Good news and bad news!

Aren’t these adorable? Too bad the frosting had gluten. 😦 BOO!

So let’s start with the bad news: I made GF cupcakes (Aldi GF cake mix) for my son’s 7th birthday last week and had NO idea that the store-bought frosting had wheat! UGH! Normally I make buttercream frosting from scratch, but he wanted chocolate frosting, so I cheat a bit by buying chocolate frosting in a can and then adding some Crisco, meringue powder and powdered sugar to increase the volume. Tastes great and chocolaty. … but I learned my lesson: ALWAYS CHECK THE LABEL! 😦

GOOD NEWS! Cherrios is GLUTEN-FREE!!!!!!!! And not just the regular flavor — the Apples & Cinnamon, the Frosted, the Honey-Nut and the Multi-grain — are ALL gluten-free!!!  Let’s give a shout-out to General Mills for improving their products for the health of everyone and especially those of us who are gluten-sensitive/intolerant or Celiac!

YEAH for CHERRIOS! They are now GLUTEN-FREE!!!

 

My article . . .

Hello, everyone – this is a very different post than I normally do, but I thought I would share an article that I wrote that was published recently. Feel free to pass it along to anyone that it could help.

Incidentally, research has shown that a gluten allergy/intolerance/celiac disease MAY contribute to miscarriages . . . . wish I had known that sooner.

Blessings!

http://www.charismamag.com/life/women/20127-5-ways-to-work-with-god-through-your-miscarriage

 

Does gluten-free = carbohydrate-free?

I’ve had many people ask me if they go gluten-free, is that the same as going carbohydrate-free?

The quick answer is no; for the long answer, keep reading.

The high-protein, low-carb diet/lifestyle has been around for a long time, and it actually has science to back up its claims.  Basically, our bodies take the carbohydrates we eat, use some of it for energy, and turn the rest of it into sugar, and store it as fat.  Much to our dismay, consuming carbohydrates (cookies, candy, brownies, cake, bread, pasta, rice, and even some veggies & fruits) is NOT absolutely necessary for metabolic life.  Example:  the Eskimos live on whale meat & blubber all winter, but they don’t die — whale meat & blubber — no carbs there!

Now, I’m not saying all carbs are evil; veggies & fruits are generally good carbs mainly because of the fiber that they contain (which decrease their carbohydrate-induced blood-sugar effects).  But it someone wants to lose weight, it can be beneficial to eat fewer carbs so the body is forced to use the stored fat for energy rather than what we are eating for energy.  Also, if you are consuming good amounts of protein at the same time, then you will maintain muscle which is a very good thing.

Now, about carb-free vs. gluten-free.  I like carbs.  And I want to eat carbs like cookies, bread, pasta and more.  But the carbs I eat need to be gluten-free because of my digestive issues.  So I’ve chosen to eat gluten-free, but not carb-free.  If a person wants to eat carb-free, that doesn’t necessarily mean he will not consume gluten, though probably he won’t consume gluten.  Eating completely carb-free would mean no cookies, bread, pasta and also no fruit, veggies, or rice.  All of these foods contain carbohydrates, but not all of these foods contain gluten (plain fruit, veggies & rice do not contain gluten).

So, hopefully I haven’t thoroughly confused you!  Basically, eating gluten-free doesn’t necessarily mean not consuming carbohydrates — but consuming ZERO carbs likely means that you won’t consume gluten.