[Roda]

My friend told me yesterday her husband was told by the allergist that he is allergic to wheat, rye, barley, corn, citrus, egg yolk, melons and anything in the gourd family. I believe all this showed up on his skin tests. I have known them for the past 5 1/2 years and have know her husband to have diarrhea and flare ups of "diverticulitis" and he has psorasis. In the last month all this got worse as did his mood and demenor. She was thinking maybe he quit dipping and was irritable from withdrawl. They are a little overwelmed right now and don't know what to eat. I am going over to her house on Monday to help her sort some things out and take her shopping. She is a little familure with gluten free stuff because she is one of my friends that has tried alot of my experiments. I am planning on giving her all the information I know and can about avoiding the first three, but need some help on the corn issue. Some things are obvious, but was wondering about "hidden corn" in things. For example carmal color and fructose made from corn. What about corn in meds? I have noticed alot of people on here have problems with corn also. I was also curious about any pectin that might be derived from citrus also. They were told he could have oats, but I told her about the cross-contamination issue with them. She asked me if he should go gluten free and I said for all intended purpose he already is and even though his is an allergy, the diet is still the same for one with celiac. I think his diverticulitis is stemming from this. Can someone have celiac and allergy to wheat etc.? Should he get screened for the celiac also? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[lizard00]

Yes, it's possible to be allergic to wheat, barley, and rye and have celiac. It's also possible to be allergic to those things and not have celiac. It probably would be a good idea for him to be tested for celiac.

Since he is allergic to wheat, barley and rye, if he cuts those things out of his diet then he will be gluten-free. As you know, it'll be harder to deal with the other food allergies.

[Mother of Jibril]

I have problems with corn. I thought it was just an intolerance, but I'm becoming suspicious that's it a true allergy... I have an appointment with an allergist on Thursday. The problem with corn is that it's in EVERYTHING. IMO, it's a lot more difficult to cut out of your diet than gluten. It's not considered one of the "major allergens" so you have to be a real label detective... and the problems with cross-contamination are ridiculous. For example, I recently learned that Bob's Red Mill products (which are gluten-free) are contaminated with corn.

Anyway... here's a helpful site that someone else recommended to me:

http://www.cornallergens.com/

The best advice I can give... even though it's not easy... it to be extremely suspicious of restaurants and all processed foods. Eat a really pure diet (meat, fresh fruits and vegetables) until your system starts to calm down and you can tell when you're getting cross-contaminated. Otherwise, you might think brands are safe when they're not.

[Roda]

Mother of Jibril, on Feb 8 2009, 05:00 PM, said:

I have problems with corn. I thought it was just an intolerance, but I'm becoming suspicious that's it a true allergy... I have an appointment with an allergist on Thursday. The problem with corn is that it's in EVERYTHING. IMO, it's a lot more difficult to cut out of your diet than gluten. It's not considered one of the "major allergens" so you have to be a real label detective... and the problems with cross-contamination are ridiculous. For example, I recently learned that Bob's Red Mill products (which are gluten-free) are contaminated with corn.

Anyway... here's a helpful site that someone else recommended to me:

http://www.cornallergens.com/

The best advice I can give... even though it's not easy... it to be extremely suspicious of restaurants and all processed foods. Eat a really pure diet (meat, fresh fruits and vegetables) until your system starts to calm down and you can tell when you're getting cross-contaminated. Otherwise, you might think brands are safe when they're not.

I just went to that site. I will be sure to share. I am really glad I don't have to deal with the corn problem. It seems a lot more daunting than gluten free. Anyway, I read that xanthan gum is derived from corn. So much for me sharing my gluten free flours. Does anyone have a good all purpose recipe for gluten free flour without xanthan gum? What do you use instead of it? Thanks.

[purple]

I am answering to the ? of what to eat. I made these waffles again yesterday. We love them!

http://www.recipezaar.com/312803

I use Bob's Red Mill Flour, it doesn't have corn starch, has bean flour. I use 1 1/2 cups.
I make them with df milk, usually almond and finely chopped almonds.
The recipe takes a banana instead of egg and I keep one in the freezer all the time in the peel, then thaw and squeeze it out.
Sometimes I add berries or mini choc chips (to mine...mmm)
Above items make these with lots of protein and fiber.
My dd makes a hashbrown sandwich with them or peanut butter.
Wrap and freeze the leftovers for a fast breakfast. They are so good you can eat them plain right out of the toaster.
Spray the waffle iron and don't over fill it, messy.
My dh eats 4 squares and he's not allergic to wheat, yet

[Takala]

I was supposedly allergic to an incredible number of foods when they skin tested me as a child about 3 decades ago, but after going off of them with no difference (and none of the supposed allergens were wheat) I started eating them again. Changing my diet to avoiding the wheat family back in 2003 also cut down the number of "unknown" or mystery allergy reactions I was having. What I am saying is that he might actually be able to add in some of the other stuff again once he finds out what the real culprit is. Blood tests are more accurate than skin tests.

You may want to ask this same question about substitutes for xanthan gum and others at the baking section for this site. Try shooting shayFL a message as I think she was the one who was using chia seeds as a binding substitute. I was going to experiment with this but the only chia seeds I have seen locally at the health food stores are in a bulk bin container and the spoons were so obviously cross contaminated with the dust of other products there was no way I was going to dip anything out of that container. I have also heard that boiled flaxseed works as a gumming agent, as does guar gum and plain gelatin. I was going to suggest eggs but that's out for your friend.

[Roda]

My friend says since the weekend cutting out the foods she knew to has made a big difference in just a few days. I told her not to get to discouraged with him that he is going to make mistakes at first. I at least helped her with the wheat/gluten free stuff and she can read lables and look for his other allegens from there. Thanks a lot for all the advice. It feels good to help someone else.

[mommida]

There are some products by Enjoy Life that are free of all top allergens (snack bars, candy bars, the chocolate chips are awesome!) Very nice for avoiding gluten and eggs.
Tinkyada pastas are my favorite.
Glutino products are very good. These are gluten free so read the labels for the rest of the allergens.
There are plenty of good things to eat, but it is difficult at first.