gluten free familyA mum's blog about gluten-free living in Australia

Happy New Year! We here at Gluten Free Family may have downed tools these last few weeks, but we haven’t completely frittered our idle moments. Our days out and about, traveling here and there, have provided some inspiriaton.

We have a few new gluten free projects in the pipeline this year (as a result we won’t be blogging quite as regularly) so watch this space.

We have also pulled together a gluten free holiday survival guide. We know how tricky things can be when you are away from your own familiar cupboards and your regular retailers — and it’s tempting to fall off the wagon — especially at this time of year.

So here are the tips we’ve collected in the weeks and years past — and please feel free to share yours! Read the rest of this entry »

It dawned on me recently that the typical Gluten Free Family reader is female — yet coeliac disease is not a gender-specific condition.

I decided it was time to try and figure out what was going on and it turns out that it’s no coincidence. Men are slipping through the cracks when it comes to getting their gluten problems diagnosed, according to an Australian gastroenterologist, Dr Bob Anderson. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s often said that you shouldn’t remove gluten from your diet unless you really have to. But where does that leave you in a household where half of you react to gluten and half of you don’t?

On one hand, you don’t want to deprive everyone of the flavour, texture, nutrition and fibre content of gluteny grains, (the latter’s a risk if you stick to unadventurous alternatives like rice and spuds—and I’ll own up to this).

On the other hand, if you’re not into a la carte-style meal prep, and want to avoid gluten envy, you’ll need to find some common ground at the dining table. Read the rest of this entry »

Most people listen with interest, sometimes even fascination, when I describe my adventures with gluten—unless they are doctors, in which case they just think I’m a loon.

There are exceptions and I now have a great doctor for my nine year old son, who has Attention Deficit Disorder. I can’t bring myself to say ADHD (the correct term for his condition) because he’s not hyperactive—unless he has gluten.

Last weekend this doctor drew my attention to ground breaking research published in highly regarded medical journal, The Lancet, in February which found a significant link between food intolerances and ADHD, finally! Read the rest of this entry »

Gluten is making waves on the international tennis circuit.  First the world number two, Novak Djokovic declared he was intolerant to the stuff and now German player, Sabine Lisicki says her gluten-eating days are over.

We are not told if it was tummy trouble or itchy rashes that spurred the move—but Djokovic has attributed a gluten free diet to his improved form on the court. Lisicki, on the other hand, blamed glitches in her new gluten free regime to a recent on-court collapse.

She wouldn’t be the first gluten avoider to run into energy problems. But hope could soon be at hand. It looks like the world’s researchers are finally starting to make some headway! Here’s a quick update on the latest trials: Read the rest of this entry »

Syndian lentil burgers

We of the gluten free lifestyle know all about the difficulties of finding the right dietary balance – but what about those who have other strict dietary restrictions on top of being gluten free?

I once explored some of the options for vegetarians who must also avoid gluten, but when Syndian sent me some samples of their gluten-free vegan range of frozen convenience products, I started to think even more about the the lack of options in mainstream dining outlets for those on very strict cruetly-free diets who are told by their doctor they must also ditch wheat products. Read the rest of this entry »

Want to know the best way to sniff out the gluten content in food? Check out the label. If no gluten is listed, “no news is good news” says dietician Kim Menzies who presented her tips and tricks for reading gluten free packaging labels at the recent Gluten Free Show.

All potential allergens must be listed on the food label, so if gluten or a gluten containing product like wheat, barley or malt is not listed on the label, it is gluten free, she says.

That includes products that use compound ingredients like mayonaise. If one of these makes up less than 5 per cent of a product, the ingredients that went into it need not be disclosed – but the allergens must. Read the rest of this entry »

Quinoa

Health was the watchword at this year’s gluten free expo in Sydney, as savouries triumphed over sweets, and some alternative grains went under the microscope.

We’ve already discussed the dearth of cupcakes at the show, and will run through some of the new/interesting products we hunted down in the coming weeks.

But first I thought I would share details of one of the more intriguing talks for those who suffer unpleasant digestive complaints as a result of eating gluten.

Naturopath and nutritionist, Janalla Purcell, took the stand at the expo to discuss this issue.  She believes that the growing numbers of gluten intolerant people have resulted from the over-reliance of our society on wheat as a grain.

For those suffering classic gluten intorerance symptoms (which means IBS-type symptoms rather than coeliac disease) she believes you can fix your digestive tract to tolerate gluten (in smaller quantities) – as long as you give your body time to recuperate. Read the rest of this entry »

It can be a complicated world out there for the gluten intolerant.

On top of not being able to eat wheat, many of us must avoid other stuff too, and the most common “poisons” seem to include soy, dairy and yeast.

Soy is one of the more controversial of these ingredients – and recently someone wrote in to chide us for ‘promoting’ soy products on our blog.

They claimed soy was far less healthy than the food business would have us believe.

Yet another wrote in to defend soy, saying that without it, many breads and pastries would be rendered inedible.

I must admit to being a fence sitter on this particular issue. I think people must make their own decisions when it comes to what they can and cannot tolerate.

As I personally don’t know for sure whether soy, yeast or dairy are healthy or unhealthy for the general population, I’ll have to stay on that fence for the time being. Read the rest of this entry »

Chia seeds

Now many of us have been forced to look beyond wheat as a source of nutrition, attention has begun to shift to some of the ancient grains of our ancestors.

They don’t just look wholesome – but actually contain higher levels of protein and fibre than more traditional gluten free staples such as rice, corn and potato, which could mean a healthier and more balanced diet for those of us who have sworn off gluten for life.  Here are a few that have caught our eye in recent times.

Chia

Chia seeds are popping up in a wider range of gluten free goods, so we thought it might be time to take a closer look at this grain.

The Lifestyle bakery has had great success with its award-winning chia loaf and breadmaker Dovedale has also released a number of breads and other chia-based goodies.

Dovedale says chia’s origins date back to Central American civilisations and “improves human nutrition by providing the richest natural source of Omega 3, antioxidants and dietary fibre”.

Read the rest of this entry »