Gluten-free "newbie" Package

[shellbean]

I saw on one of the replies on this forum that one of you have a "newbie" gluten-free diet starters package with files/emails to help someone new get started? I can't find that reply with your email address to request the package. I haven't been diagnosed but I am going to try the diet to see if it helps but I am overwhelmed with where to begin. It seems everything I pick up has wheat in it. How do you know what contains gluten? So many things have weird names that I don't know if it is gluten or not. Any help on where to begin is GREATLY appreciated!

[alexandria]

I saw on one of the replies on this forum that one of you have a "newbie" gluten-free diet starters package with files/emails to help someone new get started? I can't find that reply with your email address to request the package. I haven't been diagnosed but I am going to try the diet to see if it helps but I am overwhelmed with where to begin. It seems everything I pick up has wheat in it. How do you know what contains gluten? So many things have weird names that I don't know if it is gluten or not. Any help on where to begin is GREATLY appreciated!

I would also like to have the "newbie" packet. It is very overwhelming! thanks,

[jerseyangel]

Nini is the person offering the newbie kit--you could PM her with your e-mail address.

[Lauren M]

The University of Chicago's Celiac program will send you a HUGE basket full of info and gluten-free food if you've recently been diagnosed with a biopsy. I forget the exact rules (maybe has to be within 6 months of diagnosis?), but I got one when I was first diagnosed and it was very helpful and best of all, free!

- Lauren

[Guest nini]

That would be me with the files... I have a "newbie survival kit" that I've put together. It includes restaurant menus, naturally gluten free meal suggestions, the Delphi list, 50 things to eat right now and more...

it's in a zip file (archived) file format so it is easier to e-mail... but you do need to have an unzip program on your computer to be able to open it. I can e-mail the individual files by themselves but it takes forever...

If you want this, just e-mail me at nisla@comcast.net and I will gladly send it to you. In the subject line, just put "request newbie survival kit"

[sparkles]

I recently found a website which I got from one of the posts here called www.celiacsociety.com that is extremely easy to navigate and has lots of food information. You might find though that cutting out wheat, rye, barley, and oats is easier without trying to supplement your diet with the gluten-free foods that are supposed to taste like the "real" thing. Give your system time to heal and then start adding some of the packaged gluten-free foods. A lot of the gluten-free foods are just empty calories....at least, to me. They don't taste as good as the real stuff and the texture is definitely different. I started adding gluten-free foods about 6 months after I was diagnosed and by then had kind of forgotten what the "real" stuff tasted like. It is just easier to keep your meals as simple and as easy as possible. Otherwise, you spend hours in the grocery store trying to figure out what you can eat and what you can't and end up looking at all the stuff you used to eat and getting really discouraged. Find a few companies that really label their things correctly, don't have cross contamination in the processing and packaging facilities and just go with them for the time being. It gets really confusing. Food, at least in my family, was an important part of socializing and to be honest it still is. There are family comfort foods that I will never be able to eat again...foods that I remember fondly that were only served at big family dinners. there is a mourning process that you go through. I know that sounds stupid but a really big part of your life is changing. I know that even though I felt better and never wanted the "glutened" symptoms back, there were times that I really felt sorry for myself. Going to the grocery store was a challenge and a 2 hour ordeal. Every product that I looked at had to be checked, the ingredients had to be read...it was frustrating. So I basically decided to deal with one thing at a time. I went gluten-free first...ate lots of hamburger and lettuce with oil and vinegar or lemon on the top and then after 6 months, started adding one or two new foods a week. For me, it was just easier. I remember one time, about 6 months after going gluten-free, my daughter found some gluten-free bread and made me a toasted BLT. It was the first sandwich that I had had in 6 months and even though the bread left lots to be desired it tasted really good because it had been such a long time since I had had one. I occasionally have a grilled cheese sandwich and they are good. Anyway, everyone who is diagnosed has to find the right formula for going gluten-free. What works for one person may not work for everyone. It is a life changing diagnosis. I have diabetis and have had colon cancer so I have dealt with difficult medical diagnoses but the celiac disease is forever on my mind. I could occasionally cheat on the diabetic diet and the cancer doesn't require daily decision making for the rest of your life. celiac disease requires daily decision making and you CANNOT cheat. There is no such thing as only a "little" gluten. Try the celiac society website and don't get discouraged and when you do, come here....we have all had the same nasty symptoms and you need to be around people who understand just what an impact celiac disease has on your life!

[CMCM]

I recently found a website which I got from one of the posts here called www.celiacsociety.com that is extremely easy to navigate and has lots of food information. You might find though that cutting out wheat, rye, barley, and oats is easier without trying to supplement your diet with the gluten-free foods that are supposed to taste like the "real" thing. Give your system time to heal and then start adding some of the packaged gluten-free foods. A lot of the gluten-free foods are just empty calories....at least, to me. They don't taste as good as the real stuff and the texture is definitely different. I started adding gluten-free foods about 6 months after I was diagnosed and by then had kind of forgotten what the "real" stuff tasted like. It is just easier to keep your meals as simple and as easy as possible. Otherwise, you spend hours in the grocery store trying to figure out what you can eat and what you can't and end up looking at all the stuff you used to eat and getting really discouraged. Find a few companies that really label their things correctly, don't have cross contamination in the processing and packaging facilities and just go with them for the time being. It gets really confusing. Food, at least in my family, was an important part of socializing and to be honest it still is. There are family comfort foods that I will never be able to eat again...foods that I remember fondly that were only served at big family dinners. there is a mourning process that you go through. I know that sounds stupid but a really big part of your life is changing. I know that even though I felt better and never wanted the "glutened" symptoms back, there were times that I really felt sorry for myself. Going to the grocery store was a challenge and a 2 hour ordeal. Every product that I looked at had to be checked, the ingredients had to be read...it was frustrating. So I basically decided to deal with one thing at a time. I went gluten-free first...ate lots of hamburger and lettuce with oil and vinegar or lemon on the top and then after 6 months, started adding one or two new foods a week. For me, it was just easier. I remember one time, about 6 months after going gluten-free, my daughter found some gluten-free bread and made me a toasted BLT. It was the first sandwich that I had had in 6 months and even though the bread left lots to be desired it tasted really good because it had been such a long time since I had had one. I occasionally have a grilled cheese sandwich and they are good. Anyway, everyone who is diagnosed has to find the right formula for going gluten-free. What works for one person may not work for everyone. It is a life changing diagnosis. I have diabetis and have had colon cancer so I have dealt with difficult medical diagnoses but the celiac disease is forever on my mind. I could occasionally cheat on the diabetic diet and the cancer doesn't require daily decision making for the rest of your life. celiac disease requires daily decision making and you CANNOT cheat. There is no such thing as only a "little" gluten. Try the celiac society website and don't get discouraged and when you do, come here....we have all had the same nasty symptoms and you need to be around people who understand just what an impact celiac disease has on your life!

I think your advice about NOT trying the gluten free substitutes for awhile is very very GOOD. I've been trying the subs and having some problems, and the things I try, despite being both gluten and dairy free, have seemingly caused some upsets. Since everything else I eat is just plain meat, veggies, fruit, I have to assume it's the specialty foods I'm testing. And I'm not having much, either. I have to ask myself if I'm able to have ANY grain at all, including rice. But in the various gluten-free foods there are some kind of lousy fats and things to make up for the lack of gluten, and I'm wondering if that could be it. In my pre-gluten-free/CF days I was totally aware that high fat or fried foods did not agree with me and I've always avoided or minimized these things. I think I still have to do that, and just eating fairly plain "naked" food as they say, is a good idea for at least a few months!