Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Gluten-Free Halloween List 2013








Celiac.com has shared their list of safe gluten-free candies for 2013 and you should view it before you shop and eat yourself or family and friends here. It's great to have Celiac.com provide us with the list of the most popular candy product available on the market and be able to know which is safe and which to avoid. That's what is great about the community we are involved in and having this transparency helps us choose wiser and smarter to be healthier and reduce auto-immune reactions during this wild Halloween time of year.


Halloween Candy & Your Health
Candy, candy and more candy, it's what kids think about for the first 15-20 years of their lives!  Eventually, kids get a more sophisticated taste bud and may prefer certain candy over other, I hope :)  But for now it's all about filling as much as possible into their candy bags as they run like crazy down the street from home to home dressed in costumes with their friends. For example, I am a big kid and I enjoy peanut butter, fruit based sweet and of course chocolate, but I must know 100% that it's a certified gluten-free chocolate or candy or in a gluten-free facility and do my research. I choose a very dark in the evening and a milk chocolate during the day for some bizarre reason, but hey that's just me. 

Gluten-Free Candy & Chocolate
The elephant has stepped into the room. Keep in mind that just because most gluten-free candy options are proven gluten-free they are not necessarily healthy, non GMO or organic by nature. In fact, most of the brands on the Celiac.com candy list are going to shock you with the low quality of manufacturing and ingredients, but if that's not your concern, enjoy!  Just remember that in our culture, cheap cost, typically signifies low quality and poor health options. So when you buy that large bag of candy be wary. There are certainly exceptions, but this year and next, consider your health first and still have a lot of fun noshing on delicious sweets. 




My Favorite Gluten-Free Candy & Chocolates




HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Nutrition Lies From The Past That Made Us Sick



I just came across a fantastic article from Business Insider that had me exploding with joy and relief all at the same time. It's my belief that you can only believe 1/2 of what you read and 1/2 of what you see and I grew up being so curious as to why I was "supposed to" avoid certain foods like limiting my eggs or not having too much meat. 

There is typically a motive behind any positioning and that's why you must do your own research, follow your instincts and balance this with literature and conversation from different opinions. The "experts" are not always right and that's why we have extremely healthy people vs the opposite.

Here are 12 myths that I can vouch personally that shaped my 30+ year old life and probably effected many of yours. Read this entire article and think about how your nutrition has been affected, shopping methods and cooking practices have been changed due to better research and improper fact busting. 

13 Nutritional Lies From The Past


1. Eggs are bad for you
2. A calorie is a calorie
3. Saturated fat is not healthy
4. Eating a lot of protein is bad 
5. Everyone should be eating "heart healthy" whole wheat 

Friday, October 11, 2013

The Gluten Summit - Free Online Webinar Series


Beginning November 11th


This is an original Gluten Summit unassociated with any other expo or convention brought before to benefit scientists, physicians, health practioners, bloggers, manufacturers, distributors, patients and consumers of all kind. The Gluten Summit is brought to everyone and anyone concerned with the world of gluten in our food supply and how we are effected from it by Dr. Tom O'Bryan of theDr.com. He has interviewed 25 of the world's leading experts on Celiac Disease and sensitivities to help us answer the basic and difficult questions of how to thrive without this "poison" that it's often referred to.

Register today and attend this multi-day online webinar series with expert speakers, introductions, recaps and learn more about the backbone of gluten-free living. It's promising to see this many committed people continue to recognize the dangers of gluten in food (yet large companies continue to inexpensively stuff gluten in our food supply and profit from from public health issues) and lead gluten awareness to the mainstream media when federal government research and some large companies either don't care or simply moons away. This session is a key to your health.

Share this registration opportunity with your friends, family and co-workers to be sure everyone can benefit and learn about the dangers of gluten to the general public. The findings are authentic, impactful and future changing. Enjoy!

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Food Films That Every Human Being Should Watch



Ever year or two there comes an amazing film that sheds light into the food and beverage industry. It's usually a grass roots, film documentary that never makes the big screen where current blockbuster war, love and action films take over. That's why you need to see these, share these and take a step somewhere if you support or deny the messages that are built into the backbone of these powerful films.   





A recent film that was not included in this list was GMO OMG that just debut last month and needs support in your city. Check out GMO OMG website and learn all about the GMO, Monsanto and FDA play in this deep analysis by Jeremy Seifert. I saw this debut at EXPO EAST natural food and beverage trade show in Baltimore in September. Jeremy joined in for a Q/A afterwards.

Now view the full list of 26 other must watch food films to date here compliments of Food Tank and plan your next 30 days of powerful, emotional and a bit scary truths.

1) A Farmer In Africa
2) A Place At The Table
3) Cooking By Heart
4) Fast Food
5) Food Chains
6) Food Fight
7) Food Speculation
8) Forks Over Knives
9) Fresh The Movie
10) The Hidden Cost Of Hamburgers

See Food Tank's full list here.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Natural Products Trending From Expo East


 

Expo East 2013 natural food show was terrific! There were new products seeking distribution and existing products that were making heads turn. So when you walk down the aisle of your grocery store tomorrow, one that actually has innovative and natural products vs a traditional grocery who rarely has organic and/or gluten-free, there likely will continue to be even more trending ingredients on the shelf snagging your eye heading into next year...

FOOD TRENDS
  1. Ingredient Transparency: More than ever founders, marketers and their team are in tune with all of the raw ingredients, manufacturing protocol and food allergen information vs the past. Each chooses their own list of priority but it's good to see that they are more aware and open to share.
  2. Gluten-Free (GF): Albeit this phrase is almost everywhere and it's on many labels not everyone is getting GF certifications. Brands find it a real health issue, but as for consumer product labeling (A) brands believe it's still too expensive (B) claim the product already is "naturally gluten-free" despite it's possible contamination and don't need labeling (C) it's on their list of allergens to certify and/or self test
  3. Non GMO: It was the #1 buzz word this year and I was loving it! Look out for the documentary GMO OMG and go bring everyone you know to watch and support it. Very few vendors were from another planet not featuring this a selling point and/or knew nothing about this practice. 
  4. Chia: The miracle seed is found in everything from water, flavored drinks, milk, crackers, flours, chips, breads and tons more
  5. Raw: Everything and it's mother is raw including solo and combos of coconut water, tea, kombucha, maple syrup water, super veggies and energy bars
  6. Energy Bars: Look out for organic meat, jerkys, chia, raw fruits and veggies, veggie proteins and chocolates. Copy cat traditional brands are following yet look at how different the ingredients will be. 
  7. Kale: It's in and around everything. Perhaps the wise President Clinton's affinity for kale helped a bit ;) but it's better to have this on the market than a GMO corn chip that America still consumes. 
  8. Chips: I found the names of chips to be more creative yet also experienced they have less seasonings on the chip compared to the double sided coating that is out there! Even traditional brands have opened emerging divisions to offer a more natural chip product making them more competitive in this growing space.
  9. Popcorn: Smart, air popped, no oils or butter, flavored with truffle oil, half popped, non GMO, it was popping everywhere without the pooping!
  10. Water: Since we can't live without it, there continues to be innovation from different sources such as deep underground American resources, Korean, maple syrup trees, coconut, vitamin enriched this and that.


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