The Gluten-Free Guide

Parents are really good at asking doctors questions about their kid's health, but do we always let our kids speak up and ask what's on their mind? Today we are letting them do just that! We have a very special episode that features some of our loyal podcast listeners…all adorable kids who have some burning questions for doctors about celiac disease and the gluten-free diet. And of course, we have two fabulous physicians joining us to answer these questions, Dr. Danny Mallon, the director of...

Our podcasts about research are often are the most popular, so hopefully today’s will also deliver. Today’s topic explores another often-misunderstood condition Postural Tachycardia Syndrome or (POTS) as it often called - and its possible connection to celiac disease. This is a condition that presents with a variety of symptoms that can be difficult to diagnose – like chronic fatigue, lightheadedness, fainting, an uncomfortable, rapid increase in heartbeat when standing up, and a range of GI...

Today we are talking about the recent Celiac Disease Symposium at the Columbia Celiac Disease Center. This biennial event hosts two forums, one scientific and one clinical, and attracts, researchers, physicians, patients, parents, and nutritionists from around the world. It’s an amazing time to come together to learn, see old friends and make some new ones. Unfortunately, this year because of the Corona virus, the conference had a last-minute shift and only the speakers were able to gather...

Todays’ topic is about the recent “Doggie Bag” study published in the journal Gastroenterology, that suggests that a truly “gluten-free diet may be more aspirational than achievable.” We talk a lot about strict gluten-free diets on the podcast, but this study points out that even at our strictest, we may still be exposed to gluten. To help us better understand why this is and what it means for the future of patients with celiac disease, we have Dr. Jocelyn Silvester from Boston Children’s...

Education is really important when it comes to living with a chronic disease. With celiac disease, patients and their families have to keep up reading food labels, new food products, changing food products, drug development, and research. Medical providers have to stay current on new testing methods, guidelines for managing the disease, and all of the food stuff too in order to help patients manage the gluten-free diet. It’s a lot! On this episode of the podcast, we're sitting down with Dr....

Food bullying. It can range from teasing others at school or online in social media groups, to kids throwing bread at children with celiac disease. In many cases it’s parents that are doing the bullying...But how do you address this problem? As the issue has come up numerous times in the past few weeks in our Celiac Clinic at Children's National Hospital, we wanted to address it on the podcast. Joining Vanessa in the studio are two of the CNMC community education specialists, Kate Raber and...

Today’s topic is an always popular one. We all love to travel, it’s one of the best parts of life. But doing so is a bit more complicated while following a gluten-free lifestyle. Today we have an expert to share some of her favorite tips for gluten-free travel. Leslie Bari is the founder of Gluten Free Finds PA and the Constitutional Walking Tour. She loves to find and share her gluten-free finds and travel tips with her readers and has built quite a community doing so. We’re so happy to...

Most of us use social media in one way or another to connect with family, friends, and other communities that enrich our lives. But sometimes social media groups present information about medical conditions that is just wrong. It's frightening that some people might take online posts as fact instead of talking to their doctor or other health care professional. To help us talk about these issues we have a wonderful group here in the studio…Our Children's National Community Education...

Do we have a new drug for celiac disease? Results of a new phase 2 clinical trial using technology developed at Northwestern university showed that it is possible to induce immune tolerance to gluten in individuals with celiac disease. The researchers suggest that their findings may pave the way for treated celiac patients to eventually tolerate gluten in their diet. As we are writing these these words we can hear our listener around the world cheering for joy that there may be a magic pill...

Today’s topic is going to follow up on the influx of research and proclamations about the future of celiac disease. How do we as patients learn how to process the relevance of research in our own lives? How do we know what is important for us? How do we understand the significance of research and how it could potentially affect us? To discuss this topic with us, we have Dr. Ritu Verma from the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. Dr. Verma is a leading expert in celiac disease and is...

There was so much knowledge, research, and collaboration at the 2019 International Celiac Disease Symposium in Paris, France. To breakdown some of the major themes from the conference, Vanessa has three experts in the studio: Dr. Jocelyn Silvester from Boston Children's Hospital, Dr. Ritu Verma from the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, and Dr. Benny Kerzner from Children's National Medical Center. After the group shares some of the big takeaways from the conference, they dive...

The field of psychology and how it relates to gastroenterology is rapidly expanding and today we are going to talk all about it...or more specifically, psycho-gastroenterology. To explain the intricacies of this unique field, we’ve got Dr. Shayna Coburn from our Celiac Disease Program at Children’s National in the studio. Dr. Coburn runs the psychological services for our Program which includes offering consultations and empirically-supported interventions to help families navigate the...

One of the most difficult times to be diagnosed with celiac disease is during your teen years. We see patients at Children's National on a regular basis in the clinic struggling with the challenges of being a teenager and dealing with the gluten-free diet at the same time. To help our teens feel more connected and supported, we have our awesome teen mentor Chloe in the studio with us. One of Chloe's summer projects was working on a guide for teens and she's here to talk all about it!

There were hundreds of presentations at Digestive Disease Week and Vanessa and Sandy were there for many of them. They've pulled together some of their favorites and in this episode are talking about a lively debate between Dr. Edwin Liu from Colorado Children's Hopital and Dr. Benjamin Lebwohl from Columbia University's Celiac Disease Center about the pros and cons of mass screening for celiac disease. Additionally they dive into a study looking at the economic impact of celiac disease in...

Vanessa and Sandy are live at Digestive Disease Week meeting with doctors, researchers and patient advocacy groups about the latest and greatest developments about celiac disease and related autoimmune conditions. In this Live from Digestive Disease Week episode they sit down with Dr. Jocelyn SIlvester from Boston Children's Hospital to discuss a quote from Dr. Peter Green, "Patients with celiac disease deserve a medication." Tune in to see what they have to say about this bold statement and...

Today’s podcast hits on an important topic that comes up regularly in the media. We hear lots of news reports about people going on a gluten-free diet when they don’t need to be medically. We most often think about this as happening in adults, but a study led by a team of researchers at the Mayo Clinic now reports this is happening amongst school age children as well. To share more with our listeners about this controversial topic, I have Dr. Imad Absah in the studio with me. Dr. Absah is a...

We're certain that many of our listeners have heard the debates about the merits and downfalls of having a gluten sensing device, like Nima. Do they actually provide peace of mind or make users even more anxious? And, do they really work? We're here today to discuss the results of a recent study that measures exactly that. To share more with our listeners about this controversial topic, I have Dr. Randi Wolf in the studio with me. Dr. Wolf is a faculty member and researcher at Teachers...

This week's podcast is about an issue we see frequently in the Celiac Clinic at Children's National. Getting access to safe gluten-free food in schools. For the last 10 years, our Celiac Program has worked with patients and families to set up accommodations in schools and there is a huge range in the availability and accommodations offered in the school districts local to us here in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia, but also around the country. Listen in as Vanessa and Joyana discuss...

Today’s podcast is an exciting one. We've talked about gluten-free traveling before and the risks associated with it. But today we're going to discuss an almost entirely carefree travel opportunity. Can you even imagine boarding a cruise ship where you know they are stocked up with gluten-free options? To share more with our listeners about this amazing opportunity, we have Maureen Basye in the studio. Maureen is a celiac travel specialist and the founder of the inaugural gluten-free cruise...

Today’s podcast is going to shed light on the concept of the microbiome and its possible link to the brain and disorders like dementia and Parkinson's. For years we've heard that our diets could possibly be linked to different diseases...but connections between our guts and our brains? How can that be? To help our listeners better understand what the microbiome really is and these possible connections to brain disorders, we have Dr. Aline Charabaty in the studio. Dr. Charabaty is the...