Okay, I am not going to the Kremlin, but I am on my way to Charleston, South Carolina for a meeting. It is a short trip, but my planning is the same as if I were going to Africa.

Traveling is one of the biggest challenges for people on gluten-free diets. It is nearly impossible to find gluten-free food at the airport or in hotels. Over the last 10 years of being gluten-free, I have traveled extensively all over the world. And, I have finally perfected a system that works for me.

Breakfast is always the hardest meal to cope with and one of the biggest challenges in hotels. So, I carry my own breakfast with me. For this trip, I am packing six scoops of my wonderful protein powder (gluten, soy, and lactose free) into a plastic snack bag – enough for three days worth of breakfast. I also pack 6 scoops of ground flax seeds, which I will add to the protein shake. In the mornings I will just mix up my healthy, fiber and vitamin packed protein shake and drink it while I am getting dressed. It is as easy as 1, 2, 3. I am also packing some gluten-free bread in case there is a group breakfast. All I have to do is add a couple of eggs and no one knows the difference. 

Since it is a short trip, I also bring a couple of apples, Jocalat bars (by Larabars) and some rice crackers to munch on if I get hungry between meals. Sometimes, conferences run late, and if I am not prepared, I end up eating a Snickers candy bar, which I would prefer not to do. My gluten-free snacks are also handy if I get stuck at the airport because of delayed flights.

It took me a while to learn to be proactive and talk to the organizers about my diet. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Since most conferences have buffets, I just get the meat and vegetables. If I crave carbs, I use my gluten-free bread to fill in the starch gap. When there is a sit-down dinner, I will be very proactive in asking for a gluten free meal. However, if the meal sucks, I always have my protein shake in the hotel room to fill the gap.  

This is what I am packing for my short trip to South Carolina. What are your gluten-free travel tips? I would love to hear your comments.

 It’s the fall in the United States and a fantastic time for fresh apples. This delicious fruit is everyone’s best friend, but especially for those of us who are gluten free. There is a reason why they say, “An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.”

First of all, apples are rich in natural fiber. As you know, getting enough fiber in the diet is a real challenge for anyone on a gluten-free diet. A medium sized apple has about 4 grams of fiber – a heck of a lot more fiber than most cereals and breads have.

If you are trying to manage your waistline, a recent study showed that a group of women who ate apple wedges before a meal, lost more weight than the group that did not. This is because the fiber in the apple was filling and caused them to eat slightly less then their counterparts. The fiber in apples is also known to help lower cholesterol.
This fantastic little fruit does not stop there! Apple peels are high in quercetin, a compound with antioxidant properties that is more powerful than vitamin C. High intake of quercetin may reduce the risk of asthma, respiratory conditions and even Alzheimer’s disease.

But wait, there is more!! The peel of the apple also has cancer-fighting compounds. The Red Delicious apple is shown to contain triterpenoids, powerful compounds that have shown strong anticancer potential against breast, liver and colon cancers.

The moral of this story is to eat an apple or two a day. Instead of skipping breakfast, at least eat an apple. Have the munchies around 11 am or 5 pm? Grab an apple and a cup of tea. The fiber and water will fill you up. Hey, don’t blame me if you have to buy smaller clothes.

Allergic to corn? Buy organic apples that do not have that artificial waxy substance on them. Food companies add the waxy substance to apples to keep them fresher for a longer time (it prevents the apple from breathing). The waxy substance contains a corn derivative. So, select your apples carefully.

The biggest challenge of going gluten-free is knowing which packaged food products you can eat. What seems logical to eat may very well contain gluten. For example, corn flakes are made from corn, and thus have no gluten, that is until manufactures throw in some malt flavoring. Yogurt, which is made from milk – also gluten-free, may have gluten-containing thickeners in it. Other products such as soups, sauces, salad dressings, prepared meats, candy and flavored teas can contain gluten-containing ingredients. Heck, even some chocolate covered espresso beans can contain gluten. Is there no justice?

Well, actually, there is some justice for those of us with food allergies. In first update to their guidelines since 1983, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which was formed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), approved an accepted threshold for gluten in “gluten-free products. In July 2008 the limit was hugely cut from 5 g per kilogram (500ppm) to 20 mg per kilogram (20ppm) –a level that is considered to pose no risk to allergy suffers. Yahoo! Finally a more precise and useful definition.

But what about US guidelines? Currently, there is no there is no specific definition for the term “gluten-free” or what ingredients cannot be used in products labeled gluten-free in the United States. In 2004 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) requires the eight major food allergens that are used as ingredients to be declared in plain English terms on the label of all prepackaged foods under the purview of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A major food allergen is defined by FALCPA to be one of the following eight food/food groups or an ingredient that contains a protein derived from them: milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, and soybeans. For example, if a food item contained seasonings containing whey powder and wheat flour, the terms “milk” and “wheat” must be declared on the label. Although wheat must be declared, the FALCPA labeling does not apply to other gluten-containing grains (barley and rye)

But, the US is catching up to international standards. In 2006 the FDA issued a proposed rule to define the food-labeling term gluten-free. The final rule to establish a regulatory definition for the term gluten is not expected until the Fall of 2008. A clear definition of gluten and a revised labeling requirement would help those of us with celicac disease to identify foods with hidden sources of gluten, like those deceitful little chocolate covered espresso beans. Stay tuned……………

Food allergies are caused by an abnormal immunologic response to a dietary protein. There are 8 main food groups that contain certain proteins that cause more than 90% of all food allergies. They are: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, fish, shellfish and wheat (gluten). These are considered true food allergies.

Gluten is a type of protein (prolamin) found in wheat, rye, barley and contaminated oats. Technically, the gluten found in wheat, rye and barley is called gliadin and glutenin. They are elastic types of protein that act like glue that binds flour together in baked goods. If you have ever seen someone make bread, it is these proteins that make the dough elastic. (This is why many gluten-free baked goods are more crumbly.) The umbrella name for these types of proteins is gluten.

Someone with an allergy to gluten is considered to have celiac disease, also known as celiac sprue, or dermatitis herptetiformis. When consumed, gluten causes an abnormal immune response in the small intestines. The antibodies to gluten inflame and flatten the small intestinal villi. Basically, the body starts to attack itself. Sounds, weird, but that is what bodies do.

Intestinal villi are critical for absorbing nutrients from the food you eat. When they are flat, there are fewer surfaces available to absorb nutrients from food. This causes nutritional deficiencies in people with celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis. Unexplained anemia, premature osteoporosis, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies are all signs of celiac disease.

The consequences of not eliminating gluten from your diet, if you are allergic to it, are bloating and gas, diarrhea or constipation, severe intestinal damage, nutritional deficiencies, chronic fatigue, illness, joint pain, migraines and, last but not least, a several fold higher risk of developing intestinal lymphomas (cancer). Yuk!

So, if you are allergic to gluten, stop eating it – now!

I wish it were as easy just eliminating wheat, barley and rye from the diet. But, there are many derivatives of these grains that you should avoid if you are allergic to gluten. For example, couscous, durum, farina, graham flour, kamut, semolina, spelt and triticale are all types of wheat and, thus contain gluten. This is why “Wheat Free” is not gluten free.

Malt (including malt extract, malt syrup, and malt flavoring), pearl barley, Brewer’s yeast, and barley hops are all derivatives from barley. That rules out malt beer and lager (sorry!!!) Unfortunately, malt flavoring is also added to almost everything from corn flakes to chicken broth, and makes going gluten-free so challenging. Case in point, one winter evening I made a lovely risotto using a cartoon of chicken broth I bought at Whole Foods. Two days later the intestinal pain was so intense I could not move. I had been doing so well on my diet and could not imagine what could have made me sick. A little investigating led me to read the cartoon of chicken broth, which had malt flavoring. I couldn’t believe it. How puts malt in chicken broth for Pete sake?! Lesson learned – read every label!!

Rye and most oats, including oatmeal, oat bran, and oat flour, also contain gluten. Well, technically, oats don’t contain gluten, however they are usually grown close to wheat fields and processed in plants that also process gluten-containing grains. So, oats is off limits for those of us with celiac disease. However….., thanks to some awesome health conscious millers (Bob’s Red Mill being one of them), there are uncontaminated oats on the market. They are grown under the strictest of environments that make the oats gluten free and tolerable for many people with celiac disease. Personally I cannot eat them, but many of my gluten-free friends can.

Other places that gluten hides is in licorice, modified food starch, textured vegetable protein (veggie burgers and “vegetarian” chili, soy sauce (derived from wheat) and some vitamins (gluten-containing fillers) and prescriptions. The list is endless, actually. The most important thing is to keep learning (hence this blog) and don’t get caught with your pants down – read labels!

Ten years ago when I first gave up gluten, I thought it was the worse curse ever. As a vegetarian, it was hard to give up whole grain cereals, oatmeal, breads, crackers, and pasta that formed a large part of my diet. They were also my main sources of fiber. To add insult to misery, I also became allergic to soy and lactose – the main protein foods for my vegetarian lifestyle. Needless to say, the transition was a pain in the neck. I had to learn what to eat all over again.

In the beginning I started adding physillum husks to juice – which was disgusting. Then, I had to give up my vegetarian ways and eat meat. Learning to cook meat was a comedy of errors. I can’t tell you how many burned or foul tasting fish and chicken dishes I had to throw out. I lived on eggs, and beans for a long time. Getting a variety of satisfying food was also a challenge. My diet had become so boring that sometimes I just did not want to eat.

But, slowly, I learned how to cook, got the gluten-free foods down, and slugged through the ups and downs of living gluten-free. Yes, the transition was difficult and challenging – still is sometimes. But, when I see what most of my colleagues and friends eat, I feel glad to be eating foods that love me back. I don’t mind skipping the coffee house muffins and pastries, birthday cakes, cookies, waffles, pizza, and other fattening and heart-stopping staples of the American diet. I love eating well. Why?

Because I am never sick anymore and have more energy than people half my age.

I have also become much more in tune with my body. Just a slight feeling of bloating or pain in my stomach tells me that something slipped by that should not have. I investigate what it could have been and make sure I never eat it again. Personally, I am glad Mother Nature gave me a challenge that encourages me to be in tune with my body. We should all be so lucky. There are many people that find bloating, smelly gas, fatigue, and being sickly the norm? When I suggest they consider being tested for a food allergy, they swear up and down they could never give up their bread or pasta. They prefer to silently suffer and/or complain to their friends about how bad they feel. If they only knew what delicious gluten-free treats await them.

Going gluten-free has also given me an unexpected benefit. I have gotten to know a lot of chefs. I speak to them personally and ask what they suggest that is gluten-free and they have been most accommodating. Once in Philadelphia I was walking past Maggiano’s and struck up a conversation with someone whom I thought was a waiter standing outside the restaurant. He suggested I come in and I told him I could not eat pasta. To my surprise he said he was the chef and told me about al the gluten-free dishes he had on the menu. I went in for lunch and was treated like a VIP. In addition to fabulous gluten-free shrimp pasta, I was given gifts of corn pasta and other goodies from the kitchen to take home with me. I mean, how cool is that?

Thank goodness there is an ever-growing number of chefs that are conscious of food allergies and who will adjust their restaurant menus for us. I make them my friends. Just before writing this post, I had brunch with friends, skipped the bread and had a nice baked chocolate mousse for dessert – made just for us.

Since I travel all over the world I also have learned a lot of packing and traveling tip. It took a while to get the drill down, but now, I am in control of my diet, not the airlines or airport restaurants. Heck, I am glad I don’t have to eat all that crap.

There are still times I miss having a fresh morning pastry at the Farmer’s market or bakery. But, then I reach into my bag and pull out a delicious farm-fresh peach or apple. Made especially for me by the Universe. Yum! Besides, these days, there are more and more gluten free scones, muffins, biscotti, and cupcakes to choose from…. if the urge hits me.

I am glad I am gluten-free. The rewards of a healthier body, more energy, unique friends and not having to crappy food are worth it. Kinda of like going to the gym. You reluctantly drag yourself there only to emerge with stronger muscles and leaner bodies – definitely worth the extra work, don’t you think?