I've been reading more and more about people who are working toward a Gluten-Free or less Gluten diet overall. I read a ton of food and health blogs and one of my favorites, Caitlin over at
Healthy Tipping Point just recently discovered that she has a sensitivity to gluten. She isn't aiming to rid her diet completely of gluten, but she is aiming to make a significant decrease.
The sensitivity of gluten or gluten-free foods are becoming much more common these days. If you are or know someone who has a sensitivity to gluten, I would highly recommend checking out this article:
Gluten Free, The Best Way To Be It does a great job introducing what exactly gluten-free means, what your options are and it even includes a few recipes sites.
My mom is sensitive to gluten and she is also lactose intolerant. A few years ago I made her a gift basket full of lots of delicious foods that she could eat, including soy milk, gluten free baked goods, pasta made with rice flour and of course some dark chocolate. She really appreciated it! She has a hard time dealing with many different foods, I wanted to make sure that she knew she had options and that she could manage her diet easily.
Do you know anyone with Celiac's disease or with sensitivity to gluten?
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Comments (18)
I'm going gluten free. I'm pretty sure I either have celiac or an extreme sensitivity. This is a really helpful article:
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/p/how-to-go-g-free.html
I made these tonight:
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/10/sweet-potato-black-bean-enchiladas.html
Delish!
I could never do it. I love my beer too much, and I'd never give it up for any reason (even if I had Celiac disease or if I was told I had to stop drinking alcohol to save my life; I would just endure the pain and/or die an early death LOL).
That said, there is a lot to be said for the gluten-free diet. It has a ton of benefits and GFCF (gluten-free, casein-free) has been shown to reduce and even reverse some autism symptoms, so that's definitely worth checking out as well.
I have an allergy to wheat, originally they thought I had Celiac disease. Luckily, that's not the case and I don't have to be quite so militant about my foods. It was extremely exhausting, dealing with it. I tried to be so polite and considerate of other people, especially wait staff at restaurants (I know special requests can be irritating), but some of them were really rude about it. It got to where I would have my husband explain for me.
I go mostly gluten-free in my diet. The things that make me feel the worst are beer and pasta.
I have never felt better in my entire life since starting the gluten-free diet. First two weeks are hard, but I dropped so much weight so fast and my symptoms disappeared. I'll never go back to eating white flour again. It takes a lot of planning and a little extra money (to buy pre-packaged gluten-free foods), but its totally worth it!
This site has a great list of the 'best of the best' gluten-free recipe sites (it's a newer site, but her resources look promising and are really helpful):
http://baltimoregf.wordpress.com/
Me. lol
This is my ninth year of having Celiac disease and it hasn't always been easy, it really isn't easy at all. It's unfortunate that more and more people are being diagnosed with it, it was virtually unheard of when I was diagnosed. But still so many people have no idea what it is or what gluten is and think I'm allergic, Celiac's is not an allergy it's when your body can physically not digest wheat/gluten and it kills the villi in your small intestine. For me, the pain is extremely not easy to endure. I don't care how much I want to eat something with gluten in it, I wouldn't. I'm not even sure how to describe the pain, it's just awful in every way. It sometimes gets annoying when people constantly ask me obvious questions like is it hard? Do you miss such and such a food? Yes it's hard and obviously I do! It's hard but I really have no other choice than to maintain a gluten free diet.
That being said, there are so many more options food-wise now! At the beginning almost all of the gluten free foods available tasted like I was sucking on cardboard. And there is gluten free beer! I've had it!
I heard a study that said 97% that's 1 in every 33 people have celiac disease. I'm going to try going glutten free. I think I have a sensitivity to gluten. When I stopped eating cereal and bread I felt really good, but when I went back to it. I did have some upset tummy and noticed a few things like digestion issues. When I was little I would be constipated for 4 weeks at a time I was very tiny as a child and even as an adult I don't weight very much. I think it has something to do with the gluten. So I'm going to see if a gluten free diet is right for me.
I had a friend in high school with Celiacs. I was a vegetarian at the time, so we had interesting cooking time together. While I think that grains are not necessarily healthy, I think exposure to gluten in early life is important to help maintain tolerance to it.
Hubby's grandma and brother both have gluten allergies. My cousin does as well. It's rough. Buying gluten free foods break the bank :(
@lyrra_askavi@xanga - That doesn't have much to do with it. Gluten is on so much now days because it's so cheap I think most people develop it when they get older because of constant exposure.
@firetyger@xanga - It doesn't have to be expensive! It can be one of the cheapest ways to eat. I think our grocery bill went down. Rice, beans, vegetables, quinoa, meat, etc. Get things that are naturally gluten free :)
@TheExperimentalChef - Genetically based Celiac's disease arises from HLA variances. However, oral tolerance is how our immune system recognizes food antigens as being non-pathogenic. So, yes, it will have something to do with it. Constant exposure can result in toxicity. There are different forms of wheat gluten sensitivities, intolerance, or allergy.
@lyrra_askavi@xanga - I know it has something to do with it. But, as I said, it doesn't have much anymore. The greatest number of people with gluten allergies or sensitivities (not just celiac) develop it later from constant exposure.
If people stop consuming gluten, and children raised in a gluten free environment are later exposed to it, it would have quite a bit to do with it. So, if you actually read my original comment about how early life exposure is important for the establishment of oral tolerance, you'll understand that I was suggesting that complete avoidance was not the "best way to be".
I so agree! I was getting all stuffy from eating all that gluten.
I would never be gluten free unless I had a severe sensitivity. That is just way too hard. It's almost impossible to eat out with friends or family because you can't even have your food cooked on a surface where gluten has been. I just could never do it - so thank goodness I don't have that sensitivity.
I'm going to guess if there is no allergy or sensitivity, there are no benefits to a gluten-free diet? When I first heard about gluten-free, I was confused if gluten was bad for you, but it's not unless you have issues with it, right?
@TheExperimentalChef - I suppose it depends on where you live... But coming by gluten free food out in the boondocks of WI is not easy or cheap. Also, grandma has lactose intolerance so many foods that are gluten free she still can't eat for that reason.
I think monitoring gluten is important but don't think I'd cut it out of what I eat completely.
My dad made these really great salmon cakes, for a company picnic, with almond meal instead of breadcrumbs. They taste amazing. Even my grandpa likes them, and he's really picky. My mother works with a guy who has a gluten allergy, and they make these salmon cakes at company picnics so that he has something to eat. The nice thing is, it doesn't cost very much more than making salmon cakes usually does. You don't use that much almond meal, so you don't need to buy a lot.