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| Food For Thought | |
You can help your dietary managers choose the appropriate gluten free foods available from their vendors and local stores. Many grocery store chains are carrying gluten free products: Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Ralph's and Food For Less advertise gluten free products.
 email or call the office 916-364-5300 to contact Janet Montano, RD Director of Menu Services |
| Contact the Editor |  Please send your RDNews comments, suggestions & questions to Judy Morgan, MBA, RD |
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| Issue: 85 | September 30, 2010 |
Greetings!
Gluten free is making the news, so expect to see more gluten free diets coming your way. |
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Gluten Free Diets - Fad or Nutritional Movement? |
The gluten free marketplace is the fastest growing nutritional movement in America, and gluten free is one of the top industry trends for 2010. The U.S. retail marketplace had a 28% growth in gluten free food sales in 2008, and is projected to reach sales of $2.6 billion by 2012.
Gluten free diets are used to treat Celiac disease, or gluten sensitive enteropathy, which is an autoimmune disorder triggered by consuming the protein gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye. The gluten interferes with the absorption of nutrients from food by damaging the villi of the small intestine, making it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream.
Symptoms may include: bloating and gas, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, itchy skin rash, tingling and numbness, pale mouth sores, joint pain, poor weight gain in children, poor growth, headaches, depression, thin bones, irritability, infertility and discolored teeth.
Around 1% of the U.S. population has Celiac disease, and of those, up to 95% go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Diagnosis can be done by an antibody blood test, genetic test, or small intestine biopsy for confirmation. With more media and celebrity attention on Celiac disease and gluten sensitive enteropathy, we are seeing an increase in diagnosis, and can expect to see many more residents admitted to our health care communities on gluten free diets in the near future.
Gluten free products that may safely be used for wheat, barley or rye substitutes include:
- Almond meal flour
- Amaranth
- Coconut flour
- Corn, corn tortillas, popcorn, corn cereals
- Cornstarch
- Guar gum
- Pea flour
- Potatoes
- Potato flour
- Quinoa
- Rice, rice cakes, rice flour, cream of rice, puffed rice cereal
- Sorghum flour
- Soy flour
Oats are tolerated by some, but many will not accept oats if they are not certain the grain has been processed in a facility that does not cross-contaminate equipment with other grains. |
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RD Tip | Hidden sources of gluten may result from cross contamination in food preparation, or food additives such as wheat additives, wheat starches, and barley and rye flours in prepared foods. The role of the dietitian in LTC is to help identify the gluten-containing products to the dietary staff, training on guidelines to avoid cross-contamination, and teaching about alternative grains and techniques for substitution. Careful examination of product labels is needed to help avoid serving products with breading, mixes with wheat starch additives, malt, soy sauce, sauces and gravies from mixes, and prepared products such as rice pilaf and scalloped potatoes. Grocery vendors are carrying more gluten free products now as the market for these products has experienced huge growth recently. Review your HMC Diet Manual pages 170-173 for guidelines on following gluten restricted diets at your communities.
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| Dear Dietitian | |
Judy Morgan, MBA, RD
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