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Anyone In Ma?

gfmelissa

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lifeasart Newbie
lifeasart
Posted

Here's a shout out from a Bostonian Celiac.

I'm hoping to open a T-accessible, gluten-free/specialty bakery & store this year in the Boston area. (Davis Square seems like a good target.) I'm in the process (with another Celiac baking enthusiast, and various contacts) of collecting research and finding investors.

For the sake of this research and money-raising:

1) How many of you would visit such an establishment?

2) How frequently?

3) How far would you be willing to drive?

4) Suggestions?

Thank you!!

This will be a very exciting and rewarding business venture. Convincing folks that it's a real need in the community hasn't been difficult so far, but receiving your responses will be very helpful.

I love Whole Foods, but sometimes I just dream of sinking my teeth into a freshly baked, oozing chocolate chip cookie in an environment where I know that I anything I pick out will be safe! Even my gluten-guzzling pals have expressed interest in hanging out at a place like the one I'm concocting.

Email me at glutenfreeboston@yahoo.com. I can't wait to hear from you!

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cmzirkelbach Newbie
cmzirkelbach
Posted

This is the website of a good support group in MA, they typically have quarterly meeting at Mass Bay CC in Wellesley Hills. They always invite vendors who sell or sample new products. People come from as far as

Worcester, MA.

Open Original Shared Link

francelajoie Explorer
francelajoie
Posted

Are you going in October?

I'm definatly interested. Hope I don't forget.

ebrbetty Rising Star
ebrbetty
Posted
This is the website of a good support group in MA, they typically have quarterly meeting at Mass Bay CC in Wellesley Hills. They always invite vendors who sell or sample new products. People come from as far as

Worcester, MA.

Open Original Shared Link

thanks for the link, wellesley is not far for me, I grew up in Needham and live in Franklin now.

theres a great little store in Needham, called New Leaf, they have some wonderful products, many you can only get online.

Open Original Shared Link

BTW, how do I go about going to a meeting? can anyone go, do I need to sign up and pay a fee? I just looked at the site, it seems there are 2 meetings that day, which is the one you all would go to?

thanks Betty

cmzirkelbach Newbie
cmzirkelbach
Posted

If you check on www.healthyvilli.com, on the right, click on Not a Member? Join today! There is a $25 membership fee per year.

It is a really big group of people and very informative. They have had Lee Tobin from Whole Foods Gluten Free Bakery and Beth Hilson from Gluten Free Pantry in the past.

ebrbetty Rising Star
ebrbetty
Posted

thank you, once I'm a member is there anything else I need to do to go to the meeting? do you go to both on the same day?

cmzirkelbach Newbie
cmzirkelbach
Posted

If I remember correctly, they email members annoucements about the meetings and ask that people register so they can gage how many food samples/coffee&tea/information packets.

They hold three meetings a year, January, April and October and the new member meetings precede the general meeting, so you do not have to make the drive twice.

They are having a new member meeting on October 22, starting at noon, then the general meeting follows for all members.

The phone number is 617-262-5422. You can also email members@healthyvilli.com

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ebrbetty Rising Star
ebrbetty
Posted

thank you very much for the help, i'm very shy and a little scared to go :blink:

cmzirkelbach Newbie
cmzirkelbach
Posted

I understand. Start with an email to the members@healthyvilli.com first. The people I have met there who run the group are very friendly and eager to share information. Plus, if you go to the new members meeting, you will not be the only new person there. Feeling like everyone knows everyone else and you are the only new person can be very disconcerting. (It happened to my husband at a PTA meeting a couple of weeks ago, and my husband is not shy at all).

The nice thing about a celiac support group is you walk into a room full of people who 'get it' and you instantly have something to talk about with anyone that is there.

So, you will not be the only new person at the meeting, and will have something in common with everyone that attends the meeting, and you should be able to sample all the food offered.

They had one caterer that made these awesome chocolate covered peanut butter balls and another that made amazing lemon squares to sample.

ebrbetty Rising Star
ebrbetty
Posted

thanks for the help, I'm really interested in going, my hubby wants to go too, he keeps up with everything involving my health, having him with me will make my first visit a little less painful lol

happy 4th..have a good weekend :D

  • 2 weeks later...
lpasko2 Newbie
lpasko2
Posted
Hi Melissa,

I'm North-West of Boston...where exactly are you moving? I have lots of suggestions for stores around here.

there is a bread and circus in hadley right near northampton try mapquest to find the exact exit

  • 1 month later...
cowrdlyon Rookie
cowrdlyon
Posted
I am moving in a few weeks outside of cummington/northampton I think. ( I have found a job but not yet gone to get an apartment!) I have family south of boston, so I will probably be through there a lot. I would love to know places to shop, I am so used to being 2 minutes from whole foods that I am a bit nervous! Are there any active support groups in MA?

m

Hey Melissa,

I live in Holyoke Mass which is only 20minutes south of Northampton. My wife and I are up there all the time. There are several stores within a 15minute drive from Northampton that you can get decent food at. There are Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Cornacopia at Thornes Marketplace right in downtown Noho and the Stop & Shop in Noho has some stuff. Welcome to Ma!

cowrdlyon Rookie
cowrdlyon
Posted
Hi I live in Holyoke and go to school in Northampton. There's plenty of gluten free stuff around here. Lots of restaurants are pretty informed about celiac and gluten free. There is a natural food store called cornucopia right in downtown Noho but it's sort of pricey but there's Whole foods and trader joe's real close in Amherst. Let me know what other questions you have and what I can do to help!

I live in Holyoke also. I was just diagnosed about 3 weeks ago. I didn't think there was as many of us as there are in Western Ma let alone Holyoke! Have a great day!

  • 4 weeks later...
ironic Newbie
ironic
Posted

I'm from just north of Boston. I found out I had it in 2004.. but we got some mixed results and thought I didn't. Come to find out (just a few hours ago) I do.

I heard The Outback has its own Gluten Free menu, so I'm excited to go there.

How many of you belong to support groups and how often do they meet? Because none of my friends "get it". I was on the diet in 04, and they basically found it funny.. and couldn't comprehend that this was my diet *forever*. They were constantly asking how much longer I'd have to eat like that, and trying to get me to "just have one bite" of something *really* good. When the endoscopy came back neg. I was still almost 100% sure I had it, but I was so relieved to be off the diet I pretended that I didn't. Now I just want to feel better.

kathy1 Contributor
kathy1
Posted

The Christmas Tree Shop at the Holyoke Mall carries a variety of gluten-free products at bargain prices. For example- Blue Diamond Smokehouse almond nut thins are 2.89 at Wild oats and other such local health food stores, but everytime I go to the Christmas Tree Shops they sell the same thing for $1 a box. I usually buy 10 boxes at a time since its 1 and 1/2 hour drive for me to get there.They also carry alot of Thai items real cheap too. with so much of the gluten-free foods costing alot more money, I will stock up whenever I can!

ironic Newbie
ironic
Posted

What about the one heading into Boston. With the big restuarante shaped like a ship next to it? By, umm, Bobs and Jimmys (resturante)

  • 3 weeks later...
Kristen2Denise Apprentice
Kristen2Denise
Posted
I live in Holyoke also. I was just diagnosed about 3 weeks ago. I didn't think there was as many of us as there are in Western Ma let alone Holyoke! Have a great day!

Cowrdlyon....do you know about Blue Moon Grocery in Easthampton??? I went there yesterday and got Bard's Tale Beer- which I don't like so it was sad, but I got this individually sized carrot cake which was unbelieveable...seriously amazing I could rave for days. They have a good amount of gluten free stuff..email me if you want more info! Take care..K

  • 1 year later...
Rykus0 Newbie
Rykus0
Posted

If you haven't already, you should check out Butternuts restaurant. I think it's in Hadley... My Fiancee is a celiac, and we both LOVE their food! The chef is great and really knows how to prepare gluten-free food the right way. We're even going to have our wedding reception there!

Other than that, we live in Southwick, currently, and my bride to be has been honing her baking skills and is hoping to possibly start a business providing gluten-free baked goods. If anyone is interested, let me know!

Rykus0 Newbie
Rykus0
Posted

Oh, also there's a Whole Foods near there that has an excellent selection

sallyterpsichore Explorer
sallyterpsichore
Posted

I live in Boston and haven't had any problems. I rarely eat out because I'm still "healing" and am playing it ultra safe, but there are gluten-free products all over the place. Even the supermarkets like Shaws/Star Market are starting to offer some gluten-free things like Tinkyada and Amy's frozen "good for you" junkfood! :P If you're moving to the city, I can tell you the places I know of that offer gluten-free beer and ciders (I drink out, but I don't eat out)

GlutenWrangler Contributor
GlutenWrangler
Posted

I live in Westfield. It's cool to hear about others in my area. I figured everyone on here was out in the Boston area. There's definitely a good amount of stores in the area for celiacs. Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Cornucopia. Even Stop & Shop in Amherst has a lot of Celiac-Friendly foods. Welcome to MA!

-Brian

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    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Blood tests for thiamine are unreliable.  The nutrients from your food get absorbed into the bloodstream and travel around the body.  So, a steak dinner can falsely raise thiamine blood levels in the following days.  Besides, thiamine is utilized inside cells where stores of thiamine are impossible to measure. A better test to ask for is the Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test.  But even that test has been questioned as to accuracy.  It is expensive and takes time to do.   Because of the discrepancies with thiamine tests and urgency with correcting thiamine deficiency, the World Health Organization recommends giving thiamine for several weeks and looking for health improvement.  Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   Many doctors are not given sufficient education in nutrition and deficiency symptoms, and may not be familiar with how often they occur in Celiac disease.  B12 and Vitamin D can be stored for as long as a year in the liver, so not having deficiencies in these two vitamins is not a good indicator of the status of the other seven water soluble B vitamins.  It is possible to have deficiency symptoms BEFORE there's changes in the blood levels.   Ask your doctor about Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine that is better absorbed than Thiamine Mononitrate.  Thiamine Mononitrate is used in many vitamins because it is shelf-stable, a form of thiamine that won't break down sitting around on a store shelf.  This form is difficult for the body to turn into a usable form.  Only thirty percent is absorbed in the intestine, and less is actually used.   Thiamine interacts with all of the other B vitamins, so they should all be supplemented together.  Magnesium is needed to make life sustaining enzymes with thiamine, so a magnesium supplement should be added if magnesium levels are low.   Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  There's no harm in trying.
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine? 
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    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
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