The CeliAct Blog

I went to visit my sister in Israel in January, and it was a pretty special trip. My sister is 3 years older than me but was just diagnosed with celiac disease in November 2012. Even though she had just been gluten-free for 3 months, she was so excited to show me all of the gluten-free options that Israel had to offer. In fact, I took a cab from the airport and got to her apartment at the exact same time as a Pizza Hut delivery guy was bringing us dinner… Our review of gluten-free fast food options continues this week as we explore Pizza Hut, Qdoba, KFC, Baskin Robbins, Arby’s, Tim Horton’s, Hardee’s and […]

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Calories are our main source for energy, yet when we’re forced to start eating a gluten-free diet, we can face a new set of challenges where calories are concerned. For one thing, pre-packaged foods that are gluten-free can also be very high in sugar, meaning they have a lot of “empty” calories. Let’s take a look at how to determine the total number of calories you need each day. Then we’ll provide you with 5 gluten-free foods to base your low-calorie diet around. – The Basal Metabolic Rate: How to Calculate Your Caloric Needs   How many calories do you need each day? That is a question whose answer depends entirely on, you guessed it, […]

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Looking to dine out and safely eat gluten-free? That can be even more challenging than you might realize. Why? A lot of restaurants and chefs are not exactly clear on what it means to be truly gluten-free. Some think they know what it means to be gluten-free, but as we’ve discussed before, most don’t know, so they aren’t strict enough with their cooking and serving standards. Luckily for you, there are some essential tools that will help you to find the gluten-free restaurants in your area and will help you determine which restaurants have gluten-free menus and well-trained staff. So, I’ll take you through my three favorite methods for finding the best places to dine […]

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If you’re familiar with governmental dietary recommendations, you’ve probably heard the phrase rainbow on your plate. This means that different color groupings of foods generally represent different health benefits, meaning a colorful whole foods diet is a nutritious way to eat. This is great advice for anyone following a gluten-free diet because it demonstrates a very easy method for balanced nutrition through daily diet. Right? Well, right. But, it’s a little bit more complicated on a gluten-free diet because there are common nutrients missing as a result of not eating certain foods. These missing nutrients can actually be helpful because they give you a more specific focus in planning your diet from the start… – […]

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Long ago, around ten thousand years ago to be exact, gluten made its way into the human diet. Rather than meat, animal fat, and wild plants and roots, humans began eating heavily grain-based diets. You can learn more about why the food supply changed in a previous post about the paleo diet prior to the agricultural era. During this time, grains were refined in vast quantities to be used as a food source for entire communities. Soaking, sprouting, grinding, and cooking grains became the “norm”, and as we’ve discussed before, this caused a noticeable effect in the size of the human body and brain. Starting in ancient Egypt, societies faced more widespread autoimmune and degenerative […]

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If you’re looking for me, you probably won’t find me in a bakery. Even after having celiac disease for 12 years, the smell of fresh baked breads and treats can really bring on an appetite, and 99% of the time, these temples of gluten do not have anything we can eat. Panera Bread, contrary to its name, has always been different. They’ve always had items on their menu that don’t contain bread, although they’ve never really made much of an effort to claim anything as gluten-free and make us feel safe. Well, that’s changed. In a big way. Panera’s new gluten-free menu is such a big deal that it’s actually a secret… kind of.   […]

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If the winter doldrums are getting you down, maybe it’s time to start planning a mid-winter getaway, an exotic voyage for spring break, or even your next summer vacation. Traveling can be nerve-wracking for people with food allergies and intolerances, who fear spending part of their vacation sick from cross-contamination. Thankfully, there are some fantastic gluten-free cruises and other great gluten-free vacation ideas that need not fill you with terror… – Gluten-Free Cruises   Gluten-Free Cruises is a 100% gluten-free cruise company offering gluten-free wine and food cruises along the romantic Danube River and elsewhere. Gourmet gluten-free meals and pastries are provided by top-notch chefs. Educational and entertainment programming is provided by gluten-free experts such […]

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In a previous article on why gluten-free living isn’t just a fad, I described a few historic events that lead me to truly believe that it’s not just a fad. While I certainly don’t mean to flip sides on that opinion, whether or not a gluten-free diet is healthy is a totally different story. While gluten was originally connected to several chronic diseases long ago, and it’s connected to many additional health issues today, that doesn’t necessarily mean maintaining any old gluten-free diet is healthy. The key reason behind this is food fortification. You know those breads and cereals in the grocery store that say “Fortified With Vitamins XYZ”? Have you ever wondered why gluten-free […]

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To most people, “fast food” is synonymous with greasy, yet delicious burgers and fries. Well unfortunately for us gluten-free folks, we can count on the buns being off-limits 100% of the time. Even the seemingly safe French fries are very often fried in the same fryers as breaded chicken fingers. What’s a gluten-free dieter to do? Keep driving until you come across a Boston Market. Seriously – you’ll see why. Our review of gluten-free fast food options continues this week as we explore McDonald’s, Burger King, Jimmy John’s, Boston Market, Whataburger, Krispy Kreme, Carl’s Jr., Popeye’s, and Zaxby’s.   McDonald’s Gluten-Free Menu McDonald’s does not offer a gluten-free menu and does not have a dedicated […]

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While you and I know that gluten-free isn’t just a passing fad, a lot of people out there ask why gluten-free living is all of a sudden so popular. Sure, it has become a lot more prevalent in everyday society, and the gluten-free fad is in full swing, but a gluten-containing diet has long been considered detrimental to human health. Increased diagnoses of celiac disease and gluten intolerance corroborate the fact that gluten can lead to chronic health issues. Not surprisingly, there are historical events that have led to the modern grain-based diet (and the introduction of gluten). Medical discoveries and agricultural changes along the way have led us to where we are today. So, […]

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As celiac awareness has grown in recent years, a number of chain and local pizzerias have ventured into the world of gluten-free pizza. Chains such as UNO Chicago Grill, Pizza Fusion, Z-Pizza, Domino’s and Mellow Mushroom have all launched gluten-free pizzas recently. Gluten-free pizza served by pizzerias varies greatly in its quality, and how much it tastes like the “real thing.” We certainly applaud restaurants for adopting gluten-free menus (especially when they take care to minimize cross-contamination risks), and we love the convenience and taste of gluten-free pizza made in a professional pizza oven. But sometimes you really want to have your pizza just the way you like it – the exact right ratio of […]

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I recently had the pleasure of going to a large fast food chain and ordering a burger on a gluten-free bun. The gluten-free buns were available at every location in the country and extreme care was taken by the staff to avoid cross-contamination. The name of this particular fast food chain is Burger Ranch. Now, I’d be very surprised if you’ve heard of Burger Ranch. The reason? It’s a large fast food chain in Israel and unfortunately, I don’t think they plan on expanding to the United States any time soon. Well, unless you’re going to Israel in the near future; that leaves you with the gluten-free options at American fast food chains. Our review […]

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You know gluten is “this thing” that you can’t eat. But beyond your gluten-free diet, do you understand how it came to be so prevalent in the Western diet to begin with? When you were first diagnosed with celiac disease or figured out you were intolerant to gluten, initially you thought you couldn’t eat bread, pasta, or baked goods. But the more you continue to learn, the more foods you realize contain gluten. It sure is everywhere. So, what is gluten, and how did it make its way into so many things? Let’s start at the beginning… – Here’s a startling fact: when humans transitioned from hunting and gathering to agriculture, millions of years ago, […]

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“Convenience” probably isn’t a word you’re used to. In fact, you could probably drive past dozens of casual restaurants and fast food chains before you found a place where you felt it was safe to eat a gluten-free meal or snack. While nobody should eat fast food very often, many of us unfortunately find ourselves in situations where we need to eat quickly and inexpensively, and we need to attempt a gluten-free meal at a fast food restaurant. If you’re following a gluten-free diet, you can be tempted to lower your guard at these restaurants. Allergen information can be tough to find and the staff may not be much help either. Well, we’ve decided to […]

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We’ve all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A balanced gluten-free breakfast can provide the fuel and nutrients you need to carry you through the day. Unfortunately, it’s also the meal that you’re most likely to skip. For people with celiac disease and for those on a gluten-free diet, it becomes even trickier. Not only does nutrition play a greater role for people with celiac disease, but it can seem like there aren’t any convenient options for a healthy gluten-free breakfast either. After all, it’s not like you can pick up a muffin at a coffee shop or a breakfast sandwich at a fast food drive-thru. A balanced gluten-free breakfast […]

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