It was an odd quirk of timing that I found out that celiac disease runs in my family just when I had a review copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Gluten-Free Eating in my review stack. Naturally I bumped it to the top so I could read all about it. Celiac disease is a condition in which the ingestion of gluten results in damage to your intestines, reducing your ability to absorb nutrients. Most people don’t understand the severity of this illness or just how strict you have to be in your diet to avoid further damage. I was very impressed by the depth of information in the above book, as well as the tone of encouragement and the wide array of helpful suggestions.
By the way, if someone in your family has celiac disease, strongly consider getting tested. If there’s a family history, you’re at greater risk for having it yourself, and you really don’t want to let it go undetected. I expect to find out for myself whether I have it when my biopsy results come back in about a week.
I expect to post a goodly handful of reviews this week, possibly including a second one later today. I’m done cooking with (and almost done reading) the ‘superfood cookbook,’ and I’m done with Ronald Cutler’s The Secret Scroll. I’m also in the middle of cooking with an agave nectar baking book. Speaking of which, here’s a photo of some of the interesting ingredients we’ve been cooking with of late:
There’s a bottle of dark agave nectar, and some of the best pasta I’ve ever had (let alone the best whole-grain or gluten-free pasta). You can sort of see a tin of smoked paprika toward the back left; one of the authors of the gluten-free eating book recommended it, so when I saw it I couldn’t help picking it up. The baggie toward the back right is filled with Amaranth seeds, which are quite yummy in baked goods (I like to add a tablespoon to pancakes). As for the big bottle supporting the empty pasta bag… well, that one is homemade vanilla extract! YUM!
I’ve read that book, too. It’s really a good intro to what Celiac disease is all about. I keep this around as my “loan to” book for family and friends. It helps with a lot of the questions! 🙂 I always love the responses to the “cannot eat” list. “Well, I didn’t know Cream of Mushroom Soup had wheat in it!!” If nothing else, it has made my family look closer at what they’re eating. 🙂
Have you tried the Spinach Spaghetti from Tinkyada? IMO, it’s the best product they have on the market (and they are my favorite noodle for affordability). Another brand, BioNaturae is more like semolina, but they are a lot more expensive. I try to catch them on sale in bulk, but then ya gotta store them… you know, all of that. 🙂 GF food is a pain like that.
Kristi: It does seem like the ideal book to help with explanations! It’s pretty amazing how many food items have gluten of some sort in them. I haven’t tried Tinkyada’s spinach variety—I’ll have to give it a try!