These are healthy gluten-free pancakes that you can feel good about eating. Because my husband loves them so much, it gluten free buckwheat pancakes have become a staple in our house. Despite what its name implies, is naturally gluten-free buckwheat, it is not even really a grain, but instead related to Rhubarb. Remember, buckwheat has a distinct taste, but it works well in pancakes. I end up with maple syrup on pancakes least because mashed ripe banana adds moisture and helps the sweetness of this recipe.

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buckwheat pancakes gluten free

This recipe makes about 14 pancakes medium.

1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal or corn flour

1/2 cup brown rice or soy flour

1 tablespoon soda 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups soy, almond milk or rice

2 tablespoons olive oil

Maple syrup or agave 2 tablespoons

1 ripe banana, crushed

oil for cooking pancakes

In a small bowl, whisk together the milk of choice, oil, maple syrup, and mashed banana.

spoon batter 1/3 cup on a lightly oiled pan heated over medium heat. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side just below, as they brown. You do not have enough bubbles in the same way as traditional pancakes, but you can usually tell when they are delivered.

freeze well, so you might want to make a larger batch and freeze some for a quick breakfast option later in the week.

Options

You can

your favorite fruits or nuts to these pancakes for diversity and add nutritional value. Blueberries are especially good in these pancakes, but I also like the chopped nuts in them.

For flax meal expenses, grind flaxseeds in a coffee grinder. Flour freshly ground flaxseed is easy to do, if you have a coffee grinder and it has more nutritional value because it does not oxidize much more time before use. Lin adds healthy essential fatty acids, fiber and even some protein to the mixture.

Gluten-free buckwheat pancakes is a post from: Celiac Information celiac-association.ca

Day 8 of Our Gluten-Free Blog Hop!

See below this post for all the info & how to enter to win!

Tips for Baking Better Gluten-Free Bread

Correctly measure your flour.

When measuring flour, don’t scoop from the bag with your measuring cup.  This can compress the flour — up to 25%!  Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup and level off with a knife instead.  One step better is to weigh your flour. My Jules Gluten Free™ Flour weighs 135 grams per cup. Measuring by weight will ensure that you have the correct amount of flour in any recipe.

Sometimes the problem is with the GF flour used, not the recipe.

Even 1/2 cup of flour can make a huge difference in the results you get with any recipe. It’s not enough to just use any gluten-free flour you choose. Follow the flours recommended for each given recipe to get the results promised.

3 Loaves – all the same recipe, using 1/2 cup of different GF flours

Bring your ingredients to room temperature before mixing.

It is particularly important for yeast recipes that you bring all of your ingredients, such as eggs, to room temperature before adding them together to make bread.  Yeast needs warmth to grow and if your ingredients are too cold, it may prevent full yeast growth.

Make sure your loaf of bread is actually fully cooked.

It is very important not to take your bread out of the oven before it is fully cooked.  If the bread has a rubbery layer at the bottom, this usually means it was not fully cooked.  The best way to tell if the bread is done is to take a baking thermometer and insert it all the way into the bottom of the loaf (but not touching the pan).  The temperature should be approximately 205-210º F when it is done.  Your bread will keep its shape better overcooked than undercooked, so if in doubt, keep it in the oven a bit longer!

If baking by oven method, use metal pans.

I have found that glass bread pans do not work as well as metal pans in fully cooking a loaf of bread.  Metal pans do not have to be fancy or expensive, and you can often even find them in your local grocery store.

Rising issues.

A great method for letting your yeast breads rise before baking is to turn on your oven to 200º F, then turn it off when it has reached temperature.  Put your un-raised bread into the warmed oven with an oiled piece of wax paper on top and a bowl of water in the oven with it, then let it rise according to directions.  Once raised, remove the wax paper and bake according to directions.

How to prevent your bread from sinking.

When your bread is done cooking, turn off the oven and open the door so that the bread can cool slowly.  Taking the bread out of a hot oven and quickly transferring it to a cool counter can sometimes cause the loaf to sink in.  If it still sinks, it may have too much moisture to support itself fully.  It should still taste great, but if you have your heart set on a nice crowned loaf, next time try cutting back on the liquid a bit in that recipe or adding 1/4 cup of flaxseed meal to help support the bread’s structure and enhance its nutritional value, all in one!  Altitude and even the day’s weather can affect sometimes-picky yeast recipes.

Don’t forget to check out my blogging friends’ Blog Hop posts and enter to win goodies from each of us during our 10 Day Blog Hop!

Each Monday – Friday of this 2 weeks, I join 9 other gluten-free bloggers to offer you bite-size tips on all aspects of living a full life, free of gluten! Hop from my post to others each day to get your nuggets of information, and to enter to win fun prizes from each of us! You can enter each day by commenting on each of our posts.

If you share my post on Facebook or Twitter, tell me you did in your comment, and it counts as an extra entry! At the end of the two weeks of tips, one lucky winner will score a free FIVE POUND BAG of my Jules’ Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour*!

Check out the other prizes on each of the other blogs’ posts too.

Good luck and enjoy!

• Getting Started – The Gluten-Free Homemaker
• Resources – Celiacs in the House
• Traveling – Gluten-Free Travel Blog
• Eating Out – Gluten-Free Cat
• Frugal Tips – Gluten Freely Frugal
• Cooking – Ginger Lemon Girl
• Baking – Jules Gluten Free
• Kids – Lynn’s Recipe Adventures
• Lunch Boxes – Tessa the Domestic Diva
• Shopping – Gluten Free Pantry

*Winner must have an address in the U.S. for shipping

Tips for Baking Better Gluten-Free Bread is a post from: Celiac Information celiac-association.ca

Day 5 of Our Gluten-Free Blog Hop!

See below this post for all the info & how to enter to win!

Egg-Free / Vegan Gluten-Free Baking

Consider the egg. It does so much for baked goods: it’s an emulsifier (preventing the separation of ingredients like oil and water); a texturizer; a tenderizer; a strengthener; an aid in leavening and in moisture. Eggs help make your baked goods smooth and creamy, light, fluffy and moist.

But what if you cannot use eggs or choose a vegan lifestyle? For many people living gluten-free, adding restrictions like no dairy or no eggs, puts them over the edge. No need to fret! You just need a quick primer in egg substitutes!

(See yesterday’s post for dairy-free substitutes!)

Tips:

• One trick to transforming many recipes to egg-free is to choose the right pan. Many quick breads, muffins and cakes will not have the same structural integrity without real eggs, so cheat a little bit and give your recipe more support by using smaller pans or muffin tins.
• In any given recipe calling for more than two eggs, reconsider if you really must try it egg free.
• In recipes calling for 3 eggs or more, try not to use more than two recipes of the same substitute (e.g. replace 3 eggs in a recipe by using two recipes of egg substitute #1 plus one recipe of egg substitute # 6 – see below).
• Keep the fat in your recipes to help stand in for the lack of eggs, especially in recipes calling for more than 2 eggs. Thus, in a recipe calling for 3 eggs and milk, use egg substitutes and milk like coconut or almond which have more fat and body than a milk like skim dairy or rice milk.

Substitutes

Like gluten-free flours, there is no one-egg-substitute-fits-all for every kind of recipe. Try some of my preferred substitutes in your gluten-free baking to see which works best for you!
(Note: each substitute given will replace one large egg)

Egg-Free Gluten-Free Bread made with Flaxseed Meal + Water Egg Substitute

Mayonnaise

Best for: Casseroles, Dressings and Quick Breads
Egg-free mayonnaise dressing alternatives help bring lots of salads, baked goods and casseroles back to the table for those avoiding eggs. Look for Follow Your Heart Vegenaise® or Earth Balance® Mindful Mayo as reliable and readily available alternatives for these recipes.

Ener-G® Egg Replacer

Best for: Cookies, Cakes and Quick Breads
Pre-made Ener-G® egg replacer is gluten and egg free; the manufacturer states that this product is free of gluten, wheat, casein, dairy, egg, yeast, soy, nut, and rice.

Although this product is billed as a substitution for a full egg, egg white, or egg yolk, I personally do not like its performance as an egg yolk substitute, largely because this egg substitute is fat-free and yolks are largely comprised of fat. In recipes calling for yolks, try using this egg substitute plus 1 teaspoon canola oil to improve the texture of your dish.

Homemade Egg Substitute #1
Best for: Quick Breads, Cakes, Brownies and Some Cookies:

• 1 Tablespoon milk powder (dairy, soy or Dari-Free®)
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 Tablespoons warm water

Homemade Egg substitute #2:
Best for: Quick Breads, Cakes, Brownies and Some Cookies:

• 1 Tablespoon canola oil
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder

Homemade Egg substitute #3:
Best for: Quick Breads, Cakes, Brownies and Some Cookies:

• ¼ cup yogurt (dairy, soy or coconut work best)
• ¼ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

Homemade Egg substitute # 5:
Best for: Savory Dishes and Cheesecakes

• ¼ cup firm or extra firm silken tofu, blended in a food processor or blender
• ½ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

Homemade Egg substitute # 6:
Best for: Quick Breads, Brownies and Pancakes:

• ¼ cup mashed, very ripe bananas, or apple purée, apple butter, applesauce or canned pumpkin
• ½ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

Homemade Egg Substitute #7:
Best for: Quick Breads, Yeast Breads, Batters and Some Cookies:

• 1 Tablespoon flaxseed meal
• 3 Tablespoons very warm water

Once the flaxseed meal is added to the water, stir and allow it to gel and absorb all the water before adding to your recipe; you can speed this process along by heating over low heat until a viscous liquid is formed.

For more egg substitutes (including egg yolk substitutes) consult with my book, Free for All Cooking: 150 Easy Gluten-Free, Allergy-Friendly Recipes the Whole Family Can Enjoy.

Don’t forget to check out my blogging friends’ Blog Hop posts and enter to win goodies from each of us during this 10 Day Blog Hop!

Each Monday – Friday of the next 2 weeks, I join 9 other gluten-free bloggers to offer you bite-size tips on all aspects of living a full life, free of gluten! Hop from my post to others each day to get your nuggets of information, and to enter to win fun prizes from each of us! You can enter each day by commenting on each of our posts.
If you share my post on Facebook or Twitter, tell me you did in your comment, and it counts as an extra entry! At the end of the two weeks of tips, one lucky winner will score a free FIVE POUND BAG of my Jules’ Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour*! Check out the other prizes on each of the other blogs’ posts too.

Good luck and enjoy!

• Getting Started – The Gluten-Free Homemaker
• Resources – Celiacs in the House
• Traveling – Gluten-Free Travel Blog
• Eating Out – Gluten-Free Cat
• Frugal Tips – Gluten Freely Frugal
• Cooking – Ginger Lemon Girl
• Baking – Jules Gluten Free
• Kids – Lynn’s Recipe Adventures
• Lunch Boxes – Tessa the Domestic Diva
• Shopping – Gluten Free Pantry
*Winner must have an address in the U.S. for shipping.

Egg-Free / Vegan Gluten-Free Baking is a post from: Celiac Information celiac-association.ca

If you are diagnosed with celiac disease, you must completely avoid gluten for the rest your life. It is time to turn the corner and focus on enjoying the benefits of being gluten-free rather than on the loss of all those foods containing gluten.

But we do not live in a gluten-free world. At some point, no matter how careful you are, you will accidentally consume a little gluten. So how much gluten is too much? And more importantly, what do you do when it happens?

Measuring Your Daily Gluten

While the most common understanding is that 100 mg of gluten per day is the minimum amount of gluten to cause problems, a recent study conducted in Finland suggests that as little as 30 milligrams of gluten may be enough to show a change in antibodies and in the health of the mucosal lining of the small intestine (as measured with an intestinal biopsy).

To give you an idea of just how little this is:

An average slice of sandwich bread will have a little less than 5000 milligrams of gluten (or about 4.9 grams). So you could have about 1/164th of a slice of bread once a day for about 30 days and you might do measurable damage to your small intestine.

This will vary by individual (see more below), and it is important to recognize that all these studies involve consistent exposure over time (although a very short time period; usually a couple of weeks to a month).

In all studies, there were statistical outliers, which means there were less common cases within each study where people would experience more damage with even less gluten consumption, and people who could consume more gluten yet experience less damage.

Please remember that both celiac disease and a non-celiac gluten sensitivity are not allergies; they are not a Type 1 Hypersensitivity. In more cases than not, you may not experience clear and tangible celiac disease symptoms after consuming a small part of a slice of bread.

This isn’t to suggest you can get away with eating those small amounts — you can’t. But it’s important — it is absolutely vital — that you understand how the damage can be done without you even feeling it.

Two Common Misconceptions About Gluten Intolerance

The most profound misunderstanding I’ve witnessed when consulting people with gluten intolerance is when people believe in one of two polar opposite (but equally inaccurate) perspectives:

1) Either they treat their celiac disease like an allergy and think that if there is a trace of gluten in their food they’ll become terribly ill right away. But again, celiac disease is not a Type 1 Hypersensitivity or a food allergy; celiac disease is very different than a true wheat allergy.

or

2) Because they don’t feel anything after eating a plate of pasta (surprisingly common among people in the early stages of celiac disease), they think they can just “cut down” on gluten and not eliminate it altogether. This is a big mistake and could in fact even be deadly if they let their celiac disease go untreated for years as it can lead to chronic inflammation and a host of other health problems.

To summarize: The important thing to understand is that it takes a very small amount of gluten to do damage to your small intestine, but you may not even feel it — not right away or maybe not even for days.

But just because you can’t feel it soon after consumption doesn’t mean the damage isn’t being done.

Will That Hurt Me?

A common question I receive from my newsletter subscribers is something like, “I accidentally consumed a soup with soy sauce in it. Will this make me sick?”

I want to stress that if you have been diagnosed with celiac disease you must avoid gluten for the rest of your life.

There are 3 variables that make it so I can’t answer this main question for any single person:

1) How advanced is your celiac disease?

Someone who just recently developed celiac disease will not have as much villous atrophy along the walls of their small intestine, and thus a tiny trace of gluten consumed a single time may not set them back as far (but it will still do damage).

But someone who has suffered for years and only recently went gluten-free may experience more suffering and damage.

There are no layman measuring sticks for “how advanced” your celiac disease is, just a wide swathe of gray area, which makes it very difficult for me to answer how bad it was that you had that soup.

2) Everyone’s body is different.

I mean this literally. Even every person with celiac disease generates a different volume of the damaging antibodies when they consume the same amount of gluten. And it’s almost impossible to measure just how severely your body reacts to a small trace of gluten compared to another person with celiac disease.

3) How much gluten was really in that soup?

Without constantly carrying around a gluten testing kit with you, it’s unlikely you can say exactly how much gluten you accidentally consumed.

And the difference between a damaging amount and an amount that won’t make too much of a difference is incredibly tiny according to a recent study conducted in Finland, so it’s really hard to tell if the soy sauce used to make that soup exposed you to 25 mg of gluten or 35 mg of gluten, which according to the Finland study is the difference between damaging you or not damaging you.

So those three variables are what keep me from being able to answer isolated, individual queries in a real meaningful way.

So What Can You Do If You Think You’ve Ingested Some Gluten?

Here are my quick suggestions:

1) For the following two weeks, be obsessively vigilant about avoiding gluten. I don’t like to encourage an irrational gluten phobia, but if you’re confident you accidentally consumed gluten and you have celiac disease, do your best to let your body repair itself.

2) While I’m a little skeptical of supplements where the manufacturer claims their supplement can let you eat a little gluten (it’s just not true, no matter how they market these products), keeping something on hand for the occasional and possibly inevitable times when a little gluten might slip into your food is probably a good idea. Quality products of this nature are just enzymes that help you digest certain proteins.

I’ve read quite a few good things about this one:

Garden of Life Immune Balance Gluten Freeze

3) In the third orientation email I send to new subscribers of my gluten intolerance newsletter, I offer several suggestions for helping people heal the damage done by gluten intolerance. In particular, the three following have an uncommon agreement of support from both the conventional science community and the naturopathic community:

• Probiotics
• Glutamine
• Aloe

Just make sure the supplement you choose in each of these areas is a gluten-free supplement.

My comprehensive guide to healing the damage done by gluten is a free email you’ll receive for subscribing to my newsletter, which you can join here.

Because the autoimmune response triggered by gluten tends to damage the proximal small intestine first, you might integrate foods rich in the vitamins and minerals absorbed by that part of your intestine. Calcium, magnesium, iron and fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) are all absorbed by this part of your small intestine. Discuss this with your doctor, however, because you don’t want to assume you’re experiencing low ferritin symptoms and take too much iron.

I hope this helps you better understand how little gluten it takes to do damage and how to respond when you do accidentally “glutenate” yourself.

How Much Gluten Is Too Much? is a post from: Celiac Information celiac-association.ca

Day 1 of Our Gluten-Free Blog Hop!

Each Monday-Friday of the next two weeks, I join 9 other gluten-free bloggers to offer you bite-size tips on all aspects of living a full life, free of gluten! Hop from my post to others each day to get your nuggets of information, and to enter to win fun prizes from each of us!

You can enter every day by commenting on each of our posts. If you share on Facebook or Twitter, tell me you did in your comment, and it counts as an extra entry! At the end of the two weeks of tips, one lucky winner will score a free FIVE POUND BAG of my Jules Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour! Check out the other prizes on each of the other bloggers’ posts.

Good luck and enjoy!

• Getting Started – The Gluten-Free Homemaker
• Resources – Celiacs in the House
• Traveling – Gluten-Free Travel Blog
• Eating Out – Gluten-Free Cat
• Frugal Tips – Gluten Freely Frugal
• Cooking – Ginger Lemon Girl
• Baking – Jules Gluten Free
• Kids – Lynn’s Recipe Adventures
• Lunch Boxes – Tessa the Domestic Diva
• Shopping – Gluten Free Pantry

Converting Recipes

One of the questions I get most is “How do I convert my grandma’s (fill-in-the-blank) recipe to gluten-free?” The second most popular question: “How do I convert a gluten-free recipe calling for (fill-in-the-blank) number of different GF flours so that I can use just one all purpose gluten-free flour?”

While the questions seem quite different, their answers are really the same.

The world of gluten-free baking can seem quite mysterious and certainly frustrating. It’s the reason that I didn’t bake at all for a year after my diagnosis with celiac disease. Everything was too hard, to cumbersome and too terrible-tasting to share. When I finally created (albeit after two years of work!) an All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour that I could use just like I had my all purpose wheat flour before, I was back baking delicious foods again, for everyone!  I was so excited to share delicious treats with friends and family — and to lick the bowl — that I ultimately started sharing my Jules Gluten Free™ All Purpose Flour with tens of thousands of others living gluten-free because it was too good to keep just for myself!

When you want to convert a favorite family recipe, or a gluten-free recipe calling for several different kinds of flour, all you need to do is to use a really good and truly all purpose gluten-free flour. Simply total up the amount of flour called for in the recipe and use that amount of the all purpose gluten-free flour instead.

If the recipe calls for xanthan gum or guar gum (binding agents used to replace the sticky qualities of gluten), the all purpose GF flour should already include the gum, so don’t rush out and buy or add more. (Using too much of these gums in your baking will make your baked goods rubbery – more on this in a later Blog Hop post!) However, if the all purpose flour for some reason does not already include gums, you will need to add that ingredient on your own.

Stay away from flours that have a funky aftertaste (bean flours) or are gritty (contain lots of rice flour), and make sure that the flour blend has enough starches in it (corn starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, arrowroot powder …) to keep the end product light (the opposite of those “bricks” we all know, posing as gluten-free bread!).

Recipes for all purpose flours are easy to find, and there are several pre-mixed blends available as well. If you try one that doesn’t work for you, try another — they are all created differently! Don’t get discouraged or feel too overwhelmed to bake now that you’ve gone gluten free. It can be quite easy and delicious when you have the right ingredients to take the guess-work out of it for you!

So, dust off that recipe box and find your apron! Your family favorites are back on the menu!

Converting Recipes to Gluten-Free is a post from: Celiac Information celiac-association.ca

I’ve received some requests to discuss a wheat allergy and wheat allergy symptoms in greater detail, so here we go. When you eat wheat do you notice digestive discomfort? Do you ever sneeze, wheeze or have a rash after consuming pizza, bread or other wheat based foods? If so, then you may be experiencing wheat allergy symptoms. A wheat allergy is fundamentally different from celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity, but that doesn’t mean someone suffering from this type of allergic reaction can’t suffer serious and challenging consequences.

Wheat Allergy vs. Gluten Intolerance

Unfortunately you will find tons of misleading information on the web where people use the terms celiac disease, gluten intolerance, gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy interchangeably. However, these are not all the same condition. Gluten intolerance is basically an umbrella term for these conditions, but celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and a wheat allergy are all distinct health conditions.

Wheat Allergy
A wheat allergy is a histamine based allergic reaction. When a person with this allergy ingests wheat, a hypersensitive immune system produces antibodies known as IgE (Immunoglobulin E). When histamine stimulates H1 and H2 receptors, it triggers an inflammatory response in your body. Histamine helps dilate blood vessels so that white blood cells (in this case mast cells and basophils, specifically) can fight off the allergy trigger (called the allergen or antigen). As a result, more fluids enter the cells and skin. This causes swelling and other symptoms, which may cascade in severity (untreated anaphylactic shock can be fatal).

An allergy is a type I hypersensitivity, implying it triggers an immediate response. Although most people associate Oral Allergy Syndrome (OAS) with allergies to fruits, nuts and vegetables, a wheat allergy may also manifest as a cross-reactive condition of OAS. Oral Allergy Syndrome is sometimes referred to as Pollen Foods Allergy Syndrome.

Celiac Disease
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system of a patient who ingested gluten (a composite protein found in grassy grains like wheat, spelt, rye and barley) produces excessive antibodies (specifically AGA, EMA and Anti-tTG), which attack the walls of the small intestine (and possibly the cerebellum as well — see my Gluten Ataxia guide).

Over time, exposure to gluten causes significant damage to the villi (and microvilli) along the lining of the small intestines and can lead to frustrating gastrointestinal problems at first and then serious malnutrition, which then catalyzes a long list of more severe consequences. Celiac disease symptoms include (but are not limited to) nutritional deficiencies like anemia, osteoporosis and weight loss. Some people also experience general digestive distress and indigestion, bloating and alternating bouts of diarrhea and celiac disease constipation. Celiac disease is a serious condition that can even lead to death if not treated in a timely manner.

One problem with identifying celiac disease symptoms in adults is that they may not manifest themselves in an obvious way at first, which leads many people to not understand their condition until serious damage to their small intestine has already begun.

Gluten Sensitivity
Gluten sensitivity is similar to celiac disease (and many people use the two terms interchangeably, although recent research suggests a gluten sensitivity can manifest as a distinct entity separate from celiac sprue disease), but the difference is that people with a gluten sensitivity may have similar symptoms to someone with celiac disease, yet an intestinal biopsy exhibits a different biomarker within the intestinal villi.

Until recently, some people believed a non-celiac gluten sensitivity existed, but doctors and researchers remained skeptical. However, first a study in Australia and now a more recent study published in the BMC Medicine Journal finally corroborates this belief with real scientific data. What this means is that one can test negative for the various celiac disease tests (antibody check, intestinal biopsy, and celiac gene check — see gluten intolerance test for more on celiac testing) but still experience some degree of impairing gluten sensitivity. You can read more about ways gluten intolerance may occur even when celiac disease is not present by reading my article on Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance.

In all cases it helps if you understand the nature of gluten itself and how it is a component of wheat, not a grain or protein in itself. Read my guide on this matter: What Is Gluten?

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Wheat Allergy Symptoms

If you suffer from a wheat allergy, here are some of the symptoms you can expect:

Wheat Allergy, Image Credit to SciencePhoto.com

• Asthma
• Eczema or atopic dermatitis
• Headaches
• Hives
• Inflamed sores
• Intestinal bloating or cramping
• Itching
• Itchy eyes
• Sensation of a racing heart
• Sore throat, or a feeling of the throat swelling
• Stomach discomfort
• Swelling in the face or mouth
• Swollen-feeling or itchy tongue
• Vomiting in severe cases
• Urticaria
• Wheezing

Additional, cumulative effects may develop if a wheat allergy is left untreated and undiagnosed, including reduced energy, brain fog and anxiety or even depression. Specifically, as with all allergies, anaphylactic shock is a possibility and can be deadly. Some common gluten intolerance symptoms, such as diarrhea or constipation, are not as common with a wheat allergy, but they still may occur.

Gluten intolerance symptoms can be similar, except that you may notice them anytime you eat any kind of gluten grain or gluten grain food product, and they may occur hours or days after consuming that gluten-containing grain. The primary gluten grains are wheat, spelt, rye and barley. Oats are also usually contaminated with gluten as they are almost always processed with gluten grains, though they don’t contain the gluten peptides we associate with either celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity.

However, what is troubling about a gluten sensitivity is that many patients do not experience an immediate response to ingesting gluten. Unlike an allergy, a gluten intolerance or celiac disease is not a type 1 hypersensitivity. This does not mean it is any less serious a condition and in fact it may lead to more severe long-term consequences because people often don’t realize they are suffering from the disease. For a better understanding of gluten and gluten intolerance read the home page of my website (Gluten Intolerance Symptoms) and for help understanding the technically inaccurate term gluten allergy symptoms please read my guide on that strange semantic matter: Gluten Allergy Symptoms.

Again, the biggest distinction here is that a wheat allergy is specifically an allergy; you will have an immediate response to consuming a product with wheat in it. Celiac disease and a non-celiac gluten sensitivity are autoimmune responses, which means you may not feel the impact of your food for hours or even days after you eat it.

Wheat Allergy Treatment

While living with a wheat allergy can be inconvenient and even frustrating at first, feel comforted by the fact that you will find effective treatment. The best way to combat a wheat allergy or a gluten intolerance is by following a wheat-free diet or a gluten-free diet. Fortunately, today you will find many products on the market which do not contain wheat or gluten. At first, it may be easiest to do more of your own cooking and avoid eating out. You will experience a learning curve as you discover which foods contain wheat or gluten — particularly in restaurant food. I suggest you peruse my gluten free pantry to help you get started on gluten-free and wheat-free cooking. When you do go for meals out, choose Asian restaurants initially (but bring wheat-free soy sauce) since you will usually find more wheat-free offerings at Japanese, Thai and Chinese restaurants.

Until you develop the knowledge and skills to live wheat-free or if aren’t yet sure that wheat is causing your allergic reactions, you might consider taking an antihistamine, such as Benedryl (diphenhydramine), Claritin (loratadine), Allegra (fexofenadine) or Zyrtec (cetirizine). But please discuss this suggestion with a pharmacist or better yet your doctor. You should never prescribe yourself medication by what you read on the Internet without consulting an in-person medical professional first. Also, please note that antihistamines are useless for gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

You might also consider that medications often have side-effects and their own consequences. So you should not take any of those antihistamines without serious consideration. You should carefully weigh their benefits against their side-effects before deciding to proceed with one of them. If you would prefer a natural alternative to antihistamine medications you might look into quercetin, a plant-derived flavonoid found in foods like grapefruit, green tea, apples, and red onions. I’ve heard it works well, but it won’t be as potent as the aforementioned allergy medications and I’ve heard some people complain about mild heartburn when they take quercetin.

Once you understand the cause of your allergic reaction, avoiding the consequences by avoiding exposure to wheat will become easier. By respecting your wheat allergy symptoms and adhering to a strict wheat-free diet, you may never have to suffer another wheat allergic reaction again.

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Wheat Allergy Symptoms is a post from: Celiac Information celiac-association.ca

Tres Leches Cake is served all over the world using different accent ingredients which range from rum to caramel, but always using 3 milks (hence the name!). The cake probably originated in Central America, where it is still made today with sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream. These milks combine to form a rich sauce that is poured over and absorbed into the moist, spongy cake, making this dessert truly unique.

What makes my version even more special are the coconut and almond accent flavors, and the fact that this cake is entirely gluten, dairy and egg-free. A vegan tres leches cake? You bet! And topped with homemade coconut whipped cream, it tastes like a dream!

I’ve given you lots of ingredient options here, so dive in! (My preferred brands are in parentheses.) No excuses – it’s time to celebrate … just in time for Cinco de Mayo!

To hear more about this annual tradition and about other wonderful gluten-free options for this day of food and festivities, download the free podcast of my radio show on Cinco de Mayo!

Tres Leches Cake with Homemade Coconut  Whipped Cream

Cake Ingredients

• 1 Tbs. gluten-free Egg Replacer (Ener-G®) + 4 Tbs. warm water OR 2 eggs
• 2 Tbs. canola OR vegetable oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar (white, organic or vegan cane sugar OR unrefined coconut palm sugar)
• 1 tsp. pure almond extract OR pure vanilla extract OR rum
• 3/4 cup Almond Milk OR Coconut Milk Beverage (So Delicious® Almond + Protein Almond Milk or Coconut Milk Beverage)
• 1 cup Jules Gluten Free™ All Purpose Flour  (135 g)
• 2 Tbs. non-dairy milk powder – do not reconstitute (Vance’s DariFree™) — OR almond meal
• 1 1/2 Tbs. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Sauce Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Coconut Milk Beverage (So Delicious® Coconut Milk Beverage)
  
• 3/4 cup Almond Milk (So Delicious® Almond + Protein Almond Milk)
• 1/2 cup Coconut Kefir (So Delicious® Cultured Coconut Milk Yogurt Beverage)
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut (sweetened or unsweetened) – optional –

Tres Leches Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F (static) or 325°F (convection or for dark pans). Coat bottom and sides of 8×8 inch pan with oil or cooking spray (without flour).

In a small bowl, combine the gluten-free egg replacer powder with warm water and whisk together. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together oil, sugar, almond extract, and almond milk. Add the egg replacer mixture and mix well.

Whisk together the Jules Gluten Free™ flour, non-dairy milk powder, baking powder and salt. Slowly stir these dry ingredients into the wet mixture bowl, then increase the mixer speed and beat for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is lighter and well-mixed.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the sides of the cake are pulling away from the sides of the pan. The cake will be lightly browned on the top and sides.

Set aside to cool for 5 minutes while preparing the Tres Leches Sauce.

Tres Leches Sauce

In a medium-sized sauce pot, whisk together the three “milks”: coconut, almond and kefir coconut milk. Add the untoasted coconut. Stir over medium heat on the stove until warmed — approximately 5 minutes.

Poke holes in the top of the cake with a toothpick or fork, every 1/2 to 1 inch. This perforation will help the Tres Leches sauce to seep into the cake itself. Once the sauce is warmed, pour slowly over entire cake, but do not allow it to pool in the center. Tilt the cake pan, if necessary, to help disperse the sauce, and reserve extra sauce if there appears to be too much for the cake to absorb (this may be served with the cake later, if desired). Cover cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the sauce is mostly absorbed – usually 3- 4 hours or overnight.

Homemade Coconut Whipped Cream

Plan ahead by putting the can of coconut milk in the refrigerator the day before, making it super easy to make insanely delicious coconut whipped cream in just minutes.

• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk (full fat)
• 1/3 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk powder (Vance’s DariFree™)
• 1/2 cup toasted, sliced almonds – optional –
• 1/2 cup toasted, flaked coconut (sweetened) – optional –

Chill coconut milk by putting the unopened can in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours – this will help the milk to separate.

Before preparing the cream, chill a metal mixing bowl and whisk attachment or beaters in the refrigerator or freezer.

Open coconut milk can by removing the lid. Using a spoon, skim the thick cream off the top of the coconut water and transfer to the chilled bowl. There should be approximately 1 cup of cream skimmed off, leaving approximately 1/2 cup coconut water in the can to save for other uses.

Beat the cream with the chilled whisk attachment or beaters until thick and fluffier – at least 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift confectioner’s sugar and mix with non-dairy milk powder. Stir in the sugar mixture with the cream and beat again until integrated. Cover and chill until serving.

Serving Suggestion: Serve chilled Tres Leches Cake in sliced squares, topped with a dollop of fresh coconut whipped cream. Sprinkle toasted almond slices and toasted coconut on top.

Tres Leches Cake – gluten, dairy & egg-free! is a post from: Celiac Information celiac-association.ca

Lemon Millet Muffins

• 2 cups Jules Gluten Free™ All Purpose Flour*
• 1 tsp. baking powder (if using alternative flour mixture below, use 1 Tbs. baking powder)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 2 tsp. lemon zest (use the ZestN’est™!)
• 1/8 cup whole kernel millet (adds a healthy nutty crunch without the nuts!)
• 1/3 cup butter or non-dairy alternative (Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks or Earth Balance® Soy-Free Coconut Spread or Palm Oil Shortening)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (cane or unrefined coconut palm)
• 4 oz. apple butter (homemade recipe) or natural applesauce
• 1/2 cup mashed banana OR vanilla yogurt, dairy or non-dairy (soy, coconut, almond – I like So Delicious® Coconut Greek Yogurt)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (use the JuiceLab™!)
• 1/2 tsp. pure almond extract (optional)
• 1/4 cup milk or non-dairy milk (soy, coconut, almond – I like So Delicious® Coconut Beverage) OR water

*Alternative Whole Grain Flour Mixture:

• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/2 cup millet flour
• 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
• 1/4 cup teff
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. guar gum

Preheat oven to 350° F (static) or 325° F (convection).

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the apple butter, banana, lemon juice, and almond extract. Stir in the dry ingredients, adding the milk last. Beat until smooth.

Scoop equal portions of batter into oiled or lined muffin tins. Bake for 20-22 minutes, testing with a toothpick to be sure they are fully cooked, but do not overcook, as that will dry out muffins.

Remove from the oven to cool on a wire rack. Store any extra muffins in a zip-top bag on the counter.

Yield: 12-18 muffins, depending on size.

Lemon Millet Muffins (2 ways) + a Giveaway! is a post from: Celiac Information celiac-association.ca

Not too long ago, people considered any diagnosis of gluten intolerance that wasn’t celiac disease to be unconventional. Today, however, there are several different possible non-celiac gluten intolerance diagnoses recognized by even the most skeptical of conventional doctors. While more may arise as we learn more and more about gluten and how it impacts our bodies, the following conditions are all possible diagnoses even if you have tested negative for celiac disease.

In laymen terms, people are widely using the term gluten allergy to represent the collective of all these terms, despite how some of these are not really allergic reactions.

Use this Table of Contents to navigate Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance:

• Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity
• Wheat Allergy
• Dermatitis Herpetiformis
• Gluten Ataxia

All of the following conditions are related to our digestion of the unique protein composite known as gluten. For a good foundation to the trigger of all these conditions, see my comprehensive guide: What Is Gluten?

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS)

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While I have written about NCGS on this website for several years now, it only became widely recognized as its own legitimate condition in March of 2011. In a study published in a the BMC Journal, several of the most respected medical experts on celiac disease announced the verified existence
of a form of gluten intolerance that was distinct from celiac disease or a wheat allergy and could be present despite negative test results for both celiac disease and a wheat allergy.

They still haven’t isolated specific biomarkers for formally diagnosing this non-celiac gluten intolerance, but the common name applied to it is non-celiac gluten sensitivity. For now, the only way to diagnose this condition is to verify the presence of a reaction gluten, but deduce that it isn’t celiac disease or a wheat allergy with the gluten intolerance test used to identify those conditions.

So if your doctor feels confident gluten is causing your problems but you test negative for celiac disease and a wheat allergy you will be diagnosed as being Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitive (NCGS). Currently researchers estimate that around 10% of all people suffer from some degree of this sensitivity (yes, one in ten people!).

The symptoms of a non-celiac gluten sensitivity dovetail with those of celiac disease, so you can read gluten allergy symptoms, celiac disease symptoms or gluten intolerance symptoms to help you understand the full spectrum of health problems caused by a gluten sensitivity. Note that may doctors believe these symptoms tend to be less severe and consequential in people with NCGS than in people diagnosed with celiac disease, but don’t tell that to anyone suffering from it.

Wheat Allergy

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This one may seem obvious, but believe it or not I have heard of doctors overlooking this possibility. You can test negative for celiac disease but still have a wheat allergy, so it is important to have an immunology specialist conduct proper allergy testing to determine if you have a wheat allergy, even if you have tested negative for celiac disease.

There are many possible allergens in wheat, and not all of them are related to the proteins in gluten. A wheat allergy is a type 1 sensitivity unlike the other conditions listed on this page. That means if you have a wheat allergy you will likely experience significant and evident symptoms somewhere between right as you eat something with wheat in it to a couple of hours after you eat it. So my article wheat allergy symptoms for help on identifying a wheat allergy.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis

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Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH), or Duhring’s disease, is a gluten allergy rash that develops as a result of a reaction to consuming gluten. While it is often a symptom of celiac disease, you can test negative for celiac disease (or a wheat allergy) and still test positive for Dermatitis Herpetiformis.

To test for dermatitis herpetiformis, an experienced dermatologist will take a small sample of skin adjacent to the rash. If he or she finds IgA, the antibody triggered by gluten, in that sample, you will be diagnosed as having this skin-borne manifestation of a non-celiac gluten intolerance.

Make sure the dermatologist is experienced in testing and diagnosing DH because if your skin is not properly biopsied you may be misdiagnosed as having linear IgA disease. While some people consider linear IgA disease another non-celiac gluten intolerance, current data suggests a correlation to gluten in only 20% of people with a verified case of linear IgA disease. Linear IgA disease and dermatitis herpetiformis look and feel very similar, so only a dermatologist and a lab will be able to distinguish the two conditions.

Read more about DH in my guide: Dermatitis Herpetiformis Symptoms.

Gluten Ataxia

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Gluten ataxia is the least understood of these conditions. Ataxia is a non-specific diagnoses for neurological signs manifesting as poor voluntary muscle coordination. Gluten ataxia is a form of sporadic cerebellum ataxia where gluten is believed to be the trigger. When a doctor diagnoses you with idiopathic sporadic ataxia, he or she should consider the possibility that gluten is the trigger. This diagnosis should be considered even if you have already tested negative for celiac disease or a wheat allergy.

In the simplest terms, if you experience a strange increase in your clumsiness or decrease in coordination, gluten ataxia could be a possibility. Diagnosing this form of non-celiac gluten intolerance involves testing for markers such as IgA deposits versus TG2 in the small intestine and as well as extraintestinal locations. Gluten ataxia was verified as a condition when cadaver examinations of individuals who suffered from idiopathic ataxia (ataxia without a known cause) revealed IgA deposits at the base of the cerebellum (basically the motor control part of your brain).

More often than not, however, people with gluten ataxia will test positive for celiac disease.

I hope this guide to non-celiac gluten intolerance conditions helps you isolate and identify the different possible forms of gluten intolerance that may occur even when you test negative for celiac disease.

Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance is a post from: Celiac Information celiac-association.ca