"La dolce vita, senza glutine"*

*This post's title comes from Gluten-Free Girl's About page where the writer describes her joyful website. Thank you,  Shauna James Ahern.  I wonder if you know how many people you touch with your words, recipes and warmth.

Image: Buchteln by clada74 (part of the photographer's gluten-free series)

This morning's nutrition challenge was different from the usual tube feeding and dysphagia assessments: an inpatient with several food intolerances and possible Celiac Disease.  I say "possible"  because it was "diagnosed" by blood screen only, and not followed by a biopsy. Over the years, the patient has seen physicians, an allergist, a naturopath and numerous dietitians. From the way she told her story, I got the feeling she's more than a bit skeptical about whether medical professionals can help.  And she's simply tired of the whole process.  So I thought it wise not to push the need for a definitive diagnosis, although I may need to talk to her about this later.

OK, I thought in the moment, let's work with what we know for sure.  She's unhappy about eating. Gloomy, bored and discouraged. What's the therapy for this?  Gluten-Free Girl,  of course, a sure cure for the I'm-so-sick-of-my-diet--I-can't-eat-anything-that-tastes-good blues.  I provided a few sample recipes, and suggested to Ms. X she check out the website when she goes home. As we ended our session, Ms. X's daughter arrived with a care package for her Mom, containing a new-to-me variety of rice bread. How lovely:  symbiotic learning.

I also thought I would use this morning's interaction as an opportunity to begin updating my Celiac Disease resources and share them here and on the Resources page.  Here's the start:

Canadian Celiac Association (home page)
Review article (2007) on Celiac Disease (downloadable PDF document)
Background information
Gluten-Free Diet
Revised CCA Position Statement on Oats
Health Canada Statement on Oats 

Celiac Disease

Today at noon I listened to Mark Forsythe's BC Almanac interview with medical columnist Dr. Jane Haley who gave an excellent overview of Celiac Disease. I hope the interview will be archived and if it is, I will provide the link. Dr. Haley highly recommended this blog, Gluten-Free Girl, and after spending a few minutes exploring it -- and wanting to stay longer -- I would have add my own 5 star rating. Her new book also is getting rave reviews and I'm very tempted to add it to my library.

I have a few other priority tasks to complete today but I hope to write either an addendum or part 2 to this post in which I describe how I, as a clinical dietitian, might use the information on Ms. Ahern's site and in her book.

Also, I'm sure most Canadian dietitians and dietetics students are familiar with Shelly Case's expert writing and speaking on celiac disease, but in case you don't have link to her web site or book, I'm including it here: Gluten-Free Diet.