Many of you reading our blog know that PureFit bars are among the best-selling wheat- and gluten-free sports nutrition bars on the market (oh, and they’re dairy-free also). The reason we decided to make a crap-free bar was due to the simple fact that 3,000,000 Americans (and many millions more if you look to Canada and across the pond to the rest of the world) have a difficult time digesting wheat or gluten, ingredients commonly found in other nutrition bars.

With an estimated one in 130 people in the United States having celiac disease — most of whom are undiagnosed — it was clear to me that something needed to be done to provide a healthy alternative in the nutrition bar category. (If you are unfamiliar with celiac disease, please read my February 25, 2008 blog post “What is Celiac Disease?”) Eight years later and we’re still going strong, as are organizations like the Celiac Sprue Association — a nonprofit  dedicated to helping people with celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis through world-class education, research and support — and the Celiac Disease Foundation — a Studio City, California-based organization that strives to provide support, information and assistance for people affected by celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis (CD/DH).

You may not have noticed but October is “Celiac Awareness Month.” If you feel you might have celiac disease or simply do not do well on foods that contain wheat and gluten, everyone here at PureFit strongly suggests that you see your doctor and get tested.

If your doctor suspects you have Celiac Disease, they will probably order a simple celiac blood panel for gluten antibodies. If the results of the blood test show you or a loved one have a high level of antibodies to gluten and to certain other proteins in the intestinal lining — a sign that you could have celiac disease — your doctor may talk to you about conducting a small bowl biopsy to confirm the diagnosis (trust me, that sounds a lot worse than it really is).

In any event, get tested and be sure to tell your friends and loved ones that there’s no time like to present to start feeling better! October is Celiac Awareness Month… spread the word!

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Note: Celiac Disease is sometimes spelled “Coeliac Disease”

Another Note: If you’re wondering about the “g” symbol that appears at the top of this post, it comes from Trader Joe’s and is their way of displaying products in which no ingredients or sub-ingredients contain gluten.

PureFit nutrition bars are all about what they do not contain in terms of potentially harmful ingredients or ingredients which may interfere with the bar’s ultimate nutritional value. For example, PureFit nutrition bars don’t contain any dairy, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, or sugar alcohols. They also don’t contain gluten.

The fact that PureFit bars are gluten-free is important to many people but especially to those who suffer from Celiac Disease. Celiac Disease (also called celiac sprue, nontropical sprue, gluten-sensitive enteropathy, or, simply, CD) is a genetic, autoimmune, intestinal disorder triggered by gluten. It affects, on average, 1 out of every 133 people, and yet 97 percent of people who have Celiac Disease don’t even know they have it. As many as three million Americans are believed to have Celiac Disease, and, if left untreated, these people run the risk of additional complications including, but not limited to, osteoporosis, cancer and autoimmune diseases.

For somebody who has Celiac Disease, exposure to gluten (wheat products) damages the villi of his or her small intestine making it difficult for him or her to absorb essential nutrients from food. Currently, the only effective treatment for celiac disease is a gluten-free diet.

PureFit has long been committed to making a product that is gluten-free, but we also feel it is vitally important to educate people about Celiac Disease. This is a topic to which we will continue to return over the coming months, and it is one that is core to the PureFit philosophy. In the meantime, for additional information on Celiac Disease, check out the following resources:

National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA)

Celiac Disease Foundation (CDF)

Celiac Sprue Association (CSA)

PureFit is a proud supporter of the Celiac Sprue Association (CSA).