Do you own a strictly gluten free toaster?

What are your experiences owning one?

Do you have a toaster for gluten products and one for gluten free?

Did you even realize that a toaster can contaminate your food with gluten?

I ask these questions, because recently I bought some Van’s Gluten Free Waffles.  I took them out of the freezer anticipating popping them into a toaster, but realized I don’t own a toaster! hahaha.  I ended up cooking them in a skillet on the stove.

I don’t own a toaster for a few reasons:

• I don’t eat a lot of bread products.
• If I do have gluten free bread, I usually make something like a grilled cheese or breakfast sandwiches on the stove.
• I don’t want it to get contaminated with gluten.
• It would be so easy for a guest to pop a slice of regular bread in it and I would never know. 
  

How do you tackle this dilemma?

In the Costco Connection Magazine from June 2010, you will find an article about celiac disease titled “A Pain in the Gut”.

Click on the article image to read the article on Costco Connection’s website:

To me this is just another sign that the disease is become so prevalent, that even Costco is talking about it.  Costco has even become pretty good about carrying some gluten free products.

2 Quick Points:

Start you diet after your temptation days! I started my diet on a Friday(just because Jan 1st fell on a Monday). Never again! After I weigh in on a Friday morning and see that I have lost weight, I subconsciously think that I can cheat over the weekend, since I have seven more days to make up for it. For example, I weighed in last Friday at 201. On Tuesday, I was 206! Now, the whole week, I am fighting just to get back to 201 and then praying that I am slightly lower by Friday morning. I hate this and am sick and tired of it. No more! I am now treating every day like I day I have to weigh in.

Treat every day as if you are getting on the scale that next morning!  No cheat meals, no big portions, no more “it will be OK by Friday.”  I realize weight will fluctuate a little every day, but I’m not allowing it to do so more than a pound or two.  Cardio every day!  I used to take the weekend off of cardio and pack it into the end of the week.  Real weight loss doesn’t work like that!  Every day!  Every day!  Every day!

/rant

I think I have lost some dedication to the diet.  I’m a firm believer that eating healthy and exercising should be a lifestyle change and not just a “diet” determined by a time period.  Recently, I have stopped counting every calorie and eating my meals at a certain time.  Maybe I was premature to think I could handle my new lifestyle without writing everything down and counting every calorie.

I wouldn’t say I have lost motivation, but I have gotten off track a little.

I also believe that around 200lbs is the end of my “easy” weight loss.  Each pound from here forward will be harder, but it will be real weight.  No more easy water weight losses, only real weight.

I may have to go back to my old routine of counting calories and every nutritional fact.  Once I make it to my goal, then I can try going back to a “lifestyle” instead of a tracked “diet.”

It is undeniable that the gluten free industry’s awareness is growing exponentially.

Most of all, the awareness has caught the attention of almost every doctor.  Ultimately, more and more lives are being greatly improved or saved.  People now know what the true cause of their aliment is.  Patients who have been misdiagnosed for years, have completely turned their lives around.  With the nutrient deficiency that celiac causes, many terrible diseases have been prevented.

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• “Untreated celiac disease increases the risk of cancer 200-300%.”  REFERENCE 3
• “Total US healthcare cost for all untreated celiacs: $14.5 – $34.8 billion annually.”  REFERENCE 3
• “Over 300 signs, symptoms, associated disorders and complications may result from celiac disease.”  REFERENCE 3
• “Prevalence of celiac disease: 1 in 250 Americans estimated rate; actual diagnosis rate is 1 in 4,700 Americans.”  REFERENCE 4

Some doctors have openly said that the gluten free diet is one of the healthiest diet possible.  You are cutting out processed foods, eating a lot of natural foods, and motoring everything you eat.  With this, and any hype of a healthy diet, especially when someone can lose weight on it, comes a flood of people who adopt the diet, sometimes claiming they are a self-diagnosed celiac, just for the attention and to be part of a fad.  I frequently hear that this upsets many doctor-diagnosed celiacs.  In the beginning, I also found it somewhat offensive.  After reflecting further on the issue, I believe any attention and product demand that is brought upon the gluten free industry is good.  In the end, those of us who truly have celiac will benefit.

With the increase in demand for gluten free food and products, more manufacturers have entered the industry.  Competition has been amazing for this industry!  Even in the past couple of years, the quality and taste of the food has greatly improved.  The quality of bread products have improved from the gluten free bakeries, and the major food manufacturers are now making breads easily available at almost every grocery store.  You have to be blind to have not seen, even some of your daily products, labeled gluten free.

• “Demand has been growing exponentially as sufferers of a wide variety of maladies (including celiac disease, autism, attention deficit disorder, irritated bowel syndrome, and MS) have come to believe a gluten-free diet will provide relief.”  REFERENCE 1
• “The Federal Government is lending a hand as it finalizes regulatory criteria for gluten-free labeling.”  REFERENCE 1
• “Packaged Facts projects that this segment of the U.S. retail marketplace enjoyed a 28% CAGR to reach $1.56 billion by the end of 2008. Packaged Facts goes on to project that the segment will continue to grow, though not at the same torrid pace, through 2012.”  REFERENCE 1
• “To meet consumer demand, more than 225 marketers introduced new gluten-free products into the United States in 2008.”  REFERENCE 2

Be thankful for the things the gluten free industry has brought us.  I am now able to enjoy a normal sandwich and a beer!  I look forward to many more gluten free options, more availability, and continued research.