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Ncgi And Gluten-Free Substitutes?

nostalgic

By nostalgic
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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nostalgic Rookie
nostalgic
Posted

So I've read a lot about how you should avoid gluten-free substitutes for awhile after you begin a gluten-free diet because your gut needs to heal up. My question is, if you are not a celiac, does this still apply? My impression is that celiacs have actual damage done to their gut, not sure if this is the case for people with NCGI? I realize a whole foods diet is the best idea but gluten-free substitutes are just so convenient for me and I'm still at college with a shared gluten kitchen (yes, I realize the situation is not ideal for CC, but I'm going to try to minimize it anyway). Any input would be appreciated.

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mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I don't know that it is a matter of being celiac or not. It is just that your gut is not happy with gluten, and you are trying to make it happy by changing your diet. In so doing you don't want to introduce it to other things that might upset it. There are many substitutes in gluten free processed food that you may not have eaten before, and to present those to your intestinal tract when it is at sixes and sevens already is probably not the best idea. Give it a chance to calm down and stop reacting to things a bit first. Things like quinoa, amaranth, millet, are typically not in the SAD (standard American diet :) ). It wouldn't hurt to buy some Tinkyada pasta, and some Udi's bread, even some Pamela's baking mix for some occasional pancakes or cookies, but we are really talking about not going out and purchasing a substitute for every gluten thing you are used to eating. :D

Takala Enthusiast
Takala
Posted

You can go by how you feel, and introduce one new item at a time to see how you react to it. I was very, very strict and avoiding starches for a long time because I simply could not process them at all. Then, after a few years, I finally got to the honeymoon phase and got to try a lot of different items and got to experiment with baking a lot. And I am actually happy that people who are not hyper sensitive DO have lots of gluten free foods to eat, believe it or not, even if I'm not using them. But I have become very sensitive to cross contamination of certain ingredients common to gluten free foods, and that means I'm mostly back on whole food type items and not the more exotic stuff. I'm also insulin resistant, and that is another inherited trait made worse by lack of diagnosis when I was younger. This isn't anybody's "fault," it is just the way it goes with some of us. If I was much younger, had a faster metabolism, and was busy with college and wanted to eat some commercially made gluten free cereal and bread, I'd certainly give it a whirl. I think plain gluten free brown rice pasta is wonderful stuff. If I gained weight and felt bad or developed old or new symptoms, I'd take it back out. The "crazy making" is other people's obsessions with how much other people they are looking at .... weigh. :blink: Uh, I am well aware that I am off the perfection chart for body mass index and probably have been for over 4 decades now, thank you for informing me. The only way I am going to be thin with this bone structure is if I become terminal with something. I also have been exercising the entire time except for periods of injury, and when I was nearly knocked down by this disease no one could diagnose, and as a result I am probably able to do more things than the average, so- called "normal" woman of my age, even if I do not look marvelous in tight stretchy yoga clothes when doing it. :P

nostalgic Rookie
nostalgic
Posted
  • Author

Thanks everyone for the thorough responses :) That makes a lot of sense, I will probably keep a food diary just to see if any new sensitivities appear, but I probably will only be eating a gluten-free substitute or less a day. I definitely plan to eat a lot of Tinkyada since it's easy to make some pasta and I think it's pretty yummy (and so does my gluten roommate--she can't tell the difference). I'm also a big fan of Van's waffles since they are so easy to make. I may go easy on any snacks for a bit, or stick to normal gluten free ones (fruit, cheese, candy :o:P, etc).

Sorry to hear about your metabolism and complications from such a long period of going undiagnosed. I'm actually fairly significantly underweight, mainly from other illnesses :/ so putting on weight would definitely be a positive. I'm keeping my fingers crossed no other intolerances pop up, but I'm definitely going to keep my eye out.

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