Showing posts with label gluten free food companies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gluten free food companies. Show all posts

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Gluten in Personal Care Products?






                                        Gluten Free Personal Products?


I promised awhile back that i would get to the personal care products that i use that do not contain gluten. Before i give you a list i want to explain why i do not use products that conatain gluten even though i'm not going to ingest them.

I know that there are many people including doctors that feel that if you don't ingest a product even though it has gluten you should be fine. I on the other hand have gotten so sick from gluten i didn't want to take a chance. Not only that,  i noticed a huge difference when i removed gluten from my personal product use. You see, even though i had cut gluten out of my diet i still didn't feel well. I was still dealing with a body rash and my hair was still falling out. I was also still dealing with body acne. Once i removed the gluten from my personal care products i got relief in all of these areas. I'm not the only one who has noticed a huge difference in how they've felt after using personal care products without gluten. If you have time to check out other bloggers and chat rooms of people with celiac disease you will see just how many people agree they feel better cutting gluten out of their personal products as well.

It only makes sense that we would have reactions to things that go on our skin when our skin is a huge organ. We actually absorb things that we put on our skin in as fast as 26 seconds. Makes you think, doesn't it? 

Now of course as with anything else there will always be those who refute this. There are still many doctors and scientists that say that gluten cannot be absorbed through the skin and that we don't have to worry about gluten in our personal care products. I on the other hand prefer to go by my own experience and those of others that i have talked to and read about and how they feel better staying away from gluten in their products. 

Having said all of this one of the areas that i believe is especially important to keep gluten out of is our lipsticks. Ladies you cannot deny that we inevitably eat some of our lipstick throughout the day regardless of how hard we try not to, so this is an area i say we definitely cannot afford to compromise.

Now, i am going to share with you some of the personal care products that i use. I would also like to point out that i have started using fragrance free products. I started using fragrance free products when i started having even more problems with my thyroid. When you have thyroid issues you may notice that your allergies get worse. You will also learn that toxins in your environment can aggrevate thyroid function even your cleaning products and chemicals in your drinking water can do this. For these reasons and so many others it is important to be careful with many ingredients in all of your products. Some ingredients to watch out for other than gluten include pthalates, chlorine, flouride, triclosan, latex, dyes and parabens. There is an interesting article on parabens that one of the blogs that i follow published. It stresses how parabens are linked to cancer in humans, you can read that article here.

With all of this information i knew i had to find companies that i trusted and that were just as conscious about these matters as i was.

Here are some that i found and use and trust.  All of these companies have fragrance free and allergen free products. Many of them are organic and many don't just watch out for gluten but corn and soy as well.  yay!

Dessert Essence-  I use their toothpaste and dental products.  I also enjoy their fragrance free shampoo and conditioner.  Side note:  My very, very picky husband has even started using these same products and actually likes them.  : )

Gluten Free Savonnerie-  I love their body soaps and lotion.

Dakota Free-  I enjoy their soap and their moisturizer that i also use on my hair when it is dry.

Hugos Naturals-  I use their fragrance free lotion.  They have a line of products that are certified gluten free.  Warning:  If you are extremely sensitive with fragrances i would make a note when purchasing from their website for them not to include the free gift of decorative soap with your package.  I have come across that soap the hard way.  Im still trying to get the smell out of my linen closet 6 months after i threw it away. Ugh

As for makeup products i use here are some great companies as well:

Red Apple Lipstick-  I love this company.  They are 100% gluten free and paraben free and take great care to keep any toxic ingredients out of their products.  They currently make lipsticks, glosses, eyeshadows, lip pencils and i believe there is talk of mascara soon to come.  They do their products in small batches to keep the integrity of their products.  Check them out, you will love them!  Oh and please give my blog a shout out if you purchase their products.  Thanks!

Afterglow Cosmetics-  They are also 100% gluten free.

Beauty Secrets Mineral Makeup-  www.allnaturalmineralmakeup.com- I use their foundations and concealer

Cowgirl Dirt Cosmetics-  I use their mascara.  They are also organic.

FYI-  I started to make my very picky husband an organic hair gel/pomade.  I make it using beeswax.  He loves it and his coworkers loved how his hair looks and they asked for some as well.  I also make a very strong deoderant for him from natural and organic ingredients and of course they are 100% gluten free.  If you're interested in purchasing my products just contact me and i'll discuss the details with you.

My hair gel/pomade:  Its great for curls.  My husband has curly/wavy hair we live in a humid area which causes even more hair issues.

My hair gel/pomade is named - "I Bee Waxin"- $5.00
My deoderant is named- "Bee Stink Free"- $5.00

Something to look out for when buying your gluten free personal products is to verify that the vitamin E they use which is also called tocopherals is derived from a source other than wheat.

I hope that this post helps take the pressure off of looking for some trusted gluten free products.  If you find the information helpful please pass it on.
Thanks so much!!










Thursday, August 8, 2013

Gluten Free Food Brands

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If you read my other post you remember that i mentioned that there are many fresh food options and unprocessed meat and fish options that do not contain gluten.
Now im going to tell you about the options that are out there for processed foods.  There has been an explosion of gluten free options in the last few years.  I find there is an upside and a downside to this.

First the downside.  I feel that many companies have just jumped on the bandwagon to make money and they really don't care about the fact that millions of us rely on gluten free foods to live.  Hence, they don't seem to care so much about the alternative ingredients they use, the amount of sugar or how careful they are about processing and manufacturing these products.  Maybe now that the gluten free labeling law has passed some of this might change in regard to how careful they will be with the amount of trace gluten anyway.  I'm not putting all my confidence in this law though, for many reasons.  I still plan on checking labels carefully and sticking with certified gluten free and foods processed in dedicated facilities.  I highly recommend you do the same.  I will not deny though that some companies out there cannot afford to get that certified label and yet they still take every precaution and are very reliable and reputable.  With some research you can find out what those companies are and many times they will let you know somewhere on their packaging just how seriously they take being gluten free.  Reading that information will certainly make you feel more at ease. Now, the upside, sooo many more options, less feelings of deprivation and feeling left out.  Oh, and not getting sick!!!

So what are the companies that you can trust?  Well, let me first state that there are way too many to list so i will list some but i recommend you do more research to find others you may like.  In time this will all become second nature.  You will eventually know what stores to buy from and what online sites to trust.   I will also give you a resource that will help you to navigate the grocery stores with a better knowledge of what is safe and what may not be so safe.
First a small disclaimer before i start listing names:  Always check labels and ingredients and manufacturer information as many companies change ingredients often.  Always run any diet changes by your physician or homeopath first.

Ok so here we go:

 123 Gluten-Free
 Allergaroo
 Amy's
 Ancient Harvest
 Annie Chun's                                                                      
 Annie's Naturals                               
 Arrowhead Mills
 Authentic Foods
 Bakery on Main
 Beanitos
 Better Batter
 Better Than Milk
 Bionaturae
 Bob's Red Mill
 Bragg
 Cause You're Special
 Chebe
 ConAgra
 Cookies...For Me?
 Dakota Lakes
 Dakota Prairie
 DeBoles
 Domino Sugar
 Easyglut
 Eco-planet
 Ener-G
 Enjoy Life
 Enjoy Life Foods
 EnviroKidz
 Erewhon / US Mills
 Fantastic Foods
 Flavorganics
 Fleischmann's Yeast
 Food Should Taste Good- very tasty chips
 Frontera Kitchens
 Frontier Herbs
 Gillian's Foods
 Glee Gum
 Glow Gluten Free
 Gluten Free Living
 Gluten Free Sensations
 Gluten-Free Naturals
 Gluten-Free Pantry
 GlutenFreeda
 Glutino
 Goody Good Stuff
 GoPicnic
 Ian's
 Jovial
 Katz Gluten Free
 Kay's Naturals / Better Balance
 Kettle Chips
 KIND
 Kind Fruit & Nut Bars
 King Arthur Flour
 King Soba
 Kinnikinnick
 Lara Bar
 Living Without
 Lucy's
 Lundberg
 Mary's Gone Crackers
 Muir Glen
 My Dad's Cookies
 Namaste Foods
 Nana's Cookie Co.
 Natural Nectar
 Nature's Path
 New Harvest Naturals
 Organicville
 OrgraN
 Pacific
 Pamela's
 Pamela's Products
 Perky's Cereals from Enjoy Life Foods
 Popchips
 PureFit
 Real Foods
 Really Great Food Company
 San-J
 Schar
 Something Good
 Spectrum
 Surf Sweets
 Suzanne's
 Thai Kitchen
 thinkThin
 Tinkyada
 Triumph Dining
 Udi's - In my opinion best bread option out there
 Utz
 Vanz
 Wholesome Sweeteners
 WOW Baking Company

Here are some websites that i have gone to to buy many products.  I trust these companies and have had a good experience all around when buying gluten free items from them.


www.nuts.com- I've bought GF flours, sugars,  nuts & candies here
www.glutenfreemall.com- too many options to list
www.vitacost.com- I'm able to get a good price on shampoo, conditioner, shaving gel & vitamins here
www.luckyvitamin.com- I get many supplements here
www.edisongrainery.com-  I buy dried beans and rice and grains here

Here is a book that i bought that helped me navigate my grocery store and told me what the companies themselves stated about their practices and how safe different brands really are.  It was of great help to me and i highly recommend you give it a shot.  I bought mine on Amazon for a pretty fair price.
It's called:  The Essential Gluten Free Grocery Guide 4th Edition from Triumph Dining

I would also like to state that i don't receive any kickbacks from any of these companies that i've listed here. Remember to always make your own inquiries, always check labels and ask companies and manufacturers any questions you may have.  It's better to be safe than sorry!

Later in another post i will let you know what personal care products i put my confidence in and why it's important to make sure that they are gluten free as well.

What companies do you trust?  Let me know by leaving me a comment.

Don't forget to check out my shop where i try and help raise awareness of Celiac Disease and Gluten Issues
www.cafepress.com/celiacsfightgluten.com