Have a friend or family member that is on a gluten free diet?    For these people, Amazon has made your shopping simple.   Whether you are looking for a gluten free Halloween gift basket, a gluten free Christmas gift basket, a gluten free Valentine’s Day gift basket, or even a year-around gluten free gift basket, Amazon has you covered!

Check out Amazon’s selection of gluten free gift baskets.

Have you ever noticed some Celiacs can have oats while others can’t without having painful Celiac symptoms?   There is a reason for this, at least according to a recent study which looked at the molecular basis for oats intolerance in people with Celiac Disease. 

Because this is one of those really common questions, I figured it couldn’t hurt to share this information with our readers.   Here is the study and the results:

Methods and Findings

We selected for study nine adults with celiac disease who had a history of oats exposure. Four of the patients had clinical symptoms on an oats-containing diet, and three of these four patients had intestinal inflammation typical of celiac disease at the time of oats exposure. We established oats-avenin-specific and -reactive intestinal T-cell lines from these three patients, as well as from two other patients who appeared to tolerate oats. The avenin-reactive T-cell lines recognized avenin peptides in the context of HLA-DQ2. These peptides have sequences rich in proline and glutamine residues closely resembling wheat gluten epitopes. Deamidation (glutamine?glutamic acid conversion) by tissue transglutaminase was involved in the avenin epitope formation.

Conclusions

We conclude that some celiac disease patients have avenin-reactive mucosal T-cells that can cause mucosal inflammation. Oat intolerance may be a reason for villous atrophy and inflammation in patients with celiac disease who are eating oats but otherwise are adhering to a strict gluten-free diet. Clinical follow-up of celiac disease patients eating oats is advisable.

Celiac Disease, by definition is a digestive condition triggered by consumption of the protein gluten, which is found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust and many other foods containing wheat, barley or rye.  Once a person with celiac disease eats foods containing gluten, an immune reaction occurs in the small intestine, resulting in damage to the surface of the small intestine and an inability to absorb certain nutrients from food.  Therefore, a person must be exposed to gluten before they can ever develop Celiac Disease.

Celiac Disease is often inherited; If someone in your immediate family has it, chances are 5 percent to 15 percent that you may as well. It can occur at any age, although problems don’t appear until gluten is introduced into the diet.  However, exposure to gluten may not trigger Celiac Disease.  Often for unknown reasons, the disease emerges after some form of trauma: an infection, a physical injury, the stress of pregnancy, severe stress or surgery.

Many people who experience some, all or non of the symptoms of Celiac Disease do not necessarily have the disease, but rather are suffering from a gluten intolerance.  The key factor in having a diagnosis of Celiac Disease is specific damage to the small intestine.

Celiac Disease occurs when there is damage to the villi located in your small intestine.  Villi are tiny, hair-like projections resembling the deep pile of a plush carpet on a microscopic scale. Villi work to absorb vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from the food you eat. In a person with Celiac Disease, the gluten attack and destroy the villi.  Without villi, the inner surface of the small intestine becomes less like a plush carpet and more like a tile floor, and your body is unable to absorb nutrients necessary for health and growth. Instead, nutrients such as fat, protein, vitamins and minerals are eliminated with your stool. Eventually, decreased absorption of nutrients (malabsorption) can cause vitamin deficiencies that deprive your brain, peripheral nervous system, bones, liver and other organs of vital nourishment, which can lead to other illnesses. The decreased nutrient absorption that occurs in celiac disease is especially serious in children, who need proper nutrition to develop and grow.

People with celiac disease carry higher than normal levels of certain antibodies (anti-gliadin, anti-endomysium and anti-tissue transglutaminase).  In people with celiac disease, their immune systems may be recognizing gluten as a foreign substance and producing elevated levels of antibodies to get rid of it. A blood test can detect high levels of these antibodies and is used to initially detect people who are most likely to have the disease and who may need further testing. To confirm the diagnosis, your doctor may need to do an endoscopy to examine a small portion of intestinal tissue to check for damage to the villi.

They key to a diagnosis of Celiac Disease is exposure to gluten and damage to the small intestine.  Having a family member with the disease increases the risk of having the disease.  If you are concerned you may be at risk for the diesease, even if you are not currently exhibiting symptoms you can ask your doctor for a blood test to determine if your anti-gliadin, anti-endomysium and anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies are elevated.

For more information on Celiac Disease, visit the MayoClinic.com.

There seems to be a very positive trend of pizza establishments offering a gluten free option.  According to Pizza Marketplace, the latest business to jump on this trend is Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza, which is located throughout California and some parts of Nevada.   The gluten free pizza is available for any of their 24 pizzas.

So, what is your experience with pizza establishments?  Obviously cross-contamination is a major concern for anyone with Celiac Disease who eats at restaurants, but that almost seems heightened in pizza establishments.  Do you find that their employees at pizza places are usually pretty well educated on cross-contamination and being gluten free?

According to a recent post over at the Journal Inquirer, it looks like a gluten free pot luck will be held at 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 2nd in Manchester, Connecticut.  If you live in that area, here are the details you’ll need:

Gluten-free pot luck. A gluten-free pot luck dinner will be held at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2, at Community Baptist Church, 585 E. Center St. (Routes 6 and 44). Bring a gluten-free dish to share and your recipe, and a place setting. RSVP by Oct. 25 to Ginny Kuhn, 860-649-9818. Sponsor is Celiac Support Group of Central and Eastern CT. All are welcome.

For most of the United States, beggar’s night will take place tonight (October 31st), which is when kids are able to safely trick-or-treat.   For parents who have children with Celiac Disease, however, beggar’s night can instead often be a very difficult time.  

There is of course nothing stopping your child from trick-or-treating with their friends, but they will often not be able to eat much of their haul.   If you find yourself in this situation, remember that there are a bunch of gluten free Halloween candy that your child can have, which we have written about previously.   If you have people in your house that are not gluten free, you can switch out the gluten filled candy for gluten free stuff.    Parents may also want to purchase extra gluten free candy ahead of time and switch it out with the gluten candies.    This way your child can enjoy their Halloween experience and feel like a normal child!

Oh, and if you’d like to read something inspiring, check out this post about a Rib Mountain neighborhood offering an allergy friendly trick-or-treat event.