Medetative Cooking

I opened my door today to silence. I flipped on the light switch and saw darkness. I realized as I stepped into my house, that even the fish tanks vibrating bubbles were missing. I was attuned to the silent refrigerator. I heard my breath in and out.

The dogs began to stir; I realized the power was out.

I've never noticed before how incredibly silent life can be with no lights, no noise, no movement. It was incredibly peaceful.

I quickly let the dogs and out and returned to the silence. As I lit candles, the energy quotient in the house increased. While the peace remained, the house became less still. I breathed in the beauty of our house by candlelight.

After a few breaths, I was reminded of my groceries. I hastily put them away, took a few more breaths in my kitchen lit by a single candle, and decided upon cooking in the dark.

Each movement was quiet, slow, suiting the surrounding environment. If I drove my knife through the pile of veggies, I risked cutting myself. I lit the burner for the Basmati rice with a lighter and watched the flames dance for a few seconds before I put the pot on the stove. Instead of sight, I relied on smell and feel, making sure my red bell pepper was thin enough, smelling the just melted butter in the pot on the stove. Just as placed the lid on the rice, the power came on. My heart skipped a beat.

I blew out my candle and shrugged, having just put the potatoes in my frying pan. The power went off again. I smiled, breathing in happily. After a few exhales, the power was back on. This time it stayed on. I finished preparing dinner and sat down at my candle lit table with my book as my companion. If every meal was made with such serenity, I might be eternally filled with it's peace.

Basmati Rice
If you've never tried this Indian rice, you should- it's incredible melt-in-your-mouth good and very flavorful. Eschew your rice maker; it is best prepared on the stove. The proportion of water : rice : butter is easily halved or doubled.

You'll Need
2 cups water
1 cup Basmati rice
1/2 stick of butter
pot with a tight fitting lid

1. Melt the butter in the pan over medium heat, moving continuously, as not to burn it. Add the rice.

2. Continuously stir the rice in the butter until it comes to a "boil."

3. Add the water, and let the mixture return to a boil.

4. Once mixture is at a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cover the pot with a tight fitting lid.

5. Cook for 25 minutes, making sure to never, ever, ever take off the lid. Once the rice has cooked fully, take off the lid and fluff with a fork.

Article

From Medscape Medical News

Celiac Disease Diagnosis Up 4-Fold Worldwide

Megan Brooks

Authors and Disclosures

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July 30, 2010 — Studies from the United States, Europe, and elsewhere indicate that the prevalence of celiac disease (CD) has increased significantly in the last 3 decades — possibly by as much as a factor of 4.

"More and more studies indicate a prevalence of CD of more than 1% in both adults and children. This should be compared with lower prevalence figures [from] 20 to 30 years ago," Jonas Ludvigsson, MD, from the Department of Medicine, Epidemiology Unit, at the Karolinska Institute and Orebro University Hospital, Sweden, and an expert in CD, noted in an email to Medscape Medical News.

"The reason for this increase is mutlifactorial, but there is probably a true underlying increase. This has been shown when old sera have been analyzed with modern techniques, (eg, in Finland)," Dr. Ludvigsson pointed out.

Mayo Clinic Research Confirms Rise in CD

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic also report an increase in CD, according to an article in the summer issue of the Mayo Clinic's research magazine Discovery's Edge. Joseph Murray, MD, and colleagues analyzed stored blood samples, taken from Air Force recruits in the early 1950s, for gluten antibodies. They assumed that 1% would be positive, mirroring today's rate. That assumption was wrong — the number of positive results was far smaller, indicating that CD was "rare," Dr. Murray noted in the article.

This led him and his colleagues to compare those results with 2 more recently collected sets from Olmsted County, Minnesota. Their findings suggest that CD is roughly 4 times more common now than in the 1950s.

"This tells us that whatever has happened with CD has happened since 1950," Dr. Murray said. "This increase has affected young and old people. It suggests something has happened in a pervasive fashion from the environmental perspective," he added.

Excess Mortality Seen With CD and Latent CD

Recent research by Dr. Ludvigsson's team (JAMA. 2009;302:1171-1178) and others supports the concept of "latent CD" or "gluten sensitivity." Latent CD, defined in the Journal of the American Medical Association study by Dr. Ludvigsson's team as having normal small intestinal mucosa but positive CD serology, is something that is estimated to occur in at least 1 in 1000 individuals.

Dr. Ludvigsson's team has also reported evidence that in 1 year, 10 of 1000 individuals with CD will die compared with an expected 7 in 1000 without the disease.

"Not only is the mortality raised in patients with [CD] but also in those individuals with latent [CD]," Dr. Ludvigsson noted in a statement from the United European Gastroenterology Federation.

However, in comments to Medscape Medical News, he emphasized that "although patients with CD are at increased risk of a number of disorders, and at increased risk of death, the absolute risk increase is very small."

A Tricky Disease

CD remains a "tricky disease," Dr. Ludvigsson said. "It can be asymptomatic; have so-called traditional symptoms such as diarrhea, weight loss, failure to grow (in children), fatigue, and malnutrition; and have nontraditional symptoms such as osteoporosis, depression, adverse pregnancy outcome; and increased risks of both malignancy and death."

The onset of certain autoimmune disorders including autoimmune liver disease, thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes, and Addison's disease can actually signal CD, he noted. "This means that clinicians should consider CD in a number of symptoms and disorders."

CD Often Undetected; Cause Unknown

CD often goes undetected, although the percentage of undetected cases varies between countries, Dr. Ludvigsson noted. "In most countries, at least two thirds of individuals with CD have not received a diagnosis by a doctor." The reason for the high percentage of undetected disease is that the disease can be difficult to diagnose, and "it is sometimes almost asymptomatic," he added.

Detection Methods Are Improving

Over the years, Dr. Ludvigsson told Medscape Medical News, "we have improved existing means to diagnose CD. Antibody tests are becoming better and better, although a positive antibody test should be confirmed with a small intestinal biopsy before the diagnosis is certain. Transient increases in CD antibody levels occur. In the future, I expect microscopy in the very small intestine to become a tool for diagnosis."

Alternatives to the Gluten-Free Diet?

At this time, Dr. Ludvigsson said, the gluten-free diet remains the cornerstone of treatment for CD. However, "in the future, alternative treatment strategies may be available. The recent discovery of the structure of transglutaminase 2 may help in designing inhibitors of transglutaminase 2 to treat CD," he said. "Another potential treatment strategy is to ingest enzymes that digest gluten, thereby increasing the safe threshold for gluten intake.

"There is also ongoing research on the topic of decreasing the bowel's permeability to gluten, Dr. Ludvigsson toldMedscape Medical News. He added, however, that the safety of this approach is unclear, as "a decreased permeability here might mean that the body cannot absorb other needed substances.

"Finally, agricultural research may mean that we can modify the gluten structure in wheat produce a kind of wheat that will not illicit an immune response in patients with CD," the researcher noted.

Counseling CD Patients Is Important

Although evidence is scarce, said Dr. Ludvigsson, "most researchers believe that a gluten-free diet will reduce the risk of complications/comorbidity in CD, and it is important for the doctor to underline this for the patients. In patients with CD who do not become better on a gluten-free diet, the most common reason is probably that the patients do not eat a strictly gluten-free diet," he said.

Dr. Murray advocates greater vigilance in CD patients. "It's not enough to say, 'You've got CD, be gluten-free, goodbye,' " he said. "CD requires medical follow-up."

This October, at the United European Gastroenterology Week in Barcelona, Spain, Dr. Ludvigsson will be 1 of 8 researchers to receive the Association of National European and Mediterranean Societies of Gastroenterology and United European Gastroenterology Federation Rising Stars award.