We Are Going Gluten-Free, Any Advice?

[Angelika_23]

Today, my son's physical therapist asked us if we had ever thought about our son having a gluten sensitivity. She thinks he probably has one, and is urging us to try a gluten-free diet with him and see if it shows any improvement after a month. We had skin testing last month, and it came back negative, but she said an allergy and a sensitivity aren't the same thing.

This scares me. I have no idea where to even start. Is it possible to find gluten-free bread???

I know I sound clueless, and I am really. This seems like a giant undertaking.

Help?

[Dizzysillyak]

Hi angelika,

Your son has a great physical therapist. Starting on the gf lifestyle is daunting to everyone at first.

Good resources include celiac dot com and gluten free and beyond.

We have some recent threads on gluten here that should help you too. Of particular interest is that

2 people who went gf had withdrawal symptoms so it's best to reduce gluten slowly.

Good luck .. D

[paona]

My 16 year old likes Udi's gluten free white sandwich bread. It's especially good toasted. We keep it frozen so if she makes a sandwich for lunch we put bread from the freezer into a sandwich bag(thaws out by lunch) and the fixing in a separate container and she puts it together later, otherwise the bread can get mushy. I did a search on what gluten-free flour blend was popular and we use Namaste Foods Perfect Flour Blend to bake with. Her favorite pizza crust mix is Arrowhead Mills gluten-free. We make the crust (use extra Namaste flour blend because the dough is sticky) and then she tops it with a thick spaghetti sauce and cheese and whatever toppings she wants. I think her favorite mac & cheese is Pastato's. She likes Lundberg's gluten-free mixes like the alfredo Risotto. I make a banana bread with ground up cashews(like flour), gluten free flour blend, and coconut flour. She likes cooking and her favorite gluten-free cookbooks are: Ultimate Gluten-Free Cookie Book by Ryberg, Gluten-Free Cooking for Dummies, and 100 Best Gluten-Free Recipes by Fenster. Since she is allergic to dyes and preservatives she is used to eating very simply most of the time- fruit, vegetable, and meat/protein. I also found a delicious chocolate cookie recipe using northern beans (nice fiber) and she really likes it. You can't tell that it was made with beans. Going gluten/casein free about 3 years ago was not difficult for us because she had been on stage 1 Feingold diet since she was 7 years old. We were able to reintroduce fruits and other higher salicylate foods that she previously reacted too. Since she did well we reintroduced milk products but not the gluten. Sometimes it's easier to just start slowly and try out different products until you have enough ideas to make the full switch. Also health food stores sometimes have gluten-free sample days and that's a good time to try new products.

[Dizzysillyak]

Hi paona,

Has your daughter been tested for candidiasis or diabetes ? Her likes reflect a high interest

in carbs and sugar. We see this a lot in the celiac community.

Anyone healing from an illness will heal better by eating a diet rich in plants and meats. Imho, Dr. wahls

diet looks the best for now because it's loaded with leafy greens.

I like cookies, etc once in a while too but find that if I eat these too often, I begin to crave

them ... Betty crocker brownies are irresistible.

Tc .. D

[paona]

I just mentioned those gluten-free favorites because they were kid friendly foods and it's nice to have some quick alternatives especially if she is out with friends. There is very little she could eat at most restaurants. Like most adolescents she would prefer these type of foods but as I said she eats mostly whole proteins, a piece of fruit and a vegetable at most meals. Her main vegetable is fresh spinach. She also eats brown rice and the lower carb beans for fiber. She is very active and as an adolescent does need some good carbs because she is active.

[Dizzysillyak]

Good to hear. I've craved carbs most of my life and didn't realize it meant that I had candidiasis. My

labs are negative for candida now after going mostly low carb in the last couple of years, but it took me 6 years to get

a negative result.

I didn't know either that I had hyperinsulinemia and would crash after eating carbs or sugars. I really

thought feeling that bad every day was from cfs .. Duh ..

My dd was home this week and it reminded me of how much I miss her younger years.

She played b ball so I can relate to needing carbs. Good times tho ..

Tc .. D

[Steph]

My advice, from my own experience: go cold turkey. If you go the weaning off route, it's too easy to cheat and keep having little bits of gluten here and there, which forms bad habits. If your son has celiac disease, as opposed to gluten intolerance, even minute amount of gluten (like, think a bread crumb from a shared peanut butter jar) can cause serious problems - and it can take up to three months for the digestive system to recover from a 'special treat just this once.' It's important to stress how important it is not to have ANY gluten at all. (In this vein, be sure to have some yummy gluten-free treats around, or when he wants a treat, he'll go for the familiar. Glutino brand is generally gross, but their wafer-style cookies are amazing.)

It's actually very easy to switch to gluten-free at home if you cook; the difficulty is in eating out (whether fancy restaurants or fast-food), visiting friends/family, and travelling.

Prepackaged foods, whether chips, bbq sauces, frozen foods, soup stocks, etc, should be avoided unless you're quite certain about them. It seems intimidating to open up your fridge and start tossing out everything with gluten in it - and most things will have - but once you've found suitable replacements for the things you use the most, you won't even have to think about it. And after all, fresh fruits/veggies and meats don't have gluten.

Hidden dangers: spice blends, yogurt, oats (GF themselves, but processed with wheat) other brands/flavours of a 'safe' product, anything without a label.

Really, once you've dumped out the old stuff and bought new things, it's really easy as long as you prepare things yourself. Want spaghetti for dinner? Use a GF pasta, available at most grocery stores (although you may have to try a few brands before you find one you like.) Stews, sauces, gravies, etc? thicken with cornstarch or a gluten free flour mix instead. Making a fancy dinner of steak, potatoes, and veggies? well, make a fancy dinner of steak, potatoes, and veggies.

I eventually learned I was gluten intolerant, not a celiac, so I can afford to take a few risks. I never eat anything with gluten actually in it, but I don't have to be completely neurotic about cross-contamination when I'm out. My own kitchen is completely gluten-free except for the cat food.

[Dizzysillyak]

Hi steph,

There aren't any standards for labelling foods gf, so eating these foods will still expose us to gluten.

The fda was still asking the public, via an internet survey, what they thought would be a safe percentage of gluten in gf foods the last I heard from them.

Some people, autistics, have extreme reactions to going cold turkey so their doctors don't advise

it. I think it was in the book "Healing the 4 a's" that I first saw this recommendation.

Thst's great that you can eat these gf foods without reacting. Some can and some can't.

In fact i know several celiacs eat gluten intentionally on occassion because they don't feel bad from it. It's early still, so I forgot what dr fasano calls it when someone doesn't feel the damage

happening to their intestines.

Btw, I'm a celiac who's been "gf" for 6 years now and my stool tests for the last 3 years show gluten antibodies from cc. I've been

99% paleo for 3 years so my cc possibilities are minimal. After reading that antibodies can block nerve fibers, my goal is to totally eliminate these. Supplements aren't safe either so this

won't be easy. Well, that and I'm hungry a lot ..

Tc .. D

[MightyMouse]

Even if you live in the middle of nowhere, you can get really good gluten free stuff online and have it shipped to you.

Here are my favorites: all of the Tinkyada brown rice pastas-they taste closest to the real deal, but DON'T make extra to re-heat later b/c it will turn to mush.

Aunt Annies Mac & Cheese

MyDel g/f cookies

There are some really good g/f breads out there that I buy frozen at my grocery store (Wegmans).

I've really liked the Trader Joe's brands of g/f stuff too

I did NOT like any of the eNjoy life's items...

Love Mary's Gone Crackers brand stuff--made with seeds and good stuff.

I usually eat a Paleo diet, which is easy on a g/f diet b/c no grains are in a full paleo life. I follow the Mark's Daily Apple blog--I find his advice to be the most balanced--a few other sites were too militant, and I really need to eat dairy to keep my gut flora in check and many of the other paleo "gurus" eliminate all dairy.

Good luck and there is LOTS of stuff out there. Consider a google search for safe and unsafe foods--I use this site for their list if I"m not sure, and you can buy stuff through them too (by the case, so try elsewhere to buy just one to taste test, and if good, I purchase in quantity and save myself $$).