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Omg Nefarious Gluten!

C-Girl

By C-Girl
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

C-Girl Contributor
C-Girl
Posted

I'm so SO so so so ANGRY at myself! I am an IDIOT!!! After badgering the few restaurants I go to to make sure my meal is gluten free, after reading every f$#%ing label in the entire grocery store, I have been continuing to use this Open Original Shared Link from time to time. I got it at the local tienda, and I swear to christ that I read the ingredients 1000 times. But they're so small, so very tiny, that I can barely see the letters. Today I had my computer glasses on and after putting it on my eggs, I insinctively looked at the label. THERE IT IS - in tiny, barely legible letters, fourth ingredient: WHEAT FLOUR.

 

FML. FML! FML!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm going to go cry now. I'm an idiot. A stupid, stupid idiot. I can't even take care of keeping gluten OUT OF MY OWN HOME. How can I expect anyone else to keep me safe.

 

Idiot. IDIOT.

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BlessedMommy Rising Star
BlessedMommy
Posted

Take a deep breath!

 

Don't be embarrassed about it--mistakes happen to almost everybody! So many products contain gluten that the learning curve is very steep.

 

I was taking a supplement awhile back and somehow missed that it contained oat fiber.

 

It will be okay, you'll get this.

 

That is nuts, though, that a salsa contained wheat flour!

C-Girl Contributor
C-Girl
Posted
  • Author

Thanks bm - it's not embarrassment. It's fury. I've been struggling since September 2013 with this, trying to figure out what I can and can't eat after going 47 years never having a single problem eating anything until this suddenly all hit me. I've eliminated dairy, soy, fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, nightshades and now, thinking I'd discovered another one, red meat. Now I have no clue what is real and what's the salsa and god knows what else I've missed. I'm so tired of this, I really am. I don't honestly know if I can continue this way. I'm really tired of being sick all the time.

Slowvince Newbie
Slowvince
Posted

Thanks bm - it's not embarrassment. It's fury. I've been struggling since September 2013 with this, trying to figure out what I can and can't eat after going 47 years never having a single problem eating anything until this suddenly all hit me. I've eliminated dairy, soy, fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, nightshades and now, thinking I'd discovered another one, red meat. Now I have no clue what is real and what's the salsa and god knows what else I've missed. I'm so tired of this, I really am. I don't honestly know if I can continue this way. I'm really tired of being sick all the time.

Don't beat yourself up.  I was just diagnosed with Celiac and I went 59 years eating everything in sight with no real issues until weight loss and headaches.

bartfull Rising Star
bartfull
Posted

I keep a small magnifying glass in my purse so I can read the tiny writing on labels. It stinks that this happened but now that you know you can get back on track and who knows, maybe you'll find out that some of the stuff you thought was making you sick really wasn't.

 

So get a magnifying glass, go through everything in the house to double check it, then do another elimination diet. Yeah, it's a royal pain, but maybe this time the results will be good. Think positive and accept my (((((HUG))))) - it won't make you feel better but know that it is heartfelt.

C-Girl Contributor
C-Girl
Posted
  • Author

I keep a small magnifying glass in my purse so I can read the tiny writing on labels. It stinks that this happened but now that you know you can get back on track and who knows, maybe you'll find out that some of the stuff you thought was making you sick really wasn't.

 

So get a magnifying glass, go through everything in the house to double check it, then do another elimination diet. Yeah, it's a royal pain, but maybe this time the results will be good. Think positive and accept my (((((HUG))))) - it won't make you feel better but know that it is heartfelt.

 

Thanks Bart (hug) back.

icelandgirl Proficient
icelandgirl
Posted

Omg...I'm so sorry. (((Hugs)))

That's a tough one...at least now you've found it and won't eat it again. Maybe you'll even be able to add other food back in.

Love Barts idea of the magnifying glasses...my eyes aren't what they used to be.

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Thanks bm - it's not embarrassment. It's fury. I've been struggling since September 2013 with this, trying to figure out what I can and can't eat after going 47 years never having a single problem eating anything until this suddenly all hit me. I've eliminated dairy, soy, fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, nightshades and now, thinking I'd discovered another one, red meat. Now I have no clue what is real and what's the salsa and god knows what else I've missed. I'm so tired of this, I really am. I don't honestly know if I can continue this way. I'm really tired of being sick all the time.

Don't be too hard on yourself. It happens. Even with some of us real old timers. Just last week I went to Wendy's and ordered a delicious salad that the menu said was gluten free. Didn't read the fine print or notice the asterisks. Sure should have since the nuts were not gluten free and the chicken though grilled was cut on the same board as the breaded stuff. Work was not fun last week and I know that it will be another week or two before I am really back to normal.  

A magnifying glass is a great idea it can be really helpful not just with food but also topicals. Give yourself some time to heal and then maybe slowly add back in some of the stuff you thought you were reacting to when it was really the salsa. Fresh salsa is pretty easy to make so when you are feeling better you might want to make your own. You may never want to go back to the jarred stuff. 

LauraTX Rising Star
LauraTX
Posted

I am like you when something goes wrong, like when I found wheat flour in a chocolate ice cream (Blue Bell).  Fury.  I stood there in the kitchen yelling "What the -bleep-?!!" over and over... lol...It is kind of like a bad date night.  Just have to clean yourself off and move on.

badcasper Explorer
badcasper
Posted

So sorry!  I too use a magnifying glass because some prints are so tiny I can barely read them with my glasses on.  If your are worried about red meats, you should be.  I buy mine frozen from the health food store after reading a label on what claimed to be pure organic natural beef.  the label stated that the color of the meat was not an indication of freshness.  that tells me it has soy to preserve color and freshness. It looked very fresh and colorful.  don't give up.

LauraTX Rising Star
LauraTX
Posted

So sorry!  I too use a magnifying glass because some prints are so tiny I can barely read them with my glasses on.  If your are worried about red meats, you should be.  I buy mine frozen from the health food store after reading a label on what claimed to be pure organic natural beef.  the label stated that the color of the meat was not an indication of freshness.  that tells me it has soy to preserve color and freshness. It looked very fresh and colorful.  don't give up.

 

This is actually not correct.  If they are adding anything besides the meat, they are going to label it that way.  The real reason that statement is on the package is that a lot of shoppers think fresh meat= bright red, and if it is a darker or purple, it is no longer good.  It is actually the opposite that is true.  The meat surface gets red when it is exposed to oxygen, and there are some stores that package things like ground meat in the bubble packaging that lets air in, so it stays bright red and the consumer perceives it as fresh.  If you want good steak, look for a fresh cut that is more purplish.  That is also why you will find that the middle of some chunks of ground beef, etc, are more brown/purple in color.  The oxygen isn't getting in there.

Frozen beef from the health food store was probably fresh cut and then frozen soon after, so if the color is not bright red, some consumers may assume it is not as fresh.  They likely put that statement on there to assure customers who think as such, and let them know that yes, the beef is good to eat.  It is a popular misconception.

 

Here is more info on that:

 

Open Original Shared Link

 

 

And another more simple explanation: 

Open Original Shared Link

badcasper Explorer
badcasper
Posted

Thank you for that.  I must be paranoid with my food phobias.  The health food store meat is expensive and it was also red.  I used to buy my steaks from braums because they were so good although they did not look as good in color.  They were air tight packaged and a purple like color.  I may go back to that. Thanks again.

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

Huh, I didn't know that either.  I've been spoiled my entire life with beef that we butchered at an uncle's farm.  It was all quite red, cut up, packaged, frozen and stayed bright red.... I don't know... when we cut the meat it is pretty red, but it has been hanging for a week in a cooler.  And when my husband butchers deer and elk it is quite red....

 

When an animal is killed its muscle tissue is pretty red, so now I'm completely confused.  LOL

LauraTX Rising Star
LauraTX
Posted

With the elk and deer, you are butchering it pretty on the packagesoon after it is dispatched, so I would think there is still plenty of oxygen left to keep the muscles red.  Beef is often aged, like those big parts of cows you see hanging in some butcher shops, so that would give it plenty of time to go purplish.  But either way, red does not mean not fresh,  It just depends on how much oxygen it was exposed to. So, the wording "the color of the meat is not an indication of freshness" on the package of meat was completely correct. Companies just know we shop with our eyes, kind of like how people always pick the perfect giant bright red strawberries even though the small ones taste the best, etc.

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

Interesting....

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