Terry Bradley
Hi - Felt I had to post a reply to the posting about quinoa. I know the diet is confusing to figure out at times, but many celiacs are given misinformation by well-meaning MDs, dietitians, etc. ... Wheat, oats, rye and barley are the _only_ grains celiacs must avoid. Grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, millet, amaranth and teff do _not_ contain gluten, and are not botanically related to the 4 "WORB" grains. For instance, buckwheat, despite its name, is in fact a fruit, not a grain. It is possible that a celiac can have a sensitivity ("food intolerance" or even flat-out allergy) to these grains, but this would not be the same as a gluten reaction. Grains which are otherwise ok can be cross-contaminated by wheat, oats, rye or barley during processing. (This happens when mills handle various kinds of grain, and do not either dedicate separate lines for processing, or do not completely clean down their production lines between grinding runs.) I highly suggest checking out the archives of the St. John's listserv, a great resource for celiacs (a web search for celiac websites will turn up the URL for this site) - Don Kasarda, a protein expert (PhD), now retired from the FDA, has looked into this question extensively for us, and there is at least one article on the St. John's archives about this topic. Unfortunately, there is at least 1 of the national-level support groups which lumps the above-listed grains and some other foods into the "forbidden" category, simply because _anybody_ can be sensitive to them, and despite clear evidence to the contrary (as if we need more confusion in this diet...bleh!). Hope this helps -