It’s the first Wednesday of the month again, and that means that Custom Choice Cereal in cooperation with our advisor Dr. Stephen Wangen offers you another Q&A session.
You are encouraged to ask this renown expert who has celiac disease himself anything you always wanted to know about following a gluten- or wheat-free diet. Feel free to have a look at the Gluten Free Doctor’s impressive resume and expertise on our Custom Choice Cereal people page.
But now to the important things, here is how it works:
1. Post your question as a comment to this blog entry
2. We’ll send all questions to Dr. Wangen
3. Dr. Wangen’s answers will be published in reply to your comments
4. Key: First come – first serve. And we have to keep it to 5 questions
We at Custom Choice Cereal are excited that Dr. Stephen Wangen agrees to provide this great service to you. Please understand that he has a busy schedule that we therefore have to limit each session to 5 questions. Thank you very much!
I must admit that I had no idea that watching a video about celiac disease could be so entertaining and educating at the same time! It starts great and only gets better
Dr. Mike at MyFox News in Philadelphia educates about celiac but also shares his thoughts on the gluten-free diet as a weight-loss diet:“You need to eat less and exercise more.” Makes sense, doesn’t it? He continues to say “It’s a matter of caloric accounting!” Watch the entire highly entertaining video below, you will learn (and laugh) quite a bit!
Despite author Melinda Beck’s thorough research, the article incorrectly listed envelope adhesives, distilled alcoholic beverages and vinegars, ketchup, ice creams, and lipsticks as products that celiacs should avoid. It speaks for the integrity of the Journal that they printed the following statement of corrections in Saturday’s paper:
“Envelope adhesives do not contain gluten, and the distillation process removes the gluten from alcoholic beverages and distilled vinegars that are made from gluten-containing grains, according to registered dietitian Shelley Case, member of the Celiac Disease Foundation Medical Advisory Board. Ketchup and most ice creams are also gluten-free, and the amount of gluten in some lipsticks is too small to pose health problems. A Tuesday Health Journal incorrectly included all these products among those that people with celiac disease should avoid.”
The Wall Street Journal’s Health Journal columnist Melinda Beck wrote a great article on who has to stick to a gluten-free diet (celiacs, people with a wheat allergy, and those with a sensitivity to gluten). I was pretty impressed by the thoroughness of the research that was done and wanted to share it with you as part of our customer service. It particularly struck me that
Melinda described many of the most common symptoms that ‘glutened’ celiacs experience
it is not well understood how gluten can cause psychiatric and behavioral changes (keyword: leaky-gut)
7% of the population has anti-gliadin antibodies (‘AGA’), as do 18% of people with autism, and 20% of those with schizophrenia
The article also points out that much more research is needed to understand why the various conditions that benefit from a gluten-free diet are so much more prevalent today than several decades ago. While celiac disease was initially believed to begin only during childhood, it is now know that it can start at any time during the life of a person with the genetic predisposition.
In a little video, Melinda Beck also explains that the gluten-free diet is not a weight-loss diet, and that one should not embark lightly on a gluten-free diet.
It’s not that we at Custom Choice Cereal disagree. Trying to look at the bright side of life however, we think that there are pretty good reasons why everyone should be happy about this trend. Even if some of the information provided through mass media turns out not to be very accurate, here are our top 3 reasons to appreciate the buzz on eating gluten-free:
More consumers realize that they might benefit from a gluten-free diet. As one reader of the Toronto Star – who by the way stresses that it is not a fad diet – writes: “For years I suffered with debilitating eczema and spent thousands of dollars seeking treatment. It wasn’t until I tried going gluten-free that I got relief from the eczema, along with several other health issues I never considered being related to gluten. And I am not a celiac. One doesn’t need to be a celiac to notice positive health changes when gluten is eliminated from the diet.”
As more people hear about eating gluten-free, it will very likely increase the rate of diagnosis of celiac disease and gluten sensitivities. Considering that 97% of celiacs remain undiagnosed, that’s a great thing, at the very least for the folks who suffer (often for years) without knowing the reason
As you can already tell, increased awareness for gluten-free foods results in positive reactions from the food industry, bringing everyone more choices and making living gluten-free much easier
We fully sympathize with those of you who are infuriated by inaccurate reporting on celiac disease and know that it can be tough to see the positive in some of the media coverage. Give seeing the positive a try though, it’s just not worth your energy being mad!
Did you find another reason why everyone benefits from the buzz about the gluten-free diet? Don’t be shy about it, let us at Custom Choice Cereal and everyone else know about it and leave us a comment!
Finding gluten-free food that tastes good is still a challenge in many areas. That’s part of the reason why we came up with Custom Choice Cereal – providing a fun gluten-free experience! If you are interested in finding out more about how our custom gluten-free cereal came to life you are invited to read our story.
Now that the summer break is coming to an end, there are a few gluten-free food shows and and vendor fairs coming up over the next two months. These are great events to find out about anything gluten-free. While I like food events of any kinds (every rule has an exception, mine is fish), these fairs are super helpful if you have celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity.
I am sure we have overlooked one or the other event, so please feel free to add to the list in the comment section. We at Custom Choice Cereal (and I am sure everyone else) appreciate your help!
It is a great start into the new week as celiac disease and gluten intolerance are getting more and more attention from main stream media!
Last week Custom Choice Cereal shared a video from the Today Show on the gluten-free diet. It mostly covered celebrities and had some inaccuracies but hopefully also drew some attention to celiac disease and the reasons why some people have to go on a gluten-free diet.
In Saturday’s “Living Well” segment of NBC Chicago, we are “straightened out a little” by Dr. Mary Ann Malloy. You can watch the entire video below, but this is hands down the best mainstream media coverage of celiac disease I’ve seen so far. Here are just a few of the highlights:
Celiac disease described as a greatly under-diagnosed condition
Great definition of celiac disease (autoimmune reaction damaging of small intestines)
Explains what happens to a celiac consuming gluten: damage of small intestines, preventing absorption of nutrients from food
Gives common symptoms, including long-term implications such as cancer
Explains how diagnosis works through blood test AND biopsy
Highlights that treatment is simple: a complete gluten-free diet!
Stresses the importance of constant education on celiac disease, i.e. working with a dietitian and reading labels
Clearly distinguishes between gluten intolerance and celiac disease!
Say what you want, but Chelsea Clinton’s by now famous gluten-free wedding cake has further increased awareness for celiac disease.
Though some regard it as a “fad diet”, a higher demand for gluten-free foods results in more choices for celiacs and those who have a gluten intolerance. That’s exactly our mission at Custom Choice Cereal, making the gluten-free life an enjoyable experience by bringing taste and variety to the gluten-free cereal bowl!
Though they define ‘celiac disease’ somewhat loosely we still highly recommend that you watch this video from yesterday’s Today Show! Great job to the Today Show for covering this important topic in such depth!
Our fellow gluten-free foodie Tiffany Janes can be regarded as one of the most active gluten-free advocates out there. In addition to consulting gluten-free food companies and restaurants, she writes her own blog Gluten-free Atlanta and is a constant presence on celiac-disease.com.
You should definitely check out Tiffany’s list because it will help you tremendously, both in the transition to a gluten-free lifestyle or by pointing out a few items you might not have heard about before.
We at Custom Choice Cereal are happy to offer you another Q&A session on celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and living gluten-free or wheat-free with a renown expert in the field, Dr. Stephen Wangen.
Suffering from celiac disease himself, Stephen has devoted his life to educating and providing help to people effected with digestive issues of various kinds. You can read about The Gluten Free Doctor’s impressive credentials on our page about our advisors.
The whole things is pretty simple and works in 4 easy steps:
1. Post your question as a comment to this blog entry
2. We send all questions to Dr. Wangen
3. Dr. Wangen’s answers will be published in reply to your comments
4. Key: First come – first serve. 5 question limit per session
This great service could not be provided to you without Dr. Wangen’s goodwill. We at Custom Choice Cereal are very thankful that Stephen continues to offer these monthly Q&A session on our blog. At the same time, we’d like to thank you for understanding that out of respect for Dr. Wangen and his time we have to limit each session to 5 questions.
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It’s the first Wednesday of the month again, and that means that Custom Choice Cereal in cooperation with our advisor Dr. Stephen Wangen offers you another Q&A session. 
