How ‘soy free’ are you?

Source: whatcanieat.com.au

Over, recent years, it seems that many have resorted to avoiding foods that contain gluten. While it does seem that while soy is easier to avoid in Australia, there really is very little (if any) awareness of soy allergies and intolerances. I recently came across a post entitled, “How ‘Gluten Free’ are YOU?” and thought I’d be able to make an interesting one with regard to soy allergies.

Soy (in itself) seems to be a controversial food. Many believe that soy is ‘good for you’, while others proclaim that soy protein has many dangerous side effects. While I personally don’t have any comment to make on these claims, one thing’s for sure. Soy is still a fairly ‘new’ food in western civilisation – something that has been almost forced into our diets with most not even realising it! And with almost all normal breads off limits to those with soy allergies, it can make ‘living without’ both a difficult and challenging task.

Additionally, as we know, many food allergy networks from around the world proclaim that soy oil and soy lecithin are safe for inclusion within the soy free diet. Personally, I get sick if I eat too many products containing these soy ingredients. I actually seem to react worse to soy on some occasions than gluten, oddly enough. Perhaps there may be a little ‘d’ for danger associated with gluten but a big ‘D’ with soy. Who knows

Anyhow, I’ve included a poll below for you to see where you stand in the realm of soy avoidance:

Personally, I would say I’m at Level 3 on the whole scale of things. I normally avoid soy lecithin and soybean oil, yet products that warn about the presence of traces of these ingredients (such as Cadbury Dairy Milk bars made in the UK) are normally ones that I allow in my diet. I also include Lindt 70% and 85% bars in my diet. Fortunately, to this day, they’ve never made me sick.

But each to their own. Let me know of your thoughts.

The Importance of an up-to-date Blogroll

Updating my blogroll is one of those jobs that I never seem to get around to. There is always something else to do.

Of course, being away from my home computer, it has been difficult to visit all the blogs that I (and many others) are loyal fans of.

I could start updating the blogroll myself…but… if I had to do it all on my own, I’d be up all day and night (and I’d probably miss a few of my loyal readers’ blogs as well).

So can you help me out! Head straight on over to the ‘contact’ page and send your link through, briefly describing what your blog is about. I prefer it to feature some aspect or other of gluten / allergy free living, if possible. Feel free to recommend friends’ blogs too!

So head on over to my contact form, fill out your details and submit your link. Don’t miss this opportunity to have the site of you and your favourites featured on my Blogroll.

Click here to add your details… :)

We are NOT fussy eaters!

Normally, I don’t post on a daily basis, but when I saw a web article pointed out by some people on Coeliac UK‘s wall I couldn’t stop myself from responding to the following article published earlier today (by Yolanda Zappaterra):

Sourced From: The Independent

Being Modern: Fussy Eaters

by Yolanda Zappaterra

Hosting a dinner party used to be fairly straightforward. Your guests either ate meat or they didn’t and you planned the menu accordingly (making a mental note not to invite the awkward veggies again). But somewhere in the past couple of decades we seem to have collectively lost our culinary way, and the simple act of feeding friends has become as complex as cracking a cryptic crossword.

Oddly, it seems that our interest in and love of food has risen in direct proportion to our inability to eat it – particularly in the UK, where we have the highest prevalence of food intolerance in Europe. And while no one would want to belittle serious and systemic allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis, as anyone who still has the balls to give dinner parties these days knows all too well, mostly the endless emails back and forth are about nothing more than fussy eating.

For despite surveys showing that up to 30 per cent of people claim to have a food allergy, a Food Standards Agency report in 2008 estimated that only about 2 per cent of adults actually do. What the rest of us have are various levels of food intolerance. We choose not to consume bread, pasta, milk, alcohol, sugar or additives. We imagine these choices make us interesting and will provide hours of fascinating conversation.

While we’re not for a minute suggesting that we’re unsympathetic to such intolerances, let’s call a spade a spade. Food allergies are serious and life-threatening. Food intolerances are just that, a symptom of our seeking to avoid anything that vaguely disagrees with us.

So the next time you’re invited to a dinner party, do the right thing and say you eat everything. Because it’s the polite thing to do, because you’ll be giving your host the pleasure of making something delicious rather than the headache of finding gluten-free recipes they’ve never made before and won’t want to make again, and because in a world in which 925 million people are undernourished, you sure as hell shouldn’t be worrying about that slightly unpleasant bloated feeling you get after eating a slice of bread.

Personally I especially find the words in the final paragraph to be some of the worst advice ever.  On the other hand, of course, I also (not that long ago) discussed a potential cure for celiac disease – Dr. Wise’s Gluten Relief. This may be a wiser option for those who feel tempted to give in to this terrible advice, as the post itself has attracted numerous comments which are a must-read for all visiting this site.

That been said, I urge my readers to take up this matter with The Independent as a matter of urgency, so that society is NOT misled by the message in this article. It needs to be removed from the net immediately.

Cadbury Twirl Bites (UK). Where to get them in Australia?

As most of you would have probably guessed, I’ve developed quite an obsession with finding soy-free milk chocolates! Something I’d be able to have in order to remember my childhood years…

Recently I heard about a new product that was recently released in the UK (i.e. Cadbury’s Twirl Bites). According to their Nutrition Facts on the product, it appears to be both gluten free and soy lecithin free, as well as being free from all common allergens apart from milk.

Previously, I made a plea to the Chocolate Industry with regard to the fact that so many chocolates in the marketplace contain soy lecithin – an ingredient that most (if not all) soy allergic folk must avoid in their diets.

It also puzzles me as to why Cadbury Australia and Cadbury New Zealand continue to use soya lecithin in virtually *all* of their chocolates, when soy allergies are on the rise but particularly when the brand in the UK switched to using ammonium phosphatides (already some decades ago). Apparently the change occurred in order to eliminate a somewhat undesirable taste that soya lecithin typically imparts in chocolate. [1]

That been said, it may be worth knowing that the UK brand Cadbury’s chocolate does contain proprietary vegetable fats – an additional ingredient which recently infuriated the local Aussie and Kiwi chocoholics when recently added to our local products manufactured by this multinational corporation. Remarkably enough, they seemed to take customer feedback seriously enough to revert back to the original ([vegetable fat]-free) recipe. They claimed that they were reverting to a “cocoa-butter-only” recipe. Of course, the presence of soya lecithin and PGPR never changed during this time. In fact, it seems as though soya lecithin has recently been added to both their flake bars and Pascall Eclairs, both of which used to not contain any soy at all!

So much for the “Cocoa-Butter-Only” claim. Sounds similar to the wretched scam that Whittaker’s continues to make.

That all said, my quest for the perfect soy free chocolate is far from over. And in fact, I have recently found an Australian chocolate maker, Slitti, that uses pure chocolate (i.e. soy-free) couverture in making various treats and products. I have yet to try their products, but will report back some time down the track as I find out more.

Meanwhile, if any of you have been able to source these tasty-looking Twirl bites here in Australia, I’d love to hear from you; even any other really good soy-free chocolate suggestions will always be most welcome. I’d also love to hear what you think (if you happen to be in the UK) of the Twirl Bites if you’ve tried them?

[1] Sourced from Google Books – Robert J. Whitehurst, Emulsifiers in Food Technology p226

The Wise Alternative Gluten Sensitivity Formula – A Possible “Natural” Solution to Gluten Intolerance?

As many of my readers would be aware (at least from my previous post), that I have been having a slightly difficult time adhering my diet – especially when it comes to the gluten free side of things.

I find that for many things here in Australia, whilst it has become easier to get palatable alternatives to foods containing soy like chocolate and oils, the gluten free side of things just doesn’t seem to have worked out.

Cake, one of my favourite foods prior to being diagnosed as a coeliac, is of course out of my diet now. Whilst flourless versions of this long-lasting loved-by-all food are often available at cafes and restaurants, nothing surpasses the ‘real thing’ – especially when it’s made of chocolate – mmmmm… :p

Or Croissants, another of my ‘most-missed’ foods on the planet!

Both of these treats really seem to be “holy grail” of gluten free baking! Yes, there are gluten free versions of these items available (mostly in packet mixes) that are easy to prepare. For a busy person like me, however, finding the time to bake these versions of my favourite foods (that will probably not turn out anyway) has just not been something high on the agenda.

So, the only solution for me (at this time) is to do without.

But… this could change (and perhaps very quickly, too).

And, I’m not just talking about the coeliac vaccine, either!

(READ ON…)

*  *  *  *  *  *

Whist searching YouTube for videos under a ‘gluten free’ search heading, it was interesting to discover (on the 4th search page) a video (shown below) that points to a major breakthrough (during 2005) by The Wise Alternative, which (according to the practice) has been evidenced through trials involving 4000+ patients at a time that I would have least expected such a discovery.

Whilst it seems as though this product was developed and is available in the United States of America, it does not seem as though I can track it down in Australia at this point in time. But, unlike the coeliac vaccine (which is being developed by the Walter and Eliza Hall institute in Melbourne ImmusanT and, provided all goes well, will be available from as early as 2017), this (according to the testimonials along with study notes portrayed on the aforementioned website) seems to have been of huge success in treating a variety of forms of gluten intolerance and gluten sensitivity and has not been exclusive to any particular HLA- gene associated with the coeliac condition.

Perhaps my overall view on this topic may deviate from the norm, however I often notice natural remedies in my day-to-day life to be of great use on many occasions. For Example, apple cider vinegar has always helped with ridding my fingers of warts in the past. One of my strong beliefs is that if coeliac disease is curable by means of a gluten free diet, there must be other ways in which this condition can be alleviated without the need of such a restrictive diet that some with this autoimmune condition still continue to fail to fully respond to (even once adopting a gluten free diet).

I’m not necessarily saying that the common old-time quote of “once a coeliac, always a coeliac” isn’t true. Whilst I for one am not a representative of the firm and am not (in any way) writing this post on behalf, I do (and always have) believe(d) that it is very possible and (almost quite probable) that this disease is naturally curable. On the other hand, I do have some concerns that (if this product has been available for over 5 years) it hasn’t been promoted more in the market place. And, of course, the Internet can lie too!

To conclude on the matter, I guess I’ll have to take this info for what it’s worth. I will be in contact with this company and will be enquiring about common issues (i.e. side effects) and whether there is the potential for anything to lose. If all boxes are ticked, and the responses satisfactory for my liking, I may consider getting some shipped over my way!

How do you feel about this? If it was offered to you, would you ‘give it a go’, knowing that individuals treated for celiac disease and gluten intolerance with this supplement have successfully returned to a ‘normal’ dietary lifestyle without any evidence of complications (neither internal nor external)? Feel free to express your opinions and disagree. Personal perspectives can go a long way!

Let us know of your thoughts below…

Coeliac Disease, Giving in, Finding new recipes and Chocolate…

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted. Unfortunately so much has been happening, from weddings to functions to travel around the country and all the rest of it, I’ve barely been able to keep up with much at all.

To sum up:

Firstly, I really need to get better at ‘saying no’.

As some of you would be aware, from earlier posts, I have been following a gluten free diet for a little over 13 years. I am a diagnosed coeliac and have excluded gluten from my diet for all this time.

I had always notice that when I do consume small amounts of gluten (i.e. less than 1/100th of a piece of bread worth of gluten) I don’t seem to have a problem at all.

Just after easter, I was served croutons and was told they were gluten free. I wasn’t so sure as they tasted a little different but I kept eating away. I noticed I had slightly more flatulence that evening and some extremely ‘slight’ symptoms but I was in no way unwell.

As I normally avoid gluten like the plague for all this time, however, I had forgotten what a normal slice of cake tastes like in comparison to gluten free slices of cake. I can often tell whether a cake is gluten free or not just by looking at the texture of it when it’s cut.

So I asked myself this question: “What if I’m at a gathering? And an irresistibly yummy normal cake is on offer? And I decide to have a slice for myself?”

I assumed that my reaction would be minimal. But I stood corrected, as was evidenced by the reaction I had had to the piece of cake. Within 4 hours I had quite a sore stomach and not long after I had trouble keeping my balance due to joint pain. This reaction went on for about 5 days (have no Idea about whether there was any soy in it, however the real problem was the gluten). Thankfully the reception was over before I got really sick. However, I must say that wheaten cakes were quite different in texture to the typical gluten free cakes out there. They tend to have a more craggy appearance and taste and often tend to satisfy my cravings far more than their gluten free counterparts.

This, in turn, has led me to research how to get a typical ‘cakey’ texture on gluten free cakes so they are hard to tell apart. I began by asking questions on social networking sites as well as many other places on the web. Of all the suggestions, I managed to find two great ideas. One which involves a cake mix and another which is flourless and can be baked from scratch.

source: Sun Flour Mills

Sun Flour Mills – Based in Idaho (in the USA), they produce a variety of gluten free mixes (including an Award-Winning chocolate cake mix which apparently is to die for (I have yet to order and try it myself but if it turns out well, I’ll be sure to review it here).

 

 

 

Flourless Chocolate Cake - Gluten and Nut Free

Thanks to Almost Bourdain, I have also found a Flourless Chinese Five-Spice Chocolate Cake recipe that does not utilise ANY grain or nut flours in it’s recipe at all. Again, I have yet to try this out, however this simple recipe makes the perfect delight for any occasion. Just be sure that the chocolate is soy free. I use Cadbury’s Old Gold 70% chocolate instead of Lindt for cooking here in Australia, but other brands work well too.

I also meant to review some Amedei chocolates I received but ate it all up too quickly. It was DELICIOUS! Some of my favourite chocolate I’ve come across in my life. I certainly recommend ordering some for yourselves (which can easily be done at King’s Fine Foods (UK), where I got the best price for this exquisite delight). More is on the way and I plan to do a comprehensive review in the coming weeks.

And, of course, I will try harder to stay clear of the wheaty cakes and croutons.

Aldi’s Gluten Free Offerings (Easter 2011)

Cost-Competitive Gluten Free Solutions

For those of us living on the Eastern Side ‘down under’, Aldi stores have become abundant in major centres. From Brisbane to Sydney to Canberra and Melbourne; this German ‘budget’ supermarket chain continues to make it’s way across the continent, changing the ways in which many Australians shop.

At such places, one would almost be led to believe that ‘gluten-free’ and ‘allergen-free’ foods simply could not compete in terms of quality or price and therefore would not qualify as stock.

Fortunately, Aldi has clearly proved us wrong; and on more than one occasion too!

This Thursday (21st April), Aldi will be releasing a range of gluten free products under the ‘has no…’ brand. These will include items which were available in May last year: flours; mixes for bread, gravy, pancakes and all purpose crumbs; along with some new additions including pastas, and more. Many products from this range are also wheat, dairy, egg, soy, tapioca, xanthan gum and cane sugar free too!

To my knowledge, the flours in particular (plain and self raising) received a very positive response from coeliac consumers.

Demand could be high, so I suggest you get in there quick and support their range of gluten free foods! check out their special buys so you can get what you need the most!

I plan to do some reviews on some of their products soon…