Helen's wheat free blog

Have your say - do you think food allergies should be banned from the Army?

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2008-07-17T17:45:38Z

Personally I think that its entirely correct to ban people with food allergies from joining up.

In many areas of deployment there simply arent the medical facilities available, or even appropriate foods for people with potentially life threatening food allergies.

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Mmmmmmmm... desserts

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2008-06-27T15:22:55Z

Weve just received a pre-publication copy of The Ice Dream Cookbook by Chef Rachel Albert-Matesz to review.

Its a healthy sized book full of dairy free ice cream alternatives, gluten free cookies, compotes and sauces. Our initial reaction on a quick scan is wow, this looks interesting.

Watch this space for our review coming soon... now where did I put that ice cream maker...

A Tasty Menu indeed

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2008-06-14T01:43:00Z

I havent had real fries in 10 years... until now.

As you are all aware it's just too risky to have deep fried foods when you are allergic to wheat or have coeliac disease, because if anything containing wheat has been cooked in the same oil it's going to contaminate what you're eating.

So what changed after 10 years of my fries abstinence? Well recently I had the pleasure of eating at Calgary's only 100% gluten free restaurant, A Tasty Menu.

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Wheat free Thanksgiving

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-11-22T16:37:00Z

Another wheat free Thanksgiving arrives, and with it the stress and worries that people with wheat or gluten allergies have about eating out or at friends increases exponentially.

May and Flower who got their Presidential pardon yesterday will be happily gobbling away today, but for a lot of North Americans eating out, where they cant control the wheat or gluten free nature of their meal, its not such a happy time.

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Wheat free fuelling for exercise

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-09-07T16:48:38Z

With my husband currently undergoing very aggressive treatment for cancer I thought that the least I could do would be to do a run in aid of cancer research. So on September 16 I will be running 10km for The Terry Fox Foundation. This is a worldwide run and to date over $400 million dollars has been raised for a really amazing foundation. Read the story of Terry Fox and you can't fail to be amazed and touched, and this is what drives people to all turn out on the same day for a fun run yet with a vitally important purpose.

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There are more allergens than just peanuts

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-08-29T21:33:59Z

There seems to be a big thing now with TV advertising promoting the fact that some manufacturers are labelling their products, always junk foods though, as "peanut free". Peanuts are not the only food allergen in the world, though to see the marketing you'd think it was.

I realise that peanut free foods are useful, but there are loads of them about anyway, like fruit, vegetables etc. And making sugary snacks peanut free for school lunch bags is not only a perceived "safety" issue. It's also a gimmick.

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Hidden wheat in medicines

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-07-31T20:37:45Z

IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE YOU READ THIS BLOG: Please read this blog with a large dose of caution and DO NOT stop taking your medication. If you have a wheat allergy and are injecting blood thinner then DON'T STOP, it's vital that you continue with such an important treatment. Perhaps you might want to ask your doctor or pharmacist to investigate whether it has a wheat base if you are having some strange reactions. But NEVER NEVER STOP taking your medication unless you have discussed it fully first with your doctor, hospital or other registered health professional responsible for your care and they have given their approval.

Medicines are an interesting issue in relation to wheat content. I've always been conscious of making sure that any medicines I buy over the counter don't contain wheat, but I've had a few problems with doctors prescribing medicines that contain "starch", even though they know I have a problem with wheat. The rule is "if it doesn't identify what type of starch it is, it's wheat".

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What is it actually safe to eat?

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-05-07T21:05:15Z

Hands up everyone who's a little bit worried about the whole contaminated wheat gluten issue currently in the news? Not many wheat-free eaters I bet. But, whether you eat wheat or not, it's a really worrying hit to the food chain. And if you have a pet, while you may not eat wheat, I'm pretty certain that your pet does, or did, in their pet food.

Now hands up everyone who's a little bit smug that they don't eat wheat and enjoy watching the wheat eaters sweat? Come on, don't be shy, it's human nature to feel a bit mean about people that can enjoy eating out without breaking into a sweat at the thought of a little wheat contamination in for example, their supposedly crouton-free salad.

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Gastroscopy part II

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-04-10T17:25:00Z

... and the next thing I remember I was looking at the clock back on the ward which was saying 9:20, and a nurse was telling me to turn over onto my left side to have a bit more sleep.

After another 30-ish minutes peaceful sleep I was wide awake, and slightly disconcerted that I'd completely lost 50 minutes. I honestly couldn't remember a thing after watching the 3rd injection into my IV. Okay, so I'm really pleased about that, as I really wasn't looking forward to a long tube being pushed down my throat into my stomach anyway, but all the same, they could have removed a kidney and I wouldn't have noticed.

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It's gastroscopy time!

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-03-31T00:10:00Z

My long awaited appointment for a gastroscopy has arrived. Basically as I understand it, they sedate me, then poke a tube with a light and camera down my throat into my stomach and have a good look around. At that time they also will take a biopsy for coeliac disease.

Hmmmmmmmm... this sounds like fun... not!

Having once bitten my dentist, not on purpose I might add, but as a reflex action when he accidentally touched too far back in my mouth, I'm not real keen on having a length of plastic tube poked down my throat.

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Easter eggs... chocolate shells... ribbons... the Easter bunny...

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-03-03T18:40:41Z

Easter. I love it. Although I'm not remotely religious it doesn't stop me eagerly anticipating the arrival of the myriad of extravagantly decorated eggs in the shops. The brightly coloured wrappings, the pretty ribbons, the promise of secrets inside the chocolate shell... mmmmmmmmn I love it all.

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So can't eat wheat but not allergic to it

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-02-22T19:14:45Z

After all the skin prick tests were completed I was despatched to the lab for blood tests, because whilst the skin prick tests indicate no wheat allergy they are not 100% foolproof.

But the allergist suspects that it could be an auto-immune issue, not an allergy, or there again coeliac disease even though I don't have a problem with rye, barley or oats. However to be on the safe side IgE and RAST blood tests should surely tell the truth, I must be allergic to wheat if I can't eat it, right?

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Is it a wheat allergy or not?

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-02-12T23:08:00Z

So because my problem with eating wheat has now reached the severity that I was vomiting over 30 times in the space of 1 hour, and so ill that my husband was on the verge of calling 911, my asthma specialist referred me to an allergy specialist, as this problem with wheat was the original cause of my asthma.

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Is it a wheat allergy or not?

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2007-02-12T23:08:00Z

Ding dong merrily on wheat free high!

nospam@example.com (Helen Fletton) — 2006-12-12T22:22:00Z

Its December and the festive season is rapidly gaining speed. In our neighbourhood businesses and residential properties are already well decorated, lights twinkling away at night (and during the day).

Trying to be more environmentally conscious this year we decided to buy white LED lights for inside and outside, however whilst stockists of LED lights had thousands of packs of every colour you could imagine, the shelves where white should be were stripped bare. Something tells me that their buyers are not switched on!

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