Celiac, maybe? Need tips for gluten-free diet [edited title]

Cafe Society
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My mom has been diagnosed with Celiac disease, and suggests that I try to see what cutting gluten out of my diet will do. This isn’t just out of the blue, I have had some pretty constant, and occasionally embarrassing, stomach issues for years. I am tired of feeling sick every time I eat and never having any energy. I am tired of always having to know where the bathroom is whenever I eat.

Anyway, trying the diet can’t hurt much, and could possibly help. The whole thing looks so daunting though. Does anyone have suggestions or tricks? Bread, which I don’t tend to eat much of, all of a sudden seems important. What do you coat things in to make stews or chicken piccatta? What about pies, or eating out? Eeek! I am an indifferent cook at best, and the concept of making separate meals for my family isn’t going to fly.

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Perhaps going to a doctor and getting an actual diagnosis might be helpful.

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We don’t allow medical threads, but since the OP seems primarily concerned about how to handle a gluten-free diet, independent of a doctor’s diagnosis (which she should seek if she really thinks she has celiac disease), I’ll rename the thread and move it to Cafe Society.

twickster, MPSIMS mod

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About.com’s Celiac section has a lot of good info and recipe ideas. I’ve used it a number of times when researching cooking for friends w/ CD.

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Sometimes it’s not celiac, it’s just an intolerance to gluten. Like a lactose intolerance - but with wheat.

If you go forward with a trial, please remember to read the ingredients on EVERYTHING. I just recently learned Mentos are made with wheat glucose. (I’d have known this sooner if I followed that advise. :smack:)

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I have a friend with serious celiac disease. From my observation, she has to be eternally vigilant. For example, she can’t use some OTC medications because they are manufactured with wheat fillers. She has to special-order some things.

She uses rice and corn products instead of wheat for cooking, very few processed foods except where she’s already researched them. Who would have thought most soy sauce had wheat in it? You can get pasta, bread and cereals made from rice, quinoa and other non-gluten grains. However, these usually don’t really taste the same, and the cooking methods and results are sometimes different.

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Look into low carb eating plans (Atkins or South Beach) to get ideas for recipes and such. Message board www.lawcarbfriends.com has a huge recipes section.

You can thicken stews with alternative starches like arrowroot or potato starch, or rice flour. It wont taste the same as what you’re used to of course. It might be a better idea to find some new favorite recipes, instead of being dissatisfied with imperfect substitutes. For example, instead of chicken piccata, make chicken cacciatore - it doesn’t use any thickener so you won’t be “substituting” anything to keep in plan.

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I’ve been recently diagnosed as gluten intolerant and it’s difficult but not impossible. The hardest part is retraining your brain to not expect the same flavors.

The most important thing to remember is to read your ingredients! Wheat is hidden everywhere from soy to dressings to even Rice Krispies. (barley malt extract. But Rice Chex is completely GF). Oatmeal too due to cross contamination. Once you get that out of the way, it is possible to eat healthily and deliciously.

I use a corn pasta (Mrs. Leeper’s) instead of the brown rice stuff. The best onion rings I have ever made were done using rice flour and cornstarch. There are GF All-Purpose flour mixes out there. I use Bob’s Red Mill and Pamela’s. I am lucky to live in a town where there are a lot of GF products available at quite a few different stores. I’ve managed to find a GF pizza crust that I love. Wal-Mart carries a GF soy sauce and hoisin that are comparable in price. So it’s doable, but it is generally a lot pricier.

As for going out to eat, most chain restaurants should be able to supply you a list of GF items on their menu. (If not at the restaurant, check the website.) But you can also use common sense- breaded, pan fried, sauces- all have the potential to contain gluten. Most Chinese food places use cornstarch as a thickener but again be careful of soy sauce. You just have to be really careful. It does help if you know how to cook and you have an idea of how basic things are made.

It takes effort but it’s worth feeling a million times better- it has been for me.

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namaste
check the web site.
and keep in mind some people are sensitive to white vinegar and grain alcohol even though they are distilled

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There’s an LJ group for Celiac’s: Celiac Related Information — LiveJournal

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Stupid typos in my previous link:

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/

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Thank you all for the replies so far. I was not really looking for medical advice, just ideas on how to handle the logistics. I figure that as long as I make sure my diet is covering essential nutrients and vitamins it can’t hurt trying it.

I will of course consult my doctor. Actually I will probably consult a different doctor. The one I have is kind of dismissive and her hours don’t work for me.

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Here’s a link to a post at Simply Recipes that lists a bunch of gluten-free blogs. Well, blogs about gluten-free food, anyway…

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There are quite a few premade foods you can buy. This will help you at first.

Dinty Moore canned stew is gluten free, and labeled gluten free.

Most Hormel chili is gluten free. Most hot dogs are gluten free. I slice up hot dogs into a bowl of chili, and sometimes add a little mustard on top. Hormel has a list of all their gluten free products here.

There are two Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen dinners that are gluten free - Chicken Santa Fe, and Cranberry Turkey Medallions.

Corn tortillas are generally ok. I prefer the white corn tortillas. I put refried beans and cheese on them, fold them, and heat them in the microwave. I eat them with lots of salsa.

Lots of lunchmeat is gluten free. All Wal Mart products are clearly labeled. I get their ham and roll it up around cheese to make “sandwich” rolls.

I’m not suggesting you live only on canned chili and such, but these things will really tide you over while you learn. I’m a lousy cook, so I got one of those little George Foreman style grills. Grilled chicken, grilled steak, some veggies or a salad, that’s a pretty easy gluten free meal.

It’s also easy to make “stir fry” by heating up a bag of frozen stir fry veggies, grilling meat, then slicing it into the veggies. La Choy soy sauce is gluten free, though sometimes I just skip that and sprinkle on white pepper and ginger.

I have found this message board very helpful. I refreshed my memory about which Weight Watchers dinners were gluten free by searching there.

I also belong to the SillyYaks email group. It’s great, but be sure to sign up for the digest, not individual mails. Sometimes this group has 100 or more emails a day.

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Sorry for double posting. I forgot to say, watch out for cross contact! I got sick every time I made myself tuna salad. Turns out the mayo had bread crumbs in it. Butter, mayo, peanut butter - they all get bread crumbs in them. Now when we buy mayo, I put a little into a small jar for myself.

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From the perspective that “it can’t hurt to try it”, I’ll offer a slightly dissenting opinion. There is no direct test for celiac. There are only tests for reactions to gluten that together lead to a diagnosis of celiac. For people who do have issues with gluten, their response is usually signifcantly worse after being off gluten for a while. So, if you think you’ll ever want an official diagnosis, you are much better off going thru the testing first.

Beyond that, it is a bit of an adjustment but it has gotten much easier to try to be gluten free in just the three years since I’ve been diagnosed. Between the products that never contained gluten anyway and the gluten-free substitute items coming on the market it is pretty easy once you get used to what to look for.

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I would have to agree with that. I don’t have insurance, so couldn’t get an “official” diagnosis. If you can get tested fairly soon, it’s probably better to keep eating gluten.

Just make sure you get a good doctor, who knows about this. You need blood tests, or even a tissue biopsy. A scratch test won’t do.

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When my fiancée was diagnosed with the disease, we had some trouble adjusting. Gluten hides in so many places. If you’re already the kind of person who enjoys cooking then you will have less trouble adapting than if you eat a lot of processed food. We’ve started making several meals at once to keep in the freezer for days with little time. Rice noodle lasagna is good, actually any rice pasta is good for reheating.

When it comes to eating out, things are much more difficult. Some restaurants can’t even handle it, and frequently we find people who don’t even know what gluten is. You’ll have to get a feel for which local restaurants can accomodate. If you’re eating in a restaurant not of your choosing, pull the waitress aside, explain your situation, and suggest a couple of choices that she can ask the chef to make it gluten-free. Steak is easier than pasta. My fiancée has a little card explaining celiac disease and gluten-containing ingredients to avoid, which she has printed off to give to the kitchen staff.

Since we’re fans of east Asian cuisine, I did some research – as for soy sauce, if you can find “tamari”, it is a wheat-free traditional Japanese soy sauce and not made from hydrolyzed soy protein and other unpronounceable ingredients like some substitutes.

I’m not posting from a real computer right now, but if you want some recipes or ideas I’ll make sure to check this thread tomorrow.

Ps: I agree with the posters who recommend testing asap. My fiancée had weeks of agonizing gluten-eating to build up enough of a concentration to show up on a test - it can take six weeks. Test if you can!

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Speaking as someone who also has issues with diet (allergies, not celiac), it can help to become a regular at one or two accommodating restaurants in your area. I used to be a regular at several local restaurants and the staff got used to my inquiries and weird requests. Tip the waitstaff well. If you’re a regular and a good tipper the staff might even start to give you a heads up “Oh - that contains X and Y, you may not want it” sort of thing.

Of course, not all restaurants will be accommodating. Those that aren’t do not deserve your money.

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I’ve been “gluten free” for almost three years now. I can tolerate small amounts of gluten - and am even willing to risk those embarrassing stomach problems for a bite of my husband’s dessert. Although starting out, I’d work on cutting out as much as possible (but I wouldn’t worry about all of it) and see how you feel. If you don’t notice a difference, get more vigilant (which will be easier after you’ve practiced on the obvious a bit), and see how you feel. If you want a diagnosis, have the blood test done BEFORE you start - you need to go back on gluten and eat a ton of it to get the blood test done.

Corn starch thickens stews nicely. I don’t generally bread meat (I’d do chicken piccatta with plain chicken) - I have done a corn flake or corn meal crust once in a while. Gluten free breads are available, but I don’t tend to do too many of them. Bigger cities often have a gluten free bakery. I do a lot of lettuce wraps instead of sandwiches, or corn tortillas. Since I’m not picky, I’ll eat the filling from pie and leave the crust - though it is possible to make a gf pie crust. Out you have to watch the menu - talk to the waiter or chef if you feel its necessary, and you’ll end up with meat and veggies (avoiding the bread basket) and creme brulee for dessert. Fast food is horrible - I haven’t figured out too many options for “grab it fast” that aren’t a wilted and horrid fast food salad. There are a number of GF products on the market (I’m really fond of the Pamela’s cookies and the GF Pantry mixes) and a few cookbooks. You can make almost anything with gluten free flours (tapicoa, rice, and millet are popular) but they aren’t the same in the end.