A recent study in Spain showed that the gut health of individuals on gluten free diets was worse than those not on gluten free diets.  The theory behind this study’s results is that when we remove gluten containing grains from our diet, we reduce the amount of food that probiotics (healthy bacteria in the gut) have to feed upon and stay healthy. 

This information doesn’t help those who have no choice in eating a gluten free diet such as those with Celiac disease and food allergies but should give those pause who go on a gluten free by choice without a direct medical need.  What can help the gut health of those who must be on the gluten free diet medically is to eat gluten free foods that are prebiotic (the “food” for those healthy probiotic bacteria).  Prebiotics are a type of fiber rich carbohydrate that are not as easy to digest as some kinds of foods.  Examples of prebiotics are:  oats (pure, gluten free oats, most – 95% of Celiacs - can tolerate these), inulin, resistant starches, gums, asparagus, bananas, artichokes, spinach, cranberries, garlic, onions and legumes such as chickpeas, lentils and navy beans.

If you are attending the Canadian Celiac Association Conference this weekend in Waterloo, please come by and visit me in Booth 37.  I’m then home for 3 days and then off to the Gluten Intolerance Group Conference in Seattle for June 4 and 5th.  Come see me there too!

It’s the Victoria Day long weekend and so begins the odyssey of lily-white, sun-starved Canadians into the wilds of Canada bearing backpacks, tents, hot dog forks and sunscreen.  Forget that the forecast is only a chilly 15 degrees Celsius here on Vancouver Island this weekend, we’re going if we have to wear toques.  Luckily, we upgraded to a tent trailer last year so no sleeping on the ground will be required.

So what does it take to go camping with a peanut, nut and kiwi allergic child?  Surprisingly, it’s getting a little easier now that we have some favorite brands of items that go with us, not to mention Nonuttin’ granola, granola bars and trail mix.  We take a nut free brand of chocolate covered cookies that we use for S’mores, our own bread and buns, bake our own goodies and after that, it’s all about fruit, veggies and what can be cooked on an open flame.

This time, we’re not going alone so the planning does get a bit more complicated.  Like school events, this is where I find it easiest to simply volunteer to make all of the baked goods required.  Luckily, my 2 girls are like their mom and love to bake and cook so while I worked today, the muffins, banana bread and cake (there’s an anniversary celebration today too) were magically created at home since my girls had the day off school.  I love this teenager stuff (bet you don’t hear that too often).

I have to admit that when we first started camping when the girls were little, I was really concerned about being away from home in case an allergic reaction occurred.  Of course, we always have epi pens both on our daughter and ourselves but being away from civilization was worrisome.  What I discovered, at least on Vancouver Island, is that camping is not what I remember it to be when I was a child.  My dad was one of those guys who eschewed anything paved and took us on back roads into places I’m not sure we were actually allowed to camp.  I remember being rescued from a mud pit once by a logging crew after my dad got my grandparents motorhome stuck on particularly nasty back road.  Not exactly where I’d want to be in case of an emergency.

But every provincial park we’ve been to so far is removed from the main roads enough to feel isolated and away from civilization while still being no more than 10 minutes from a main highway, phones and even a grocery store.  I feel fairly comfortable with that. 

And now that I  have convinced my husband that camp food can be more than just hot dogs and eating out of cans, we’re all set.

Like the economy and the swine flu, allergy and Celiac news seems to have a certain pattern.  Doom, gloom, and then a light at the end of the tunnel.  Recent news from the specialty diet world is no exception.  But, like life, sometimes it takes the doom and gloom to truly appreciate that light so here are a few highlights from various places around the globe:

Allergy Mom’s Newsletter:  Gina Clowes is the mom of a multiple food allergic child and a tireless advocate for special diet families.  Her most recent newsletter was disturbing because it features an interview with a parent who lost a child last year to a peanut allergy.  What was very enlightening was that this parent mentions that his family had come to expect a certain kind of reaction from their teen and were completely caught off guard when this life-ending reaction occurred.  It’s also a wake-up call to remind all food allergic parents that a “mild” allergy is not always predictable.  Our family had quite a discussion around this terrible tragedy.  You can read Gina’s interview with the father on the Allergy Mom’s April 25 Newsletter.

Recently Anaphylaxis Canada has asked for those living in British Columbia to respond to proposed changes to the BC medical act that would allow naturopaths to treat allergic patients as part of their scope of practice.  Anaphylaxis Canada’s concerns are that  food allergic individuals (as opposed to intolerances) should be treated in a medical setting where intervention would be possible in the case of an anaphylactic reaction to treatment.  That position bears thought when hearing about a recent Dublin inquest where a man died from peanut allergy while being treated with alternative methods.

Did you know that this week is National Food Allergy Awareness Week in the United States and last week was National Food Allergy Awareness Week in Canada?  To learn more about increasing awareness any week of the year, please visit the FAAN website (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network) in the US and Anaphylaxis Canada’s website in Canada.

Nonuttin’ Foods began providing GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) free products 2 years ago because there have been questions raised as to whether genetically engineered food could be having an effect on the rising rates of food allergies.  Since there have been no specific studies to date really delving into that question, we prefer to avoid genetically manipulated foods and advocate labeling (not currently required in North America) to allow the customer a choice.  Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that they have provided a research grant to the Mount Sinai School of Medicine to investigate that question.  It may take many years to have the question answered but at least it is a start.

Did you know that there is a correlation between rising food allergy rates and the rising rates of childhood obesity?  A new study looks at the possibility that one is affecting the other.

Peanut allergy gets a lot of media attention often because of its severity and in recent years, the amount of well known food processors that have begun labeling their products as peanut free (Mars, Nestle, Christie to name a few in Canada).   However, as reported in the UK recently, fruit and vegetable allergies, particularly Oral Allergy Syndrome, is gaining ground on the peanut and may be considered the epidemic of the food allergy world for the new century.

And finally, (are you getting tired of all of this news yet?) it looks like pure oats will finally be allowed gluten free certification in Canada.   For any of you who have tried to decipher exactly why you don’t see “gluten free” on our Canadian labels and website while we can on our US information, the confusion may finally be coming to an end.  Essentially, Health Canada’s position is that pure oats are a suitable addition to most gluten free diets and may help add some needed fiber and nutrition to the Celiac diet within reason (i.e. 10 bowls of pure oats a day is too much of a good thing – for anybody!).  But that doesn’t mean we’re allowed to put “gluten free” on our granola labels in Canada because oats aren’t allowed to be called gluten free, also according to Health Canada.  However, the Canadian Celiac Association is expected to roll out a new pure oats certification program at their annual conference in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario on May 31 which may change all of that.  I’ll be there with bells on!

It has been a wild and crazy weekend on the Nonuttin’ front.  Actually, it started about 2 weeks ago when our long planned separation of the Nonuttin’ website into Canadian and American sites began counting down to the actual split which began on Friday. 

It all began as a wonderful idea with all sorts of plans of how the sites would look, how they would function, what writing would need to be different and more.  I began learning more than I wanted to know about search engine optimization and how much re-writing I would have to do of many parts of the website and product pages so that the search engines wouldn’t see duplicate content.  Then the writing began and it’s been an ongoing process for 2 weeks.  Blech!  So much for all of the glamour.

We’re almost there.  You may have noticed that the site has been down temporarily since Friday and since we’re still not done despite working through the weekend, it will be down at least Monday as well.  But…

I’m really thrilled with the 2 stores with 2 separate currencies and the cleaner look.   While many US customers who are close to the Canadian border are familiar with Canadian currency, we were confusing a lot of Americans with how they would be charged.  Not a problem any longer!

We’ve also set up shipping charges that are clear cut BEFORE you start your order and we’re offering the lowest FREE shipping amount we’ve ever offered:  $125!  I’m sure that will make many of you happy.  Cherry fruit chips have been permanently reduced and Canadians can finally see their t-shirts  and lunch kits again since they were removed due to US  Customs issues.

If I can only see the computer screen from my red-tinged blurry eyes, a newsletter will be coming out in the next few days to those who don’t subscribe to our RSS Feed outlining all of the changes (argh, more writing).  Maybe I’ll put my head down on the computer keyboard for just a minute, it looks kind of comfortable, the keys are flatter than I thought, zsdfzdfzdfzdfkjdszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz