Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and for those people with celiac disease it can be a very difficult holiday.

However, as more and more gluten free recipes make the rounds in cookbooks and websites, many consumers are relying on rice flour to make their Thanksgiving just as enjoyable as everyone else's.

The list of "off-limits" foods for those with celiac is a long one; Thanksgiving without the gravy, stuffing, pie, or rolls is hardly Thanksgiving to a lot of people.

But gluten free recipes and foods can serve to substitute those off-limits items that celiac sufferers must avoid. Rice and nuts appear to be an excellent substitution, including the use of rice flour for gravies and rolls, crushed walnuts for pie crusts, and wild rice for stuffing.

There are also a lot of gluten free holiday foods available specifically for those who can't tolerate gluten but want to join in the traditional meal, including gluten free broths and breads, stuffing mixes and desserts.

For those who want to cook for themselves many recipes can be redesigned with rice flour to minimize exposure to gluten.

And as this demographic continues to grow, food distributors who offer gluten free foods will likely find that their holiday offerings continue to increase in popularity.

Whole grains have risen dramatically in popularity in the last 15 years, as health-conscious Americans opt for less processed foods. As the market grew, so did the variety of whole grain flours and foods available to consumers.

No longer do "healthy" breads and foods taste like cardboard, thanks to innovative new means of baking and substituting unrefined, whole grain flours and dietary fibers for heavily refined options.

And now it appears that by opting to replace those refined foods with their whole grain counterparts, consumers could be protecting themselves from dangerous fat tissue buildup responsible for triggering diabetes and heart disease.

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, finds that men and women who replaced refined grains in their diet with health foods like whole grain had 10% less "visceral adipose tissue" (VAT).

VAT is found around the organs, and is more dangerous for your health than fat found just under the skin.

And as more studies come in revealing the benefits of whole grain flours and fibers in the human diet, the market for such foods is poised to go up even farther.

Food manufacturers can add whole grains to their food line by adding products such as whole grain flour, buckwheat flour and rye flour.

While some recipes must be modified to allow for the denser texture of whole grain foods, consumers who enjoy them are likely to come back for more when they find a healthy product that offers good flavor, too.