Beyond Rice Cakes

NFCA: A Wealth of Resources

Are you a newly diagnosed celiac patient? Have you been diagnosed with celiac for what feels like a million years and are still looking for help? To help all patients with celiac disease and of course their family and friends, the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness has worked tirelessly to develop a repertoire of resources that can help everyone! So come one and come all to www.CeliacCentral.org. Whether you are a child going to school, a parent trying to plan a gluten-free birthday party, a young adult, college student, adult, seasoned chef, doctor or dietitian, there is information waiting for you!

Symptoms Checklist. Do you think you may have celiac disease? Are you trying to get a family member or friend tested? If so, the NFCA symptoms checklist is the perfect place to start. Simply click on the various symptoms and receive a printer-friendly form to take to a doctor. The form provides you with the latest information on celiac testing, including the blood test and small intestine biopsy. Give this form to your doctor to be sure he orders the correct tests! Not only is the symptoms checklist a tool for you or your loved ones to get diagnosed, but also the responses collected are helping the NFCA correlate symptoms to diagnosis. This data will help all of us better understand the disease and how it affects our bodies. www.DoIHaveCeliac.org

Celiac Survival Guide. Are you already diagnosed with celiac disease and look for help with managing your daily gluten-free diet? The NFCA Celiac Disease Survival Guide is a comprehensive guide for living a happy and healthy gluten-free lifestyle. The guide provides suggestions for food choices during the early healing process and also explores the fast-expanding marketplace. There is even information about pizza and beer, birthday party planning and the best tasting products on the market! Medical tips are also provided, as well as a step-by-step guide for ensuring ongoing health. www.celiaccentral.org/What_is_Celiac_/Celiac_Survival_Guide/416/

Gluten in Medications. Do you know all of the ingredients in all of the medicines that you take? Probably not! Current United States regulations do NOT require manufacturers to label the inactive ingredients in drugs. These inactive substances are called excipients and can be any one of a number of starches including wheat, corn, potato or tapioca. To learn all about the inactive ingredients in medications, download this short and simple flyer that the NFCA developed with the help of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. You can download an extra copy to give to your local pharmacist as well. www.celiaccentral.org/What_is_Celiac_/Gluten_in_Medication/434/

School Lunches. Are you the parent of a child with celiac? If so, this resource is for you! With the help of the United States Department of Agriculture, the NFCA developed guidelines to help children and parents navigate their school's meal program. The guidelines explain federal laws and provide step-by-step instructions for getting a child special gluten-free meals at school. www.celiaccentral.org/What_is_Celiac_/School_Lunches/464/

Related Diseases. Celiac disease is directly related to several other diseases and conditions. The NFCA has worked with leading researchers and organizations to provide the latest information on how celiac disease and the gluten-free diet is related to these conditions. Diseases include: Dermatitis Herpetiformis, Type 1 Diabetes, Thyroid Disease, Infertility, Osteoporosis, Depression, Sjogren's Disease, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Intestinal Cancer, Peripheral Neuropathy, Down Syndrome, Turner Syndrome, William Syndrome, Liver disease and migraine headaches. www.celiaccentral.org/What_is_Celiac_/Related_Diseases/98/

Gluten-Free Cooking Sprees. Mark your calendars and sharpen your knives! If you love food, be sure to check the NFCA website for a Gluten-Free Cooking Spree near you! Watch top doctors, chefs and dietitians compete to cook the best gluten-free food! And, the best part is that you get to eat it too! Cities for 2008 include San Francisco, St. Louis, Washington, DC, Buffalo, Boston and West Palm Beach. www.celiaccentral.org/Events/Gluten_Free_Cooking_Sprees/331/

Cooking Videos. Watch NFCA's Gluten-Free Cooking Show Alternative Appetites 24/7 on the website. I'll teach you to cook delicious food that no one will ever guess is gluten-free! All of the recipes are super easy and even a college boy could master these techniques! Current episodes feature pizza, risotto and of course the Brazilian Cheesebread Company. www.celiaccentral.org/Other/Alternative_Appetites_1/466/

These are just some of the amazing resources available at the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Be sure to visit www.CeliacCentral.org to see even more fabulous documents and articles that can help you live the fullest and most delicious gluten-free life!

San Francisco Cooking Spree a Scrumptious Success

On Saturday February 2, top San Francisco-area chefs, doctors and dietitians took over the West Bay Conference and cooked up some of the most delicious gluten-free meals of all time! Five teams raced against the clock to prepare decadent meals that highlighted the event's secret ingredient: gluten-free pasta.

Team 1 included Chef Clare O'Brien (Culinary Institute of America), Pauline Mysliwiec (Chief of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente), Thelma Rodin (Santa Clara Medical Center), and Ashley Warner (San Francisco State University) Ashley Warner (San Francisco State University). This team presented UnGlu'd Mac'N'Cheese, which proved to be a favorite amongst kids in the room!

Team 2 was led by Pasta Pomodoro Chef Adriano Paganini and included Douglas Corley (Kaiser San Francisco), Rugmini Shah (California Department of Health), and Kaley Todd (UCSF). This team went against the norm by preparing a Risotto Salsicia. YUMMY!

Team 3's chef came to San Francisco all the way from Utah to participate in the event! Chef Paul Ruegner (Charlotte's Bakery), Mel Heyman (Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology, UCSF), Morgan Camp (Integrative Medical Center), and Vikki Petersen (Health NOW Medical Center) joined together to cook Chicken Schnitzel Schloss Solitude, which was the tasty tongue twister of the night!

Team 4 rocked the salmon, cooking up a Poached Salmon with Pappardelle & Meyer Lemon Crème Fraiche. The dish had fried brussel sprout leaves, which were surprisingly delicious! Teammates included Alex March (Brick and Solstice), Antonio Qiros (Director of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Sutter Health), Anne Louise Santoro (Kaiser Permanente), and Yulia Rudman (San Francisco State University).

Team 5 prepared a delightful Prosciutto Wrapped Salmon with Herbed Polenta, Kasha, Dried Fig & Balsamic. This team included Glenn Hewitt (Compass Group, Microsoft), Jeffrey Aron (Dir. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, CA Pacific Medical Center), Nancy Wei (Revolution Food Inc.), and Mickael Cardon (San Francisco State University).

CNN Newsroom Anchor and NFCA Spokeswoman Heidi Collins hosted the event with the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Heidi's personal struggle with managing celiac disease coupled with her love of delicious gluten-free food has helped move the Gluten-Free Cooking Spree forward nationwide!

The judges for the evening were Jacqueline Mallorca (Author, The Wheat-Free Cookbook), Elaine Taylor (Taylor Family Foundation), Gail Pyle (Stanford University Celiac Sprue Research Foundation) and two adorable kids with celiac, Riley Collins and Nathanial Corley.

Who were the big winners for the night?? For the first time in Cooking Spree history, there was a TIE! The judges couldn't decide between teams 4 and 5 (both made salmon), so the NFCA decided to let the teams share the honor of winning the San Francisco Gluten-Free Cooking Spree!

And, the tie actually worked out OK since Dr. Jeffrey Aron and Dr. Antonio Quiros are partners in gastroenterology at California Pacific Medical Center. The two will share the prize money from the cooking spree and will use it to partner with the NFCA to advance patient support programs at their new Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

About the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases:
The Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at California Pacific Medical Center is dedicated to focus on the fundamental interaction of the environment—as exemplified by the diverse microclimate and the ethnic composition of Northern California, and the innate and adaptive immune systems of the individual. This interaction occurs at the mucosal surface of the gastrointestinal tract and is at the heart of autoimmune diseases, of which celiac disease is the best-defined model. Investigating the interactions that also occur in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis will help us to develop novel and effective therapies for these diseases.

Dr. Aron says the Gluten-Free Cooking Spree was an "exciting and enjoyable evening, to continue to spread the awareness of celiac disease, and to help the work of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. We are anxious to continue our association as partners in these endeavors."

A huge thank you to all of the NFCA sponsors who make having these events possible and to all of the vendors who graciously donated food for the event! We couldn't have done it without you! An extra special thank you to Bob's Red Mill, Bio-Rad, Quest Diagnostics and Pamela's Products for going above and beyond to make the event a huge success.

And, a HUGE ROUND OF APPLAUSE for the San Francisco Celiac Community for making this one of the largest attended cooking sprees yet! And of course, thank you to the Cougars for providing fabulous entertainment!

Testimonials From the Winning Teams:
Anne Louise Santoro is a Registered Dietitian with the American Dietetic Association. She holds a degree in Literature from Harvard University and a degree in Nutrition from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Ms. Santoro brings to her nutrition practice over 15 years of experience in the food service industry. She has been a Food Service Manager, Cafe Manager, Pastry Chef, and Vegetarian Cook. She has an on-going private practice as The Food Coach...Your Personal Food Trainer where she provides a variety of nutrition services tailored to meet client's specific needs.

Anne says,  "I had a lot of fun participating in the cooking spree! All the teams seemed to be having a blast cooking their meals with such dedication. I have to say I've never tasted so many delicious gluten-free foods, especially the desserts! I learned so much more about celiac disease by participating in this event. I knew there were classic symptoms, but I had no idea about the extent to which one can suffer from Celiac disease, how it can affect ones life in so many ways. Before the spree I wouldn't have even thought about cross-contamination, but now I see how celiac disease extends beyond the food itself to how it is prepared and under what circumstances."

Nancy Wei is a Registered Dietitian with experience in weight management, diabetes, nutrition during pregnancy and childhood obesity. Nancy's nutrition background ranges from improving health status through individual nutrition consultations to implementing large-scale research studies and public health programs. As current Operations Manager at Revolution Foods, Inc, a company specializing in providing fresh, home-style school lunches, Nancy is passionate about improving access to healthy food and the way children eat. Nancy completed her graduate training in Public Health Nutrition at University of California at Berkeley.

Nancy says, "The Gluten-Free Cooking Spree was a fun and rewarding experience. The moment Chef Glenn handed me the vegetable peeler and the bag of organic carrots, I knew he was going to work us hard! It was wonderful to talk to the guests about the delicious gluten-free food we had prepared and see their satisfied smiles of approval after their first bite of the winning dish. The best way to raise awareness and increase support for the celiac community is to bring together delicious food, medical knowledge, and nutritional expertise, which was exactly what this event did. I learned that you can be really creative with safe grains without compromising taste."