Thankful for Mainstream Media November Love Fest on All Things Gluten Free

We are only 22 days into the month, but every time I open a mainstream publication I find another article on something gluten free.

Let’s start with the free publication, Natural Awakenings. The November 2011 Westchester/Putnam NY issue includes an article on Gluten-Free Baking, written by Claire O’Neil. It has a review of different types of flours and some lovely sounding recipes.

The second article I found was in the November 2011 issue of Health magazine. This was a really good article entitled, “Is going gluten-free the secret to weight loss?” by Kate Lowenstein. Spoiler alert…they got the answer right, if you just swap out one type of carb for another type of carb, you are not going to lose weight. There is still a lot of gluten free “junk food,” that has calories in it! You can lose weight if you cut out the pasta, pizza and breads altogether but that is not “going gluten-free,” that is just cutting back on carbohydrates. Thanks so much for getting it right.

The third article was in Sports Illustrated, November 7, 2011, entitled “The New Training Table” by Alexander Wolff. This article was fascinating and it really was more about diet and “performance, wellness and recovery.” Athletes are “eating to win.” This really talks about reducing inflammation to speed recovery, which is another facet of a gluten-free diet. Some of the athletes in the article actually eat gluten-free food because they have to due to a diagnosis, but others are not. We have a major article on athletes & CD in Gluten-Free Living Vol 11, #4…shipping November 28th!

The New York Times has taken a particular interest in a gluten-free diet. The New York Times Magazine that centered on food back in October, had three mentions of a gluten-free diet or gluten-free food in that issue…including a coast to coast GF quote! But, the one that really caught my eye was the New York Times Magazine on November 13, 2011 in the Diagnosis article. The minute I read the symptoms, I knew what the mystery ailment was…celiac disease. What was really great about this presentation of symptoms is that the patient experienced muscle or joint pain for 10 years, anemia, depression, IBS, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, had periods of terrible weakness and had been through many different doctors. That is the reality with diagnosing CD, it doesn’t always present with straight gastrological symptoms!

Then last Sunday, the Wall Street Journal weekend edition, November 19-20, 2011, featured an article about Alice Medrich, an award winning cookbook author, and her latest dessert project. She is developing gluten-free baked good recipes. Right now she is experimenting with all types of gluten-free flour and I’m sure this will be very interesting when it is finished!

Fifteen years ago when I was diagnosed, I was told celiac disease was a “very rare” condition. From the coverage I’m seeing about a gluten-free diet, I hope that original doctor is now telling his patients about a “very common” condition that strikes 1 in 133 Americans. Thanks to everyone this year who has helped grow the awareness for celiac disease and gluten intolerance.

Kendall Egan