a product just because of that statement. Once you have determined by examining the label that the product contains no obvious gluten, you must begin to investigate the product.

When you get a prescription filled, be sure to ask the pharmacist if it is gluten-free. A good pharmacist will call the manufacturer to determine if is gluten-free for you. You can also check out www.glutenfreedrugs.com for more information about gluten in drugs. There are a few online lists, such as Clan Thompson, that list pharmaceuticals. Stokes Pharmacy in New Jersey will formulate gluten-free drugs for you if none are commercially available.

my goodness... that was a load of information in short amount of time... if you have any questions or think that you may have Celiac Disease consult your PCP and get all the information you need from them! I hope this helps a little bit!