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This past weekend (Saturday evening, I think) my husband and I heard a radio 
report on All Things Considered (National Public Radio) concerning a new 
restaurant in Tucson.  That may be of interest to any of you who might be in 
the Tucson area.  The restaurant is owned and operated by an Indian nation 
called the Tono O'odham. It is located at the Tono O'odham Community 
College, but I do not have an address.

Although it was not their intent, the menu in that restaurant is all GLUTEN 
FREE FOOD.  This is the food that was used by the Indian people  before the 
Europeans arrived on the North American Continent.  Native Americans ate a 
diet that was based, in almost all of their Nations, on corn, beans, and 
squash. It is likely that they ate  root and leaf vegetables as well, and of 
course they had meat and fish  and probably eggs.. In addition, those living 
in the north ate wild rice, and those in the south part of our country added 
cactus pears and mesquite bean flour (which I am told is really made from 
the  ground bean pods and not the seeds, but perhaps it is a combination of 
pods and seeds, as it is very difficult to remove the seeds from the pods). 
In the north of what is now the USA, they had sugar maple trees which were 
tapped in the spring and the sap was made into sweet syrup and maple sugar. 
In the south they "tapped" the Agave plant for the sweet sap which is called 
'honey water' by current Indians in Mexico. Of course they also had many 
nuts, and seeds.  I may have forgotten some of their diet, but the important 
thing for us to remember is that THEY ATE NOTHING WHICH CONTAINED GLUTEN. 
Wheat, rye, and barley had not been introduced into North America.

Around the time of World War II, many Native Americans were in the US Army, 
and there they learned to eat a diet heavy in gluten containing foods - 
hamburgers, spaghetti, sandwiches, cakes and cookies....... you all know the 
extent of that list. At that time, and especially after the war was over, 
the Indian diet in their communities changed radically to include a "normal" 
US diet.  Something else changed as well.  The Indians began to gain 
weight.  Eventually they lost the tall, lean look of the Native People in 
Curtis's photos from the late 1800's and early 1900's.  Instead they became 
overweight.  More serious than that,  more than 50 percent in the Tono 
O'odham reservation developed adult -onset diabetes.

In an effort to find a way to reverse that situation, research pointed to a 
diet change, and the Kellogg  Foundation has given a three year grant of 
$450,000/year to the Tono O'odhams to help them analyze the problem and 
search for answers.  As a result of that, the new restaurant was started, 
using the old recipes.  The change has been remarkable.

On a diet which is GLUTEN FREE, they have lost weight quickly and are 
regaining  good health.  It is interesting that in addition to losing 
weight, the people eating at the restaurant are also no longer having 
problems with diabetes.

I assume this story will soon hit the national press, and start a whole new 
look at the problems of ingesting GLUTEN.

Best wishes for your continued good health,

Gayle Kennedy




 ,
> nuts and fruits, and I suppose some root or leaf vegetables, but as there 
> was
> no wheat, no barley, and no rye grown in the North AmericanContinent, (at 
> least none that was cultivated forfood purposes)  until Europeans arrived. 
> so they ate no gluten.
>
> The pictures of Indians taken in the 1800s, when they were still living 
> their original
> life style, and eating their original diet, show men and women who  are 
> all slim and
> handsome., with high cheek bones and smooth skin..  Now most of the 
> Indians in
> Arizona are overweight and many have severe problems with acne..  And the 
> majority
> of those are developing adult-onset diabetes.  But the Native Americans 
> who are
> eating the food at the new restaurant  are losing weight and their 
> diabetes is diminishing
> or vanishing.   They also seem to have more energy.  Fascinating.  I've 
> been thinking for
> years that this would happen, if they ever went back to eating what they 
> had eaten long ago.
>
> Perhaps that day will come again when all Native Americans will be slim 
> and look like
> the Curtis photos from over 100 years ago..  All this ties in with our 
> discussion today
> of nuts and seeds (same thing, really...I should have included sunflower 
> seeds, etc.
> in the nut message!)...
>
> I assume this will eventually hit the national press.  Keep your eyes 
> open.
>
> Gayle Kennedy
>
> People who have celiac disease may ask why some of them gain weight if 
> they are eating no gluten.
> It is my unsolicited opinion, that many celiacs search for foods made with 
> gluten-free flour but end up
> with Xanthan gum or guar gum used to substitute for the gluten.  It holds 
> the baked goods together,
> but may well contribute to weight gain....think about it...
>
> 

*Please provide references to back up claims of a product being GF or not GF*
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