Gluten Free Greenville: June 2009

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Grocery Store Review: Oakmont Health Food Store

Despite Greenville being a small college town, there are several very good natural health food stores in the area which stock gluten free foods.

Oakmont Health Food is a small store in Oakmont Plaza on Charles Blvd. The store carries a large variety of:

gluten free pastas
gluten free cake, muffin, and pancake mixes
gluten free baking supplies like xanthan gum
frozen gluten free breads, cakes, cookies, etc..,
Rice Dream frozen desserts (gluten free, casein free ice cream), etc..

The store also has all kind of :

natural vitamins and minerals
eco-friendly cleaning products
fresh local produce
hormone & preservative free organic meats, eggs, milk, etc…

It is a small, but very specialized store and the owners are very helpful! If there is a particular gluten free product you are looking for they will be glad to order it for you!

One thing I love about Oakmont is around Thanksgiving you will be able to purchase organic free range turkeys which they will keep in stock throughout the holiday season!

If you are a Greenville resident, get to know Oakmont Health Food Store!

For More Information:
Oakmont Health Food Store
2512 Charles Blvd
Greenville, North Carolina 27858
(252) 321-3525

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Friday, June 19, 2009

Gluten Free Raleigh Special Event: GF Cooking Demo w/ Jules Shepard

Click here for more information about an upcoming Gluten Free cooking demonstration with famous Celiac author Jules Shepard. The event will be held at the Earth Fare in Raleigh on July 12, 2009 @ 10am. Please sign up soon as only 40 spaces are available.

Celiac Disease by the Numbers

1 out of every 133 Americans (about 3 million people) has CD.
97% of Americans estimated to have CD are not diagnosed.
CD has over 300 known symptoms although some people experience none.
Age of diagnosis is key: If you are diagnosed between age 2-4, your chance of getting an additional autoimmune disorder is 10.5%. Over the age of 20, that rockets up to 34%.
30% of the US population is estimated to have the genes necessary for CD.
2.5 babies are born every minute in the USA with the genetic makeup to have CD.
There are 15 states in the US with populations less than the total number of Celiacs in the US.
CD affects more people in the US than Crohn’s Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease combined.
500,000 new Celiac diagnoses are expected to occur in the US by 2012 -- thanks to efforts to raise public awareness of the disease.
People with CD dine out 80% less than they used to before diagnosis and believe less than 10% of eating establishments have a 'very good' or 'good' understanding of GF diets.
It takes an average of 11 years for patients to be properly diagnosed with CD even though a simple blood test exists.
The average cost of misdiagnosis is $5,000 - $12,000 per person per year. Improving the time to diagnosis could save the health care system millions of dollars annually in unnecessary medical care.
A recent study by Packaged Facts projects that the sales of GF food will reach $2.63 Billion by 2012.
GF foods are, on average, 242% more expensive then their non-GF counterparts.
The smallest amount of gluten which has been shown by a biopsy to cause damage to a Celiac is 0.1 gram per day - or 1/48th of a slice of bread.
The Food Allergen Labeling & Consumer Protection Act became law in 2006 allowing for easier reading of food labels for those with CD. What took so long?
12% of people in the US who have Down Syndrome also have CD.
6% of people in the US who have Type 1 Diabetes also have CD.
Among people who have a first-degree relative diagnosed with celiac, as many as 1 in 22 people may have the disease.
There are currently 0 drugs available to treat CD.