Gluten-Free Dunkin Donuts No More

As we informed you last June, Dunkin Donuts introduced two gluten-free options to their menu: a cinnamon sugar donut and a blueberry muffin. These products were tested mainly in Boston and Miami, and Dunkin Donuts claimed they would be available nationwide by the end of 2013. We all rejoiced.

We loved this news not just for the convenience of being able to pick up a pastry with our daily coffee runs, but because Dunkin Donuts took extra precautions to make sure these products were safe for celiacs, producing them at a separate facility and individually packaging them.

Word of mouth told us that these items were selling fast, and I had faith that their recipes and options would only improve. Sadly, the party’s over. Dunkin Donuts just (very quietly) pulled their gluten-free products and trashed their plans for nationwide release.

Why did Dunkin Donuts do this?

Gluten-free fast food can be tricky, as gluten-free food comes with higher production costs, expensive alternative grains, additional production facilities and labor, and a whole slew of other things that fast food joints just don’t want to deal with.

And if any of you have seen what goes on behind the scenes at these places, avoiding cross-contamination to bring you truly gluten-free fast food can be a total nightmare. Gluten-free baked goods have shorter shelf-lives, requiring a higher product turnover. Because there is no gluten to hold the water and keep the product moist, gluten-free products go stale fast (and this is why lots of baked products are sold frozen).

Dunkin Donuts has released a statement that they will continue to explore ways to bring options to those of us who adhere to a gluten-free diet. In the meantime, all of their drinks are gluten-free, and we can hold on to hope that they will have a donut option (and hopefully Munchkins!) for us in the future.

What are your thoughts on this? Did any of you try the donuts and muffins?

Still feeling sick and tired? Ways to overcome weakness

Still feeling sick and tired?

So you have been faithful in your gluten-free diet, but you are still tired, having trouble losing weight, not sleeping, you immune system is still weak, you don't seem to bounce back? It could be many things, ongoing nutritional deficiencies, other food allergies or intolerances, a chronic infection like SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), hypothyroidism and the list of possible causes is long. A common culprit that often goes un-diagnosed is adrenal fatigue.  Recognizing it, diagnosing it and treating it can be the cornerstone to restoring your vitality and quality of life.

What are the adrenals?

Many people have never heard of their adrenal glands, let alone adrenal fatigue. They are small, pyramid shaped glands that sit on top of your kidneys. They secrete many hormones, which play roles in everything from blood sugar control, to sex hormone production, to controlling your sleep cycle and energy. They secrete the stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin. Cortisol specifically gets a bad rap for contributing to weight gain and rapid aging. However, not enough cortisol leads to out of control inflammation, chronic fatigue, insomnia, worsening allergies and chronic infections.

Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue

fatigue (surprise!)
insomnia
anxiety/depression
low blood pressure (standing up quickly and feeling like you might pass out)
muscle weakness, lack of stamina
low tolerance to psychological or physical stress
frequent infection
Chronic inflammatory conditions
worsening allergies
irritability
hypoglycemia/low blood sugar
allergies
feeling burnt out
Testing

There are many good labs that offer saliva testing, which is the best choice for testing adrenal fatigue or even burnout.  These at home tests require 4 timed samples of saliva, and measure cortisol and DHEA. The advantage of the saliva test is that it measures the daily rhythm of the hormones cycles. Cortisol controls our circadian rhythms, so timing in key to how the adrenals are functioning.  There are two main diseases which affect the adrenals, Cushings and Addisons. Both of these are rare, but can be associated with celiac disease. It was thought that JFK not only had celiac disease, but Addisons too. These are diagnosed by blood tests usually run by an endocrinologist. In mainstream medicine they see these frank diseases as the only thing that can go wrong with the adrenals.

Recovering once and for all

It amazes me that once the adrenals are really weakened, they usually don't bounce back on their own, they need some level of specific support. For people who are really anxious, a formula like Cortisol Manager both strengthens adrenal reserve, but is calming as opposed to stimulating.  For people who are at a more advanced stage, with many if not all of the symptoms I listed above,  I use ADR-7 in the morning and again at noon. Even taking the supplements it can take anywhere from two months to a year or more for the adrenals to function well without supplements again, the more stress you are under, the longer this will take.  The good news is that it usually only takes anywhere from two days to two weeks for people to start feeling the improvements in their energy and well-being.

Take home message

If you have adrenal fatigue, there is hope. The hardest part is often finding someone who will listen to you and who knows how to help you heal. The adrenals are what handle stress in our bodies, so yes, stress could be part of the problem, and your body's lack of reserves to deal with it. Many people are told that stress is the cause of their suffering, but then are just put on anti-depressants as a band-aid approach. These can make the symptoms of depression more manageable in the short term, but they won't heal the underlying adrenal weakness that causes many more symptoms than just depression.  If you have a lot of the symptoms listed above and have never worked with someone who knows about the adrenals, then adrenal fatigue might be holding you back from living your best life.