Tuesday June 18, 2013
Here's another reason to eat your vegetables: new research indicates that people with celiac disease consume too little of six important nutrients, including several B vitamins, folic acid and iron.
The study was conducted in Germany, and so it might not be completely applicable to those in the U.S. and other countries ... but it's probably not that far off the mark, nonetheless.
In addition, although the study looked only at those diagnosed with celiac disease, those with non-celiac gluten sensitivity and others eating gluten-free likely have similar nutritional intake issues.
The researchers, writing in the medical journal Digestion, collected a week's worth of food diaries from 88 people with celiac disease and computed the levels of vitamins and minerals in that week's worth of food. They then compared those levels to averages from a national survey in Germany and to recommended levels.
The group of celiacs fell well short of the national average on six specific vitamins and minerals: B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B6, folic acid, magnesium and iron. This doesn't come as a surprise: gluten-containing products such as conventional bread and cereal often are fortified with these vitamins and minerals ... so if you're not eating gluten, you're getting less of these.
The study recommended regular laboratory monitoring of vitamin levels in people with celiac. But to help combat any dietary nutritional deficiencies on your own, you might want to be particularly mindful of these six nutrients, and work to choose more foods that contain them.
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Photo © Getty Images/Anastassios Mentis
Monday June 17, 2013
If you polled people with celiac disease about what celiac symptoms they thought would indicate the worst intestinal damage, it's likely that bad diarrhea would lead the list. But your poll would be wrong: a new study shows that celiacs with anemia, not diarrhea, have worse celiac-related damage to their intestines at diagnosis.
The study, published in the medical journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, looked at the degree of villous atrophy, plus celiac blood test results and bone mass density, in 727 people newly diagnosed with celiac at Columbia University's Celiac Disease Center between 1990 and 2011.
More than three-quarters of the group had diarrhea, while 23% had anemia as their primary symptom. However, people with anemia were more than twice as likely to have severe villous atrophy and low bone mass density at the time they were diagnosed as those whose primary symptom was diarrhea.
In addition, anemia as a primary symptom was associated with lower levels of total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol (the so-called "good" cholesterol), but only in women. Anemia also was associated with higher levels of the celiac-related antibody tTG-IgA (detected through blood tests) in both men and women.
The bottom line: people who have anemia as their primary celiac disease symptom at diagnosis appear to have more severe celiac-related damage than those who have diarrhea.
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Photo Courtesy of the National Institutes of Health
Thursday June 13, 2013
It's fairly common for people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity to report digestive problems when they consume coffee -- common enough that I thought it was worth looking into.
What I found was pretty interesting.
Yes, plain coffee ought to be gluten-free (although your digestive system may rebel against it for other reasons). But flavored coffees may be an issue, especially if you're fairly sensitive to trace gluten. And it's possible to introduce gluten cross-contamination into your coffee cup in several different ways.
The bottom line: you can get a decent, gluten-free cup of coffee. But you may need to make some changes in your coffee habit to do so. I provide the details in my new coffee article: Is Coffee Gluten-Free, or Does It Contain Gluten?
If you drink coffee, this should help you stay safe. And if you've been forced to cut it out, you might find some tips that will allow you to enjoy it again.
Also, if you like to stop at Starbucks, you might want to check out my Gluten-Free Starbucks Guide. It's also possible to find gluten-free brownies at Starbucks ... but sadly, only in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe.
Keep up with the latest in the celiac disease/gluten sensitivity world -- sign up for my newsletter, connect with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter - @AboutCeliac.
Photo © Getty Images/Paper Boat Creative
Wednesday June 12, 2013
Summer is the time for salads, with all the wonderful fresh vegetables you can purchase at any farmers' market. But what should you use to top that salad?
As it turns out, the majority of salad dressings on the market today are considered gluten-free to less than 20 parts per million, so you'll have many choices.
It gets a little trickier if you're more sensitive to trace gluten, and trickier still if you react (as I do) to vinegar derived from gluten grains -- in that case, your choices in commercially-made dressings are pretty limited (although they're not zero by any means).
I provide all the details, including trace gluten levels and vinegar sources, in this list:
Combined with the right dressing, a fresh salad is delicious, nutritious and just about perfectly gluten-free.
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Photo © Getty Images/Victoria Pearson
