Tonight-Kicking4Celiac Founder on NY Ink

For those of you with cable, set your DVRs this Thursday night, Jan-5, at 9pm for the

TLC show 

NY Ink. 

 

See Celiac get some much needed national attention tonight on NY Ink as Craig Pinto, Founder of Kicking4Celiac, talks to NY Ink's Chris Torres about growing up with Celiac and overcoming his diagnosis!

Nightshades

I have to admit the first time I heard nightshades I shuttered a little bit.

I had thoughts of wizards and maesters working with potions and herbs to create that on-screen poisonous drink that ultimately closes the eyes and stops the hearts of many unsuspecting villains and sometimes...

{Do I have to say it?}

our Heroes!

It could have been the close to one of the most famous love stories ever penned

Scary thought hu?

So after having these thoughts

I told myself there is no way I eat any of the foods that may fall into this category.

Just the thought of it makes my heart skip a beat.

But what I didn't know is that many of the foods that are classified as
nightshades 
are some of my most favorite foods.

{Are you kidding me?}

And after doing some reading I learned some 

p-r-e-t-t-y

interesting things about these 

so called...

[Potatoes, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, tamarios, pepinos, pimentos, paprika, cayenne, and Tabasco sauce are all classified as nightshade foods!]

So by now you have taken a gander at the image above and said to yourself
O-M-G!
Nightshades are Yummy!

and I would have to agree with you there...

But there are some very interesting traits and qualities to these foods that I found very intriguing and would love to share with you.

______________________________________________________________________

Nightshade foods contain a particular substance called alkaloids.

  NO NOT THE CURIOUSLY STRONG BREATH MINT!!

Alkaloids not Altoids 

silly :)

[OK where was I?]

oh yeah Alkaloids...

What do they do? Well...
Alkaloid substances can disrupt nerve and muscle function in both animals and humans, they can also impact digestion and compromise joint function.

And since cooking these foods only decreases the amount of alkaloids by about 40-50%
if you are sensitive to alkaloid substances you may have to avoid this food group all together.
________________________________________________________________________

If you experience problems with

Arthritis or Joint Pain

you just might want to limit the amount of

POTATOES 

you eat.

 

And I clearly remember as a kid being told not to eat that lone green potato chip that sometimes found its way into the bag.
 
So when I read this I immediately thought
AH HA! Mom was right!
It turns out that the green and sprouted spots on potatoes usually reflect a high alkaloid content, even though the green area contains chlorophyll, not alkaloids.
so here's the deal...
that green color, CHLOROPHYLL, is very beneficial to our health but unfortunately is accompanied with high levels of alkaloids that we can not see.

Therefore,
 all green and sprouted areas should always be completely removed before cooking
or
toss that potato!

_________________________________________________________________________

And Green Tomatoes fall into this category as well. Sitting just behind the eggplant with nicotine content!

Lastly, I discovered that tobacco isn't the only plant on this lovely planet that contains
NICOTINE!

with that being said I have to tell you that
EGGPLANT and GREEN TOMATOES contain NICOTINE
as well.
[Yeah you heard me right!]
and actually
the level of nicotine goes
Tobacco then just under it sits Eggplant followed by Green Tomatoes.

Shocking I know.
But don't panic just yet!

 The amount that's in your eggplant parm
is really minimal compared to a tobacco leaf.

But it's still in there to say the least and with an amount that puts it
right behind tobacco with the next highest nicotine content on this
pale-blue-dot-of-a-planet
we call home.
 
___________________________________________________________________________

and of course something we all already know is
that nightshade foods add a boost of flavor to our favorite dishes and help make that
oh-so-delicious
salsa
we all love and adore.

So the next time you reach for that corn chip and take it for a dip in the salsa bowl

remember it's the 

NIGHSHADES 

that give it that

HEAT,  FLAVOR & PIZZAZ!

Hope you enjoyed this post

and...

If you would like more in-depth information on nightshades please click here!

What does it take to be Gluten Free? A Lot!

I'm not going to lie. 
It takes
A LOT!
But guess what?

My Family 
is so worth it!


In the beginning it's very overwhelming
[pssst... Just so you know I'm still in my infancy of this whole GF Lifestyle thing]
so it's safe to say I still have moments where it can be a tad overwhelming 
but I must say it is getting easier each and every day.


Simple things that I really never thought much about, now require me to be on my toes.

For example

My little one and my big girl are both still on gluten so they can be tested.
So when birthday cake is being cut and served by little oh moi
I have to intercept that cake and icing covered finger before it's instinctively popped into my mouth.
{by-the-way I actually had that happen just a couple of days ago :)}
It was a close one! But I caught myself before it happened. 
Thank Goodness! 
I've come to far to have a long sick day on the couch.


Or I'm cruising through my super market and I hear 
"SAMPLE!"
{Can't go there. I simply can not do it.}
I refuse to risk it.


Or we're walking out of the theater and they offer us candy breath mints.
I methodically
[in a sense like a robot] 
take the mint, just as I always have when candy is offered at an establishment, and start the unwrapping.
I'm walking along and the wrapper is coming off and I'm just about to push that lovely little minty
yummy into my mouth
WHEN I REALIZE
NOPE! DON'T DO IT!!
and I let it go...
into the trash.
[shew that was another close call]
So now you see what I mean about being on my toes???


I'm not sad. I don't feel left out. 
&
{Please do not feel sorry for me}
I am happy, feel awesome, and in control of my health.


In conjunction with catching those unpredictable moments like I just mentioned above you also have to do a lot of homework. 
I won't lie. It's a lot. 
But the rewards are a long and happy symptom free life!

And honestly, I felt like crap for the past 20+ years so I'm not about to go back there so...

the first and foremost thing you have to learn to do is

 READ YOUR LABELS

A lot of research, calling around and there is absolutely no room for laziness. You really have to be diligent and read labels every single time you buy a product even if you have bought it a bazillion times before... you just never know when they might yank the rug right out from under ya by changing the ingredients!

And know the list of ingredients that can get you into trouble.
You can't just rely on seeing the words
Wheat - Barley - or Rye

Gluten
is a lot like a little kid
IT LIKES TO PLAY HIDE & SEEK!
and guess what?
YOU'RE IT!
[that's right you have to be the seeker!]

So Research - Research - Research is Key!

And if you ever get in a situation where you can not verify a food is GF. 

Then simply

Do - Not - Eat - It!

[period]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JOIN A SUPPORT GROUP

Join a support group where you can talk with people just like yourself and make your transition into the GF world much easier.
Looking for a local chapter?
Hit Celiac.com for a complete listing or just click here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OWN THE INTERNET

CELIAC.COM

This resource is a must. I can not tell you the number of times I hit this site a day. You get lots of feedback from community members in the forums and can read awesome articles by medical experts and folks just like us who are living with Celiac Disease.

Have a product you are unsure of?
Chances are you can find it on Celiac.com and if not...
own the internet
and hit the company's website that processes the food.

Ask QUESTIONS until you receive ANSWERS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

READ

There are so many great books out there on CD [Celiac Disease] and Gluten that you really have no excuse to not be in the know. If you have CD or you're GI then pick up one of these highly recommended books and get your learn on!

Have a

Kindle? iPad?

EVEN BETTER
You can download both of these books in less than a minute and

get your read on

NOW!

Take a sneak peek and buy it here

The Gluten Connection

I love this book. It really helped me realize just how badly I needed to go GF.

Take a sneak peak and buy it here

Gluten Free Living for Dummies

This book is great at breaking GF Living down. You get all the much needed information on Gluten Intolerance, Tips and Tricks as well as lots of yummy recipes. :)

BE ADVENTUROUS

Try new recipes. Go out on a limb and try something you've never dared to try.

Introducing new foods is a great way to keep your mouth from getting bored.

And we all know what happens when the tongue gets bored!

It starts thinking of yummies it used to have that were so tasty instead of searching for new

mouth watering alternatives.  This scenario just might leave some folks caving in and jumping off the GF island for a bit. . . 

Only to have them laid up on Redemption Island

for a day or so trying to get their body

readjusted and back on track.

And then sadly realizing

it totally wasn't worth it!

To be successful at this you have to feel your needs are being met

100%.

NEVER

feel deprived.

[and honestly I have yet to feel deprived eating this way]

Keep your chin up. Be thankful. 

Take deep breaths.

Smile often

&

simply

LIVE

and remember

It's worth every ounce of energy it takes

reading labels, making phone calls, reading as much as we can and going the extra mile to verify we are safe

when that fork or spoon carries food to our mouths!

Kimmy :)