Quinoa – still safe?

So, I’m still pretty much on hiatus, but this was such an interesting bit of research that I had to post it.

Essentially, while previous studies found quinoa to be safe for celiacs, a study released last year looked at numerous cultivars and found that two of them – which do NOT contain gluten – still set off immune reactivity in celiac disease cells. It was comparable to how these cells react to wheat.

http://ultimateglutenfree.com/2012/07/is-quinoa-gluten-free-research-questions-celiacs/

So what does this mean? We don’t know. It hasn’t been studied any more than this, I haven’t found.

But it makes me reflect on things I’ve run into before. Like the few celiacs on various forums who have always said that they could not get better until they dropped quinoa, and that quinoa always makes them have a gluten reaction.

It makes me think of the celiacs I’m meeting now who don’t seem to feel good until they drop ALL grains.

And it makes me wonder: how much more do we not know about this disease? Is there more than one grain where a few strains could make a celiac react? Or is it that some celiacs (and their cells) react to more than just wheat, rye, and barley, and it’s actually the cells that are different, not the strains of grain or pseudo-grain? Or something else completely?

Obviously, I don’t know the answer. But I think it’s yet another reason to remind ourselves to be good to one another as we try to regain our health, and not to be so quick to judge when someone with our condition has an experience that is different from our own.

Just because it’s different doesn’t mean that it’s a reaction that’s any less valid, or true, than our own.

:-)

 

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On hiatus for a while

I would really like to continue posting information about various products and research on Celiac Disease and gluten, especially for those who are super sensitive, but I’m going to be taking a bit of a break.

At this point in my journey to good health, there are no products that I use other than olive oil and salt. My children have developed a new intolerance that has essentially eliminated most processed foods for them, as well, and there is enough to do in my life that I am not feeling up to researching many foods that we won’t be able to use ourselves.

We’re keeping up on research, but the focus in our lives at this point is to try and improve the children’s health and make sure we’re all getting enough nutrition to stay healthy. I don’t know what direction this blog may take when I’m back to it – it may continue along the same lines, or I may switch directions to be more in line with wherever we are in our lives at that point.

Until then, I hope that whatever information is here now may be of some use to the few of you reading, or those of you who may come across this in the future. Take care!

Shauna

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Gluten and Kissing

For kissing, we always hear that our kissee should brush his or her teeth after eating gluten, if we want to be safe. A few of us, however, report reacting even after that. The interesting thing is that this has been reported even by those who don’t claim to be super sensitive. So, what’s going on? Continue reading

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Flying with food issues

Although many of us don’t eat out due to our food issues, for those that do, it’s always nice to have some inside information on where you’re planning to eat. When you’re trapped in an airplane with little other food choices, it’s even better.

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Ecover Dishsoap contains gluten ingredient

If you are a celiac and prefer to purchase no-gluten-ingredients in your products, especially if they are going to come into contact with your food and dishes, this may be a ‘don’t buy’ product for you. Continue reading

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Family update II

It’s been around 6 months since my last family update, so I figure we’re due! How we’re all doing, what we’re eating now, and how that diet is working.

We're making desserts now!

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Sulfites, part two

I was just looking over my last post and realized I left something out, something kind of important, actually.

There are more reactions to sulfites than just the way I react.  I mean that more than a reference to symptoms, but also to what is causing these symptoms in the first place. Continue reading

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What did I just say…

What was that I said last time? That there might be something else other than gluten causing some of these issues?

Found one. Continue reading

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Frustration 2: all in your head

If we can’t confirm the conclusions we’ve reached about our health, and what makes it better, it’s a challenge not to be labeled as a wack-job. No one out there knows us from Adam. They don’t know why we think what we do. And hey, you know, I could always be wrong about my own conclusions. It happens. Continue reading

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Frustration: when you don’t know the answers

I like answers. I like clear, concrete, easy to understand, easily verifiable answers, especially to my and my family’s medical issues. Partly because I just want to know, and partly because it’s easy to talk to someone who doesn’t believe you and say, ‘ha, here, it’s medically verified, bitches.’ Continue reading

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