Gluten intolerance/allergy

Does anyone have it? I'm trying not to eat gluten for 8 weeks to test if anything changes. What do you eat?

I have it! Intead of bread, you can eat corn tortillas. They also sell g.f. bread in the freezer in health food stores. It's pretty good if you warm or toast it. Not so good out of the bag. Also, all vegies, fruits, meats, fish. Just check the labels on EVERYTHING. There is very good gluten free pasta available. Look on the web, there are gluten free food lists. Also, err on the side of safety. If a label says "seasonings" don't eat it. Many seasonings can contain gluten. Also, call the 800 number on the package of food. For instance, if you thought Quaker rice cakes would be safe...they are NOT. The are made in the same factory as their wheat products, and cross contamination can make you just as ill. Also, lip products...lip stick, lip balm must be checked. Chapstick HAS gluten, Burt's Bees does not. If you have Celiac disease, and not just a sensitivity, you will feel better almost immediately. And if you accidentally get some gluten, you will know it. I have gotten splitting headaches, and sweats, and vomiting when I got some by accident. It sounds like an aweful way to live but it really isn't. It is a chance for your body to heal itself and work more efficiently.

Well I got tested by a GI specialist for celiac disease but I never got the results back because my insurance expired. So, I want to test it myself. I have chronic constipation and I don't know what else to do before I see a new GI specialist that is accepted by my new insurance plan, which isn't until July. But I'm not sure how intolerant I am, or even if that is the case. Thank you so much though!

I don't know, but sometimes I have strange feelings in my stomach, hot flashes (not from menopause!), and abdominal pains. I'm considering trying to cut out wheat and see what happens. I love oats, corn tortillas, and brown rice though, so there are lots of alternatives.

Well oats has gluten too. I have read on certain sites that if you have celiac or coeliac disease that oats should be eliminated as well. But I know what you mean by the hot flashes. I'm 16 and I get them sometimes, not too sure of the cause though.

I am gluten intolerant, although my bloodwork says I'm not my food diary/symptoms say I am and my doctor is convinced I am. He wants to do a biopsy. I prefer to avoid gluten.

Gluten is found in wheat, rye, oats and barley. It is not in rice, corn or potatoes. It can be found in everything from processed ham to sauces. Depending on how bad your symptoms are, and to what degree your alergy/intolerance is, you need to read labels and be very careful.

Personally, I'm intolerant but can handle small amounts of gluten without undue side affects. I use my "allotment" to eat ham and other foods without being too paranoid, avoiding all primary and obvious forms of gluten.

Gluten intolerance symptoms vary from person to person and can be very painful. Hot flashes, as far as I know, have nothing to do with intolerance. But it could be a reaction of your body to the stress of trying to digest gluten if you are indeed intolerant.

Best thing to do is talk to your doctor, get a blood test and in the meantime limit your gluten sources. You might also want to keep a food diary indicating when you ate gluten, what you ate and how you feel over the next 12-24 hours to see if there is a pattern.

good luck

Just to add to what the others are saying, though I don't know much about gluten intolerances, just wheat allergies- modified food starch is in most processed foods, and it is a wheat product.  Also, be sure to read the ingredients on corn chips, because some of them contain wheat as well.

My dad has wheat allergies (actually anything in the grass family including oats and rice) and my mom has a wheat intolerance, so they eat mostly meats, vegetables/fruits, dairy products, nuts and dried fruits.  My mom also buys wheat-sprout bread, which she can tolerate in small doses (but my dad can't touch), and it is apparently gluten-free. 

i have it. there are actually a lot of alternatives to wheat-- it's not so bad.

just watch out for sauces with wheat thickeners. also there's wheat in soy sauce! DUMB

My step-daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease (though now it ends up she doesn't have it...!).  We would do a lot of cooking with rice.  Also I experimented on using squashes as substitutes for pasta.  We actually now prefer spaghetti squash to regular pasta.  We haven't tried it yet, but zucchini can be used to replace lasagna noodles.  As for baked goods, we tried all sorts of different products, but they always seemed dry and she didn't like most things.  So we started experimenting with baking as well and all I can remember was NOT to use one type of flour, but a mix of different alternative flours.  Rice alone is really dry.  We ended up finding a local baker that specialized in gluten-free.  Do a simple search online and all sorts of things will come up.  I used this site often for ideas: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2007/01 /cooking-baking-gluten-free-tips-for.html

Reading labels on goods also is key.  It will state at the bottom of the label if it contains wheat.  Oats were recommended to stay away from, but only because it is often processed in the same plants as wheat.  Depending on how sensitive you are, you may not need to worry about that.

The most odd thing we found were Doritos.  The large full-size bags were ok, and the single sized bags listed wheat as an allergy warning.  Or was it vice-versa.  Either way, we stayed away just to be safe, but we found it pretty funny!

One thing to add quick.

As bart3764 says, it is really important to read lables -- every time you buy a particular commercial product. I was in the States recently and rediscovered KIX cereal which did not contain gluten. After finishing the box I bought another and happened to look at the ingredients --- GLUTEN. I ended up calling the company and they confirmed that they had changed the recipe and that there was now gluten in the product.

So if you really are intolerant and if that intolerance is serious, be very very careful with commercial products.

Original Post by msatkins:

I have it! Intead of bread, you can eat corn tortillas. 

Every commercial corn tortilla I find seems to have an added wheat flour in it :(

Does anyone know where I can find these gluten free tortillas that don't cost an arm and a leg from a health food shop?

I make buckwheat pancakes that I eat savory, but it's just not the same.

cheap bulk grocery stores where hispanic families shop. that's where the good tortillas are, and they're cheap as can be.

Here's a recipe to make homemade... http://www.recipezaar.com/Gluten-Free-Tortill as-148386

Original Post by bart3764:

Here's a recipe to make homemade... http://www.recipezaar.com/Gluten-Free-Tortill as-148386

 

They look so good! Thank you