Snapshot of the 15th International Celiac Disease Symposium

Last month several members of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) team participated in the 15th International Celiac Disease Symposium (ICDS), the most comprehensive celiac disease meeting in the world. Held September 22-25, 2013, in Chicago, ICDS was a whirlwind conference with a chance to meet with NFCA’s distinguished Scientific/Medical Advisory Council and catch up with fellow colleagues from all walks of the celiac disease field. We also enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people and, finally, put faces to names of individuals we regularly work with remotely.

In her October 2013 newsletter note, NFCA President Alice Bast shared some highlights from NFCA’s experience at ICDS 2013. But this was just a sneak peek! Some of our NFCA staff have compiled an informal list of discussion topics and statistics that resonated the most. To give you an idea of individual interests, we’ve categorized the meeting highlights by staff member.

Head to NFCA’s Research News Feed on CeliacCentral.org to get all the highlights!

– Kristin

Holiday Wish List

The following is a guest post from Amie Valpone, a Manhattan based Personal Chef, Culinary Marketing Consultant, Whole Living Expert, Professional Recipe Developer and Food Writer specializing in simple Gluten-Free ‘Clean’ recipes for the home cook.

Looking for a few fun stocking stuffers or gifts to get for your loved ones?

Look no further!  I’ve got a list of fun surprises that were carefully curated for your home, kitchen and beauty routine.  Many don’t take up space so you can stuff them into Christmas stockings with no problem.

The perfect gift isn’t easy to find so let me do that job for you. I’ve scoured the web for my 2012 gift guide to streamline your holiday shopping and keep you jolly!

Happy Holidays!

Foodie Favorites

YS Eco Bee Farms Raw Honey

Offer your honey the gift of raw honey in its true, solid state. YS Eco Bee Farms is a pioneer in organic bee farming and you can taste the purity of their product in every bite of this rich, creamy, decadent treat. Packed with natural antioxidants and healing agents, raw honey is amazing in hot teas, on toast, in desserts, with peanut butter—and quite honestly, on a spoon. You can also use this product to make your own beauty products.

Chocolove Dark Chocolate Bar with Almonds and Sea Salt

Dark semi-sweet Belgian chocolate + whole dry roasted almonds + sea salt = a chocolate lover’s dream! All Chocolove bars contain a love poem inside. How sweet is that?!

Pamela’s Products Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Gluten and Wheat Free)

Tantalizing, decadent cookies by Pamela’s Products are gluten-free, wheat-free and non-dairy—and sure to delight dark chocolate lovers (even those with dietary limitations.) The box is adorable and very “giftable.”  (Hint: these cookies are deliciously scone-like in their dryness and taste and are especially yummy when dipped into icy cold almond milk from Blue Diamond Almond Breeze!)

Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams and White Chocolate Wonderful

Peanut Butter & Co.’s Dark Chocolate Dreams is indeed the stuff of dreams. All natural no-stir peanut butter blends with rich dark chocolate for an amazing spread, ice cream topper or BFF to organic fruit.

Give as a gift along with Peanut Butter & Co.’s White Chocolate Wonderful (soooo good with a cold, fresh pear) and reinvent the experience of peanut butter for someone you love.

Navitas Naturals Raw Chocolate Organic Cacao Nibs

Give the gift of antioxidants, iron, magnesium…and let’s not forget dark chocolate with this certified organic, raw, vegan treat. A foodie must-have, raw chocolate nibs are packed with flavonols and polyphenols. These nibs are also great for baking, delicious in smoothies and decadent in oatmeal or yogurt.

Green Mountain Coffee Dark Magic Extra Bold Dark Roast Keurig K-Cups

For serious coffee drinkers, Dark Magic by Green Mountain Coffee is truly a magical java and bound to become a favorite of anyone closely attached to their Keurig machine. This 100% Arabica coffee blend offers an intense, bold start to your morning.

Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten-Free Dreams Pancake and Waffle Mix

There’s no better treat than fluffy pancakes, hot off the griddle. Free of gluten, nuts, wheat, eggs, dairy and peanuts, this decadent mix by Cherrybrook Kitchen offers a home-cooked treat for people with special diets that will delight everyone else at the breakfast table, too.

Vitacost Extra Virgin Certified Organic Coconut Oil

This super-food is an amazing butter substitute in baking, adds a lightly sweet taste in high-heat cooking and can be used for skin and hair health, too.

The Gift of Gorgeous

DevaCurl Volumizing Frizz-Free Foam

Curly-haired friends will love this frizz-free volumizer, which is free of sulfates, parabens and silicone.

Deep Steep Candy Mist Foot Cream Dynamic Duo Gift Set

Tired feet and legs? This energizing gift set is infused with cooling essential oils and rich Shea butter for a healing and rejuvenating lift. Plus, the deodorizing mist gets rid of foot stinkies! You’ll appreciate that it’s already adorably packaged to fit right under the Christmas tree or beside the menorah.

Alba Botanic Hawaiian Sea Salt Body Scrub

Baby, it might be cold outside, but you can feel as dewy and smooth as if you just emerged from a tropical getaway with this delightful, invigorating citrus scrub. Hypoallergenic and gentle enough for all skin types, this exfoliating medley of tropical oils is scented with jojoba, kukui, macadamia and sweet almond.

DermOrganic Leave-In Treatment with Argan Oil

Made from certified organic argan oil from Morocco, this cruelty-free and vegan hair helper revitalizes and repairs strands, adding softness and shine.  Not only does it protect your locks from thermal damage, it speeds drying time by 30% so you won’t need that hair dryer in the first place!

Earth Therapeutics Neck Pillow

Soft, fleecy U-shaped pillow snuggles around your neck to take you away to your relaxing, happy place. Heat it in the microwave to intensify the scent of lavender and chamomile for an added dose of aahhhh…

Desert Essence Organics Coconut Hand and Body Lotion

This 100% vegan and cruelty-free body lotion is exceptionally kind to your skin, as well. Rich, tropical organic extracts give it its scent and sheen.

Monoi Tiare Tahiti Vanilla Coconut Oil

It sounds delicious—but this light, delicate oil isn’t for eating. Turn any massage into a tropical experience with this exotic body oil, enhanced by the scent of fresh Tahitian gardenias.

Organic Figi Lemongrass Tangerine Nourishing Lotion

This GMO-free, paraben-free lotion pampers skin with cold-pressed organic virgin coconut oil infused with a delectable lemongrass and tangerine scent.

Earth Therapeutics Dream Zone Sleep Mask

With a gossamer-soft blend of silk and cotton resting coolly above your eyelids, sweet dreams are easy. Perfect for frequent travelers, light sleepers—and that significant other who complains that you need to sleep with a light on.

Home Sweet Home

Numi Teas Glass Teahouse Teapot

Unique, hand-blown glass teapot captures a flowering tea in bloom and serves up to 14 oz. of delicious, individually brewed tea.

Kiss My Face Peace Candle in Lemongrass Clary Sage

Adorably boxed in 100% recycled packaging, this clean-burning candle is made from hand-poured soy wax and scented with delightful essential oils. It has a 38-hour burn time and 10% of profits support Seeds of Peace.

Aloha Bay Himalayan Salt Crystal Lamp

A warm, peaceful glow emanates from this 110V light fixture, which is made from crystal salt mined from 200-million-year-old salt layers located at the foot of the Himalayas. When the crystal heats, it purifies the air by removing dust, pollen and cigarette smoke.

Aura Cacia Aromatherapy Room Diffuser

Deodorize, naturally. This plug-in unit uses low levels of heat to volatize essential oils. Perfect for rooms inhabited by pets!

Bodum Chambord French Press 8-Cup Coffee Maker

Designed by Normandy craftsman, this coffee maker has been a favorite brewing method of diehard coffee aficionados for decades.

“If the Shoe Fits, Buy It” Coin Purse by Blue Q

Too cute for words! The perfect gift for the shoe addict in your life, this adorable vintage-inspired woven bag is made from 95% post-consumer material.

Aloha Bay Chakra Candle Healing Jar

Made from 100% pure essential oils including lavandin, orange and tangerine, this healing jar is the perfect gift for someone who is dealing with heartache or grief, because it is inspired by the “heart chakra,” the center of compassion and love.

Want more gift ideas?  Check out the  2012 Gluten-Free Holiday Gift Guide from the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA).

– Amie
www.TheHealthyApple.com

Top 5 Things To Know About Being Gluten-Free Before Applying to Colleges

The following is a guest post by Dhanu Thiyagarajan, a sophomore at University of Pittsburgh and founder of Gluten Free My Campus, the university’s gluten-free student group. Dhanu is studying bioengineering and hopes to go to medical school to become an OB/GYN doctor. She has been gluten-free since December 2010.

Applying to college is a hard decision on its own, but it’s even harder being a college student on a gluten-free diet. These are five things that I found to be really important regarding the gluten-free diet when applying to colleges.

1. On-Campus DiningThe dining halls and areas on campus should have safe gluten-free options available for you. It is very important to know that those who are cooking your food know how important it is to avoid cross-contamination.  If the college can’t offer this for you, make sure you can cancel your meal plan.
   

   Ask if there’s a gluten-free student group on campus.

2. Student Health CenterTalking to the dietitian is helpful, so they can help with your diet and can inform you accordingly of any updates regarding the gluten-free options on your campus. Make sure the health center accepts your insurance and can help you in case you get sick from accidental gluten ingestion or in general.
3. Living in a DormIt is good to know what appliances are allowed in your dorm room.   A fridge with a freezer is your best friend!
4. Campus SupportHaving a gluten-free club on campus is wonderful because you know there is support on campus, and people to help you with this adjustment.  Also, knowing if there is a decent amount of people on a gluten-free diet will allow you to be more confident that gluten-free living there is possible.
5. Off-campus restaurantsSocializing with friends is a huge part of a college lifestyle and a lot of that is done during meals.  It is good to make sure that there are restaurants around where you can go, eat and socialize safely.

Different people have different needs for college, so it is important to prioritize your needs and choose your colleges accordingly.

– Dhanu

Helping Hands—Lots of Them!

It’s time for NFCA’s Appetite for Awareness!

The NFCA Team is very excited about the 2012 edition of this signature event. I can’t wait to see which doctors are paired with which restaurant to prepare and offer true gluten-free delights to our guests. Appetite for Awareness brings out the gourmet in most of us as we table hop between the booths of some of the best restaurants in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Today, I learned that there will be about 60 exhibitors who are ready to highlight the latest gluten-free products and distribute educational materials to all attendees. Add the Beer Garden with flat screen TVs and “the game,” the Children’s Pavilion with games for the whole family, and cooking demos for the Julia Child in each of us, and you have quite an afternoon!

Our “helping hands” at Appetite for Awareness 2010

How does the NFCA Team make all of this happen? The short answer is, we don’t. Well, more correctly, we don’t do it alone. Each year, a small army of volunteers puts on their Appetite for Awareness T-shirts and jumps in to help.

From face painting to staffing the NFCA store, our wonderful volunteers do it all!

Our guests will meet them all, from manning the registration desk to helping at the NFCA Shop to selling tickets for the drawings (including a lease on a Mercedes-Benz!) and much, much more. This volunteer corps is an essential ingredient in the success of each and every Appetite for Awareness that NFCA has held over the years.

This year, over 75 volunteers plus a cadre of students will take the floor to make this the best event ever. Some are first-timers who will be amazed and others are old hands who know the ropes and always are enthusiastic.

NFCA volunteers help registration run smoothly.

If we held a contest for the volunteer who traveled the greatest distance to get to the Historic Strawbridge Building, Cecelia Bonaduce from Baltimore probably would win (plus, she originally hails from California). Most years as an Appetite for Awareness volunteer? Probably Karen Dalrymple and Donna Sawka. Husband and wife teams — Jen and Kenny Arters, Judy and Mike Paul, Eva and Marv Schlanger.  More family ties — Patti and Jessica Townsend, Amanda and Sam Beeler, Jody and Bruce Finkel, Sandy and Rachel Cogan, Eileen and Jim Grady. And, organizing this whole team—Julie Cooper.  Amazing!

Looking forward to a great time!

– Nancy