Gluten/wheat/egg Free Diet Questions?

[ConcernedMom]

I was just told to put my 15 mo old daughter on a Wheat-free, Gluten-free, Egg-free diet b/c of allergies and was hoping I could get a few answers here. All of this is brand new to us and we don't know much about this stuff.

1. Does corn starch contain any of these? I've read that starch is bad, but that corn is ok, but didn't know about corn starch versus other starches.

2. Does anyone know of multivitamin drops that are safe?

3. Are oat products OK? I've seen conflicting info on this.

4. Does anyone have a fairly detailed list of foods/ingredients for all 3 of these (wheat/gluten/egg) that we should avoid and/or a list of things that are OK?

I appreciate ANY help that anyone can offer.

[tarnalberry]

well, the good news is that you don't have to look at it as three restrictions - just two... gluten free and egg free. anything that's gluten free will be wheat free (not to mention rye free, barley free, and -sometimes- oat free).

pure cornstarch is gluten-free and EF, it's just part of the grain of corn.

I don't know about multivitamin drops, though many multi-vits do claim to be gluten-free/EF.

there's conflicting info because the answer isn't clear. the easiest way to simplify it (in my mind) is that some people are so sensitive to proteins that resemble gliandin (the protein in wheat) that not only do they react to the proteins in rye and barley, but also to avenin, the protein in oats. a few people on this site do not react to oats at all, and some don't react to McCann's (the only oats we KNOW doesn't have the cross-contamination issues the other manufacturers do), and some do react to any oats at all. the only way to know is to test it yourself.

I'm a fan of knowing everything that goes into your food - so I cook. so all fresh produce, meats, and unaltered dairy is fine. (some frozen meats have a glaze that may contain gluten, some flavored yogurts may have gluten-containing ingredients.) take a look around this site (and I'm sure someone will provide a link for you, I don't have one right now) for their safe/forbidden food list - it's very helpful, I think.

[ConcernedMom]

Tiffany,

Thank you so much for your response. I thought that wheat free and gluten free were 2 different things b/c I've seen it on the internet that way. For example, the following site says that they're not the same: Open Original Shared Link

Do you have any further info on this?

Thanks!

[plantime]

Your daughter has to follow the same diet I have to follow! Please keep in mind that an allergy to eggs usually translates into an allergy to all poultry products. I use Ener-G egg replacer, or 1 Tbsp ground flax mixed with 3 Tbsp warm water for each egg in my baking. It translates very well in my baking. The hardest part will be the fried and scrambled eggs: the substitutes cannot be used as eggs in those kinds of meals. Many egg-replacement products contain eggs, so you will have to read the labels closely. This diet is not bad to follow. She should be feeling much better in a couple of weeks. Just take a deep breath, and read labels!

[taneil]

ConcernedMom yes you are correct that Wheat-Free and Gluten-Free are to different issues. If you are only Wheat-Free you only have to eliminate wheat. However if you are Gluten-Free you have to eliminate wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats. Thus when you say Gluten-Free, that term already includes the elimination of wheat. So if you say "I am on a wheat-free and gluten-free diet" you are being redundant (sp?). Being Gluten-Free includes being Wheat-Free.

Thus a wheat-free product does not necessarily mean a gluten-free product. But a gluten-free product will always be a wheat-free product.

Hope this clears up your confusion.

[taneil]

I should have read your link first which says:

"Gluten is a mixture of proteins found in some cereals, particularly wheat. It is the gliadin component of gluten which is responsible for coeliac disease. A gluten-free diet is not the same as a wheat-free diet, and some gluten-free foods are not wheat free. Despite a good deal of research, it is unknown how or exactly why gluten harms the gut. It is now considered likely that coeliac disease involves an abnormal immunologic response, rather than an enzyme deficiency as was suggested in the past."

I am not sure how that can be unless they are talking about sprouted wheat. For you can have sprouted cereal grass such as that found in green food powders which can be wheat and yet the gluten is not present in fully sprouted cereal grass.

But I don't know for sure. I have never read that you can have a gluten-free food that contains wheat accept in the case of sprouted cereal grass.

[tarnalberry]

I'm with taneil on this, I have NO idea why your link says that a gluten-free food would contain wheat. If it contains wheat, it's going to have gluten, and hence not be gluten free. You could use the wheatgrass thing as a possible explanation, but you can't guarantee that wheatgrass is gluten free ever either (it's an asympotic thing... as they wheatgrass grows, the protein is used by the plant, so gluten content asymptotically approaches zero, but that doesn't say WHEN it is close enough to zero to not cause a reaction), so I wouldn't go with that either.

I didn't mean to imply they were "the same", and plantime explained it better - wheat-free is just a subset of being gluten-free. (And I'll argue that silly website about it 'til someone has a GOOD CASE for otherwise. ;-) :-P hehehehe :-) )

[plantime]

Here are a few things that I have not reacted to:

Great Value all-beef hotdogs

Banquet Frozen Dinners: ONLY the pot roast and sliced beef (the rest have wheat or poultry)

Beef and Pork bought from the butcher

Fruits

Vegetables

brick cheeses (I am can have dairy-not blue cheese)

Rice flour

bean flour

xanthan gum

flax seed (I bought a coffee grinder from Wal-Mart to grind it to powder)

Some beef taquitos

corn tortillas and taco shells

Also, I just baked a white cake using gluten-free flour on a cup-for-cup exchange, and added 1 tsp xanthan gum, and Ener-G's egg replacer. The cake was supposed to be yellow, I used a yellow cake recipe from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but it turned out white, and quite yummy! For cakes, cookies, and pancakes, I use Bette Hagman's basic gluten-free flour mix, for biscuits and bread I use the featherlite mix. There are many options now for us! Just remember to always read the labels: I was eating Lucky Charms until they changed the formula. I was quite sick, because I did not check the label when I bought the new box. You can buy the flours and such at a good health food store (look for one with an Asian market). They have ready-made goodies, too, but I am not willing to pay 1.29 for one little cookie! This diet is easy to follow, as long as you keep your cool. You can email me if you have any questions, I am glad to help!

[gf4life]

The link that ConcernedMom posted is based out of the United Kingdom. In the UK the Celiac Society there has approved WHEAT STARCH for use by Celiacs. They say the gluten has been removed in the processing and so it is safe. It is basically a similar issue as with Oats. A question of whether you want to risk it or not. In the US the Celiac groups here do not approve of the use of Wheat Starch. So in the UK Gluten free does NOT always mean Wheat free like it does in the US.

Hope this clears up a bit of the confusion. And it might make a difference to someone who is gluten free when they travel to the UK!

God bless,

Mariann

[Kim]

Also, the issue with oats is crosscontamination in the US because they rotate fields and then some wheat gets into the oats.

With US made products, you only need to look for gluten-free. Most of the gluten-free food manufacturers can tell you if their product is also egg free.

Good luck.

Kim.

[DLayman]

You could try www.pecanbread.com for some gluten free dairy and egg free recipes that are pretty kid friendly. Hope this helps!

Denise