Not sure what changing your diet can do for you? My client Marcia who wrote the following testimonial wasn’t sure at the beginning either but she has been completely won over by what my individualized nutrition coaching program is doing for her. So are her doctors, including one who wrote me, congratulated me on the wonderful results she has had, and said “Way to go!”

I am so grateful that I am able to help people like Marcia in this way! Keep in mind that this is a person who was eating gluten free to begin with, but still needed some fine-tuning to her diet. Here’s Marcia’s story:

I originally contacted Melissa about how and what to eat because of multiple food sensitivities I was recently diagnosed with (I have been gluten-free for almost 9 years). Working with Melissa has taught me to eat properly for me. She set me up with a personalized diet for my sensitivities, symptoms and conditions. I definitely eat against the grain! In addition to grains, I avoid dairy, eggs, beans, processed foods and all GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Eliminating the GMOs has made the most impact for me.

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Need a quick rundown on the difference between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, and how to test for the two conditions? Check out my less than ten-minute radio interview on April 13, 2011, on the Buckmaster Show, hosted by long-time Tucson news and information host Bill Buckmaster. In advance of the Gluten-Free Food Faire on April 30, the interview also covers some of the main highlights of the upcoming faire, including my book signing featuring my new book Gluten Free Throughout the Year. To hear the interview, go to this link, listen to or download the MP3 audio file, and advance the podcast to 16 min, 35 seconds, to start the section with my and Bill’s conversation.

by Melissa Diane Smith

The USDA recently approved genetically modified (GM), Roundup-Ready alfalfa without any conditions and did an end-run around the courts to keep GM sugar beets growing. Both decisions were upsetting news for all of us wanting safe, uncontaminated food. But the two decisions came with a positive consequence.

“The prolonged alfalfa and sugar beet fights actually elevated GMOs (genetically modified organisms) on our personal and national radar screens,” says leading non-GMO advocate Jeffrey M. Smith. “Now with millions of us grasping the significance and devastating loss of yet another crop, we have the pieces in place for a national revolution. We have the knowledge, the emotion, the network, and the profound injustice.” All we need now is focused action. And focused action is exactly what is happening.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

Would you like to explore the world of gluten-free living? Would you like to get a copy of my new book personally autographed by me? Or, if you know you’re sensitive to gluten (found in wheat, rye, and barley), would you like to go to an event where you can sample good food, have fun, and relax knowing all the foods there are gluten free?

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you’re in luck. The Annual Gluten Free Food Faire, a special day of health information and food sampling including a book signing by me, will take place on Saturday, April 30^th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Palo Verde, 4550 S. Palo Verde Rd., in Tucson, Ariz.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

I absolutely loved this sign that I saw while walking the show floor at the natural foods convention, Natural Products Expo West! As you probably know, I’ve been writing for quite some time about how gluten-free junk food is making people who eat gluten free fat and unhealthy. In fact, getting that message out to more people is a big reason that I started this blog (see my original story “The Gluten-Free Diet – A Recipe for Unhealthy Weight Gain?”). It’s also one of the main reasons for my new book, Gluten Free Throughout the Year: A Two-Year, Month-to-Month Guide for Healthy Eating.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

“Ingredients for change” was the theme of a media luncheon this year at Natural Products Expo West, the largest natural foods and products convention in the world. It also symbolized what I saw at a number of talks, receptions, and food booths at the convention March 10-13, 2011.

I wrote a few months ago about growing trends toward gluten-free, organic, and sustainable foods in the restaurant business. I’m glad to report that those trends are evident in the natural foods industry, too. There is also growing awareness about the hazards of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and an increased push from many health food manufacturers and retailers to remove GMOs from their products and stores.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

New to the topic of genetically modified organisms? Here’s a quick primer.

Imagine engineers manipulating common food crops and making them produce their own insectide or making them resistant to chemical herbicides that kill other plants. These sound like scenarios that you might see in a scary futuristic sci-fi movie, yet they have already happened and many of us are unknowingly eating foods that are genetically modified in one of these ways – or both of them – every day.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

A group of Italian researchers has written in the most clear medical language so far that non-celiac gluten sensitivity exists and affects many more people than celiac disease. But gluten sensitivity lacks definitive blood tests to diagnose it, so the best test right now to determine it is seeing if there is relief in symptoms from a gluten-free diet trial.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

If you’re confused about how you can find out if you’re gluten intolerant or not, here’s a rundown on the subject from three top experts.

Walk into your doctor’s office to try to find out if you’re gluten sensitive and you’ll almost always have trouble getting an answer. For one thing, your doctor may not want to run blood tests to test for the condition. If he does, he’ll probably only pay attention to tests that screen for tissue damage in the gut, an indicator of celiac disease. If the tests for tissue damage are negative, it’s common for a physician to ignore the test results that indicate an immune reaction (IgA and IgG gliadin antibody levels), even if those immune reaction tests come back positive. Many doctors simply tell their patients that they don’t have celiac disease and should keep eating a diet that contains gluten.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

The active ingredient in herbicides sprayed on genetically modified herbicide-resistant crops such as corn and soy is a mineral chelator, according to a new report by Jeffrey Smith of the Institute for Responsible Technology. In other words, the herbicide ingredient grabs vital nutrients and doesn’t let them go, depriving plants of essential minerals needed for healthy function and leaving them susceptible to disease.

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