Most people that are living gluten free lives are doing so for health reasons, and in particular, due to being diagnosed with Celiac Disease.   What many don’t know, however, is that the gluten free diet has gained some popularity in many areas of the United States among many health conscious people, who see the diet as a good way to eat well and improve their lives.

As you’d expect, Los Angeles is one of the places where this trend has picked up, and the L.A. Times recently wrote a post about the gluten free lifestyle:

Judy Beckett, a retired educator, was diagnosed with celiac disease two years ago: Her gut cannot tolerate gluten, and switching to these foods has improved her digestion and quality of life. Claudia Lopez, a housekeeper and mother of four, is looking for gluten-free food for herself and her family. She recently switched to it at the urging of a health expert she heard on Spanish radio.

Beckett and Lopez have plenty of company as more and more consumers embrace the gluten-free trend. Users run the gamut: There are people like Beckett with celiac disease who must be on the diet; others who believe the diet can alleviate chronic intestinal complaints and boost energy; still others who believe the gluten-free diet may help in the treatment of autism and a host of other disorders, including schizophrenia, chronic fatigue, multiple sclerosis, attention deficit disorder, migraine and even fertility problems.

And some people are trying the diet simply because they’ve heard it is healthful.

“A lot of people are going gluten-free . . . but they really don’t know why,” says Suzy Badaracco, president of Culinary Tides, a company that forecasts food trends. “It’s just like, “Quick, it’s gluten-free, it must be good!’ “

Click over to check out the rest of their post!

Even though the gluten free lifestyle seems to become even more mainstream with each passing week, there are still a number of myths regarding the diet that many people don’t know about.

Today I noticed a great post uncovering a bunch of gluten free myths over at Delightfully Gluten Free. Here is a small part of their terrific post:

Myth 1: Vinegar is not gluten-free.
Truth: Most vinegars are gluten-free. The exceptions are malt vinegar and “flavored” vinegars, which have stuff added to them after the distillation process.

Myth 2: McDonald’s French Fries are not gluten-free.
Truth: A very small amount of gluten was in a flavoring used in the oil to par-fry the potatoes. The french fries have been tested and NO detectable gluten was found in the final product. Even the CSA believes them to be gluten-free. Now, you may not want to eat them on the principal that they once put even a small amount of wheat in them. That’s fine. But the bigger concern is the level of cross-contact caused by the obnoxious 16 year-old in charge of the fryer. If you’ve never had chicken nugget bits in your french fries, then you’re pretty lucky. And that is why I don’t eat their fries.

Myth 3: Alcohol from grain sources are not gluten-free.
Truth: The distillation process removes the gluten. I don’t know what kinds of alcohol are distilled, because I don’t drink it. I do know that beer is not distilled and does have gluten (unless you get one of the brands of gf beer).

Myth 4: Envelope glue has gluten.
Truth: I have not seen any proof that it does happen, though it still could. But, seriously, why would you want to put that stuff on your tongue anyways? I quit licking them when I was 10. Dab a little water on it and spread it around, and you’re set to go. Your tongue will thank you.

Click over to check out the other myths that are uncovered.

No post today (other than this).  Just wanted to wish our American readers a happy and gluten free Independence Day!  The plan is for posts to resume tomorrow. 

In the meantime, if you are new to Gluten Free Resource, you can easily get caught up on gluten free news, recipes, and our other resources by browsing through our archives.

One of the most popular sandwich chains in the world is Subway.   Of course, when you think sub sandwiches, the first thing you’ll probably think of is bread….gluten filled bread.   I admit I was a little shocked when my research showed that Subway actually does have some gluten free foods.

If you visit Subway’s menu page, you’ll find an Allergy Chart that you can download.  Obviously the bread/buns are out, but many of the salads can be gluten free. With the exceptions of the the Seafood Sensation, Meatball Marinara, and Sweet Onion Teriyaki Chicken, all the other salads are safe.  Just make sure you tell them to hold the croutons.  Oh, and as for the salad dressings, the only one with gluten is the “Atkins Sweet as Honey Mustard.”

Do you find that you often eat at Subway?

Though Ruby Tuesdays has long been hesitant to commit to anything on their menu being gluten free, I did not that their website’s FAQ now contains the following information:

Currently all of our fried food is prepared in soybean oil. Our French fries are fried in the same oil as our breaded items.

Please be aware that we do serve white and wheat hamburger buns which all contain wheat flour. Our premium knot roll and rolls used for Ruby Minis are white bread, while our Golden Bun used for most burgers is a wheat bun. All are made from wheat flour.

The following menu items are acceptable for guests with a gluten intolerance or Celiac Sprue disease:

Steaks (with Ruby’s seasoning only)
Chicken Oscar
Chicken Fresco
Any burger without bread (EXCLUSIONS: turkey burgers, the onion tanglers on minis, French fries)

Sides
Broccoli as currently prepared
Mashed potatoes as
currently prepared
Baked potato without sour cream
Salad bar with discretion (excludes prepared salads on the salad bar)

Acceptable salad dressings:
Bleu Cheese
Ranch
Lite Ranch
Honey
Mustard
Caesar
Thousand Island
Italian
French

Unfortunately, for all other food items, Ruby Tuesday, Inc. cannot provide a listing of allergens that might be present in our menu items for the following reasons:

It is always possible, as we are preparing food in over 800 restaurants every day, that one item will be substituted for another, and that the substitute product’s contents may be different from the ingredients in the products we normally use.

As food is being prepared in our restaurants, it often comes in contact with other food, so even though a specific item may not contain allergens, it could be affected by another food item that does.