Getting around gluten
The Harvard Allston Education Portal on Thursday hosted a workshop examining the effects of gluten on health, with Jennifer Zartarian of Cambridge Health Associates answering questions and acting as a guide through the latest research. Zartarian started the workshop by asking if anyone in the group had celiac disease, a serious condition connected to gluten, a substance found in cereal grains, particularly wheat. Bibiane Baptiste, who works in Harvard Alumni Affairs and Development, was diagnosed with the disease in 1995. Baptiste said her digestive system was “always bad” for as long as she could remember. Dull pain in her stomach escalated when she ate fried or spicy foods. Her reactions were so severe her color changed, and she couldn’t walk. She also had problems with fibromyalgia. “I felt like I was dying,” she said, until finally she was diagnosed and adjusted her diet. “It’s easier now,” Baptiste said, because there are so many...