Saturday, September 17, 2011

"Coeliac Disease: Not Just A Food Preference" - One of My Favorite Places on Facebook

Hello everyone! While this is mainly a recipe blog, I want to also share with you books and websites that I have found helpful. One of the most notable of these is the Facebook group "Coeliac Disease: Not Just a Food Preference." It is one of the largest (if not the largest) celiac/gluten free groups on Facebook, and while it was started in the UK, it has members from all of the world. It has people who avoid gluten because of celiac disease, people who avoid gluten because of other health problems, parents of gluten free children, people with gluten free friends and family members, people who run gluten free bakeries and restaurants, and just about anyone else you can think of. It's a great place to for advice of all kinds. If you're traveling, you can find people who live where you're going and who can tell you what to eat. If you're newly diagnosed, you can probably find more experienced celiacs near you who can tell you about restaurants and grocery stores. If you're a parent, you can find other parents who can help you with the daunting task of changing everything your child eats.

Aside from advice, it's a great place for support. If you're having a hard time with anything, you can post on there and probably find 10 people who have gone through the same thing and can tell you what they experienced and what made it better for them. Sounds like a good place to hang out? You can find it right here: http://www.facebook.com/coeliac. There are over 18,000 people on there and more are joining every day.

 Earlier this summer, I had a chance to ask one of the admins behind the group some questions about the group and her experiences. Here is what she had to say.

 Me: When and why did you start the Facebook group?

 Admin: March 2010. My partner was diagnosed about 3 years ago with CD. I was so upset with how little knowledge there was out there about it and reactions from friends and family. I initially set it up to inform our friends and family and I never expected it to be so popular. We soon realised that there was a huge need out there for up to date informations and a place for people from all over the world to be able to discuss issues. The name of the page has often bothered/confused people but here is why its like that. We face so many people who just think it's about being fussy and a preference. I wanted to say NO it's not "just a food preference" it's a need to be GF because of a disease that could cause cancer and a whole host of other problems.

 Me: Why do you think the group has become so popular? 

Admin: I think it's a combination of factors.
1) It's on FB, people are already on FB so they don't have to log onto another site, it's easy for them to browse etc.
2) Our page has so many people from different countries that people can get a very well rounded response or a specific one for a certain area depending on what the question is.
3) We pose questions to challenge people and start conversations off. We try to keep it light hearted, up to date and informative.
4) We get out there to try things, take picture etc. I think people just love to hear about new things and how they taste. (Note from me - I would definitely agree with that! They really seem to have figured out the whole gluten free baking thing over in the UK and I am often very jealous of the food pictures they post!)
Me: What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the gluten-free community right now?

Admin: Hidden gluten in food and drinks. I don't think that the rules are strict enough in most countries. I think that if a product has anything in it that comes from wheat, barley, rye or oats (yes I'm a purist no oats believer) then it can't be GF. I don't think it's safe.

Me: Have you seen any improvements to gluten-free life as social networking has become more popular in the last few years?

Admin: Social media and networking can have a huge impact on the lives of CD suffers. Twitter, FB, blogs etc have a great deal of power. You can go on the internet and find out everything you need to know about CD, GF, eating out, supermarkets, law, regulations and then you can chat with other people who are affected about it. In the UK people are becoming more and more away all the time about allergies, CD, free from food etc and its great. It used to be that people had no idea about what it was but now people say "oh yeah my best friend's mum has that". There are loads of GF options in the supermarkets here and it's relatively easy to eat out (with planning). I do think social networking has helped. Everywhere we go if we find a producer or restaurant that does great GF we tell them to get on twitter and FB to shout about it. I do however find it concerning when restaurants have a little knowledge about GF but not enough. I would urge people to be very careful when eating out that cross contamination is not an issue. It's just not good enough for places to half do GF. Making people ill is not acceptable. If you are ever eating out and you are not happy about what someone is telling you, leave, it's not worth getting ill.

Me: If you could tell the world just one thing about celiac disease and gluten intolerance, what would you tell them?

Admin: Coeliac disease is a very serious life changing disease, however it can be managed with research, planning and patience. If you have it don't let it ruin your life and if you know someone who has it do everything you can to help them to be healthy and happy

Monday, September 12, 2011

Banana Muffins

Ingredients:
3 mashed bananas
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 tbsp ground flax
3 tbsp water
105 grams brown sugar (about 3/4 cup)
210 grams brown rice flour (about 1.5 cups)
70 grams cornstarch (about 1/2 cup)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix flax with water and set aside. Mix sugar and flour together, then mix in banana and flax mixture. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Drop into muffin pan and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. Makes about 12 muffins, more if you make mini muffins (48+). Baking time will be shorter for mini muffins (more like 10-15 minutes), so watch them.