A gluten free diet in Holland does not seem easy at first, but actually it is very straight forward. Some foreknowledge makes a gluten free diet even easier.
At first, I felt that serving staff in restaurants were not savvy when it comes to a gluten free diet. I’m used to Canada or travel in the United States where when I mention a wheat-free diet, the server usually responds with gluten-free diet. Then I know they get it.
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Meat can cause an allergic reaction for some people, despite the belief by some doctors that a meat allergy does not exist.
Here is a question from Takudzwa about having a reaction to meat:
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Gluten in natural or artificial flavors is a significant risk. Flavors aren’t automatically contaminated, but they could contain gluten.
It seems surprising, even wrong, that artificial flavors, and especially natural flavors would contain wheat or gluten!
If you have celiac disease or a gluten allergy, this may even incense you – how could this be?
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Following a gluten-free diet can seem difficult. This list of fish will help inspire new gluten free meals for your gluten free diet.
There are so many types of edible fish in the world. This list does not aim to cover every type of fish. I do want to show you the variety of food you can experience, even if you have celiac disease or a gluten allergy.
The list has been broken into several parts. This one covers flat fish.
For more information about fish and the gluten free diet, see Gluten Free Foods – Fish.
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If you are avoiding gluten, be careful with sausages. Some are ok, some contain wheat or other gluten-contaminated ingredients.
This is very important if you have a gluten allergy, celiac disease, or some other gluten intolerance.
Sausages have a bad reputation. They are essentially ground meat (or ground meat byproducts), stuffed into an animal intestine skin, or more recently it could be a synthetic skin. Good sausages are fundamentally just meat, possibly with additional flavoring ingredients such as garlic, spices or herbs.
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Fish is an excellent addition to any diet. Prepared fish-based foods may contain wheat, but fish can easily be prepared gluten-free.
Fish is high in protein, and many types of fish (the so-called “pelagic fishes”) are high in omega 3 fatty acids.
Not all types of fish are healthy if eaten in large quantities, as discussed in this article.
If celiac disease or a gluten allergy has you on a gluten free diet, fish is a great way to expand your diet.
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Celiac disease is not unique to humans. Some types of monkey also suffer from the disease.
Wheat may not be in the diet of your average monkey, but there is good reason to be interested in animals with celiac disease.
Scientists studying celiac disease need an “animal model” for the disease so that they can better study it.
An animal model means that a disease mechanism similar to that found in humans is identified in an animal. The symptoms may not be the same, and the animal may react differently from the human, but at least scientists can study the disease, and how different treatments might affect the outcome of the disease.
Scientists tested a group of captive rhesus macaques with chronic diarrhea. Some were found to test positive for celiac disease, using ELISA-based antibody tests.
These monkeys were given a gluten-free diet, and their symptoms disappeared. Symptoms returned when they started eating gluten again.
Poor monkeys!
The scientists of course were happy to have animals on which to test treatments and study celiac disease.
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Food intolerance is a general term. While symptoms may be similar among food intolerances, testing, treatment and risks vary.
For example, both a gluten allergy and celiac disease are food intolerances. Either one could cause a variety of similar symptoms (see gluten allergy symptoms and celiac disease symptoms), but they are very different conditions.
Celiac disease is much more serious than a gluten allergy because it involves tissue damage, and many organs in the body can be affected, causing what appear to be diseases in their own right (thyroid conditions, cancer, diabetes etc.)
There are four classifications of food intolerance:
Metabolic diseases are rare at less than 0.01% of the population. An example of a metabolic disease is a fructose intolerance.
Food allergies are a problem for 5% of the population. 20% of people with food allergies, or 0.1% of the total population, have what is called an IgE mediated immune response when exposed to the offending food. IgE allergies can be detected with a RAST blood test, but this does not detect allergies in 80% of people with a food allergy.
A food elimination diet is the best way to test for a food allergy because it will uncover all types of food allergy. Unfortunately, many if not most doctors do not recommend this type of testing, and believe that a negative RAST test means the patient does not have a food allergy.
Celiac disease is an example of a congenital digestive disorder. It is an inherited condition, and is not an allergy.
Classic celiac disease causes damage to the intestinal tract. Celiac disease may affect other organs of the body with possibly serious consequences. These effects are often overlooked by doctors, even if they are aware of celiac disease.
There are two established genetic factors for celiac disease, called DQ2 and DQ8.
Most autoimmune conditions have no known universal trigger. Arthritis is more prevalent in celiacs, and cutting out foods from the nightshade family seems to help some people with arthritis, but there is no one known food or group of foods that cases it.
With celiac disease, there is only one trigger: gluten. Gluten plus a genetic disposition for celiac plus environmental conditions in many cases leads to celiac disease to varying degrees, depending on the person.
Lactose intolerance is another example of congenital digestive disorder. Lactose is a complex sugar found in milk. In this case, the body has stopped producing the enzyme required to digest lactose. This condition is very common. Symptoms include flatulence and diarrhea. Recovery is quick after removal of milk products in the diet.
A gluten intolerance is also possible, a non-celiac, non-allergy reaction to gluten.
This article includes information from a fact sheet from the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center.
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Gluten free diet safety: track gluten allergy and wheat allergy food recalls. This page contains information about allergy alerts relating to wheat and gluten.
Remember to always read food labels and watch out for a change of formulation. You may want to call the manufacturer of your favourite foods to encourage them to continue producing gluten-free or wheat-free food products.
Check these alerts regularly to make sure you do not eat a product known to be contaminated with wheat and gluten.
More alert sources will be added over time.
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Canker sores, also known as aphthous ulcers, are a type of open sore that appears inside the mouth. According to some, the cause is unknown, but sometimes there is a clear cause.
In this article we will look at what a canker sore is, what it is not, and some possible causes. If your canker sores are triggered by one of these causes, then you have a good chance of eliminating canker sores.
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