Category Archives: Tips

DC Gluten Free News Round Up

Posted on May 22, 2012 | 5 comments

Here are a few cool things going on in the gluten free scene here in DC, as well as a few new finds around the district!

1. Tasti D-Lite just opened in Columbia Heights

Now, in addition to the one in Dupont Circle, there is a Tasti D-Lite in Columbia Heights. Tasti D-Lite clearly marks their flavors as gluten free on their website. Nutella, Brownie Batter, PB caramel, and Rocky Road sound right up my alley!

2. Less than a month until the DC gluten free expo!

June 15th at the Four Points Sheraton there will be 70 vendors sharing delicious gluten free treats! Tickets are only $15 and you can buy them here! (All proceeds from the event will benefit the patients and families of the Celiac Disease Program at Children’s National Medical Center).

3. Roti has gluten free pita bread

I’ll file this one under “WTF”. How have I not known that Roti has gluten free pita bread until now? It’s $2.00 extra, but still awesome! With locations all across the district (including one coming to Union Station this summer), I’ll be heading there ASAP for lunch.

4. Macaron Bee opens in Georgetown

Macaroons are naturally gluten free, so I’m assuming that at least most of the flavors on the list at Macaron Bee will be as well. I haven’t checked it out myself, but exciting to have a macaroon place in the district to help balance out the millions of cupcakeries.

Exciting stuff! Anything else going on that I should know about?

5 Comments

Posted in News, Tips

Eataly Gluten Free Part 2

Posted on May 2, 2012 | 3 comments

Every time I’m in New York I make it a point to go to Eataly. It’s right around the corner from my office in the Flatiron district, and it’s a great place to go get a cup of coffee and do some food gawking. I can imaging a lot of people who are gluten free wouldn’t think that Eataly would have much to offer, since it’s centered around pasta, pizza, and other traditional Italian foods. However, it’s also all about fresh ingredients, cheeses, fish, meat, produce, and specialty products.

This time I went with my heart set on gelato. Since the gelato stand is right in the front of the market, I picked up a cup of white mint chip to take with me as I walked around.

But then, as I was walking by the dessert stand, I realized that Eataly had totally stepped up its game when it comes to gluten free dessert. There were easily 15 different mini desserts that were gluten free. I think last time I went last month there were two. The other ones may just not have been labeled gluten free, but my jaw dropped when I saw all of the options.

There was an almond cookie, a torte with chocolate ganache, and a flourless chocolate cake.

There was panna cotta and a three-tiered chocolate mousse cake.

There was sponge cake with almond mousse and fruit.

And there were three different kinds of gluten free tiramisu.

I went with the peanut caramel tiramisu on the recommendation of the nice Italian man working behind the counter.

Best of all, the people who work at Eataly are very knowledgeable about food allergies, and they even have these signs all over encouraging patrons to let them know if you have a food allergy so they can be sure to accommodate.

They also have a dedicated stand with Schar products like pasta, cookies, and rolls.

If you visit New York City, going to Eataly is a must. It’s always at the top of my list of places I tell people to go while they’re there, and now there are even more gluten free options!

3 Comments

Posted in Restuarant Reviews, Tips

Tagged allergies, dessert, Gluten-free, italian, new york city

Gluten and brain fog

Posted on April 19, 2012 | 6 comments

Similar to my recent post on gluten and memory loss, gluten is also linked closely to mental “brain fog”. A feeling of confusion, reduced ability to think clearly, or make quick connections. Because we can’t feel the tissue in our brains like we can feel the tissue in our guts, we don’t necessarily identify the effects of a glutening on our cognitive function. But it’s there. In fact, unexplained brain dysfunction is seen in 6 to 10 percent of patients diagnosed with celiac disease.

Sadly, I find my brain is often in a fog. Case and point: I opened my kitchen cupboard yesterday morning to get out a coffee cup and I find this scene.

Yep. That’s the half & half that I used in my coffee the morning before. I put it in the cupboard instead of the refrigerator.

This happens all the time. Not just with the half & half, but I’ve found peanut butter in the freezer. I’ve inexplicably lost one flip flop somewhere in my apartment. I’ve looked for 30 minutes for my phone before remembering that I plugged it into the charger.

It’s like I’m 90 years old – my brain just misfires and it will just do things that make no sense while caught up in the fog.

So, what causes this annoying lack of mental clarity? Gluten, of course. Among other things.

The top three gluten related causes of brain fog are:

Nutrient deficiencies – especially B vitamins and zinc. Due to malabsorption of these and other vitamins/minerals, the body and brain can start not functioning properly.
Milk and dairy. Studies have shown that for many celiacs, eliminating gluten isn’t enough to completely lift mental side effects from the disease. Only when dairy and gluten were eliminated did their condition improve noticeably.
Sinus congestion/pressure. Gluten can cause inflammation of the sinuses, which places pressure on parts of the brain and increases histamine levels.

With the elimination of every trace of gluten, and in some cases dairy, conditions in people with brain fog have been shown to improve, especially in children. In one study, a group of children who eliminated gluten from their diet raised their grade point averages from 2.5 to 3.9!

Of course, this is just more evidence that I really need to give up dairy in my diet. It’s something I’ve tried and something I dread actually having to do, but maybe it will help me stop putting my half & half in the cupboard 🙂

6 Comments

Posted in Tips

Tagged brain, celiac, celiac disease, Gluten, mental health

Go Nats! Washington Nationals stadium gluten free options

Posted on April 15, 2012 | 4 comments

This week I went to my first Washington Nationals game! I was really excited to see that they have a page on their website listing all of the gluten free snack/drink options at Nationals Park.

I’ve never had a gluten free soft pretzel, so that was a must. In sections 105 and 319 you can get them at Curly W Pretzels.

No words are really needed. Feel free to lick your screen.

Covered in butter and salt. Soft, warm, just like I remembered.

I also got a Redbridge at the pretzel stand. For $8.

I walked around feelin’ like a regular old Joe Baseball Fan with my pretzel and beer in hand.

Then I stumbled upon this place in section 105 with an explosion of gluten free options.

On the menu:

Redbridge ($.50 at this stand)
Hot dog
Chili dog
Nacho
Loaded nacho
Olive and sweet potato chips
Carmel and caramel popcorn mix
Organic spicy pumpkin seeds
Organic wild berry mix
Larabar
Dark chocolate free bar
Skittles
Gummie bears

So great to see so many options! Next time I’ll go to this stand to get my beer since it’s $1.50 cheaper.

For more information on gluten free options at other MLB stadiums, check out this great list from Gluten Free Philly.

Or you can read about my trip to Citi Field here.

Play ball!

4 Comments

Posted in Tips

Tagged baseball, celiac, Gluten-free

Gluten and memory loss

Posted on April 9, 2012 | 6 comments

Last weekend I bought some flowers for myself. I brought them home, carefully cut them, arranged them in vases, put plant food in the vases, and put them around my apartment. Anything fishy about that course of events?

I looked at them two days later and they were looking pretty droopy, when I realized that…yeah, I forgot to put the water in.

Sometimes I feel like I’m losing my mind. My short term memory is almost non-existent – and it can be so frustrating.

I’ve been reading up a bit on Celiac disease and memory loss, and it’s pretty fascinating (slash terrifying). It serves as a reminder that Celiac disease isn’t an upset tummy – it’s an autoimmune disorder and can cause some major damage to the body and brain.

The Gluten Effect has a whole chapter on gluten and memory loss that describes two studies finding correlations between gluten intolerance and memory loss (along with other related symptoms like trouble with calculations).

Gluten can affect the memory in two main ways:

The same antibodies that your body makes that attack your intestines when gluten is in your system can also attack brain tissue.
Decreased levels of Vitamin B-12 due to malabsorption can also affect the memory.

File this under “learn something new every day” – for every one patient with celiac disease who presents with gastrointestinal complaints, there are seven patients with celiac disease who have no GI symptoms.

Yowza. The most common symptoms that people associate with Celiacs disease are definitely the GI ones – poor nutrient absorption, diarrhea, bloating. But there is also a whole slew of neurological damage that can be caused by the disease that, to me, is way scarier than the GI damage. It’s been linked to bipolar disorder, ADD, and even schizophrenia.

Moral of the story is that this disease has the power to affect more than our bellies. It’s also a reminder to me that I need to be all the more careful about cross contamination and what I eat to make sure that I’m taking care of my brilliant, brilliant brain 😉

6 Comments

Posted in Tips

Tagged celiac disease, Gluten-free, health

NYC gluten free recap

Posted on April 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

Seeing as I ate my way through New York City the last time I was there – I still had a hodge podge of photos left on my ~~iPhone~~ expensive state-of-the-art special blog camera. So, besides my reviews of Rubirosa, Rice to Riches, and Gramercy Tavern, below are some of the other gluten free yummies I found when I was there.

“Orios” and eclairs at Risotteria in the East Village. Yes. I said gluten free eclairs. I also picked up a “Winkie” for my friend – which I tried a bite of and tastes nearly identical to what I remember a Twinkie to taste like.

The ultimate bar snack – roasted peanuts and garlic with rosemary at the John Dory Oyster Bar

Gluten free cupcakes at Terri

Macaroons at some place I can’t remember. But was happy to see them marked definitively gluten free.

Banana bread with chocolate chips from Babycakes

It always hurts my heart when Celiacs tell me they haven’t been to NYC. It’s a bonafide gluten free playground and every time I go things seem to get more and more delicious.

For more of my favorite places to eat in NYC – check out my NYC GFREE EATS page. All restaurants have the highly-coveted Anna stamp of approval 😉

Should you tip more if you’re a gluten free diner?

Posted on March 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

Dining out on a gluten free diet usually goes one of two ways – either the waitstaff and kitchen are awesome and accommodating… or they have no clue what they’re doing and treat you like you’re a total pain in their collective butts. So, if the waitstaff and restaurant treat you well, don’t gluten you, and are helpful – should you show them the money?

The obvious first answer that comes to mind is a resounding YES! Of course you should show your appreciation to your server by giving them a larger-than-average tip.Usually I tip a standard 20%, unless the service is amazing (ie: they made something special just for me, gave a bunch of helpful suggestions, or just didn’t make me feel like I was a bother). Then I’ll go up to 25%.

However, sometimes I wonder if I’m actually being a pain, or if it’s all in my head. I’ve seen “regular” patrons at restaurants treat their servers like total crap, or make requests that seem to be more or equally as bothersome as asking about gluten free options.

So, should accommodating gluten free diners be considered “above and beyond”? Or just part of the job description for servers?

In general, I think if the server is average, you should tip them average. I consider average service to include: knowing what items on the menu are gluten free (or be willing to check with the chef), and then making sure the kitchen knows that your dish needs to be gluten free.

Anything more than that is a call for celebration – those servers know what they’re doing.

These are the type of things I tip 25% for:

Making suggestions to make the meal great (“The dressing that comes on the salad isn’t gluten free, but this other one is. We can also add some nuts to replace the croutons.”)
Offering equivalent substitutions (“The french fries aren’t gluten free, but we can substitute a baked potato, side salad, roasted vegetables, or chips.”)
Being nice (“No problem, I’ll make sure the chef knows you’re gluten free.”)
Getting into it (“My sister is gluten free! She loves the milkshakes here. Have you read this cookbook?”)

What do you think? Should we tip waiters more for “dealing with” gluten free diners?

My four favorite “secret” gluten free bloggers

Posted on March 24, 2012 | 4 comments

I follow a lot of blogs – some gluten free, some healthy living, some fashion/lifestyle, and some that are a mix of all of them. I’ve found that some of the blogs that I get the most out of, or like the best, are ones that aren’t explicitly focused on gluten free living/recipes, but are “secretly” gluten free. By “secretly” I mean that they often have recipes that are gluten free or give easy substitutions to make them gluten free.

I think what I like so much about these blogs is that, while I love reading about Celiac Disease and the gluten free community, sometimes it can get to be too much (or too depressing). These blogs are just fun, plus they all have easy and healthy recipes to boot!

These are four of my favorites!

1. Clean Eating Chelsea
Not only is Chelsea totally hilarious, but she’s gluten free! I’m always getting ideas from her on new ways to make my morning oatmeal, and totally appreciate that her recipes are made with whole foods and are heavy on the veggies!

Must make recipe = the perfect bowl of oatmeal. This is basically exactly how I make my oats in the morning, except I let them soak overnight and then microwave them in the morning. Chelsea gave me the idea to put jam in my oats, which revolutionized my breakfast – a spoonful of sugar-free raspberry jam in oatmeal makes the whole thing burst with raspberry flavor!

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2. Chocolate Covered Katie
Katie somehow is always coming up with ingenious recipes and healthy twists on classic desserts. While most of her recipes are very close to being gluten free from the start, if they aren’t then she always makes sure to put in instructions on how to substitute ingredients to make them gluten free. Awesome!

Must make recipe = chocolate chip cookie dough dip! I use gluten free oats in mine and it’s one of my favorite healthy indulgences.

source

3. The Wannabe Chef
I love this guy. He has tons of simple recipes for quinoa, tempeh (one of my staples), and is notorious for delicious brownies.

Must make recipe = banana pancakes! With only five ingredients these are as simple as can be (because I don’t know about you, but early in the morning the last thing I want to do is measure out 7 different kinds of flour).

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4. Dashing Dish
Katie’s blog has a ton of creative recipes. While they aren’t all gluten free, she’s great about putting substitutes in – not to mention pumping up her recipes with protein and keeping them low in sugar! Any girl who can actually come up with a recipe for “chocolate protein frosting” is a miracle-worker in my book!

Must make recipe = rich chocolate cake with chocolate protein frosting. (You should also check out her strawberry protein pancake roll ups)

source

Thanks to Chelsea, Katie, Katie, and Evan for all of your great recipes!

4 Comments

Posted in Recipes, Tips

Tagged bloggers, blogging, celiac disease, desserts, Gluten, Gluten-free, healthy, recipes

Celiac side efects: anxiety

Posted on February 5, 2012 | 1 comment

There are hundreds of symptoms and side effects of Celiac disease, and each person who’s diagnosed seems to be affected by a different cocktail of them. Even once you start following a gluten free diet, there are still plenty of lingering side effects that may come and go, be triggered by accidentally ingesting gluten, or just be an ever-present thing you have to deal with (worst case scenario).

One of the side effects that doesn’t get as much attention is anxiety. A German study showed that female adults following a gluten free diet for celiac disease show higher levels of anxiety than do members of the general population. These are women on a gluten free diet, not undiagnosed.

Since our physical well being and the effectiveness of our digestive system is so important to our mental well being, it makes sense that gluten can cause all kinds of issues in your head as well as your tummy (like the link to eating disorders and depression).

I’ve been known to have really high anxiety in certain situations – top on the list is when I’m hungry and know that I won’t be anywhere with food in the next few hours (like at the beach, in a movie, waiting for a table at a restaurant, etc.).

Over the last couple of years I’ve been much less anxious and generally calmer about managing my Celiac’s, which I can attribute to a few things:

I’ve gotten better at packing a snack for myself though, even when I’m sure I won’t need it. Just having it in my purse helps reduce the anxiety. And I’ve gotten over thinking that other people will think I’m weird/a pig for eating at random times. So what if our dinner reservation is in 30 minutes? I’m hungry now. Plus I won’t be able to eat the bread basket, so I’ll be eating at least 30 minutes later than everyone else anyway.
Making sure I get a ton of vitamins, minerals, and nutritious food every day. Your body thanks you when you eat well and your mind follows.
This might be cheesy, but yoga has been a lifesaver for me. It’s a time to clear your mind, concentrate on yourself, and relieve stress. I go to yoga at least once a week, and it works wonders.
For immediate relief from anxiety, running is my cure. Running or cleaning. I like to put on some really obnoxious rap music, sprint as long as I can, and then when I feel like my heart is going to explode, stop and walk it out. Sometimes I’ll even do a little Rocky-style punching in the air…if no one’s around to catch me.
Keeping Celiac in perspective; it’s not cancer, it’s not MS, it’s Celiac disease. Sure, it’s not curable, and it’s a total bitch to deal with, but it’s not the end of the world. I’m strong and I can handle it.

1 Comment

Posted in News, Tips

Tagged anxiety, celiac, celiac disease, Gluten, mental health

Gluten free Valentine’s Day Candy

Posted on February 2, 2012 | 3 comments

As Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, here are a few sweets that are safe to give to your gluten-free sweetheart. Obviously your first line of defense is chocolate – something heart shaped or chocolate covered strawberries. Just steer clear of truffles unless you know they’re gluten free because I’ve found that most of them have barley or malt in them.

Something new I learned today = Godiva and Lindt chocolate makers explicitly say not to consume their products if you have a gluten allergy.

Godiva says “ALL of our products including solid chocolate pieces may contain gluten. Any person with a gluten allergy should NOT consume ANY of our products.”

Lindt says “Gluten can be found in several premium chocolate products that Lindt & Sprungli produces; either as a cereal ingredient or as a barley component… trace amounts of these gluten ingredients and components may have the opportunity to come in contact with non gluten products.”

I’ll admit, I totally eat Lindt truffles. The ingredients are just cream, chocolate, and butter. It also doesn’t say “may contain wheat” on the nutrition label, just that it may contain nuts. Stupid gluten free labeling. Or non labeling in this case.

Anyhoo – I guess steer clear of Godiva and Lindt to be safe, and go with one of these less classy options. Or just buy flowers 🙂

Surf Sweets Fruity Hearts
I’m not really into gummy things, but since basically all licorice is filled with wheat, these could be a good alternative.

NECCO Sweethearts conversation hearts
On NECCO’s website they have a full list of their gluten free products. Something I didn’t know was that Clark Bars are gluten free as well, I don’t think I’ve ever even had a Clark Bar because they seem like they’re for old people? I’ll have to pick one up.