Shortly after getting my diagnosis of Celiac disease last month, my son started getting diarrhea every other day or so. I was afraid he had inherited my celiac disease, but tweaking the gluten in his diet didn't seem to affect it. So I used the BTD to zero in on other avoids that may be causing the problem. He had started drinking a lot more soymilk, so I became suspicious of the carageenan in the brand I was buying. Sure enough, once I switched to a brand without the carageenan, his diapers have gone back to normal. I'm sure glad for him that it's not gluten, although I did learn there are a lot of new foods he likes, when I cut out the gluten. He likes lemon soy yogurt, for one.

Also, found an answer to a question I'd often bounced around in my head. The nitrates and preservatives in most smoked meats are bad guys, but what if it's naturally smoked, as with mesquite. My answer came in the Food Reference eZine I subscribe to:

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DID YOU KNOW?

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Mesquite is the common name for several small spine hardwood trees or shrubs of the genus Prosopis in the pea family. They are native to the southwestern U.S., Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands. The seed pods are edible, and the wood is used for fence posts, railroad ties, and furniture. The wood is also used in barbecuing and smoking foods. Mesquite gives an slightly sweet smoky flavor to foods. CAUTION: Smoked foods contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are known carcinogens. Smoked foods are known to be carcinogenic when eaten as a regular part of a person's diet. Most people do not eat enough smoked foods for this to be a major concern. HOWEVER, the hotter the wood or charcoal burns, the more polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are produced. And mesquite burns hotter than hardwood charcoal, and produces much more of these dangerous hydrocarbons. One study found 8 times the cancer causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in meat cooked with mesquite than hardwood charcoal, and 40 times the benzopyrene, the most dangerous hydrocarbon. I like the flavor of mesquite, but this information gives some serious food for thought.

-Food Reference ezine, foodreference.com, June 28, 2004

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Looks like mesquite is worse than some other hardwoods, but they're all bad news, it seems. Ah well.