Go Gluten-Free in 2011

If your New Year's resolution is to eat healthier by decreasing or eliminating gluten from your diet, you can learn how to get started from Whole Foods Market this month.

In-store educator Julie Pratt will walk you through the store, sharing her knowledge of gluten and how to avoid it in your everyday diet 7 to 8 p.m. Jan. 13 and 27.

A gluten-free diet is one without wheat, rye, spelt and barley.

The gluten in wheat products tends to be the most irritating. It's not uncommon for people to avoid wheat products. Those with celiac disease and more severe allergies avoid all products containing gluten (wheat, spelt, barley and rye).

Some people need to avoid oats, too. The grain is gluten free, but usually is grown and processed with wheat. So, those with celiac disease or severe allergies need to avoid oats, dietitians say. Some companies now offer gluten-free oats.

Pratt suggests cutting down on gluten even if you don't have celiac disease or allergies.

"Gluten is a heavy, sticky protein that takes a lot of energy to digest," she said. "This is why after you eat bagels and pastries your stomach tends to stick out a bit and feel uncomfortably fuller. Many of us consume more gluten than we need in our day-to-day diets."

Food Design Part II: Patterns

In part two of food and design, We feature food found in patterns.

How common is celiac disease?

Celiac disease affects people in all parts of the world. Originally thought to be a rare childhood syndrome, celiac disease is now known to be a common genetic disorder. More than 2 million people in the United States have the disease, or about 1 in 133 people.¹ Among people who have a first-degree relative—a parent, sibling, or child—diagnosed with celiac disease, as many as 1 in 22 people may have the disease.²

Celiac disease is also more common among people with other genetic disorders including Down syndrome and Turner syndrome, a condition that affects girls’ development.

¹Fasano A, Berti I, Gerarduzzi T, et al. Prevalence of celiac disease in at-risk and not-at-risk groups in the United States. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2003;163(3):268–292.

²Ibid.source

What is celiac disease?

Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also be found in everyday products such as medicines, vitamins, and lip balms.

The small intestine is shaded above.

 When people with celiac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Villi normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food one eats.

Villi on the lining of the small intestine help absorb nutrients.

Celiac disease is both a disease of malabsorption—meaning nutrients are not absorbed properly—and an abnormal immune reaction to gluten. Celiac disease is also known as celiac sprue, nontropical sprue, and gluten-sensitive enteropathy. Celiac disease is genetic, meaning it runs in families. Sometimes the disease is triggered—or becomes active for the first time—after surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional stress.source

Food Design Part 1