Sharing Gluten Free Advice

A friend had asked for any words of wisdom I had in going gluten free. The email be came quite lengthy, and I thought other people may find it helpful.

Email:
The first step in going gluten free is to understand what gluten is. This list: http://www.celiac.com/articles/182/1/Unsafe-Gluten-Free-Food-List-Unsafe-Ingredients/Page1.html goes through all the names gluten can be hidden under. Be very suspicious of anything with "natural flavors". If your friend has a smart phone, I recommend downloading an app like evernote, and saving this document there. When reading the ingredient list in the store, and I come across unfamiliar items I search the document to see if its gluten-related.

Next, I suggest your friend go through the cabinets, fridge, and freezer and identifying what has gluten in it. I put stickers or a mark on them to signify which aren't safe. Depending on how much processed food there is, she may find lots or little gluten. She also has to look through her make up, lotions, anything that can go in or on her body. I have been glutened from face cream, mascara, lip gloss, and its a dickens of a thing to figure out.

The key to being successful at living without is to focus on what you still can eat. Lots and lots of fruits and veggies! All fruits and vegetables are naturally gluten free. Alternatives to wheat, like rice, or quinoa, milk, eggs, butter, coffee. Every GF-er has product preferences. I prefer Udi's gluten free products (bread, granola, etc), Tinkyada Pasta Joy (aka the GF pasta with a bunny on it), and King Arthur's flour/mixes. It is very expensive to replace "regular" foods with GF alternatives. For example, the cheapest I've found Udi's bread is $5 per loaf, and the loaf is smaller than traditional packages. Its seems much smarter to me to find breakfast alternatives. My favorite breakfast is rice, beans, a touch of cheddar, a sunny side egg and some avocado.

Eating out can be difficult, she has to be a staunch advocate for herself. Allergyeats.com is a great website (and app) to navigate peer reviewed restaurants. I find the most success, with restaurants that don't have GF menus, to review the menu to find the most likely GF items, and then review with the server what my needs are. Often the manager comes over to clarify, and will typically bring my plate. The best chains I can suggest are Not Your Average Joes, Joe's American Bar and Grill, Wagamama, and the hot food bar at Whole Foods. Remember, its her health, she is the only one with something to lose in the process.

I would also recommend collecting data. There is a bias that can occur when we try new diets that documentation can clear up. I would recommend starting with a summary of symptoms, including duration, in as much detail as possible. I came to be gluten free through a juicing diet. I had been feeling miserable for years, and had developed acute symptoms. Once I started reintroducing foods I found the symptoms to reappear with gluten, dairy and soy. Many people who have gluten intolerance/allergy often have multiple food issues (my mother has Celiac's disease, as well as intolerance for fish and sea food, but my grandmother has just Celiac's). If your friend has some remittance of symptoms but not a full recovery after a month of clean (no accident) GF living, she may want to look at these other allergens as well. The top six allergens are gluten, soy, dairy, fish, tree nuts, and peanuts.

I hope this information helps your friend. Its not an easy transition, but I do believe it saved my life. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help!
/End Email

These are my suggestions, and should not replace medical advice.

Thankful for NPR

I've been struggling lately, wrestling with issues of race, identity, prejudice and disenfranchisement. I was contemplating an entry diverting from my positive message to address the distress I've been feeling about the way Asian people are treated in western cultures. The rough draft in my head was angry, frustrated, and without hope. And then I listened to NPR.

The Takeaway on WNYC is reviewing their top shows of the year. In an interview with local NYC DJ Jay Smooth they discussed considering our relationship with race as something needing constant maintainace, like brushing our teeth, not as an absolute, like whether or not you have tonsils. This is incredibly liberating. I think some of my trepidations around correcting people's racist statements about Asian people has come from knowing that I make errors, too. I have had no trouble stopping students from using "gay" or "retarded" as slurs, responding immediately "we don't use that word that way here". Reframing the response to race-based statements to "that statement sounds prejudiced" or "people can find that statement offensive" takes the shame and blame from the situation. The "model minority" myth makes it complicated to address these issue. When someone says something derogatory about another group its easier to say "we don't talk about people that way." When someone is lauding the math skills of a person because they are of one race its couched in a positive statement - how do you tell people not to talk positively about a group? I'm feeling more empowered, which makes me hope I can empower my students, and create some positive change in the world. Thank you Celeste, John, Jay and NPR!

165. Talking about it

This photos is from the Boston Globe via Reuters. Found here.

By no means am I thankful for AIDS/HIV. I am thankful that we can start these discussions, talk about prevention, support and treatment.

I am thankful that I can hope, someday, December 1st will only be the day Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her bus seat.

42. Progress

As locals will know, the downtown crossing area of Boston is going through some big changes. The old Filene's flagship building is currently being demolished. Passing this building, it made me appreciate the strength of the buildings that support us, the messiness of people (inside and out), and the progress we are making in context with our past. I couldn't help but think of the countless families who shopped those very floors, people who bought their families countless outfits, the dresses that ushered them from childhood to adulthood, from bassinets to bridal gowns, all gone. And the optimisim I have that the next building could be even better.

21. Blending the old and the new

The ability to blend both the old and the new of the city brings me great joy, reminds me of the great advances we have made, and that I am entirely temporary. Through such a realization all my tribulations seem minuscule and altruism becomes second nature. Well, almost. :]

Photo taken between the Paulist Center and Park Street Church.