Dandruff is an annoying and sometimes embarrassing problem. There are ways to get rid of it that are effective. Here are a few, one of them free.
If you go to your local supermarket or pharmacy, you can find all sorts of anti-dandruff shampoo sold for two or three times the cost of regular shampoo. Some of them work sometimes. [click to continue…]
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Baker’s asthma is a form of occupational asthma experienced by some commercial bakers. This article covers causes and what you can do about it.
Baker’s asthma may be one of the most common forms of occupational asthma.[1] Bakers, millers and grain handlers are at risk of suffering from this allergy. Roman bakers primitive cloth masks to reduce exposure to inhaled flour, so this form of asthma has a long history too.[2]
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Gluten-free diet in Cuba is much easier than your average Western country, but there are some pitfalls to avoid.
Wheat is not a common ingredient in Cuban food, generally speaking. In any case, most people who travel to Cuba stay at a resort, which does not serve the same food as most Cubans eat.
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Symptoms of gluten intolerance vary from one person to the next, and depending on the root cause of the intolerance.
Celiac disease affects roughly 1% of the Western population according to some studies. This may also apply to other populations, but more studies are required.
Gluten allergy affects an unknown number of people, but anecdotal evidence suggests the levels are quite high.
It also appears that some people simply can’t digest gluten.
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Here is a mother’s experience with a gluten-sensitive child who has Asperger syndrome and one way to deal with it.
Different children may react to gluten in different ways, so find out what works best in your case.
Christine left this long and helpful comment which deserves to be an article in its own right.
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Fruit shakes make an ideal gluten free breakfast or snack. This recipe combines pineapple and coconut and adds a few extras to make it filling and healthy!
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A healthy, gluten-free breakfast can be a challenge. A fortified fruit shake is healthy, gluten-free and can be milk free. Fast and easy to make!
Actually, most people who eat wheat have rather unhealthy breakfasts, filled with processed foods and loaded with sugar. So having a fruit shake for breakfast is a perfect healthy alternative, whether you have a gluten allergy, celiac disease or prefer to eat gluten free for any other reason.
The fortified part elevates this shake above mere mushed up fruit, providing fibre and greater sustenance to get you through the morning.
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Little Stream Bakery in Perth, Ontario, bakes gluten-free bread as well as the poisonous variety. I dropped by for a visit today.
I happened to be in the area (too bad I forgot my camera) and couldn’t resist dropping by for a visit. I was particularly curious to know now they separate gluten-contaminated from gluten free bread.
Little Stream Bakery is located just outside of Perth, in a fairly small and unassuming building. They don’t have a big sign, if you weren’t looking out for it, you could easily miss it, and it’s off the main road anyhow. As soon as I saw a roof covered in solar cells, I somehow knew that this was the place.
I’ve been eating Little Stream gluten-free bread for a few years now. Before that I pretty much didn’t eat bread. My gluten allergy has kept me away from wheat for more than two decades, and I couldn’t find any gluten free bread worth eating so I pretty much gave up on bread altogether.
My discovery of Little Stream bread changed all that. It is the best gluten free bread I’ve ever had – tasty, holds together, not too hard, not too soft, and surprisingly flexible for bread made without gluten. I’d say it’s about as flexible as fairly heavy wheat-based bread, as far as I can remember from the last time I handled such bread in another lifetime, or so it seems to me now.
While there I bought some of my favourite buckwheat bread (buckwheat is entirely unrelated to wheat and isn’t even a grain), as well as a loaf of an experimental bread they’re working on, made of rice and chia seeds. Normally, rice-based baking does not produce the best results but I was very impressed with the rice-raisin bread I got from them today.
They do keep the gluten-based flours and gluten-free flours well separated, although I did have the time to them about the protocol they follow to prevent cross contamination. They do have their gluten free protocol explained on their website. They also test for gluten in raw ingredients and finished product using EZ Gluten test strips.
The oven is interesting – they build a big fire in it, which heats up the bricks, then they clean it out and allow the heat stored in the bricks to bake the bread.
Wheat-based bread needs a higher heat than gluten-free bread, so they do the wheat-based bread first. Which I can’t say I’m crazy about, but they say they clean out the oven after that, put the bread pans on trays, and test the baked bread to check there’s been no cross contamination.
They’re thinking about setting up a separate building for gluten-free bread only, a move I wholly approve of. It is apparently the larger part of their business, which is encouraging.
More later when I next get a chance to visit.
Do you have celiac disease or a gluten allergy? Have you tried Little Stream gluten free bread? What do you think? Leave your comments below.
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Yogurt is an excellent addition to the gluten free diet. It is also suitable for those who have a slight lactose intolerance.
Commercial yogurt is readily available, although some brands and flavors are not suitable for those with a gluten allergy or celiac disease, see Gluten Free Yoghurt for details.
This article explains how to make your own yoghurt.
Spelling variations: yogurt, yogourt.
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Wine can be contaminated with gluten, depending on how the wine is made. Here is a list of gluten-free wines and wines to avoid.
The reason for contamination is that some winemakers use wheat flour to caulk the wine aging barrels. Some winemakers use gluten as a clarifying agent for the wine. How much, if any, gluten ends up in the wine in either of these cases is unclear, but rather than taking the risk, you will wan to avoid these wines if you get gluten allergy symptoms or have celiac disease.
In the case of using gluten to clarify wine, note that there are alternatives, including egg whites and isinglass (made from fish bladders). Either of these would render a wine unsuitable for vegans, so I suggest you avoid wine marked as suitable for vegans.
Note that this list is not and never will be complete. The purpose of this article is two-fold:
If you have a gluten allergy or celiac disease, it is important to know which wines are gluten free and which must be avoided.
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