Dieticians To Speak At Celiac Sprue Meeting

DANBURY — Nutrition and gluten-free meals will be the focus of the Nutmeg Celiac Sprue Support Group for its meeting to be held on Friday, May 13, at 7:30 pm, at the Center for Behavioral Health at Danbury Hospital.

Jennifer Kane, dietician intern at the Danbury Hospital, and Nancy Salem, registered dietician, will discuss the diet for life that excludes wheat, oats, barley, and rye.

Interested in cooking with the restrictions that those with the celiac condition must observe, Ms Kane has been working with recipes that use gluten-free grains that are acceptable for those with the autoimmune disease. Substitutions for the bread-based American diet to one that must satisfy the same nutritional needs without wheat products is a challenge, particularly the newly diagnosed.

Jennifer graduated from Johnson and Wales School of Culinary Arts in Hartford and has made a specialty of gluten-free foods. The prevalence of the celiac condition has proved to be one out of 133 individuals in the United States and heightened awareness has brought more attention to those who have been diagnosed and the more products that are available at regular stores.

The center is accessible from Route I-84, Exit 4, on Lake Avenue and Oil Mill Road with a parking lot next to the building.

The public is welcome, members are available to advise those who have been recently diagnosed and have suggestions about shopping and cooking with gluten-free grains. Reading labels of packaged foods becomes a necessity with the diet.

For further information, call 426-8223 or 438-6108.