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Apr/May 2013
Features
We’ve Got “Issues”
I’ve been living gluten-free and dairy/casein-free for the last five years and I feel a million times better. I’m lucky to have supportive friends and family in my journey to optimum health—mostly, that is. Since I’ve never been given an “official” diagnosis, people who first meet me (and if I’m being honest, some people I’ve known for years) tend to be skeptical that I really have something wrong with me. This is most frustrating at work when I’m having lunch with colleagues or potential clients.
Gluten and Depression
Subscribers OnlyFor much of her childhood and teen years, Hilary,* now 47, thought she was lazy. While other kids were out riding bikes, she was home napping. She was very bright but it wasn’t apparent in her grades. Hilary felt a deep sense of guilt and self-contempt about her chronic underachievement. “I’m unworthy,” she’d often find herself subconsciously repeating. Sometimes: “Why am I even alive?”
Supplements for Celiacs
Subscribers OnlyAnyone living on a restricted diet has to compensate for the lack of specific nutrients. For people with celiac disease, the added challenge is that years of nutritional malabsorption can precede their diagnosis. It often takes at least three months of taking vitamin, mineral and essential fatty acid supplements to build nutrient levels back up. Then the challenge is to maintain healthy vitamin levels. The right nutritional supplements are a vital part of recovering and living a healthy gluten-free life.
The Right Supplement
A recent study following doctors over 11 years found an 8 percent reduction in overall cancer rates in those who took a regular vitamin and mineral supplement. This makes multi-vitamins one of the cheapest, simplest ways to lower cancer risk.
Foods that Cleanse
Subscribers OnlyWe are what we eat. Unfortunately, I had to learn this the hard way. For six long years, I struggled with severe digestive issues and chronic leg swelling—accumulating 20 to 30 pounds of water weight every afternoon. I was pursuing a career in corporate marketing and advertising in New York City at the time, hiding the fact that I felt gross, embarrassed, bloated, foggy-brained, confused and frustrated. At 26 years old, I was working hard and going out on dates with swollen legs and chronic pain, wrapped in spandex and gulping down water pills. Doctors gave me prescriptions for countless pills that didn’t work.
Departments
Life Story
Patricia Heaton
Subscribers OnlyFour years ago, Patricia Heaton celebrated her 50th birthday in Hawaii, splashing in the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean with her four boys and husband. The actress, who spent most of her youth attending Catholic schools in Ohio, received two Emmy Awards as the long-suffering wife, mother and in-law Debra Barone on the popular sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond. Now Heaton stars as Frankie, mom of three, in ABC’s hit sitcom, The Middle. In between working on these television shows, Heaton penned a best-selling book, Motherhood and Hollywood—How To Get A Job Like Mine. She’s currently writing a second book. She is also working behind the camera, producing and directing.
Chef-to-Chef Interview: Lena Kwak
Lena Kwak was in the right place at the right time when she applied for an internship several years ago at the prestigious French Laundry, the famed Michelin three-star restaurant in Yountville, California. I sat down with Kwak at French Laundry to talk about how she brought gluten-free options to this world-renowned restaurant, became a research and development chef for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group and partnered with Thomas Keller to create Cup4Cup, a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend that’s been on the market for more than two years.
So Good
Love Your Gluten-Free Lentils
In all the hype surrounding so-called super foods, lentils are often upstaged by trendier items with more modern appeal. But the lowly little lentil is, in fact, a wonder-working ingredient and can easily be used in a wide range of dishes—with wholesome and delicious results. Here’s an arsenal of reasons why you should load up on gluten-free lentils.
Buckwheat
Subscribers OnlyMost people go to Canyon Ranch for the restorative programs, meditative environment and rejuvenation. I went to Canyon Ranch for the buckwheat. This highly acclaimed spa and retreat at the majestic Bellefontaine Mansion in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts has been drawing people from all over the country for many decades. Touting customized programs for an integrative, healthy lifestyle, Canyon Ranch offers the gamut of body-mind-spirit classes in a space that is calm and tranquil—from spa…
Big, Fat, Soft Gluten-Free Cookies
When’s the last time you looked at a gluten-free cake mix and thought cookie? Turns out, cake mixes are just as versatile as that little black dress. Change the baking directions slightly and instead of cake, you have big, fat, soft gluten-free cookies.
House Call
Allergies Q & A- Egg in Baked Goods, Allergic Disease, and More!
My child is egg allergic. Can he eat baked egg products like cakes, pancakes or muffins?
Research Roundup: Chlorinated Water and Food Allergy, Allergic to Spice, and More!
Dichlorophenols—chemicals widely used for chlorination of water and in pesticides—may contribute to food allergy risk, according to researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. The team there used data from a large national health survey to investigate dichlorophenol exposure and food allergy in 2,211 U.S. children and adults. Those with the highest levels of dichlorophenols in their urine had higher odds of being sensitized to one or more food allergens. It’s not completely understood how these chemicals could affect allergic sensitization.
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Living Without's Favorites: A-Plus Pulses
Wholesome chips totally free of gluten, corn, soy and potatoes, Beanitos are good for you like a serving of beans–but you don’t have to cook them. Tasty as a bag of chips—but with fewer calories and carbs and three times the fiber and protein.
Living Without's Favorites: Nutrient Wealth for Health
Combine two super-foods in one bag and you get an impressive mother lode of nutrients. Carrington Farms does just that with its new Flax-Chia Blend. The North Carolina company cleverly mixes chia seeds with its organic milled flaxseed for a gluten-free, allergy-friendly product that’s packed with omega 3’s, vitamins, protein, fiber, minerals and antioxidants.
Living Without's Favorites: All Winners
Mark Hetzel put his 25 years experience as a pastry chef to good use when he became the driving force behind Moon Rabbit Foods, a company that uses premium cassava flour as the basis for delicious baking mixes.
Living Without's Favorites: Slick, No-Stick
Welcome to a new approach to eco-friendly cooking. WearEver’s Pure Living pans boast a bright-white ceramic coating that’s durable, stain and scratch resistant and safe for use with metal utensils. It’s also toxin-free and chemical-free, plus dishwasher and oven safe.
Pucker Up!
Lip care products were some of the first cosmetic items ever created, with a history that’s traced back to ancient times. Today, lip balm, lip gloss and lipstick are the most commonly used and purchased cosmetics in the world.
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Living Without's Favorite Books: Gluten-Free Glutton
The only problem with Carol Beckerman’s latest cookbook is deciding among her vast variety of recipe choices. 500 Gluten-Free Dishes, The Only Compendium of Gluten-Free Dishes You’ll Ever Need (Sellers Publishing) offers an array of gluten-free items that includes multiple, mouthwatering variations of sorely missed favorites.
Living Without's Favorite Books: Nixing Gluten
Stephanie and Thomas Chaney, both chiropractic doctors, discuss gluten’s overall negative health impact in Lose the Gluten, Lose your Gut. Ditch the Grain, Save your Brain. The Chaneys share the story behind their own gluten sensitivities and reveal how they use the gluten-free diet in their practice as treatment to help heal their patients.
Living Without's Favorite Books: Allergy-Friendly and Fast
When Cybele Pascal titled her new book Allergy-Free and Easy Cooking (Ten Speed Press), she wasn’t kidding. This food-allergy pro offers 75 recipes to delight every taste—all without gluten, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish and sesame. Enjoy Chinese with soy-free soy sauce.
Living Without's Favorite Books: Make It Quick
Fast & Simple Gluten-Free (Fair Winds), a cookbook by Gretchen F. Brown, RD, offers comforting favorites the whole family will love. Classic dishes along with fresh ideas are sure to inspire your inner gourmet.