In honor of National Celiac Awareness Day (Sept 13) we took time to speak with Alice Bast, Founder and President of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA). Ms. Bast is a sufferer of Celiac Disease and founded the NFCA due to her own personal journey of misdiagnosis and health problems. She was kind enough to answer some common question people have about Celiac Disease.
What is Celiac Disease?
Celiac Disease is a digestive disease that damages the intestines and prohibits the body from properly absorbing nutrients from food. Over time, people who have Celiac Disease can experience a number of health issues if the disease is not properly diagnosed. In most cases Celiac Disease can be controlled through a proper diet.
How do you know if you have Celiac Disease?
There are over 200 symptoms of Celiac disease. You can refer to the NFCA website to see if you have any of the common syptoms.
How many people does Celiac disease affect?
Over 3 million people have been diagnosed as having Celiac Disease, many more have been diagnosed as Gluten Sensitive. Currently more than 25% of people in the US are practicing a Gluten Free Diet either because of Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.
Who is commonly affected by Celiac Disease?
Although most of the people diagnosed with Celiac Disease happen to be women over 40, there is no person or class of people the are more commonly effected by Celiac Disease. Almost 40% of the US population has the Celiac gene but only 1% express the gene.
What is the mission of the NFCA?
The mission of the NFCAis to be the leading organization in the US for Celiac education. One of the biggest problems facing people with Celiac Disease is that they are misdiagnosed. In many cases it can take 6-10 years for someone to be properly diagnosed.
What does the future hold for the NFCA?
The NFCA will continue to be one of the leading organizations for Celiac Awareness in the US. They have a team of advisors including Doctors, educators and business people to help spread about Celiac disease and get those people suffering from the disease diagnosed properly.
Here is a Gluten Free recipe that Post developed in honor of Pebbles’ new Gluten Free Status!
Cocoa Pebbles Crunch Bars
5 cups Cocoa Pebbles
2/3 cups snowflake coconut
½ cup nonfat milk powder
1 cup mini marshmallows
2 sticks butter, melted
¾ cup dulce de leche or other caramel sauce
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Mix cereal, coconut, marshmallows and butter.
3. Press firmly into a greased 6-inch square baking pan.
4. Bake 25 minutes.
5. Hot out of the oven, drizzle caramel sauce over bars. Cool completely.
6. Cut into 24 bars to serve.
*Makes two dozen bars.
TIPS & SUGGESTIONS: Use small molds – muffin pans or other shape – metal or silicone – to make individual Cocoa Pebbles Crunch Bars. Use Fruity Pebbles and sweetened condensed milk in place of Cocoa Pebbles and caramel sauce. Stud the caramel sauce with your favorite nuts.
