Additional Things to Beware of to Maintain a 100% Gluten-Free Diet

Thank you so very much for all your hard work in presenting this information.

I join all those who appreciate you!

As a newly diagnosed gluten intolerant person trying to navigate the need to be gluten-free, I agree that you have done so much research and work. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Really appreciate all this free information. Thank you.

This thing just gets more daunting.

 

I thought I was on top of things, I no longer get GI distress (which was my normal for about a decade). I no longer fall off the wagon with "eh, it's worth a belly ache," followed by, "well, the damage is done, since I'm headed to bathroom all night, I may as well enjoy a piece of cake."

 

So I've been super good, I don't even have the cravings I used to have. I go to the doctor because I'm exhausted, achy, have muscle twitches and cramps... and it turns out a lot of important electrolytes are low (sodium, potassium, magnesium, and a few other are borderline low). So for lack of any other explanation, I'm thinking I must be eating these hidden glutens.

 

So, am I going to have to quarantine a cupboard in my house and never eat at a restaurant?

 

I don't even know if this is a question or a rant.

 

Does anyone else here ever feel like their diet is an inconvenience for their whole family?

I know how you feel. My fiance is Italian and loves his toast and pasta. I try so hard to keep my diet gluten free, or else I'll have the GI problems and extreme dizziness that turns my vision gray, headaches, weakness, pain, and even moodiness.

It's just hard when other people don't understand how many things contain gluten and where they hide.

He tries to understand me, but it's just beyond comprehension for someone without our problems. I'm not forcing him to stop eating toast or anything, it just feels like I need to cook two separate meals every once in a while to keep the peace.

I love mayo too and Cain's Mayonnaise (found in the New England states is gluten free) I live in Georgia and have someone I know up there send me 2-3 large jars in the cooler weather to get me thru.

I believe Hellmann's is also gluten free.

Thank you! I've just been diagnosed and I already feel more informed and know many things to watch for.

Diagnosed June '07, 3-month testing for anemia & celiac marker showed marked improvement. I'd been drinking Rice Milk for this past week & used up the end for gluten-free pancakes yesterday. I knew I'd been getting sicker again, but couldn't pinpoint the culprit. Saw this article last night, shocked to see Rice Milk at the top. Sure enough, when I retrieved the carton from the garbage, it was stated at the end of ingredients! I'd been so diligent all summer, how did I miss it? Just proves you should never let down your guard. I read labels throughout the grocery store, but how this got by my scrutiny, I'll never know!

The thing that makes me angriest is when things change their ingredients with no warning, and suddenly, a product one has been using for a long time becomes toxic. Uncle Ben's Long grain and Wild Rice did this to me years ago by adding orzo to it to stretch it - they did not say they were gluten free, but what should I have expected in "rice". Not a rice/pasta mix... and the price went up as well. Now I read the whole label every time, even though it has been fine in the past. My sympathy to you....

I am lactose, gluton, soy and corn intolerant. Do you have any suggestions?

10 hours ago, Guest Audrey said:

I am lactose, gluton, soy and corn intolerant. Do you have any suggestions?

I ended up with similar diet issues and allergies, I went to the paleo diet of just eating meats, nuts, seeds, veggies, I omit stuff like sweet potatoes, starchy veggies, and fruit since I also can not have carbs. But look up paleo recipes since they do not use grains most recipes are gluten free or easily modified.

Vegetable broth in canned fish. Found a brand of tuna that actually had water added, not vegetable broth and then they started adding the broth! Labels are misleading and recipes may be changed anytime. Be on guard constantly. I reacted to my "safe" brand and then read the label, now including veg broth.

Welcome to the forum @Pat Denman. I just want to mention that vegetable broth doesn't necessarily contain gluten, but it could. If there is wheat in it then it would need to be declared as an allergen on the label. I agree about being needing to be on guard, and always check the ingredient label carefully.

Sorry if I  misled you. I wasn't only concerned about gluten. Like some other Celiac people, especially those undiagnosed for many years, I have a cross reaction to salycillates. Even if no gluten in product, vegetable broth does contain salycillates. I may have reacted to salycillates but if gluten too, that is a double whammy! A woman in Australia tried to alert me 15 years ago to possible Celiac disease being source of my salycillate sensitivity but i was too ignorant to check it out. So even beck then, salycillate sensitivity was seen to be a possible Celiac symptom. I was never formally diagnosed Celiac. But when I could no longer get out of bed, I experimented with first bread, then biscuits and finally saltines. Then I stopped eating cereal products and regained much of my lost energy.