Gluten-free quiche

Gluten-free: The cost is worth it for good health

If you ask 8-year-old Kyra Payne of Buffalo what her favorite foods are, she probably won’t be able to narrow it down for you.

“Mac and cheese; and bread; and muffins; and cheese,” she says. “No — cheese sticks!”

Her choices sound pretty well aligned with what other third-graders would eat, but Kyra’s diet is much different than most other children’s. That’s because in November 2010, Kyra — a Type I diabetic — was also diagnosed with Celiac Disease, meaning she can’t process gluten the way most people do, radically changing the way she eats.

Celiac Disease is a digestive illness in which the villi — small hairlike tendrils inside the small intestine —are damaged by the consumption of gluten. This damage causes people with Celiac Disease to suffer varying degrees of digestive symptoms, and may leave some people unable to absorb nutrients from food.

People with Celiac Disease could become malnourished and ill. The symptoms are treated, though, by avoiding gluten altogether. But cutting out gluten isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Gluten is incredibly common, as Kyra’s mother, Jennifer pointed out. It’s found in wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats — which means it’s in most processed foods, too, from pasta to Pop Tarts. Furthermore, it’s often a food additive in other processed items, including ketchup, lunch meats and candies.

“We had to go back to cooking from scratch,” Jennifer said, “which is not a bad thing.”

That was to cut back on Kyra’s risk of accidentally ingesting gluten, which could make her very ill, and also to cut back on costs. Kyra and others with Celiac Disease can eat standard food items, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, most meats and most dairy products.

But other special gluten-free items are necessary to replace flour, baking mixes, pastas, breads or anything that could possibly be contaminated with gluten. To compensate, gluten-free products use substitutes, such as rice flour and other flour mixtures instead of wheat flour.

“The worst part is the cost,” Jennifer said. “The cost — normally the cost is three times what your average food costs.” But it’s worth it, she said.

After just a few weeks on a gluten-free diet, Kyra’s stomach cramps stopped, and managing her diabetes became easier. Her mom says she’s healthier.

Amy Wisdom of Urbana said her daughter Bailee, also a Type I Diabetic with Celiac Disease, has managed the condition for five years now. Bailee, a sophomore at Skyline High School, was diagnosed when she was 9, and at the time there were very few stores in their area selling gluten-free items.

The family had to travel to Springfield or Osage Beach to find groceries to accommodate Bailee’s needs. Grocery shopping became very time-consuming, Amy said, because they would have to travel out of town and because they had to check all the ingredients on everything they bought.

“It’s in stuff that you don’t think of, like hot dogs,” she said. But in the last few years she said local retailers, including Main Street Market in Urbana, have offered more products.

Becky Reynolds, who runs the store with her husband Jim, said they started stocking items in their store because they knew there was a need in the community. Amy had talked to the Reynoldses about it initially.

“Then I started hearing about other people in the area who had a problem,” she said, “so I went specifically to some area residents and asked them what would be some good items to carry.”

“It actually has gone over really well,” Reynolds said. “We stock a variety of things; anything from bread to frozen pizza crust.”

And when the Wisdoms have their pizza night at home, “She has her pizza and we have ours,” Amy said. Often, though, the family will share the same foods together — including gluten-free biscuits, breads and lasagna.

“My husband has become quite the baker,” she said. “When he has time, he really goes to town with baking and I just stand back and let him go.”

Like Jennifer, Amy said her family cooks a lot at home to help manage Bailee’s diet.

“It’s definitely a life-changing deal,” Amy said, “but you can do it if you put your mind to it.”

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Gluten free is not a fad

Gluten intolerance is real. It’s not a fad. It’s certainly not a joke. The medical community has become much more aware of what this human condition is and the damage it can do.

A group known as the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America was formed in 1974 and is a leader in education and the distribution of information regarding gluten intolerance. Headquartered in Auburn, Wash., this organization has 75 branches across America and has a presence in 13 other countries.

GIG says about itself: “We care for celiac and non-celiac gluten-intolerant individuals on a local and regional level through programs tailored to their community. GIG envisions a healthy gluten-intolerant community in which all persons are involved contributing citizens.” That’s a pretty strong mission and one under the leadership of executive director Cynthia Kupper that it is performing well.

What is gluten, anyway? How much trouble can it really cause?

Gluten refers to the proteins found in all grains including wheat, rye, oats and barley. Common foods like bread and pasta often contain wheat. The other three are less common but are still around. Cereal can be a problem. So can our friend beer — and simple gravy.

People with gluten intolerance cannot absorb the proteins found in foods containing these grains. Eating them can cause serious health problems, including malnourishment, fatigue and damage to the small intestine.

The tough thing is that the amount of gluten needed to trigger a problem is quite small. The flour in a ¼ teaspoon of roux used to thicken a sauce can result in bloating and great physical discomfort in a short time. For celiac patients and others experiencing gluten intolerance such as dermatitis herpetiformis and non-celiac gluten, sensitivity it is a real concern.

GIG has a program known as Gluten-Free Certification Organization. This program certifies foods safe for gluten-intolerant individuals. They also have a Gluten-Free Food Service program that helps that industry employ the proper strategies and techniques to produce gluten-free products.

There is also a Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness program for large operations. This program assists in the availability of gluten-free meals. Chains like Outback and The Melting Pot have participated in this program.

At Jimmy’s, we are a part of GIG’s Chef to Plate. This is an awareness campaign designed to celebrate restaurants serving gluten-free items. In 2011, more than 900 restaurants participated, and the program reached more than 7 million people. We just received our 2012 certificate and are proud to display it.

In researching this article, I communicated with Rebecca Powell with GIG. She provided me with additional information about the organization. I asked her for a list of participating restaurants in our area including Montgomery and Columbus. Since she is so far away and not familiar with “these parts,” she sent me a list of everybody in Alabama and Georgia. To my great surprise, the list has less than 50 entries. This includes multiple locations of some operations.

Granted, there are restaurants that offer gluten-free options that do not participate in Chef to Plate. And there are chefs out there that will accommodate dietary concerns with absolute accuracy. But this low number, I think, tells us that real awareness of gluten intolerance is far from where it needs to be.

Remember the low-carb craze? The Atkins and South Beach diets? Sure you do. I did the very-low-carb regimen for well over a year way back when. I enjoyed it. I felt great and redistributed some weight. Yet it was a cooking challenge and really was difficult outside your own household. This was before restaurants had low-carb offerings.

How serious was I? If I got a burger, I threw away the bun. The same was true with a breakfast biscuit. Pasta once a month, and it had meat and cheese to balance the carbs. (At that time, no-carb pasta was awful.) Otherwise, I used zucchini or eggplant to hold the tomato sauce and cheese.

No chips or crackers was the rule. I ate the toppings from a canapé and tossed the base. I ate almost no bread for 18 months — just a nibble at a restaurant. Ditto for pizza and rice. Not many beans ever came my way. Thank goodness all the aromas were carb-free.

I say all of this to illustrate that eating gluten-free is much easier than carb-free. And it’s much more fun. Flavor is not off-limits. Rice is OK and so are rice noodles. Meats and seafood are fine. Just don’t coat with flour.

As you read earlier, there are lots of gluten-free products available. I get gluten-free pizza bases for customers. I made gluten-free dishes for a wedding rehearsal dinner this year. The bride was gluten-intolerant. I made canapé bases from gluten-free pizza mix and bound sauces with cornstarch. There was no bread pudding for dessert, however.

Here’s an idea for you. Try having a gluten-free weekend this summer. Make a party out if it. Challenge your guests to bring a gluten-free dish if you want. Get children or grandchildren on board and make it fun. You will find how easy this really is to accomplish. You just have to plan a little and be careful about packaged foods and sauces.

The next time you visit a food store, look for gluten-free products. You will see a number of them. Check the ingredients list of your favorite things. You will find that many contain no gluten already. There will be others that sneak wheat into something that you had no idea about.

And the next time you encounter diners who are asking about gluten-free dishes, realize that these people have an actual problem with serious consequences. They are working hard to deal with a life-threatening condition. Be considerate. Gluten intolerance is real.

Jim Sikes is an Opelika resident, restaurant owner and columnist for the Opelika-Auburn News. You can find this and other columns here and at www.jimmysopelika.com.

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Gluten-free snap, crackle, pop draws attention to celiac disease

The malt flavouring is gone! Celiac sufferers are no longer limited to listening to the snap, crackle and pop of Rice Krispies! They can actually eat the cereal that has been music to the ears of legions since 1928 but has been verboten for anyone with a sensitivity to gluten, the mixture of proteins found in wheat, barley and rye. Rice contains no gluten and is in general a staple for celiac sufferers. But malt flavouring, a standard ingredient in Rice Krispies, can harbour a trace of gluten, enough to cause misery.

So what makes puffed rice speak to its fans? Some neat technology: First, the rice grains are treated with steam to introduce moisture, which performs a dual function. As more heat is applied, moisture provides the pressure needed to expand the grain of rice. Simultaneously, the water acts as an internal lubricant, or plasticizer, allowing the molecules of starch to slide past each other to meet the needs of the increasing surface area of the grain. As heating continues, water is expelled from between the starch molecules, which then form bonds to each other, setting up a rigid network that traps pockets of air. At the same time, some of the sugar, the second ingredient in Rice Krispies, dissolves and then forms a tough film as the water evaporates, further strengthening the walls that surround the air pockets.

It is these air pockets that differentiate silent cereals from the musical ones. Every orchestra needs a conductor, and in this case the baton is wielded by the milk. As the cold liquid is absorbed by the cereal it squeezes out the trapped air, which then fractures some of the thin walls that separate the pockets, producing the resounding snap, crackle and pop! It seems, though, that when Rice Krispies were introduced, Kellogg’s was not satisfied with a cereal that entertained the ears, it also had to entertain the palate. And that’s when malt flavouring made its entry.

Remember going down to the “malt shop” with a date for a “malt?” If you do, you date yourself, but will probably recall the soda jerk spooning some powdered “malted milk” into a glass, adding water, stirring and then plunking in a big scoop of ice cream. The frothy, sweet goo with a hint of caramel flavour was then ready to be sucked through a straw.

As the name suggests, malted milk is a mix of malt and milk powder. And what is malt? Take some grain, soak it in water until it germinates, dry with hot air and you have malt. During the process, enzymes are released that break the grain’s starch down into sugars, such as glucose, fructose, sucrose and maltose, which are responsible for the malt’s sweetness. But the characteristic flavour is due to maltol, a compound that forms when proteins undergo enzymatic degradation. Unfortunately, any malt made from wheat, rye or barley may contain some residue of gluten and is a no-no for celiacs.

Since malt adds more than just sweetness, the taste of gluten-free Rice Krispies is not identical to the original version. Sugar, still the second ingredient, provides the sweetness, but the taste is now due to whole grain brown rice instead of refined white rice.

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Cake without the gluten…Healthy carrot cake. Photo: Paul Cutter

Gluten free living

Ingrained habits have to be broken to rid diets of gluten, a starch common on supermarket shelves.

When I design recipes, I try to cater for people who have intolerances to foods such as gluten.

Whether you’re intolerant to gluten or you’d rather just go without it, there is a long list of foods you can’t eat because gluten is in so many items on the supermarket shelves.

The good news is that living a gluten free lifestyle is not as difficult as you might think. When you start thinking creatively, the possibilities are endless – you just have to change long-held habits.

First, a quick lesson on what gluten is: the protein found in grains such as wheat (including semolina, couscous, spelt and kamut), rye, barley, oats and triticale. It’s found in starch-based foods such as breads, pasta, cereal, biscuits and cakes, as well as store-bought ingredients such as sauces, soups, dressings and stocks. It’s actually in most of the processed food on supermarket shelves.

Gluten is what gives bread the elasticity to be able to rise, as well as its structure, chewy texture and density. It gives pasta dough that silkiness, holds it together and gives it the ability to stretch paper-thin through your pasta machine.

It’s worth remembering that ”gluten free” written on the packet doesn’t automatically mean the product is good for you.

Most such items are full of refined white ingredients that raise blood glucose and act like glue for your insides. A good rule to remember is that if you focus your diet on avoiding processed foods and making meals for yourself, you are on the right track.

Fresh fruit and vegetables, lean free-range meats, eggs, natural pot-set yoghurts, raw nuts, brown rice and chestnut, beans, lentils and seeds including quinoa and buckwheat are all gluten-free.

Healthy cold-pressed monounsaturated oils and natural vinegars are also gluten-free, great in salads and a key ingredient of many other delicious dishes.

It’s possible to make a gluten-free version of just about any food you love to eat but don’t expect it to taste the same as the original.

I relish using ground almonds, quinoa and linseeds (flaxseeds) when baking gluten free cakes, muffins, biscuits, pies and breads. For a traditional wheat pasta replacement, use 100 per cent buckwheat noodles, brown rice or vegetable linguini made entirely from fresh vegetables such as zucchini, pumpkin or carrot. Making stocks for soups by simmering offcuts from vegetables or chicken is delicious and easy.

Changing the way you eat and preparing real food from scratch doesn’t have to be time-consuming and, with a little planning and the right ingredients, you can have real food on the table that’s healthy, delicious and gluten-free.

Teresa Cutter’s recipe: Carrot cake

Coeliac Australia has branches in all states and details can be found at coeliac.org.au. thehealthychef.com

Follow Cuisine on Twitter @Cuisine

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Gluten free diet gives celiacs relief

FOR as long as she can remember, Jenny Breckon suffered from gastric problems.

“Awful stomach pains – a lot of stomach pains. Bloating.”

Breckon first saw a medical specialist when she was in her late teens but relief was elusive. “I was labelled irritable bowel, colitis. . . . I was on different medications and the things they (doctors) gave me never worked.

Breckon, now 38, continued to suffer through her 20s and early 30s. Then, in 2006, Breckon’s mother, who was battling a life-threatening illness, was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for medical tests and returned with a diagnosis of celiac disease. Breckon had her answer.

“I don’t have a formal diagnosis but I live a gluten free lifestyle because I know 100 per cent that I am a celiac. It just never got diagnosed. It got missed.”

Celiac disease is a genetic, digestive disorder that affects children and adults. People with celiac disease are unable to consume foods that contain gluten, a sticky protein found in wheat, barely, rye and other grains. For these people, gluten sets off an autoimmune reaction that damages the small intestine, preventing nutrients from being absorbed.

The Canadian Celiac Association estimates that one in 133 persons in Canada is affected by celiac disease. An undetermined number of Canadians suffer from gluten sensitivity.

Gluten sensitivity is not the same as celiac disease.

Naturopathic physician Natalie Groenewoud, of North Shore Naturopathic Clinic, explains that people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity suffer a delayed allergic response, with no damage to the intestine. “It’s more of a stressor on your system,” she notes. Celiac disease is an autoimmune intestinal disorder. “When a person (with celiac disease) eats gluten, it actually destroys their small intestine microvilli.” The villi are the microscopic finger-like projections that line the inside of the small intestine, through which nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. If the villi are damaged, the person can become malnourished and suffer from other symptoms.

Those symptoms vary, making it difficult for a person with gluten intolerance or sensitivity to become aware of their condition. “It could be achy joints. It could be generalized fatigue. Headaches. Gas and bloating,” says Groenewoud.

Gluten sensitivity can be picked up in a food allergy test. Celiac disease can be detected through blood screening and confirmed by a small bowel biopsy. There is no known cure for celiac disease. For those suffering from the disease, the only current treatment is to maintain a strict gluten-free diet.

Breckon says her doctors were unable to confirm celiac disease, even after four separate examinations of her digestive tract. However, her health improved dramatically after eliminating gluten from her diet.

“Within two weeks my life changed,” says the North Vancouver resident, who is a cake decorator and baker by trade. In November, she opened The Sweet Tooth Cakery in North Vancouver’s Maplewood neighbourhood. The bakery, at 2055 Old Dollarton Hwy., is 100 per cent gluten free, which Breckon says is important to avoid cross-contamination.

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Gluten free diets may be overused

LOS ANGELES • Given the growing amount of gluten free foods available at the grocery, it seems a number of people have trouble digesting that kind of food. But are they truly gluten intolerant, and is there a clear diagnosis for that?

Gluten sensitivity is the topic of a paper published recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine in which researchers acknowledged the seriousness of celiac disease, but also said part of the population could have nonceliac gluten sensitivity. That’s characterized by having distinct symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, gas, bloating or headaches after eating foods containing gluten.

Celiac disease, also triggered by eating foods with gluten, can cause damage to the lining of the small intestine. Among gastrointestinal symptoms are nausea, diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, and sufferers can also be lactose intolerant. Vitamin and nutrient absorption can also be an issue. A blood test can determine if someone has the disease.

The authors cited a 1981 study in the journal Gastroenterology that found six out of eight people with chronic diarrhea and abdominal pain had a gluten sensitivity but did not have celiac disease. But since then, they added, not much more has been done because testing for nonceliac gluten sensitivity is difficult.

That hasn’t stopped many people from declaring they are gluten sensitive, even though they may not be. Cutting out wheat products — especially simple carbs such as white bread, cookies and pastries — often makes people feel better, so they assume they can’t tolerate gluten.

Claims of being gluten sensitive, the authors write, ‘seem to increase daily, with no adequate scientific support to back them up. … This clamor has increased and moved from the Internet to the popular media, where gluten has become ‘the new diet villain.’”

Opting for a gluten free diet isn’t necessarily any healthier than a diet with gluten, and products are sometimes costly. If gluten intolerance is not truly an issue, there may be no advantages to cutting out wheat and other foods, because some substitute grains contain little fiber.

The researchers argue that more research should be done on nonceliac gluten sensitivity, “and that ‘sense’ should prevail over ‘sensibility’ to prevent a gluten preoccupation from evolving into the conviction that gluten is toxic for most of the population. We must prevent a possible health problem from becoming a social health problem.”

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