The Gluten Free RD is a blog by dietitian Rachel Begun about how to live healthily while eating a gluten free diet. Begun has over 14 years of experience in the field and also eats gluten free herself because of Celiac disease. The blog contains Begun’s opinions on various gluten free products on the market as well as tips on how to eat gluten free for certain holidays and occasions. There are also frequent product giveaways to engage readers, information about eating gluten free as covered by news outlets, and recommendations for gluten free restaurants. Begun offers detailed information in each blog post to make eating gluten free easy for anyone to understand. She also offers her expert opinion on other nutritional “fad” diets such as the Paleo diet.
I was drawn to the blog because I eat a mostly gluten free diet due to intolerance caused by Crohn’s disease. I’ve found a lot of Begun’s information to be consistent with my experience and will usually check the blog for recommendations of food I’ve never tried as well as news stories related to eating gluten free. Begun also posts many recipes that she has tried that I’ve found are great for pushing me outside of my culinary comfort zone, which is something that I know causes some stress to people trying to live with dietary restrictions. I’ve also found the blog posts related to eating gluten free during the holidays very helpful as it’s something I always need to plan in advance. I am also always surprised to see which restaurants are now launching gluten free menus, such as California Pizza Kitchen, as I would not have otherwise considered eating there.
As a nutrition student, I am also frequently fielding questions related to eating gluten free from friends and family. This post in particular I have found very helpful for information regarding non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Begun also cites a study done in June 2013 to support her claims. As I suspected, gluten free diets are effective in some percentage of otherwise healthy people although it is not yet known exactly why that is. Considering Begun is a leader in the field, I would expect future updates about this as they are released.
The design of the blog is simple and clean, composed mostly of text posts containing pictures and links of the products discussed. There are links at the top of the page with information about Begun, her qualifications and experience, how to get in contact with her, and a media page containing additional off-site information about eating gluten free. The blog is written informally and in first person and while there are no citations, Begun’s body of work makes it clear that she is an expert on this topic. I personally enjoy the blog because of it’s level of detail, which is something I would like to incorporate into my work. I also appreciate the scientific approach taken by Begun, which is something that is unfortunately not always a part of a nutrition blog. The Gluten Free RD can be found at http://www.rachelbegun.com/blog.