<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Thank God, I'm Celiac! ---------------------- by Marcia Campbell That's right - thank God, I'm celiac. Oh, sure, before April, 1989, I may not have been so thankful. Before Dr. A (Dr. Thomas Alexander, TCCSSG physician advisor) announced the good news to me, I may have been anything but grateful. I could have had any autoimmune disease. In fact, since it was feared I might have had leukemia, I am glad the diagnosis was only celiac disease. In 1989, the diet was a bit awesome. Since Dr. A said I could keep my beloved baked potatoes, I had a place to start in the diet, but finding gluten-free products was extremely difficult. The dietitian I consulted knew very little then about celiac disease and could only offer materials more than l5 years old. Many of you have been in the same position. But that was then - and this is now. Do you realize the tremendous progress companies have made with gluten-free foods and mixes? In 1989, there were no cake and brownie mixes. If the May 1999, meeting of TCCSSG was any indication, celiacs should have no problem getting prepared foods and mixes. For those of you who took home a shopping bag of products, you know how tasty GF food can be. We received samples from twenty companies to test and taste. Not only that, we also enjoyed bread, muffins, and pound cake baked by Joan Wade from Sylvan Border Farms. Joan flew in the night before from California and baked so we could enjoy firsthand the fresh-made tastes of Sylvan Border Farms products. Joan also shared information with us concerning some of the questionable grains during the meeting. Kozy Shack, Kitchen Basics, Ener-G Foods, Menu Direct, Dietary Specialties, Legumes Plus, Mrs. Leeper's, Food for Life Baking, Cybros, Ultimate Baking, Mendocino GF Products, Pamela's, Miss Roben's, Gluten-Free Delight, Freeda Vitamins, Heartymix, The Gluten-Free Pantry, Lundberg Family Farm, Tamarind Tree, and Specialty Food Shop are to be supported and applauded for taking the time to provide samples of varied foods. There were cookies, coffee cake, pasta in all flavors and shapes, pretzels, throat lozenges, rice of many varieties, rice cakes, breads, one-person meals, biscotti, cake mixes, bread mixes, donut holes, lemon love notes, raspberry swirls, pizza mix, cookie mixes of all kinds, muffin mixes. . .and on and on and on. If you crave pretzels - there are gluten-free pretzels available from Dietary Specialties, Ener-G, and Miss Robens. If you long for chocolate chip cookies, you can buy from Pamela' s or buy a mix from Gluten-Free Pantry. Did you say a yummy lemon bar would be good? Did you try Gluten-Free Delights? What about pasta? Wow, where do you begin? Mrs. Leeper's, Legumes Plus, Ener-G Foods? Are you in need of multi-vitamins? Try Freeda's. Do you have a taste for the spicy? Try Tamarind's one-meal in a box - microwaveable. I tried the lentil chili and it was superb, easy to fix - like homemade. Rice cakes at the beginning of a celiac's diet seem to be a staple. Have you tried Lundberg Family Farms sesame-tamari or buttery caramel rice cakes? O.K., you get the idea from my litany. There is one more aspect the gluten-free companies have provided for celiacs. There are products pre-packaged that are excellent for travelers. Ener-G Foods packages bread, two slices to a packet, that will go anywhere. Both Ener-G and Dietary Specialties have crackers that are perfect as a replacement for bread while traveling. If you carry a small cooler, Kozy Shack has marvelous puddings. There are cookies, pretzels and breadsticks from a number of companies which are tasty snacks. On behalf of Tri-County, I would like to thank the companies who willingly donated many samples in a large variety for the May meeting of our group. In ten years the gluten-free diet has gone from little choice to dozens of choices. These companies are to be applauded for providing tasty, pre-packaged or easy-to-prepare mixes for the celiac. Thank you for responding to our request for samples. If you aren't able to find these companies in your health food store, you should do something about it. Take a list of the companies with their addresses and phone numbers to your store and ask them to start stocking their shelves with these products. Make recommendations of the most popular choices to the store. Let TCCSSG know when your health food store is making these products available. We all must support the gluten-free companies - and in turn, we will profit with more products being made available. Yes, being a celiac isn't all bad. We have a healthy diet, don't need to take medications to keep us well, have many choices from excellent commercially made food products, and belong to an extremely supportive group that understands our health concerns. Thank God, I'm a celiac!