It's a family thing.

I know therre's a tendency to think that everyone who shares a symptom you've got has the same affliction. Celiac is no different. My brother the airline pilot mentioned a couple of health-related things that made me think that he might benefit from a gluten-free diet. He was skeptical, even with the knowledge that there is a genetic connection to celiac. His usual doctor was uninformed and not very helpful. My brother was especially reluctant to try a gf diet because of the no beer, no bread, no pasta sorts of restrictions. Still, he figured it couldn't hurt to give it a go. So, he substituted wine for beer, corn tortillas for bread, and seemed to manage okay without pasta. He dropped 20 pounds in a few months, taking him to a healthy, lean, and dare I say, cut 165. He feels much better, has tons more energy and is a total believer! The hardest part for him has been not being able to just go make a sandwich or have a piece of good-tasting bread when he wants it.

My sister-in-law visited last week, and I sent her home with a package of Pamela's gluten-free bread mix. She took it home, and yesterday dusted off the bread maker, set it up to run, and she and my brother left the house for the afternoon.  I got a call from him last night, and he was overjoyed! He said the house smelled like fresh-baked cookies (maybe because of the almond flour?), and the bread was delicious. Let's hope he doesn't enjoy it so much and so often that he gains back the weight!

I told him I hadn't tried the bread mix. He hinted that we'd be seeing a bread maker in our Christmas gifts.  Better start building the addition on the kitchen.