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Gluten-Free Diet

Embracing the Gluten-Free Diet Makes Life Easier

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 4 Comments

As someone who used to fill up on bread and salad when dining out, leading me to take most of my entrée to-go, I know what it’s like to change your diet (and life) in a way that’s almost inconceivable to most people. It’s still unclear to me why I was able to adapt to the gluten-free diet (and lifestyle) as easily as I did and it was certainly not all wine and roses from the get-go.

Like most people, I thought in the beginning that I’d never be able to learn the ins and outs of the diet, let alone learn how to eat out and travel safely. Most people I encountered when I started this journey were more than happy to tell me I would not be able to do any of those things and that I just needed to accept it and move on. To this day, I’m so very grateful to all those ‘naysayers’ who prompted my decision to prove them very wrong.

Think about this. Most people don’t want to be on a restricted diet even for a relatively short time. Yet we’re expected to be on one every day for the rest of our lives. It’s really a hard pill to swallow, so to speak. We don’t even get weekends off or vacations or holidays. It’s a never-ending chore to watch every morsel of food and every sip of drink we consume to ensure it’s safe.

If we chose to feel deprived instead of focusing on all the gluten-free goodness that is available to us now, we’re doing ourselves a huge disservice. Who cares about what we have to do when the items we can enjoy greatly outweigh the things we need to avoid? The truth is the average person living gluten-free eats a much more varied and interesting diet than the average person who has no diet restrictions. Also, many people choose to make healthier food choices once they have started reading food labels. At our house, we learned that many of the food items in our pantry were full of things that we now know aren’t real food ingredients.

It’s more fun to focus on the positive rather than the negative in almost any situation. This is obviously very true when talking about the gluten-free diet and lifestyle. All of us have our off days when we just want to grab a bite without having to put so much thought into what we’re eating. We want to go to the holiday party without playing 100 questions with the hostess or caterer. We want to go out for a burger and fries and have a bun – and fries – regardless of how they were cooked. It’s normal to have those feelings and be annoyed about our restrictions at times. But trust me when I say that it makes life a lot easier to just embrace the diet, learn the lifestyle, and dare I say – move on.

*If you’re new to the gluten-free diet, be sure to check out our Gluten-Free Diet Guide.

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

I often forget that there are many people out there that are not only gluten-free, but dairy-free as well.  I can’t even begin to imagine what a challenge that is in addition to maintaining a strict gluten-free diet. I often rejoice about finding amazing gluten-free products only to find out that many others can’t share in my excitement. I have made a mission to start keeping my eyes opened for more products that aren’t only gluten-free but dairy-free (and may be free of many other allergens as well).

I recently saw that Hain Celestial has a new gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip on the market – Chocolate Dream Semisweet Chocolate Baking Chips. While they also distribute gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chips from Tropical Source, the Chocolate Dream chips are made by the same people (Taste the Dream) that make Rice Dream, Soy Dream, Almond Dream, etc. I love the Chocolate Dream Dairy-Free Chocolate Bars, so I would imagine that the chocolate chips were equally as good.

Enjoy Life Foods makes a gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip that is also free of peanuts, tree nuts, soy and egg.  While the others don’t have those ingredients added, they are made in a facility where nuts (almonds) may be present.  I have used these as a topping for ice cream and in baked goods and they work nicely.  A coupon is available on the Enjoy Life home page for $.55 off any Enjoy Life product.

Tropical Source by Sunspire makes a wonderful gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip.   Like the Chocolate Dream, they are made in a facility that processes nuts, so they may not be safe for those with nut allergies.

If I had to choose a favorite from the list above, it would be the Tropical Source by Sunspire Chocolate Chips.  Even though I haven’t tried the Chocolate Dream Chocolate Chips, I have tried the chocolate bars.  The Tropical Source chips are amazing.  I love the taste & texture and would be willing to bet that it would be hard to tell them apart from a Nestle or Hershey’s Chocolate Chip.

If you can have dairy, the following list compiles some of the gluten-free chip varieties:

Here are a list of verified gluten-free chips from Nestle:

  • milk chocolate chips
  • semi sweet morsels
  • chocolate chunks
  • semi sweet mini morsels
  • milk chocolate morsels
  • premier white morsels
  • peanut butter & milk morsels
  • milk chocolate & peanut butter swirled morsels
  • semi sweet & premier white swirled morsels

***The Nestle butterscotch chips are not gluten-free.

If you are looking for a butterscotch chip, Hershey’s are gluten-free, as are these others:

  • Special Dark
  • cinnamon
  • semi sweet
  • milk chocolate

All of this talk about chocolate chips has me wanting to bake some cookies now!

Budget Gluten-Free Food Shopping Tips

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One of the first things people realize when they start following the gluten-free diet is that if they want to enjoy gluten-free replacement items like bread, pizza, doughnuts, etc., they are going to pay a lot of money for the privilege. Leaving those items out of your diet will save a lot of money, but that isn’t a reasonable thing for most people to do unless they didn’t eat those types of foods when they ate gluten.

Shopping on Amazon.com is one of the best ways to save on gluten-free food, but since you have to buy most things in bulk, it’s only feasible to purchase things you know you like. Keep in mind that you need to be careful when shopping on that site because they always have non-gluten-free items listed in the gluten-free section. The company isn’t trying to dupe anyone into buying products that will make them sick. Things just slip by like vegan or sugar-free items at times, by mistake.

To save money at your local grocery store, take advantage of specials like 2 for deals on items that are gluten-free but not replacement-type foods. Various pasta sauces and Progresso soups that are labeled gluten-free routinely go on sale for 50% off at Publix stores. Kroger, Ingles, Hy-Vee, Food Giant, Winn-Dixie, Safeway, and other chains all offer ways to save money in various ways. You can get frequent shoppers cards at many of them which give you lower prices on tons of items throughout the store. Some might be gluten-free so stocking up on them can save a lot of money over time.

Lately, there have been discounting coupons (the kind you cut out) in circulars for various gluten-free items like Food Should Taste Good chips, Chex cereals, and Swanson broths. As always, diligence is needed when shopping as many coupons are good for both gluten and gluten-free products from the lines. Some health food stores have their own coupon books – or industry coupon books which offer savings at those stores.

Vitacost presently offers over 500 gluten-free items and free shipping on orders over $49. They also sell many items by the unit there so case purchases are not required for all the items they offer.

Your local dollar store might be worth checking out for great deals too. Even though you’re not likely to find frozen gluten-free waffles in the freezer at such stores, they often have simple items like beans, olives, and other shelf-stable foods. Some are gluten-free even if not labeled that way. Please note that shopping for food at those stores requires one to be very proficient in deciphering food labels.

As I’ve said time and again, shopping with gluten-free friends for items you can only purchase only online can really cut down your shipping costs. In the past, I’ve done this for everything from bagels to doughnuts to buttermilk biscuit dough. The more people you can order with, the more money you’ll save. Just like learning the gluten-free diet takes a lot of time, so does saving money on gluten-free food. With the current economic situation, it definitely pays to spend a little time finding the best deals out there for both natural and specialty gluten-free foods.

Gluten-Free Valentine’s Day Candy Choices Limited

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 4 Comments

The very first holiday I encountered after my celiac diagnosis was Valentine’s Day. We went out to dinner and had a wonderful meal, but not a wonderful experience due to the two-hour wait. Back then, I did not know to always have a snack in my purse for such situations. Because I didn’t know about that many places to eat safely at, we chose an out-of-the-way place (that doesn’t take reservations) where the bartender had celiac and her husband was the chef. Earlier that day, I’d made a heart-shaped gluten-free cake (my first ever) and it was so awful we threw it out instead of putting it out back for the birds, squirrels, and chipmunks to eat. It was a good thing that there was a gluten-free dessert on the menu that night.

My husband was as overwhelmed as I was about my new diet since he did almost all the cooking in our house back then. He decided to try and find some Gluten-Free Valentine’s Day candy for me, even though I much prefer flowers over candy. Much to his dismay, no safe candy was to be found so I got gorgeous roses instead. That was more than fine by me, but I felt bad that he felt so bad about striking out looking for a heart-shaped box of gluten-free candy.

Many gluten-free people want Valentine’s Day candy and I’m sorry to report that over five years later, it is still not that easy to find gluten-free candy that is specifically marketed for this holiday. I’m talking about the heart-shaped boxes that line the aisles of every Target, grocery store, and drug store at this time of year. Instead of complaining about the lack of a gluten-free labeling law on this one, my gripe is actually with the companies that wrap these boxes in so much colored cellophane that you could not read the ingredients if someone offered you a million dollars to do so. At least, you could not read them unless you ripped the wrapping off the box. Since you can’t see the ingredients on so many of those heart candy boxes, it does not matter if the product is labeled gluten-free or not.

MP900399599I spotted some cute Peeps Valentine’s Day candy that, like their Easter candy (and I think their entire line), is labeled gluten-free. It’s too bad I don’t care for this line of sweets at all. Necco, the company that makes Sweethearts Conversation Heart candies, states the hearts are gluten-free, but the boxes I checked last week were not labeled as such. I enjoy the Thin Mints from that line which are listed as gluten-free on the company’s website, but also not marked on the box.  Both Godiva and Ghirardelli continue to state their items can’t be considered gluten-free due to the way the products are made.

There is a lot of gluten-free candy out there, but the seasonal candy made for Valentine’s Day is mostly either not gluten-free or is questionable due to how it’s processed. One interesting find that came up in my candy search was this chocolate rose bouquet. It’s even dairy-free as is the entire line. If I get a hankering for something sweet on Valentine’s Day, I’ll make something special that is both delicious and undeniably safe for me to enjoy. Below are several tasty recipes to suit this need. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Gluten-Free Labeling Laws in the U.S. and Canada

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

There is a lot of recent news about potential gluten-free labeling laws in the U.S. and Canada. As most of us know, the FDA has been dragging its feet for a couple of years now regarding its finalization of an allergen labeling law in the U.S. The agency posted suggested guidelines back in 2006 and has updated them since then, but to date, no law is in effect. That means that companies that make gluten-free products can do as they please in terms of labeling them. Manufacturers are free to abide by the FDA’s proposed guidelines or they can ignore them.

If you want to see things change and want the FDA to get off the fence and rule on what exactly gluten-free labeling laws mean here, this is your time to be heard. The American Celiac Disease Alliance is asking for our help in getting something done once and for all. The goal is to get a final ruling on the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) sooner rather than later. The ruling is now almost three years overdue since it was supposed to be finalized in August 2008.  It’s time to be a part of the change we want to see in the world (or in this case in the gluten-free market). Please read more about what you can do here.

North of the U.S. border in Canada, a big proposed gluten-free labeling law is at risk of being weakened due to a powerful beer industry lobby. Personally, I’m much more concerned that food is labeled if it contains gluten than beer, but this challenge by the brewing industry threatens to negatively impact the entire ruling. The frustration of the many people who’ve worked tirelessly on the proposed law (and allergic consumers) in Canada is completely understandable. Shelley Case and a host of other people in the Canadian Celiac Association are doing everything they can to make sure this important ruling helps protect allergic consumers. Shelley Case recently reported the following information to the celiac listserv:

The beer industry has come out in strong opposition to the proposed food allergen/gluten labeling regulatory changes in Canada. This opposition by a powerful private interest group threatens to derail final approval of the proposed changes by the federal government. Food allergy and celiac groups are deeply concerned with this development and that the regulations might not be passed.

Even though I knew that the Barley Growers of America have a surprisingly powerful lobby in the U.S. (which has impacted the FALPA ruling by the FDA), I was not aware that beer brewers in Canada are determined to keep gluten-free labeling laws from affecting their products too. What I really wonder about is why brewing companies – or any others for that matter – want to hide what’s in their products (that is what they’re doing if they aren’t willing to clearly disclose the ingredients) when allergic customers will get sick from consuming them. That seems more than unethical no matter which way you look at it. Selling products that will make people sick is simply bad business.

Read more about this important issue here. To find out how you can help keep the proposed labeling law changes in Canada from being changed to suit the beer industry, please check out this petition. Just today, Anaphylaxis Canada reached out to the Prime Minister about this urgent issue with this letter.