Archive for article round up
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Happy Labor Day weekend to everyone here in the US!
I find it completely crazy how fast time is flying by.
First, a special announcement.
National Foundation for Celiac Awareness
I was asked by the NFCA to help out and present a webinar titled “The Gluten-Free Effect on Athletes: Improving Performance Through Diet.” This free webinar will be taking place on September 21st, at 8:30 PM EST. (Yes, Kristin at the NFCA (who has been incredibly helpful and awesome, by the way) has talked me into staying up past my normal bedtime. Ya’ll can tell me a bedtime story after the webinar.) Click here to register. Make sure to sign up ahead of time, because we will be accepting audience questions before the event. I’m very excited and happy to be involved with such a great organization and event.
OK, onward!
Gluten Free and Celiac Stuff:
Nutrition News
- I’ve mentioned before that I like to use coconut oil and coconut flour in recipes, and did so in my “Cookies that are Almost Good for You” post. There’s lots of information out there on coconut products, but I always like to see it from a neutral (i.e. not financially involved) standpoint. Stephan at the Whole Health Source blog is one smart gluten free cookie, and he is doing a series on tropical plant fats. This post examines the science behind coconut oil. If you are even a little bit a science geek like me, you’ll dig Stephan’s blog. I made a new recipe using coconut cream that I’ll be sharing this week.
- Dr. Stephen Wangen wrote a great post on Understanding the Healthcare Business. This is important stuff. I’ve been working in healthcare for 14 years (holy cow) and have seen it from every angle. As a provider, as a patient, as a case manager for insurance companies, and as a specialist appealing denials, I’ve seen it all. It’s so important for people to understand their policy, what it covers and what it doesn’t. Do this when you are well. There’s lots of confu Understand sing language, so don’t hesitate to make a call and get someone to explain it to you in plain English. Nothing is free, ever. If your policy covers an ambulance ride 100%, great. But it’s not free. Either you are paying for it in your premiums, your employer is, or the taxpayers are. Nothing is free. Understand your policy, and be your own healthcare advocate. If you can’t, find someone who can. (Steps down from my soapbox.)
That’s it for today!
Everyone have a happy, healthy, and safe holiday, or weekend at the very least.
And do it all gluten free!
If you’re stuck indoors, check out Gluten Free and Fit 101 for some goodies to keep you busy. 
And don’t forget to sign up for the NFCA webinar! Do it now!
National Foundation for Celiac Awareness
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Erin
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It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster-this weekend with technology-but here’s the roundup!
Gluten Free and Celiac Stuff:
*The GIG Conference is coming to Florida!-
This is exciting stuff. The Gluten Intolerance Group’s Annual Education Conference will be in Orlando, Florida June 30th-July 2nd, 2011. Orlando is a very celiac friendly town. Mickey Mouse is here. What are you waiting for?! Come on down to the Sunshine State! I am very excited, and hope to meet lots of my online friends there. It’s only about a 3 hour drive from Fort Lauderdale, so I’m very happy to put it on my calendar.
*Eating Well Magazine has an entire Gluten Free Diet Center on their website.
I’ve subscribed to the magazine for a couple years, been on their site a ton of times, and never realized they had this page until this week. They also did a review of a couple of GF cookbooks.
*Melissa and Dallas over at the Whole 9 posted some great tips on eating breadless. In other words-how to get a non-bread including sandwich. Not specifically written for the celiac, but totally applicable. Just add in some education to the preparers on cross contamination concerns and you are golden.
*Heidi of Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom fame posted an allergy free chocolate pudding recipe. It sounded so good, that I-the-queen-of-make-do-with-what-you-have-on-hand, special ordered an ingredient. Seriously.
Here’s why this is a special edition round up:
7 Quick Start Tips for Living a Healthy Gluten Free Fit Life
I am floored, grateful and flattered by all the positive responses I’ve been getting from the “7 Quick Start Tips for Living a Healthy Gluten Free Fit Life” project. I am so happy to hear that you are finding it helpful and encouraging. I wanted to give special recognition to those who have written entire blog posts to review the book. The emails mean no less to me, I can assure you of that. Also, there is a giveaway going on that you can take part in!
In chronological order:
Kim’s review from Gluten Free is Life
Heidi’s review from Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom
Shirley’s review from Gluten Free Easily
Kim’s review from Cook It Allergy Free. Kim is hosting a giveaway, so check it out and enter!
The one year anniversary of Gluten Free Fitness is coming up too! Craziness how quickly time is flying by.
For more information about the 7 Quick Start Tips guide, click here.
If you haven’t yet read Gluten Free and Fit 101, that’s a great place to start.
Please feel free to share any interesting stories you’ve come across in the comments section.
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Erin
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Without further ado-
TEH LINKZ to teh coolness (AKA-the links to articles you may find interesting and informative.)
By the by, if you missed my last post on uncomplicating healthy gluten free eating, please check it out. I’m also going to create a flowsheet and add it to Gluten Free and Fit 101. For real. I think it will make it a bit easier. I doubt if I can figure it out graphically, but we’ll see. Also, I completed an excellent interview with Melissa Diane Smith for the GFF podcast which hopefully will go up next week. Feel free to leave reviews on Itunes if you like the shows!
OK, so that was further ado. To TEH LINKZ:
On the General Health and Nutrition Front:
- “Exercise is Medicine” (and a great slots mokescreen for Big Food) There has been quite a bit of discussion lately regarding the sponsorship given by major food and beverage manufacturers. Yoni Freedhoff always offers interesting observations, and this one does not disappoint. An example once again, you are your own best advocate. Learn and make independent and informed decisions.
- Which incidentally, is why I use THIS beauteous desk since I work at home now:
Treadmill desk for the win!
More on that to come.
On the Celiac/Gluten Free Front:
- Jefferson Adams on Celiac.com takes a look at Long-Term Histological Follow Up of People with Celiac Disease. The take home from this study is that the rate of healing depends on the severity of damage done to the small intestine prior to diagnosis, and compliance with the gluten free diet. Seems kind of ‘well, duh’, but it’s really not. People seem to think they should or can feel better immediately, and as so many things in life, the answer is “it depends.” Summing up, from the article, “These results shows histological recovery generally takes longer than traditionally thought, and that doctors looking to conduct such follow-ups might do well to factor in the patient’s age at diagnosis, the initial disease score, as well as the level of compliance with a gluten free diet.”
(and it doesn’t even mention Chelsea Clinton’s cake!)
Until next time! If you have come across something interesting you’d like to share, please do so in the comments. Don’t be shy!
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Erin
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There is just no end to the really interesting and helpful stuff that gets posted up the the web (aka teh intrewebz-yes, the misspelling is completely intentional and a bit silly.)
photo credit fabcabrera
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The Whole 9 is a blog/website/principle of thinking/consulting site that I recently came across and am really digging.
First of all, how cool is the name “The Whole 9.” Seriously. As in “the whole 9 yards” but with a way cooler vibe.
The Whole 9 are Dallas and Melissa. Heretoafter to be referred to as “they.”
They are very focused on eating real food, making it extremely high in nutrition, but making it fun, approachable, and not so scary. All things I like. They recently completed a road trip where they followed the principles in there “Whole 30″ program, which as they say is a “squeaky clean eating program designed to change your life in 30 days.” I’m not big on classifying foods as “clean” or “dirty”, but it’s terminology that’s widely understood and accepted, so I’m cool with it and use it myself. Anyhow, they documented their experiences with traveling and eating well, and I especially liked the “What’s in Your Cooler?” post. Just goes to show where’s there’s a will, there’s a way to eat well. So suck it up, buttercup, quit complaining, and figure out a way to get it done.
Also on the Whole 9 is a post from Melissa where I was laughing, shaking my head and saying “Thank Goodness there is common sense left in the world!” Read it, it’s worth the minutes out of your life. Then indulge in some carrots.
The Carrot Train to Crazytown
On the Celiac Front:
- Dr. Steven Wangen, author of Healthier Without Wheat, wrote a great post on the difficulties of determining food sensitivities. Since many of us have more than one sensitivity, I found this very helpful and interesting. I’ve had many people write and ask me-”I’m not eating gluten and I still feel terrible.” Many times, other sensitivities can be the culprit. Read the article for more information from Dr. Wangen.
- The Healthy Skeptic posted an article on the relationship between the gut and thyroid function. As you may know, thyroid dysfunction, specifically Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, is commonly found in those with celiac disease. He covers some of the “whys” behind that connection.
On the general nutritional front:
- Lyle McDonald did a research review on the study: Obesity and Physical Inactivity: The Relevance of Reconsidering the Notion of Sedentariness. Basically, the importance of general activity during the day in addition to organized exercise is highlighted. In other words, 30-60 minutes of exercise, even daily, does not make up for the hours spend sitting on our butts. Also, interestingly, is the idea that intense thinking can mess up blood glucose levels since the brain does have to rely on glucose for fuel. So not only does sitting on your butt keep you from moving, but sitting on your butt thinking intensely (like, I don’t know, maybe WORK!) can give a double whammy. Which is why I’m really happy that my treadmill desk (for reals-with room for a monitor, mouse, and the whole 9-see-it’s a great term!) will be ready for me to start using this week. Big thanks to Jeff my amazing creative taller half. I will be posting pictures for sure when it’s up and running.
And just for an Atta Girl:
- Wendy at Celiacs in the House has been doing a 30 days to get healthier challenge in honor of her 50th birthday. She is doing awesome, kicking butt and taking names. I am very pleased and proud to be involved with her project. Go check out her progress and read over the posts for some great information!
Until next week! For more reading to tide you over, check out Gluten Free and Fit 101. Also, there’s a new podcast that will be posted on Wednesday, so keep your eyes (and ears!) open.
photo credit fabcabrera
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Erin
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I have been a bit out of touch this past week, as I have a started a new job in “real life.” It’s going to be very rewarding I think, although doubtless hard work, and of course a learning curve. That has kept me quite busy and away from GFF.
Luckily, there were lots of great articles posted this week that I can share with you.
photo credit fabcabrera
Cool celiac stuff:
It appears that scientists have isolated the 3 (yes, 3 out of thousands of protein fragments are what appear to cause the autoimmune response to gluten) peptides that cause some of the issues associated with celiac disease. This is a big step, but only the beginning of research that has yet to be completed.
Here’s the review on Celiac.com
And the Reuters review
More cool stuff:
Trauma as an example of a trigger for celiac disease
An interesting story illustration celiacs may be more prone to environmental toxins
Shirley over at Gluten Free Easily has posted a review of “7 Quick Start Tips to Leading a Healthy Gluten Free Fit Life” and is giving away a copy. Check out her post and enter to win!
Kim at Cook it Allergy Free posted an awesome article on “How to Avoid Gluten Free and Allergy Free Baking Mishaps” This is one I bookmarked and will be visiting often! As I have a relaxed attitude about “recipes”, that can sometimes lead to a cooking fail. Hopefully Kim’s tips can help me.
If you missed it a couple weeks back, I posted about the “Paleo diet” and it’s implications for those with celiac. It sparked some really great discussion and comments, so if you missed it go check it out and weigh in with your thoughts.
General nutritional cool stuff:
Back in May I wrote an article on my thoughts about a study that found better results in a group that had faster weight loss in beginning a diet, as opposed to the “slow and steady” approach. There were quite a few limitations with that study.
This week Reuters posted an article revisiting the idea after a presentation at International Congress on Obesity in Stockholm, Sweden. There are so many factors that play into what will be a sustainable method of people to achieve and maintain weight loss it’s not even funny. I think what this shows more than anything is that the problem isn’t the weight loss. It’s maintaining that loss. Food for thought (and no calories! Bad pun, really bad pun.)
A study was published in Food and Nutrition Research that examined the thermic effect of food (calorie cost of digestion, essentially) of 2 calorie matched meals. One “processed” with white bread and processed cheese food, and the other with multi grain and seed bread with cheddar cheese. They did not match the macronutrient (fat/protein/carb) content, but the calories were equal.
The results were interesting. Both sandwiches gave the same sense of fullness, but the “whole food” version required about double the thermic effect to digest it.
Now, the whole food version had more protein, which does require more energy for digestion. So, it would be interesting to see what would happen if that was matched.
Anyhow-more evidence that quality of food is important, of course along with quantity.
Weighty Matters on the subject
The actual paper to geek out on
Lastly, previously I have shared my thoughts on intuitive eating. Dineen at Eat Without Guilt posted a great article on the pitfalls and positives of snacking. I’ve been playing around with meal frequency myself lately and will report my findings in a month or so. Meanwhile, I thought this was a great read and gives some good tips.
Bottom line, and as always-do your research, get educated, make an informed decision based on your individual thoughts, physiology and activity levels.
Til next week! If you need more reading, head over to Gluten Free and Fit 101. Class is in!
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Erin
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There was a metric ton of great stuff posted up this week.
If you follow GFF on Twitter or Facebook, you’ll somtimes see me post up an article I think is worth a look. Sometimes it’s about celiac disease and research, sometimes it’s an awesome looking gluten free recipe, sometimes it’s solid information from the fitness aspect of things, sometimes it’s really geekazoid biochemistry stuff, and sometimes it’s just plain something hilarious.
I’ll do a “round up” post of sorts on a regular basis if you guys find this helpful, so make sure to post a comment if you like it!
photo credit fabcabrera
Celiac Disease/Gluten Free stuff:
Explanation of how manufacturers define and use the terms “gluten free,” “wheat free,” and questions to ask
Chris (Celiac Man) is raising funds for Celiac Awareness and summer camps that are gluten free
Carrie (GingerLemon Girl) complied a list of the recipes from the 30 Days Quick and Easy Gluten Free Meals. Bookmark it.
Wendy’s journey to leading a healthier gluten free life, and a giveaway of my ebook
Amy at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free recipe for GF and nonfat “brownies” perfect for a high carb refeed day
Heidi (Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom aka GF FlavaMom) hilarious recount of some experiences and review/giveaway of the ebook
Dieting and Nutrition Articles:
Last week I posted my thoughts on the idea of intuitive eating. This week I saw a couple more that I thought were interesting and thought provoking.
An overview by a registered dietitian with some tips
The always straight shooting Leigh Peele shares her thoughts on the problems with using intuitive eating for fat loss
And her thoughts on a possible solution
James Krieger explores the nerdlier yet incredibly interesting side of appetite control and why it’s so complicated
Weighty Matters on calorie intake and gives a link to a fairly accurate calorie expenditure calculator. Don’t overestimate your activity level when you are entering the information.
Lastly, James at Weightology gives his list of blogs to check out. I am extraordinarily flattered to be on this list with some amazing individuals. I really don’t fit in there. Some of my favorites like Alan Aragon and Lyle McDonald are included, and a few new to me that look awesome and are going on my Google Reader.
Wraps it up for now! If you like this idea, hit up a comment and let me know.
I read this book last year, and it is a phenomenal read. It is a bit longer, but definitely worth the time. If you are interested at all in what controls our appetite stimulation and how those pathways can be exploited, read the book. If not, read this summary/review anyway.
