Struggling with food - Please Help

[ConfusedCeliac]

Hi everyone,

Just a small introduction, I am 26 years old male from England, London and am a newly diagnosed Celiac that is struggling very much with foods and I need you guys' help. I have lost alot of weight so I'm quite skinny too at the moment.

In addition to being a Celiac, i am also lactose intolerant (but can eat dairy in small quantities) and allergic to eggs, nuts, peas, lentils and sweetcorn.

As you can see, life was a bit tough before, but now its much more tougher since even eating out proves extremely difficult.

I have seen many items that are gluten free e.g. Quaker Oats Gluten Free range, however according to this forum alot of these gluten-free products are cross contaminated, so I'm really struggling and confused on what is safe to eat.

At present, I am mainly eating potatoes and rice for carbs and chicken and fish for protein. But it is difficult eating the same foods over and over again and struggling to make up the calories with just these foods.

It would be great if you guys can recommend me some actual products that are available in England that are safe to eat e.g. Gluten free bread or Gluten free Pasta.

Thanks guys 

 

[Ennis-TX]

3 hours ago, ConfusedCeliac said:

Hi everyone,

Just a small introduction, I am 26 years old male from England, London and am a newly diagnosed Celiac that is struggling very much with foods and I need you guys' help. I have lost alot of weight so I'm quite skinny too at the moment.

In addition to being a Celiac, i am also lactose intolerant (but can eat dairy in small quantities) and allergic to eggs, nuts, peas, lentils and sweetcorn.

As you can see, life was a bit tough before, but now its much more tougher since even eating out proves extremely difficult.

I have seen many items that are gluten free e.g. Quaker Oats Gluten Free range, however according to this forum alot of these gluten-free products are cross contaminated, so I'm really struggling and confused on what is safe to eat.

At present, I am mainly eating potatoes and rice for carbs and chicken and fish for protein. But it is difficult eating the same foods over and over again and struggling to make up the calories with just these foods.

It would be great if you guys can recommend me some actual products that are available in England that are safe to eat e.g. Gluten free bread or Gluten free Pasta.

Thanks guys 

 

There are plenty of meat, steak, stew, etc dishes you can eat with rice, You can also do fried rice Mexican or Asian style with spices. Tomato based soups, and sauces are nice, IF you can have quinoa there are plenty of options there for mixing stuff up, risotto or Congee is always nice, look up recipes for these.  I used to make savory and sweet rice risottos, made a nice one in a beef broth with stew meat and potatoes...I miss eating rice and meat . You can do it all different cuisines to mix it up with spices and bases from beef, chicken, tomato, to using spices from Mexican, Italian, Asian, french, even BBQ.   At least you have those still, anyway there is 2 brands of noodles I can think of but you will have to get them on amazon or import them. Lundburg makes all kinds of instant rice dishes and rice pasta types that are gluten free and just rice.  There are 3 companies that make a konjac noodle that are gluten free the main one is miracle noodle. YOU can use these in all kinds of dishes from spaghetti, lasagna, etc.    Few thoughts on alternatives, You can make veggie noodles out of zucchini, you can even slice it long ways into long slices for use in a lasagna as the noodles just layer them, on this application you can make ratatouille also layering stuff like zucchini, egg plant, squash, and even add some bell peppers. I used to do this with my own sauce and ground lean turkey sausage or longhorn burger in layers....still have one customer I make this for at least twice a yea doing chef work.  Sweet Potatoes are another very versatile food, you can make frys, hash browns, baked ope, fried slices, dried chips, puree into a flax milk for a allergen friendly creamy soup.  (I personally have some nice dairy free cheese extracts I would add to this to really bring it out)  You can use stuff like konjac flour for a thickener in soups it works like corn starch only x10 the thickening amount and adds fiber, very handy in the celiac diet (takes some getting used to and trial and error first time I used it.,,,,I made the blob).  There are a few other grains out there like sorghum, quinoa, buckwheat, etc that you can make stews, gruel, soups, etc out of.

I also make some good hearty sauces out of avocado and milk of choice (seed milks like flax, quinoa, rice would be your bet) with some garlic and Italian spices, Can make a great Alfredo like sauce and adds healthy fats and you can drizzle it over anything or use for dipping, adding some onion and mustard go for a french dip or add dill mustard, onion for a ranch/dill dip. BASE for this is 1 cup milk of choice, 2/3 cup fully mashed avocado (160g),1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste, blend in a blender then pour in s sauce pan heating slowly and stir, You can add a few tsp of oil to make it work with noodles better and add richness.  Then season to taste as mentioned above, this is quite fun one to work with and you pour or stir it in with anything that needs a rich non dairy sauce, KAL nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavor if you wish to take it up a notch.

Other thoughts for noodles, spaghetti squash noodles, and deli meat noodles. You can take thin cut gluten free deli meat (careful for cornstarch here and fresh deli cut are a nono due to contamination check ingredients) and cut it into ribbons for use mixed with veggie noodles are just by themselves, You will find certain meats like this in stir fries, soups, and pasta dishes really add a nice twist.

 

[Jmg]

Hello and welcome

45 minutes ago, Ennis_TX said:

In addition to being a Celiac, i am also lactose intolerant (but can eat dairy in small quantities) and allergic to eggs, nuts, peas, lentils and sweetcorn.

Ouch! Ok, that's tough. However, you say newly diagnosed, how long have you been gluten free? It could be that some of those intolerances will go as you progress on the gluten-free diet. A lot of celiacs are able to reintroduce dairy for instance. How were your food allergies diagnosed and by whom out of interest?

3 hours ago, ConfusedCeliac said:

It would be great if you guys can recommend me some actual products that are available in England that are safe to eat e.g. Gluten free bread or Gluten free Pasta.

Open Original Shared LinkThey will send you a directory which has gluten-free foods split via supermarket and also by type. The info is also available on an app. It's absolutely essential for newcomers to the diet and would be money well spent. They can also put you in touch with fellow celiacs in your area for some mutual support and maybe food ideas. Also come and introduce yourself on this thread and see what we've been recommending, it's not good for you but it would help you put on weight 

All the items in the Free from sections at the supermarkets should be fine. For bread, it's all ok toasted. Genius makes some decent sandwich bread and the tesco own brand is good value and ok. I like the tortillas which are on sale there but they're a little pricey. Plenty of pasta available and if you get to an ALDI you may still get some very good value gluten-free food which they've just had on sale for coeliac awareness week. 

There are strict rules in the UK regarding food labelling and production, more so that in the US I believe where most forum members are based. If you find something in the gluten-free section in UK then it should be safe to eat. Oats which aren't marked gluten-free should be avoided but Open Original Shared Link

Oh and if you've just been diagnosed there's also some good info here: 

Hope this of help! 

All the best,

Matt

[sddave]

Ensure Plus contains vitamins and minerals needed for celiac.  Also, helps to keep ON weight.....expensive though.   I can only handle drinking a half bottle at a time.   I drink half in the morning and half in the evening.  Good luck.

 

Open Original Shared Link

[Ennis-TX]

ON topics for meal replacement shakes there are two I might suggest Pioneer Labs make a shake specifically for people with celiac disease. And I might suggest MRM Meal replacement for a low carb vegan quick shake. There are a few others out there but I prefer ones that do not use a bunch of ground up fruits, veggies, plants etc in it to avoid intolerance foods.

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

ALSO these lack dairy which can be HUGE issue for people with celiac as the villi tips that produce the enzymes to breakdown lactose are normally damaged and not working as well or at all.

IF you do not mind a full combination bomb of random foods in a thick shake......look up Garden of life RAW MEAL stuff is like everything not gluten shoved into powdered shake for a full meal. Stuff is super thick if you use something hot with it and makes a thick soup....used to eat it years ago. really really and acquired taste.