Adult Education offers Gluten-Free Cooking Classes

LACONIA — Laconia Adult Education will offer a class ''Cooking: Gluten-Free Soups, Stews & Comfort Foods.'' The class will begin on Tuesday, January 31, from 6-8 p.m. and will run for a period of five weeks. Sarah Baldwin-Welcome, a culinary graduate of Newbury College, will teach the class. She is the owner of Provincial Palate Inc. specializing in mustards and specialty catering.

Over 1 million Americans may have intolerance for gluten, a common ingredient in more foods than people may realize. Gluten is a protein found in all wheat, rye, barley, and oat products. The only medically acceptable treatment for gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease is to eliminate all gluten from the diet. Many people with other conditions may also benefit from a gluten and wheat-free diet, including Attention Deficit Disorder, Multiple Sclerosis, Lactose Intolerance, Autism, chronic fatigue, indigestion and malnutrition.

Wheat allergy is an abnormal immune system reaction to one or more proteins found in wheat. Allergy to wheat is one of the more common food allergies in children. Avoiding wheat is the primary treatment for wheat allergy. Wheat allergy is different from a disorder known as Celiac Disease, an immune system reaction that causes inflammation in the small intestines when a person eats any food containing gluten, one type of protein found in wheat.

Call the Laconia Adult Education Office at 524-5712 to enroll.