Happy? Gluten free Easter?

If your house is anything like mine the Littles are bouncing off the walls waiting for the bunny. Which leaves me close to pulling my hair out about which candies the bunny can leave them. After a bunch of research and emails to candy companies…the kind of things that happen in my house before every holiday….I have answers!!!
So save yourself the time and headache and consult my handy dandy list of verified safe candies.  Please always double check labels!!! Just because it’s on this list, we never know when those silly candy makers may change a formula!

The winners are:

Easter themed dove chocolate products…bunnies, eggs, bars, etc. check your labels…some DO say made on equipment that processes wheat

Jelly belly jelly beans and all specialty packed Easter themed items from jelly belly

Easter color foil wrapped Hershey milk chocolate kisses

Peeps

Necco eggs

Easter themed starburst and strangest jelly beans

Easter packaged m&ms EXCEPT the pretzel variety

Kraft egg mallows and bunny mallows

Easter themed tootsie candy including tootsie pops blow pops and double bubble.

The biggest controversy and debate over an Easter candy is the famous cabury creme eggs that are produced by Hershey.  There are those who consider then too be gluten free and can incorporate them into their diets without any ill side effects. The company, however, does not consider them to be gluten free because of the risk of gluten cross contamination during the manufacturing process. For this reason, they remain a treat that we keep out of our home. While they were a childhood favorite of mine…the health of my children isn’t worth the risk to me. (although I would be lying if I said I didn’t sneak the occasional one at the gas station). However this is a very individual choice that will depend on how high the level of gluten sensitivity is in your home. I know many people that can tolerate them just fine. It is a fact that they do not contain any gluten ingredients. As always, no matter what you decide I want to make sure I keep you informed. Hope this helps you to have a wonderful holiday!

**Lizzie**

Treating Kids While Remaining GF

Dear Flickr members, it’s flu season… (Photo credit: whiskeyandtears)

As we are nearing the end of March, one would hope that the cold and flu season, and the heavy sickness period in general, should be coming to an end.  Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case in a lot of the households that I have spoken with. My guess is that it has something to do with how cold it still is….the longer you are in doors, the more likely you are to get sick.  (By the way, that whole first day of Spring thing?? Yup, high of 25 here that day… thank you Spring)

So, thinking about that , I wanted to touch on an area of issue with those who lead a gluten free lifestyle that many people may not realize can be a potential problem.  And that, friends, is the issue of how to medicate a gluten free child (or adult for that matter).  What many people do not realize is that gluten can and IS found in many medications, including those specified for children.  And, here is the biggest problem…there is NO standard for including gluten on the ingredient list of medications, especially if those medications happen to be prescription.

So, what are some of the best ways to deal with this situation?

One of the main things that we do to keep safe, is try and avoid medication if at all possible.  I am a strong believer in holistic and natural ways to treat problems.  This is something that I could go on and on about, but that is a different topic for a different post.  All I will say though, is if you plan on taking this route, educate yourself!  Use the help of a naturopath or some other expert. This is not something you want to do alone. In our case, we happen to have a naturopath/chiropractor, and he is just as involved in our lives as we are.  ( For those of you that are looking for someone in your area, contact me and I can help you with referrals)

The other thing you have to do, as with ANYTHING, is do your research.  Luckily, many companies are marking whether or not their OTC products are gluten free on their packaging.  However, you MUST check every single time.  Please do not assume that just because a medication, or any product, was gluten free the last time you purchased it, that it still will be this time.  Manufacturers have a habit of changing their recipes and ingredients from time to time, and from batch to batch. A safe product does not always remain a safe product.   Glutenfreedrugs.com is a great resource for up to date information on what is safe and what is not as well. If there is any doubt do not hesitate to ask the pharmacist.  Sometimes they are not always sure, but more than once I have been pleasantly surprised.

I hope that this has helped. This was one of those little things that I did not even think about when we were doing our transition to gluten free.  As always, please let me know if there are any questions or if there is anything I can do to help you in your transition.

**Lizzie**

**Please remember that I am not a medical doctor and information contained in my posts are for educational purposes only.  If there is ever a medical issue please contact your doctor or naturopath**