Sue G in PA Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Something in my mother's gut tells me that my ds9 and probably my dh as well has gluten intolerance. Why? I don't know. Dh is just as skinny as ds and never, ever gains weight no matter how much he eats...and the man can eat. :) I am terrified of having to cut gluten out of our diet. Both ds and dh are carb-crazy and always have been. Ds9 does NOT eat meat! So, how difficult is it? Really. Can you ever eat OUT? Do you make you entire family follow the diet? My other kids don't have any problems with gluten that I know of. How expensive is it? We are on such a limited food budget as it is. How do you get the right amount of vitamins/minerals in your diet w/out eating wheat and such? I am fairly clueless so laugh at me if you want but I'm really serious! I just can't imagine this lifestyle. Thanks for any thoughts you have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 (edited) I have one child that is gluten free (and has been for a year now) and the rest of us are not. It was tricky at first but I'm getting used to it now. The best advice I would give is not to try to replace gluten in the diet right away. Non-gluten baked goods just don't taste the same and if you go from having fresh, French bread one day to frozen rice bread the next, your child/dh will likely balk. I would give it a good couple weeks before introducing those sorts of things & you (and they!!) will be surprised at how good even those can taste. ;) My child LOVES gluten free baked goods now and thinks they taste better than the gluten kind. ;) Be sure to read labels scrupulously- there's gluten in so many things, from soya sauce to bubble gum. I found it easier to just avoid any processed foods and simply feed fruit, vegetables, and meat. I'm not sure what you can do since your ds doesn't eat meat- beans, maybe? As for vitamins/minerals in diet, I really don't think you're going to be missing anything by cutting out gluten. There's plenty of vitamins/minerals in everything else and most of the "vitamins" in bread are not the most absorbable kind anyways. If all you're taking out of the diet is gluten, I wouldn't be concerned about lack of nutrition. Eating out is trickier. It's hard to find a restaurant that serves gluten free meal options. I often call ahead to see and I will say we eat out a lot less (which isn't saying much because we never ate out much in the first place :001_huh:). Often, I would just order meals for my child that were just meat (nothing breaded) and veggies. This was easier than trying to find restaurants that offer gluten free pasta. Gone are the days where we can stop for a quick burger to fill the kids up if we've been running errands all day but after a year of not doing it, it's not something I miss. How expensive it is will really depend on your child. I've since added back in gluten-free baked goods, which I buy pre-made (no time to make myself and honestly, no desire to either) and those cost a lot. I simply try to limit how much of those they are allowed to eat and focus again on serving fresh fruit or veggies for snacks or filler. I have had to add in a lot more meat into their diet because they were always hungry so that did increase the cost. I also have to be very careful about what I buy. I used to buy the frozen bags of burgers at Costco but now must buy ground beef and make my own because the frozen burgers often have some sort of gluten content in them. Mostly it's going to cost you time.. and the hassle of sometimes cooking 2 meals (lasagna, for example). Anyways, it can be done. It's not an issue here that only one child is gluten free, but again, that would depend on your child and their temperament- will they be able to handle watching everyone else dig into a loaf of fresh bread? Mine knew how awful it made them felt so it's not an issue but for a child who has no obvious side effects, the transition may not be so easy and you may have to take your entire family off of gluten. Oh, one thing I wanted to add is that if you take your child/dh off gluten, be aware that a lot of gluten foods, especially whole grains, offer a good source of dietary fibre that will have to be replaced or you could run into issues there. ;) I wish you luck in your journey to do what is best for your family. Mine has so many food intolerances/allergies that I would jump for absolute joy if gluten as the only thing we had to avoid. :lol: But yes, it is a hard step to take. :grouphug: Edited January 17, 2011 by plain jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 (edited) If you make things that are naturally gluten free (potatoes, squash, rice, buckwheat, quinoa for carbs for example) it's not really more expensive than eating healthy is anyway I don't think. It's more expensive than processed food (non gluten free) but so are most things. If you do premade gluten free stuff it's pricey (breads for example or cereal bars). Baking gluten free can get expensive as well. So it depends on how you do it. I would recommend for health, cost, and taste (straight from gluten to no gluten baked goods is not a great idea) that you just do naturally gluten free. I don't know on the family thing. I think it's much easier to just make all prepared meals gluten free--you don't need to worry about cross contamination or the gluten free people feeling deprived. Eating out is tough though some places I'm sure do gluten free. My son's other allergies make eating out about impossible anyway so it's been a long time since I looked into gluten free stuff alone. I imagine it's easier now and it was possible back when we did it. There is more awareness and more gluten free options out there now generally I've noticed. Oh, gluten free shouldn't cause nutrient deficiencies unless you ate nothing but starch baked good replacements or something! Most gluten free grains are as nutritious or more nutritious than wheat and more digestible as well. Exception to that is rice. Your son is likely getting the bulk of his protein from a source not gluten, right? Most of us get much more protein than required. Unless he's getting all of it from, say, pb & J and won't eat the peanut butter on anything else you should be fine in protein I'd think. Other nutrition will probably come out better I suspect. Edited January 17, 2011 by sbgrace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Before you swear off gluten, do some experimentation. It was suggested that my dd was gluten intolerant, but she's not. She's allergic to additives in shop bought bread, but can happily chow down on her dad's home ground flat breads. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 It is tough to get used to and you may find that once they are off of it for a while they get super sensitive to it. We are several years into it and it is fairly easy now. They do make corn, rice, and quinoa noodles for lasagna, spaghetti and that type of thing. Corn bread can easily be made without wheat. I have a fairly inexpensive pancake recipe, but I would wait until they really want pancakes, because of taste. Reading labels for malt, food starch, barley and wheat is extremely important. If you come up with a few things that they can eat while out it is fairly easy. Outback has a gf menu, Wendy's chili, potato, & most of their salads are gf. One of the hardest things for us has been eating at friends houses. Unless they do it all the time, there is a good chance they will miss something. Someone started a GF group this week. There isn't much there yet, but if you decide to do it join the group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 My ds is not gluten intolerant but he is allergic to wheat and a long list of other foods. The hardest for him was cutting out nuts and peanuts. Taking out gluten is not as daunting as it first seems. If you shop from Amazon you can buy noodles and such in bulk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 The one prepared item that is well worth the cost to me and I'd say is ok to start with from the "get go" would be Tinkyada pasta. It's good. It really is--even if you're used to gluten. Other pastas we've tried have been sort of yucky honestly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamonaQ Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I think the learning curve is steep but otherwise now I don't really think about it. My dh has celiacs so every meal that I cook for him has no gluten. Granted, it is much easier dealing with an adult than a child since I can still serve gluten at other meals to the rest of us (when he is at work for example). I do remember initially that I had to re-learn how to do dinner, but now I don't think twice. I suggest reading through some websites, getting a gluten-free cook book, buying the gluten-free flour mix and brown rice pasta-- although recently we have fallen in love with the Bionaturuae gluten-free pasta. I think the current amount of gf products is great ( 7 years ago there was nothing!) HOnestly, I do think some things taste much better gluten-free-- brownies, snickerdoodles, banana bread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 The one prepared item that is well worth the cost to me and I'd say is ok to start with from the "get go" would be Tinkyada pasta. It's good. It really is--even if you're used to gluten. Other pastas we've tried have been sort of yucky honestly. :iagree: It's the best pasta. And Annie's GF mac and cheese boxed mix isn't bad in a pinch either. We have gone gluten free here (actually wheat, corn, soy, dairy and peanut free due to allergies) and I've found that not only is it not terribly hard, it's a much healthier way of eating for us. I've stopped buying pretty much all processed food. We are eating a lot more vegetables and whole grains (rice mostly, because I can't get them to like things like quinoa) We aren't eating bread or baked goods. I've quit making fattening cream based casseroles or cheese covered dishes every time I turn around..lol. Some things we eat: Soups meat + veggies/salad rice pasta GF cereals Almond milk Lots of fruit We keep GF flour mixes on hand for when we have a hankering for cookies or cakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 My ds is on a totally gluten free diet in college. He eats eggs or gluten free cereal for breakfast, meat and veggies for lunch and he often makes gluten free pasta. He goes camping a lot and takes his own gluten free foods with him, cereal bars, cheese, gluten free pasta and rice, a trail mix that he makes himself. Many restaurants now have a gluten free menu now. Bisquick even has a gluten free mix. It is expensive, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 We've become a virtually gluten free household due to dh's obvious gluten intolerance, and my willingness to stop eating bread. Its no struggle really...we do have some bread in the freezer for guests and for dd somewtimes. Ds doesnt even like bread. I am happy with vegies, fruit and sometimes rice and other grains. Dh however used to love his bread- what he eats now are flavoured rice cakes. He goes out for breakfast a couple of days a week and takes his rice cakes and orders eggs on toast without the toast :) and then uses the rice cakes. He does the same at home. He is vegetarian but eats eggs daily. We don't eat pizza much either but I did buy some gluten free pizza bases the other day for a treat. DH doesnt generally like gluten free breads etc. For pasta, I make him separate rice pasta. Its not so hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Be careful when eating out, some eggs made from a mix have gluten and some types of grits have gluten added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Food4Thought Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 It's a lifestyle change, to be sure, but it's not impossible. I've been gfree, along with my DS7 for the last 2 years. Last summer, we opted to take it a step further and went completely grain, starch (potatoes), and sugar-free too. We were both absolutely addicted to bread, so the first few days off was incredibly difficult. Be warned that it may look like things are worse before they are better if you really are dealing with gluten intolerance. But within that first week, life for us turned into something wonderful and livable. My DH and DD eat gluten products at times, but I don't have any in the house. DS wouldn't eat any meats *until* I took him off gluten. Now he's a big fan of chicken and taco meat. We eat a ton of veggies and fresh fruits, and nuts like almonds and pistachios and cashews. He was a super picky eater before - now he'll eat ANYTHING. We eat at Taco Del Mar every Sunday. Their entire menu (minus the tortillas) is gluten free. Depending on where you live, there might be other options as well. Thai restaurants are good, Outback Steakhouse is great, and Wendy's has a gfree menu too. You just have to be careful. Check out the forums at celiac.com too. They are an excellent resource for answering all those beginning questions. I lived there for a few weeks while I was getting started. Now all of it is like second nature - not difficult at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 I'm going to have to order the test from Great Plains I suppose. I'm just so paranoid now...thinking the child isn't thriving or getting what he needs or is somehow wasting away b/c he is eating gluten. But dh is alive and if he is gluten intolerant...well...I suppose people do survive before figuring it out, right? :confused: Ds and dh do not have any type of physical symptoms that are uncomfortable or painful (diarrhea, constipation, stomach troubles, gas, vomiting, etc.). The only thing is the lack of weight gain and their skinny stature. I wish I could just go to sleep and have a dream that tells me one way or the other. Thanks for all the great info and advice. Keep it coming...I'm :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonor Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 My son likes the Udi's white sandwich bread which can be found in the freezer breakfast section of Publix. There pizza crust is good too but I found that at Whole Foods. The trick is to bake it for 8 minutes before putting the ingredients on it. I got these tips at www.dishtoweldiaries.com. This blog for gluten free cooking and baking is written by Silvana, the editor of Rachel Ray's magazine, who wrote Cooking for Isaiah. I have enjoyed this book. Her ds13 developed warts and doctor suggested immune system issues. She went to an alternative medicine doctor who said he gluten and dairy intolerance. After a few weeks of gluten/dairy free the warts disappeared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmyboys Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 (edited) People who do live GF get used to it and seem to not miss it. However, for *me*, I would only do it if I was really, really sure there was a gluten problem. If DH and DS have always been thin and they have no other symptoms, it may just be in their genes to be thin. I come from a very thin family. My SIL decided to put their family on a GF diet because her kids are very thin and short (not even on growth chart). They have been on the diet for a year now and they are just as short and thin as they were before. I think it is really hard on their family to do the diet, but she woudn't admit it. If we decide to go somewhere spontaneously they usually can't go because they don't have food to bring. Or, even worse, they come with us and have no food for hours. She will leave them for playdates with just lunchmeat and cheese-to eat all day (the host will usually have fruit and veggies). They eat a LOT of lunchmeat and cheese and eggs. When they are home they eat a balanced diet, but it is really hard for them to get good nutrition if they aren't home to cook for the day (from my perspective). Not impossible-but much more work. ETA: I don't mean to make it sound like they starve-it is just really hard for them to be spontaneous if the event involves food or if it is during a meal or snack time (like an afternoon at the pool, a day at the amusement park, a sporting event, etc). Good luck with your decisions! Edited January 17, 2011 by lovinmyboys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Gluten-free is a lot easier than dairy-free. Most big pizza companies make gluten-free pizza...not so much on the cheese-free. I have both issues, and if I could ditch one or the other based on the "eating out" principle...I'd be gluten-free vs. dairy-free any day of the week. Yes. My son finally outgrew a dairy allergy and it was such a relief. Life is much easier. If only he could have tomato now! I don't find gluten free that hard or inconvenient (away from home is a pain but that's because of other allergies more than the gluten). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Food4Thought Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I'm going to have to order the test from Great Plains I suppose. I'm just so paranoid now...thinking the child isn't thriving or getting what he needs or is somehow wasting away b/c he is eating gluten. But dh is alive and if he is gluten intolerant...well...I suppose people do survive before figuring it out, right? :confused: Ds and dh do not have any type of physical symptoms that are uncomfortable or painful (diarrhea, constipation, stomach troubles, gas, vomiting, etc.). The only thing is the lack of weight gain and their skinny stature. I wish I could just go to sleep and have a dream that tells me one way or the other. Thanks for all the great info and advice. Keep it coming...I'm :bigear: I was 30 when I opted to go GF. I had no stomach/intestinal symptoms. I did have depression, fatigue, a long history of vitamin deficiencies, and anemia, but no other symptoms that would be explained by a digestive problem. After going GF, I discovered that I was also dealing with chronic pain. Bad chronic pain. I didn't know. I'd lived 30 years like that, thinking it was perfectly normal to feel that way all the time. My mom was 60 when she went GF and discovered the same set of problems. She never would have known if we hadn't been doing some work with DS's diet to try to save him from his autistic rages. She, too, had been living with intense pain & chronic depression and was never able to track down the cause. It's not true for everyone - we have other family members who have tried GF, and it *hasn't* made a change for them. But for those of us who ARE living with gluten intolerance, this is an opportunity to live a new life. FYI: We haven't been tested. My Mom and brother both went through the blood and genetic tests with a doctor, but in order for a diagnosis of celiac disease you have to have an intestinal biopsy after eating a gluten-rich diet for 3 months. After that, you have a diagnosis, but still the only cure is just to stop eating gluten. Since they'd already cut out gluten, no one wanted to go back to eating it for fear they might commit suicide before the 3 months is up. I'm not interested in testing, since I know how I feel. It might be helpful in deciding for your DH, but there are a lot of false negatives with those kinds of tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5knights3maidens Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 (edited) The one prepared item that is well worth the cost to me and I'd say is ok to start with from the "get go" would be Tinkyada pasta. It's good. It really is--even if you're used to gluten. Other pastas we've tried have been sort of yucky honestly. "Schar" pastas are pretty good. I really like the spaghetti. So are their table crackers, and lady fingers. :001_smile: Our dd is gluten/casein/soy/color additives free and fruit/vegetable intolerances. It is getting easy now. I really don't buy alot of snacks, I like to bake them. :001_smile: (she can eat oatmeal) Our youngest dd is allergic to walnuts. Edited January 17, 2011 by 5knights3maidens Edited to add another item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atara Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I have to eat gluten free to heal my adrenals. Gluten affects adrenals!! Anyway, I find it's easy to do at home. But, when we eat out it's a nightmare! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I am gluten free. We tried the whole family but they complained. My ds has other food allergies as well. But if I cook it's gluten free. In the beginning it was hard. I had to adjust a lot of recipes. Eating out was a nightmare b/c of the additional allergies. But once I had all the info researched we could do it much easier. But honestly, some gluten free meals never agree with me. one place has a great gluten free menu but every time I am so sick after eating there I just had to say no. I might as well have gotten regular food. Anyway, the first few months adjusting your recipes and meals at home is the hard part. Finding a gluten free alternative takes time. I love Udi's bread, French Meadow Bakery breads. I make a flat bread I like but it doesn't last long so for just me it's too much. I make my own taco seasoning/ranch seasonings. I can make all sorts of sauces now but it took time. Some gluten free flour mixes are better than others. Oh, and the King Arthur GF mixes(pancakes!) are very good but expensive. Usually we did Gluten Free Pantry. I got to the point I preferred mixes for bread/pizza dough/pancakes b/c of time. It was worth it to have a box. I spend a lot of time researching that was something I finally gave in to. No regrets. I serve family a few times a year and it's always gluten free. No complaints :D That says a lot. But I will say, my kids and dh have their own cereals, bread for breakfast/lunches. And the kids have some crackers/cookies I don't eat. I have my own alternative. At this point they could be completely gluten free with me just taking away the cereal/crackers/bread and give them mine. good luck. It's worth it to feel better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 It's not bad when you get used to it or if you weight the benefits vs. the consequences of NOT being GF. For me, the benefits outweigh the inconvenience of doing some research before I eat out. There are so many good gluten free products and gf-friendly restaurants nowadays, that it's really not a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 DH and 4yo dd are gluten-free and 4yo dd and 2yo ds are low dairy (and no glasses of milk or yogurt). The rest of us do eat gluten, though all of our dinners are gluten-free. It has taken a little bit of getting used to but it hasn't been too bad. My kids aren't that fussy, so they all like the gluten-free baked goods that dh and I make. We make our own rice flours. We use gluten-free pasta sparingly. And I already made everything from scratch, so the biggest difference has been finding new recipes or tweaking recipes that we already love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derbygirl Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 A suggestion from what I learned the hard way: If you are thinking about getting your DS and/or DH tested for Celiac Disease (the blood test or biopsy), do it before you go off gluten or you will not get a valid result. Our first doctor didn't mention this to us:angry: I now know that I have two kids with Celiac Disease in my home. At first it was difficult but you do what you got to do. Hunt down some gluten-free soy sauce and enjoy some sushi. My kids would not believe that the baked items were meant to be eaten...what a waste of money. Think meat and potatoes and homemade rice dishes like stirfries and butter chicken. Gluten-free pasta is now a special treat. I am curious about zucchini pasta but haven't got there yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicAnn Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Eh, it's not that difficult. :) It IS overwhelming when you start...but that goes away after a few months. We eat out regularly...usually breakfast as that's so easy to make gluten free. Mexican and BBQ places are almost always full of choices for dinner. I can't write a long post right now, but I'd be happy to help walk you through the process or answer questions. Just PM me if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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