Month: October 2012

This is no longer fresh news, but I find the fact that it has gotten so little airplay in the U.S. mind boggling. Russia is not exactly a country known for its onerous restrictions, its lousy scientists (they did beat us into space) or even onerous enforcement of actual laws, but they have joined Egypt, Ireland and other nations which seem to have larger problems in banning GMO corn. Obviously they think this problem is pretty real. The dead rats may have something to do with that. GMOs were supposed to be the answer to global problems. We heard about drought resistant corn, and golden rice which would do wonders for starving children blinded by vitamin A deficiencies. What we got was corn that produced its own pesticide and converted gut flora into pesticide factories and Roundup Ready everything which has lead to glycosphate levels in human urine being so high that they violate water standards. And now we have corn that causes tumors…at least that is how it looks. Right now a battle is being fought in California for labeling. Not banning GMOs like Russia did…just labeling food that contains them. Big food is fighting this. They are fighting your right to choose. This is one of those issues where all my conservative friends and all my liberal friends tend to agree. They want to make their own...

I am in my 40s. According to the SEER report the odds of a woman being diagnosed with breast cancer between the ages of 40 and 50 are about 1.5%. This is an average and includes people with varying risk factors. Because of this risk my doctors recommend that every year I go in and spend an hour waiting to have my asymptomatic breasts smashed and irradiated to check for the possibility that I am in that unlucky 1.5% who will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her 40s. That said, when my relatives who are both genetically susceptible and who have multiple symptoms go in and request a blood test for the DQ2 and DQ8 genes or for the IgA reaction to gluten they are told that it is not necessary. This makes me crazy. We know from the Warren Air Force Base Study that undiagnosed celiacs lead shorter lives. Most of the celiac men in that study were dead by the age of 65. Only about one in four without the disease was dead by that age. We know that this disease is linked to other more dangerous and painful autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune or Type 1 diabetes. We know that about 1% of Americans of all ages have this condition. We know that women with the disorder are 350% more likely to have...

For us, food festivals are often an exercise in frustration. Someone is selling ice cream that we cannot eat. Another person is selling corn dogs that we cannot eat. Pretty much everything is unsafe for us. However the vegans can be counted on to provide a lot of gluten-free choices (and by definition everything is dairy-free) so after my son spent a frustrating weekend at a carnival where he could eat nothing, we went to Vegan Mania where only two booths were off limits and where he could stuff his face. Vegan Mania was held at the Chicago Armory which is on Broadway in the Lakewood Balmoral neighborhood. The facility is about the size of three basketball courts and they also used several meeting rooms for lectures. He enjoyed comparing gluten-free brownies (Bot Bakery won) and eating teff injera from Das Rashen (my favorite place for an anniversary dinner) and exploring Ethiopian food. He also enjoyed Bot Bakery’s deep dish pizza (yes a gluten and dairy free deep dish that is not too oily or salty). We would have eaten more but the vendors started running out of food…and we were getting a little too stuffed. But I think that the most fun thing for him was to be in a room full (and I mean full, they started running out of certain dishes at 2pm) of children who...

My son and I are full blown celiacs and we are the kind with dramatic symptoms that remove any and all temptation to eat gluten, dairy or corn. Our illness can be proven with lab tests. However, we are only about 1% of the population. A full 10% of the population is suspected of having non-celiac gluten sensitivity. It is also a serious condition, but under-diagnosed, not well understood, and frequently dismissed by doctors. Today on Dr Oz they reran a show that talked about gluten sensitivity. The show made some really good points. 1) If you have non-celiac gluten sensitivity you will test negative for celiac disease. You will NOT have an IgG immune response. You may or may not have an IgA immune response. There is no lab test at this time because they don’t yet understand the autoimmune pathways that cause this trigger. 2) The best test as of right now for gluten sensitivity is a STRICT gluten free diet for between one and two months. As in if you cheat once you restart the test the next day. You need at least 30 consecutive days of no cheating (he didn’t say that…my nutritionist did) followed by loaf of fine bread or a pizza. One tip from me…do not make plans that involve leaving your home or doing something useful for the time after the pizza....

This one is time sensitive. Until October 6th you can watch the movie “Hungry for Change” which is about nutrition and obesity. This is the follow up to Foodmatters. It’s pretty good. I have seen it and I recommend it for anyone interested in learning why we get so hungry and then so heavy. The guy from Fat Sick and Nearly Dead and several others who lost weight via juicing are featured. Just click the link below before Sunday October 7th....