[twinmami]

I am new to this site and to the whole idea of living gluten free. i've had exzema for many years and it recently got really bad. I've done alot of research and have been recommended to follow a gluten free diet which i have no idea what that means. Is gluten an actual ingredient that I can find on food labels?
I was also told to avoid dairy,wheat,oats rye and barley. My typical breakfast was a bowl of cheerios with soya milk and then for lunch a sandwich on whole wheat bread and whole wheat rice for dinner.
Now I'm just totally confused about what I can eat to help my condition. I'm hispanic and love to eat "arepas" which made with white corn meal flour. is there any way of knowing if this is gluten free?
Can anyone give me some basic guidelines to get me started.
Thanks so Much

I was also told to eat naturally fermented foods which I have no idea what these are?

[Ursa Major]

Hi Twinmami (I guess you must have twins ), and welcome to this board.

Well, gluten is the protein in wheat, rye, barley and triticale (which is a hybrid of wheat and rye), and oats are bad, because they are usually contaminated in the factory.

Avoiding dairy for a while is a good idea, because right now your intestines probably can't digest dairy, until they heal (unless you tested intolerant to casein, then you can't ever have dairy again).

What you were eating for dinner was probably brown rice, which has no wheat and is fine, you can keep having that.

Your arepas are probably fine, too. Corn flour has no gluten. If you only use corn flour for them (and I believe that is the only flour ingredient), then they are no problem.

You will have to give up your sandwich on whole wheat flour for lunch. Eat corn tortillas (isn't that what arepas are?) with beans or meat, and vegetables instead.

Here is a link to a website that belongs to Nini, a member here. She has put together a lot of information that would be very helpful to you. She calls it her 'Newbie survival kit'. When you get to the website, scroll down to the bottom and click on 'newbie survival kit zip file'. If you have problems with zip files, go to the other link, where you'll find the single files to download. Here's the link: Nini's website

I don't know why you were told to eat fermented foods, either. Maybe somebody else knows.

[rinne]

Welcome Twinmami, Ursula has set you on a good path and this is a great site with lots of really helpful advice.

I'm still in the being overwhelmed stage myself but after being largely gluten free (a couple of accidental glutenings) I am feeling so much better I can't believe I felt as badly as I did for as long as I did.

[BRUMI1968]

The suggestion to eat fermented foods probably comes from the idea that fermented foods aid in digestion, especially proteins and fats. AND it is especially important for the absorption of B12, which many folks with celiac have a deficiency in. Most cultures have some form of fermented foods, though I'm having trouble thinking of hispanic foods that fit this bill. Yoghurt maybe? There are some drinks based on fermented plants, pulque and tepache, fermented beverages made from the maguey plant and pineapple, respectively -- but those are alcohol and have their own set of problems.

If you want the healthiest kind, they need to be raw veggies; or if you can eat dairy, then kefir is good. It is like yoghurt, only liquid.

I eat raw sauerkraut. I thought it would be gross - but it is good. It is just chopped cabbage that is fermented. In this case, it is raw. It does seem to be helping me - and it seems to be making my skin really nice, which is an added bonus.

I'd focus mostly on the getting rid of the gluten, then worry about the smaller things. If your problem is celiac, you should notice a change in your skin problems pretty quickly I would think. At least I did, though my problem was not very bad.

Good luck.