Durham's Gluten Free Network

Photo by freestocks.org from Pexels You'll need your strength to survive the zombie apocalypse! This Halloween,, break out the cauldron, and cook up some Goulash or Gulyás and make everyone your love zombie. Scroll down if you just want the recipes, but I'm going to cover several variations from many lands, for those who like ethnic food and legends. Besides, it's a wonderfully warming meal on chilly days. The internet may be a wonderful place to find recipes, but sometimes a book or two can give you a clearer picture. The historical development of the real Hungarian Gulyás Leves (Goulash Soup) is probably a function of necessity. Where people traveled from place to place, either out of nomadic spirit, shepherding, or because they were traveling merchants, you have a simple Gulyás. Where people stopped and found prosperity, you have a more complex Gulyás. And sometimes it co...

I've mentioned Gluten Dude before, he's one of the bright lights in our community who isn't afraid to tell the truth about how Celiac really affects people. He doesn't tell the fairy tale of an easy gluten free diet conversion, followed by a quick healing and back to an uneventful normal life. Nor does he support risky behaviors like eating in mixed restaurants even though there are 100% gluten free restaurants in nearly every location in the US.  Update: The app is now simply called Gluten Dude, not Bluesponge anymore. In short, he tells the real story, and he has talked of blood clots and organ damage when others were still saying that was "very rare" or impossible altogether. Seven years ago, GD asked for comments about the link from Celiac to other Diseases . He was ahead of his time. GD doesn't placate, he liberates . Now Gluten Dude, Scott Hayes is offering a Kickstarter campaign to make an app for your phone that you can trust to guide...

There's a fascinating article today from Gluten Free Watchdog about food intolerance or cross reactivity with gluten in the Celiac population.  While the subject  of that article was focusing on cross reactive foods, there is another aspect of the study that got my attention, they also tested various tissues (parts of the human body) for cross reactivity.   What they were trying to show was how often a gluten antibody was attaching to these tissues.  We don't know exactly, in every case, what it means that the antibody attaches to these tissues, but if you look at it through the lens of extra-intestinal manifestations of Celiac, it could provide some clues of where to look for biochemical reactions that affect people with Celiac.  I should also say that there is a lot of antipathy toward Cyrex because they provide multiple food allergy tests usually used in functional medicine to help identify problem foods for people.  These food allergies are no...

Some related articles you might want to look at after reading this post. Reference The current buzz in Celiac research seems to be the extraintestinal manifestations (EIM).  That means the effects of the disease outside the gut.  Typical examples are anemia, organ inflammation and thyroid problems. But there are neurological effects as well.  In the same way that diabetes has manifestations that don't seem related to blood sugar or the pancreas, Celiac has effects on body systems that don't seem directly linked.  Some articles and even books give the impression that the disease affects only the small intestine by flattening the villi and thus making it impossible to absorb food.  And that the only directly related effect is anemia.  Yet not all people with anemia are even tested for Celiac. So understandably there's a push to update the diagnostic criteria and what's called the "index of suspicion" - that is, when a doctor begins to suspect that you...

Soup at this stage is ready for the final simmering. Here's is a lovely and easy soup from China.  There's so much negativity about China lately, that I thought it was time to undo some of it with some authentic Chinese comfort food. This soup is gorgeous, and it showcases a little known chef's technique for making a reliably clear soup broth. When it's simmering, the house is filled with a gentle sweet/herbal bouquet. It uses a kit which can be bought for just a few dollars to flavor the soup, and needs only ginger and carrots, plus one whole chicken.  Scroll down to skip intro and get right to the recipe.  I can think of no better way to ward off the estrangement of a trade war than through comfort food.   The soup is, of course, renowned for its ability to stop a cold in its tracks.  My other reason for presenting it, besides that it's a beautiful soup, is that I found out I lost a chance to make up with a friend that I fell out with.  With...