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Blessings to the listmates!

I want to give kudos to Larissa Blechman for her great assessment of the GF
diet.  I do sympathize with the felling of doing without (sometimes I think
I'd kill for a doughnut!).  I also recognize the tremendous benefits of
making our own food, avoiding highly processed "foods," staying out of
restaurants, and, as someone else brought up, the self discipline.  In our
situation, the increased cost of specialty ingredients is more than offset by
the fact that we just plain don't eat out anymore.

Now there is one thing that I can't relate well to regarding the condition:
the pain after eating gluten.  I am not celiac but my wife and children are,
at the very least, gluten intolerant.  We decided, as a family, that we would
all go one the diet.  I know what it is like to drool over the fried chicken
in the Safeway deli and finally turn around and head to the checkout with a
garden salad instead.  In the long run I'm always glad I decide on the gf
alternative.  I am healthier for it.  Frankly, we thank God for the "aweful
diet" because it has forced us to live a healthier lifestyle.

Aaron Atkinson
Moscow, Idaho, USA