On March 13, 2013 Jennifer Esposito was a guest on the Today Show with a clip of the pilot episode for “Playing with Fire”. Jennifer Esposito is concentrated on awareness for Celiac Disease and making gluten-free meals. Jennifer is also the founder of Jennifers Way Bakery.
Candice Kumai, Daniel Koch, Julie Elkind, Derek Koch and Anna Boiardi
“Playing with Fire” is a reality series on E! that focuses on the lives of chefs in New York City. Candice Kumai is an Iron Chef judge and writer of two cookbooks “Pretty Delicious” and “Cook Yourself Sexy”. Daniel and Derek Koch own several venues including Day & Night, MPD and Toy. Julie Elkind is an Executive Pastry Chef and top chef at James Beard House in NYC. Anna Boiardi teaches a cooking class called Cucina Academy and released a book including authentic recipes from the Chef Boyardee Family.
Season 1 premiered on March 27, 2013 with “I Come First, You Come Second” episode and ended on April 26, 2013 with “Three’s a Crowd”. For more information on Playing with Fire, please click here.
Gwyneth Paltrow recently released her second cookbook “It’s All Good” on April 2, 2013. This low-carbohydrate and gluten-free cookbook was inspired after finding out she is vitamin D deficient and anemic.
There are 185 recipes that are free of wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, sugar, coffee, alcohol, shellfish, meat and processed foods. Recipes include Hummus Tartine with Scallion-Mint Pesto, Salmon Burgers, Huevos Rancheros, and Japanese Chicken Meatballs.
The recipe below is a sneak-peak into “It’s All Good”.
Italian-Style Fish Fingers
Ingredients:
1 cup gluten-free plain bread crumbs (purchased or made from well-toasted gluten-free bread blended in a powerful blender with salt, pepper, oregano, and some Old Bay Seasoning)
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup soy milk or rice milk
4 flounder, fluke, or sole fillets (or substitute skinless fillets of any flat, mild white fish), cut into fingers
Olive oil spray
Lemon wedges for serving
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 450ºF and set on convection, if available. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
Whisk together the bread crumbs, oregano, garlic, and salt. Coat the fish fingers with the soy or rice milk, then dredge them in the bread crumb mixture, tapping off any excess. Lay the fish fingers on the prepared baking sheet. Spray lightly with olive oil spray, turn fish fingers, and lightly spray the other side. Bake for 8 minutes, then turn your oven to broil and broil for 1 or 2 minutes, just to get the fish fingers nice and brown (if you don’t have a broiler, just bake them for 10 minutes total). Serve immediately with plenty of lemon.
Gluten Free is a popular topic for the rich and famous. ABCNews.com added a slideshow of Celebrities who are gluten-free and explain why they went on a gluten-free diet. Gluten sensitivity or intolerance has required some Stars to give up their eating habits.
Zooey Deschanel: Sensitivity to eggs, dairy and wheat.
Miley Cyrus:Intolerance to wheat and credited the diet for her weight loss.
Lady Gaga: Cut gluten from her diet in an effort to lose weight.
Keith Olbermann: Celiac Disease.
Jennifer Esposito:Celiac Disease.
Emmy Rossum: Celiac Disease.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck: Celiac Disease. Also, the writer of “The G-Free Diet”.
Drew Brees:Intolerance to Gluten.
Chelsea Clinton: Sensitivity to gluten, she is also a vegan.
Billy Bob Thornton: Intolerance for wheat, dairy and shell-fish.
Other Celebrities include Jessica Alba and Geri Halliwell who also suffer from intolerance to wheat. Whether it is for medical reasons or weight loss benefits, Celebrities are switching to a gluten-free diet.
Men, woman and children of any age or race are at risk for Celiac Disease. Higher-than-average risk include individuals with First or Second Degree relative with Celiac Disease, HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8 Genes, Iron-Deficiency, Pre-mature Osteoporosis/Osteopenia, Type 1 Diabetes, Thyroid Disease, Reproductive Disorders, IBS, Liver Disease and Down Syndrome or Turner’s Syndrome.
Factors that can increase your risk for developing Celiac Disease:
First or Second Degree relative with Celiac Disease: It is more common for individuals with family history of Celiac disease because it is genetically based.
HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 Genes: Having HLA-DQ2 or HLA DQ8 genes means that you are at risk for developing Celiac Disease, but does not mean you absolutely have the disease. Approximately 95% individuals with Celiac Disease have HLA-DQ2 and approximately 5% have HLA-DQ8
A number of other diseases are related to Celiac disease.
Anxiety
Anxiety disorders affect about 40 million American adults age 18 years and older. There are several types of Anxiety disorders such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Phobia and other Specific Phobias. Anxiety symptoms and severity differ depending on the type of disorder. Before and after Celiac Disease diagnosis, a number of stressors surface.
Pre-Diagnosis: Gastrointestinal issues, fatigue, insomnia, malabsorption and vitamin deficiency are factors of Anxiety prior to being diagnosed. Another common stressor is worrying about health issues. It is hard to determine if the anxiety and depression symptoms are related to life events or Celiac Disease.
Post-Diagnosis: Often, after diagnosis there are signs of relief, anxiety symptoms are not far behind. Cross-contamination with eating surfaces and utensils can lead to phobias and obsessive compulsive disorders. Nevertheless the challenges of disease management are the frequent cause of anxiety.
Infertility
The biological inability of a person to contribute to conception is the primary description of Infertility. There are many combinations of factors that cause complications with conception. Factors that commonly can increase the risk for women and men’s infertility are Alcohol consumption, Drugs and Celiac Disease.
Patients diagnosed with Celiac Disease that are not following to a gluten-free diet are at risk for shortened reproductive period (early menopause), gonadal dysfunction (male), abortion, low birth weight and short-breast feeding periods.
Migraine Headaches
A chronic neurological disorder that is a disabling headache that can be accompanied by or followed by flashes of light, blind spots or arm/leg tingling. A Migraine is moderate to severe pain on one side or both sides of the head that lasts a few hours to a few days. Sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, throbbing or pulsating pain that continues to worsen are common symptoms of a Migraine. Occasional symptoms are blind spots, flashes of lights, tingling/pins and needles in arms or legs.
Recent studies have shown that Migraines are a common neurologic indicator of Celiac Disease. Migraine sufferers are at a higher risk for Celiac Disease than those who do not suffer from Migraines. Patients diagnosed with Celiac Disease that follow to a gluten-free diet, Migraine pain is often improved.
Thyroid Disease
The thyroid is a small gland located in the middle of the lower neck that produces T4 and T3 hormones, the quantity of these hormones are controlled by the pituitary gland located in the center of the skull below the brain. The two forms of thyroid disease are Autoimmune Thyroiditis, the most common which does not produce enough hormones, and Graves Disease, a rare disease but the most common of hyperthyroidism that produces too much hormone.
Celiac disease and Autoimmune Thyroiditis share a common genetic predisposition that may explain the higher occurrence of Celiacs with thyroid autoimmune disorders. If already diagnosed with Thyroiditis and recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease, a gluten-free diet might not be effective.
Depression
A mental disorder characterized by low mood, low self-esteem and loss of interest feelings that persist and interfere with ordinary life. The variance of normal sadness and depression are based on a few factors: Intensity, Length and Interference with daily life.
Celiac disease and depression are both associated with low levels of red cell folate or folate deficiency. Folate and B12 are important to the production of neurotransmitters which help regulate mood and other brain functions. Other factors for depression with Celiac disease are restrictive diet, sudden lifestyle changes, dietary compliance and poor absorption of vitamins and minerals.
Intestinal Cancer
The small intestine (small bowel) is located between the stomach and the colon, approximately 20 feet long. The crucial function of the small intestine is to digest and absorb nutrients. The most common type of small intestine cancer is adenocarcinoma; other types are carcinoid tumors, gastrointestinal stromal tumors and lymphomas.
If Celiac Disease goes undiagnosed or fails to follow the gluten-free régime, the chance of developing small intestinal cancer increases. Individuals with Celiac Disease have a compromised immune system and are more inclined to develop lymphomas in the small intestine.
Osteoporosis/Osteopenia
With Osteoporosis is a disease of the skeletal system when the bone mineral density is reduced, the amount and variety of proteins in bone are modified and bone microarchitecture deteriorates.
Celiac disease is malabsorption and vitamin deficiency with the small intestine and can be deficient in the nutrients needed to maintain bone density such as calcium, vitamin D and vitamin K. After following a gluten-free diet there are studies that show improvements with bone density.
For more information about other related diseases such as: Dermatitis, Herpetiformis, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Peripheral Neuropathy, Type 1 Diabetes, Down Syndrome, Liver Disease, Sjogren’s Disease and Williams’s Disease , please click here.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. What does this mean? Essentially the body is attacking itself every time a person with celiac disease consumes gluten.
Celiac disease is triggered by consumption of the protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye. When people with celiac disease eat foods containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging the finger-like villi of the small intestine. When the villi become damaged, the body is unable to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, which can lead to undernourishment.
Left untreated, people with celiac disease can develop further complications such as other autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and cancer.
There are more than 300 symptoms of celiac disease, and symptoms may vary among different people.
One person might have diarrhea and abdominal pain, while another person has irritability or depression. Some patients develop celiac symptoms early in life, while others feel healthy far into adulthood. Some people with celiac disease have no signs or symptoms.
These differences can make celiac diagnosis extremely difficult, resulting in 95% of celiacs undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions.
Left untreated, people with celiac disease can develop further complications such as other autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and cancer.
Some of the most common symptoms of celiac disease include:
Bloating or Gas
Diarrhea
Constipation
Fatigue
Itchy Skin Rash
Tingling/Numbness
Delayed Growth/Poor Weight Gain
Headaches
Depression
Mouth Sores
Joint Pain
Thin Bones
Irritability
Infertility
Discolored Teeth
Anemia, delayed growth, and weight loss are signs of malnutrition. Malnutrition is a serious problem for anyone, but particularly for children because they need adequate nutrition to develop properly. Failure to thrive during childhood development is a common indicator of celiac.
Some people with celiac disease may have no symptoms at all.
This is known as asymptomatic celiac disease. The undamaged part of their small intestine is able to absorb enough nutrients to prevent symptoms. However, people without symptoms are stillat risk for the complications of celiac disease.
Accurately diagnosing celiac disease can be quite difficult largely because the symptoms often mimic those of other diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, intestinal infections, lactose intolerance and depression.
Blood tests are the first step in a diagnosis of celiac disease. A doctor will order one or more of a series of blood tests to measure your body’s response to gluten.
Currently, recommended tests include:
Total IgA
IgA-tTG
IgA-EMA
If IgA is deficient, it is recommended that the IgG/IgA-DGP also be ordered. At the discretion of the doctor, IgG-AGA can also be ordered.
**It is important to continue eating a normal, gluten-containing diet before being tested for celiac. If the blood tests and symptoms indicate celiac, a physician may suggest a biopsy of the lining of the small intestine to confirm the diagnosis.
Treatment
The only treatment for celiac disease is a lifelong gluten-free diet. Eating gluten, no matter how small the amount, can damage the intestine.
A gluten-free diet means avoiding all foods that contain wheat (including spelt, triticale and khorasan), rye, and barley.
Despite these restrictions, people with celiac disease can eat a well-balanced diet with a variety of foods, including bread and pasta. Many gluten-free products are now made with potato, rice, soy, or bean flour. In addition, plains meat, fish, fruits and vegetables do not contain gluten, so celiacs can eat as much of these foods as they like.
Common Gluten-Free Alternatives:
Guar Gum
Soy Flour
Sweet Rice
Brown Rice
Lendils
Quinoa
Potato Flour
Amaranth
Xanthan Gun
Tapioca Starch
Buckwheat
Almond Flour
Potato Starch
Corn Starch
Corn Flour
Following a gluten-free diet may seem daunting at first, but, with a little creativity, anyone can make delicious gluten-free meals!
Pharmacists: Learn more about the role you can play in protecting celiac and gluten sensitive consumers from accidental gluten ingestion.
The only treatment for celiac disease is to follow a strict gluten-free diet for life. As gluten can be found in medication, pharmacy care is critical in the treatment of this disorder.
The Food Allergen Labeling Consumer Protection Act of 2004, which requires packaged food labels to identify all ingredients containing wheat and other common allergens, was a major landmark for people with celiac disease and food allergies. Yet no similar requirement exists for medication labels.
The risks of leaving gluten off the label:
Manufacturers use excipients to bind pills together and help deliver the medication to the patient. There are several types of excipients, and some of them may contain gluten.
Although few medications actually contain gluten, it is important that the ingredients of each medication are explored to determine the source of excipients – and to verify the particular drug is gluten-free.
The generic form of a medication may use different excipients than the brand name drug. Even if the brand name is determined to be gluten-free, the gluten-free status of each generic must be verified.
The following inactive ingredients indicate the need for additional investigation to determine the gluten-free status of the drug:
Wheat
Modified starch (source not specified)
Pregelatinized starch (source not specified)
Pregelatinized modified starch (source not specified)
Dextrates (source not specified)
Dextrimaltose (when barley malt is used)
Caramel coloring (when barley malt is used)
Dextrin (source not specified, but usually by corn or potato)
