A Blog by Yvonne (Vonnie) Mostat, RN

Just received my first copy of the magazine by "my gluten free canada"  what  a find this magazine was at my family physician's office. It is full of useful facts about celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and forums.  It contains not only gluten free recipes but articles such as 'gluten free travel tips." Yes, it does have advertising (how else could it offer the magazine free), but it is approved by the canadian celiac association and seems tied to the canadian celiac association.  I am endeavoring to try to find out if it is actually published by them the amount of adversitng they put into the magazine.  There are commpetisions (such as a $50.00 gift certificate to whole foods). Sadly it is not open to the province of quebec and only for canadian residents. But, by contacting the canadian celiac association they can put you into    #myglutenfreecanada    web site and you too can subscribe to the free magazine.  I cannot promise that you will not receive advertising from bakeries or gluten free stores because from somewhere i have had numerous advertisements come into my e-mail site with regards to celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis and gluten sensitivity.  {for me, as a journalist, it is great ~ maybe for you receiving unsubscribed advertising with regards to retailers wanting your business and you wanting to know their purvue (authenticity). I do not want e-mails that are going to tell me that there is an instant cure for celiac disease - just mail in $50.00 for a month's supply of pills and your celiac disease will be cured!!

If you hurry, or ask for the back issue of the summe 2017 you may be able to receive the excellent recipe for "gluten free puff pastry buns",  something i have been endeavoring to make for years. {i am going to post that recipe in the fall issue of "the celiac journal of gluten sensitivity".

One article that really spoke to me is the one on "can airborne flour make you sick?"  I have been struggling for the past five weeks with the question, "where oh where did these lesions, dermatitis herpetiformis, come from?  Being most vigilant this past six months, even questioing again my pharmacist on new medications i have been taking, to questioning "pickles" of all things. {some pickling processes include malt vinegat which may contain gluten). Getting more vigilant about watching out for plegelatnized starch, sodium starch, glycolate, dextrin and dextrate especially on my daily vitamin ingredients, whih may use gluten as a binding agent.  Finding out that marshmallows can contain a modified food starch which may contain gluten is a new one for me to watch especially during the summer months and wiener roasts.  I know about vinegars, was unaware that restaurant omelettes use pancake mix in thier omellettes as a filler and to make them extra fluffy.  When i approached "ricky's" here in canada they were no help simplly because they used powdered eggs and the large tin did not list its ingredients. So sad! Thought ordering an omellete was safe!

This new magazine led me to the culprit, for me!  I had been doing a lot of summer entertaing and baking and using flour and experiencing celiac disease symptoms as well as dermatitis herpetiformis particularly in my scalp in the normal areas i usually get the darn "spots"!   Airborne gluten. They suggest using a face mask if you are going to be doing a lot of sifting or baking for guests with plain flour, and even avoiding bakeries on days when they are doing their baking. (you can often smell cooking bread or buns as you roam by a grocery store bakery. This can impact your breathing at times, flour can loom in the air taking up to 24 - 48 hours to settle. Direts you to listen to your boy and ask questions and be aware of airborne flour because it might make you sick if you are sensitive to gluten. 

A big surprise, many brands of pet food contain floud and can cause a problem if you are using your hand to dish out your dog's food from a large bag or inhaling it when it is poured for a large pet. It is possible to inhale some flour particles, but also when your dog licks you or wiggles on your furniture. My pet is not a wiggler but is defintely a 'licker'.  So after reading this article i left my husband the job of rolling out the pastry for pies containing gluten and stopped baking except with gluten-free flour, baking powder and baking soda, and the DH lesions have lessened considerably.

Vonnie Mostat, retired nurse