What’s the big deal about gluten? If you already know, it’s obvious. If you don’t, there may be some surprises about America’s long love affair with its amber waves of grain.

Gluten—the protein component of grains like wheat, rye, spelt and barley—provokes an immune response for over 3 million Americans, causing digestive distress, fatigue and a host of other symptoms too numerous to list.^1,2,3 In its most severe form, it’s called Celiac Disease, much of which goes undiagnosed. The latest research suggests that one in four people have reactions to gluten at some point in their lives.⁴ The only treatment is a gluten-free diet. Ten years ago, a gluten-free diet was unheard of, and even today it’s a daunting task.

No one knows this more than Sandi and Mike, two of our founders. Sandi’s story is instructive because it doesn’t fit the classic symptoms of Celiac Disease. Though she had experienced a lifetime of low-grade fatigue, she didn’t have any of the common digestive symptoms or weight changes. Her malaise had been attributed to iron-deficiency anemia but supplements and escalating red meat intakes didn't fix the problem.

Coincidentally, her husband Mike had experienced the more classic symptoms—digestive problems, respiratory and ear infections and a tendency to be underweight. For both Sandi and Mike, successful diagnoses and adherence to a gluten free-diet turned their health and life around. Sandi now has boundless energy and normal iron levels, and Mike is free of digestive problems and infections.

In our medicine-driven culture, many have come to believe that disease is only cured or managed by drugs and surgery. So even when a problem comes from our diet, it's often astounding a simple dietary change can provide such profound relief. People who have suffered for years and then recovered from their gluten issues are passionate about their transformation. With Sandi and Mike, creating Zing Bars was one way of getting the gluten-free message—and a gluten-free solution—to a broader audience.

To help people successfully follow a gluten-free diet—too often bland and unappealing—a big part of this message is that eating gluten-free can actually be satisfying and tasty. So, central to our mission in creating Zing is the surprising news that we deliver to patients every day in our counseling practices: YOU DON'T HAVE TO SACRIFICE! Gluten-free has never been so satisfying or so healthy.

¹Adult coeliac disease: prevalence and clinical significance. Cook HB, Burt MJ, Collett JA, Whitehead MR, Frampton CM, Chapman BA., Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 2000 Sep;15(9):1032-6.

²Celiac Disease Present in 1% of 5-Year-Olds in Study, Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD, http://www.kidshealth.org/

³High prevalence of silent coeliac disease in preschool children screened with IgA/IgG anti-endomysium antibodies. Korponay-Szabò IR, Kovács J, Czinner A, Gorácz Gy, Vámos A, Zsabò T., Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 1999; 28: 26-30.

⁴Early Diagnosis Of Gluten Sensitivity: Before the Villi are Gone, Transcript of a lecture given by Kenneth Fine, M.D. to the Greater Louisville Celiac Sprue Support Group, June 2003.

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Little Rock, AR