Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Grocery Shopping while gluten-free

leni kate
 Share

Recommended Posts

leni kate Newbie
leni kate
Posted

Hi everyone, 

I'm soon planning to cut out gluten for medical reasons, but I've been having a hard time with this. I know some products are labeled gluten free, but sometimes I have to really closely examine the ingredients and this takes a lot of time. (I also do not eat only whole foods as I'm a college student on a budget lol). Anyone experience anything similar or have any tips for me?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


trents Grand Master
trents
Posted
(edited)

Welcome, leni kate.

What do you mean by whole foods? Do you mean no processed food as in mixes and things with ingredient lists containing many chemical names? Only fresh meat, fruit and vegetables?

There are apps available that can help with eating gluten free. They scan barcodes. https://www.verywellfit.com/gluten-free-iphone-apps-to-help-you-shop-eat-out-563103

 

Have you been diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity? How sensitive to gluten are you?

Edited by trents
Scott Adams Grand Master
Scott Adams
Posted

Welcome to the forum!

Just in case you didn't find our Forbidden List, I've included it below. I think everyone should learn to read ingredient labels, and learn what's safe and what's not. It can take more time, but is worth the investment. Also, keep in mind that allergen labelling laws in the USA do require "wheat" to be declared as an allergen if it is in the product, however this is not true for barley and its derivatives, which are used far less often than wheat derived ingredients.

  

leni kate Newbie
leni kate
Posted
  • Author
1 hour ago, trents said:

Welcome, leni kate.

What do you mean by whole foods? Do you mean no processed food as in mixes and things with ingredient lists containing many chemical names? Only fresh meat, fruit and vegetables?

There are apps available that can help with eating gluten free. They scan barcodes. https://www.verywellfit.com/gluten-free-iphone-apps-to-help-you-shop-eat-out-563103

 

Have you been diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity? How sensitive to gluten are you?

Thanks for the app recommendation! Yes that is what I mean, (so to clarify, yes I do eat foods with many ingredients and chemical names sometimes). I do not have celiac disease, I have rheumatoid arthritis and am going to try cutting out gluten to see if my symptoms improve as I know this is a popular diet for many of those with autoimmune diseases.

leni kate Newbie
leni kate
Posted
  • Author
29 minutes ago, Scott Adams said:

Welcome to the forum!

Just in case you didn't find our Forbidden List, I've included it below. I think everyone should learn to read ingredient labels, and learn what's safe and what's not. It can take more time, but is worth the investment. Also, keep in mind that allergen labelling laws in the USA do require "wheat" to be declared as an allergen if it is in the product, however this is not true for barley and its derivatives, which are used far less often than wheat derived ingredients.

  

Thank you for this!

GF-Cate Enthusiast
GF-Cate
Posted

It is really time consuming to grocery shop at first, though once you figure out which brands you like and which stores carry which things, it does get easier & quicker. But you'll probably have to dedicate more time to it at first (and unfortunately it is generally more expensive).

Look for the "certified gluten free" labeling and "gluten free" labeling (good to read up on the differences - CGF is under 10ppm (parts per million) & tested for compliance, gluten-free is less than 20ppm and testing protocol is at the discretion of the manufacturer).

Just be aware that if you're eating a lot of servings of packaged food, you may still be getting enough gluten to cause symptoms/reactions and trigger an autoimmune response and you make need to continue to tweak your diet. This is what happened to me. 

I have good luck ordering online and having products delivered to my house - this can be a huge time saver. Stores such as Target let you sort grocery items on the website and narrow down the selection so you only see gluten-free. Free delivery over $35, so no extra cost. If there's a product I use on repeat & it's something that keeps well, I'll get 5+ at once to save time (like boxes of pasta). Amazon and WalMart (which in my area also carries a really good selection of gluten-free products at the store), are also my go-to's for online food ordering.

My household is gluten-free to keep me safe & symptom-free, so I order a lot of stuff this way for family members who eat gluten-free but don't need to medically.

Lots of grocery stores have dedicated gluten-free sections (or "natural" sections where they keep a lot of the gluten-free items), so that can help narrow it down. 

Take pictures of products and brands you like as you try them and make a folder on your phone (or a list in a notes app), so you can refer back (I always think I'm going to remember the gluten-free crackers I like the best and which stores carry them, but I never do).

My strategy is going to 3-4 grocery stores routinely, so in a month I go to a different one each week & stock up for the next 4 weeks with the things I can only get at that store.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      128,424
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Joann Simonini
    Newest Member
    Joann Simonini
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.1k
    • Total Posts
      70.9k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Liquid lunch
      How many people here are aware that there are 9 types of gluten that Celiacs should be aware of?

      By Liquid lunch · Posted

      Thanks kitty, I needed reminding about thiamine. I ran out of magnesium so stopped taking it and that was ages ago, it definitely helps with my energy levels and general function. I just took some now and I’ll get some more magnesium. Although I don’t really understand the gundry list it does seem to correlate with foods I can/cannot eat, lectins are not all made equal and it seems to be personal which we react to but some are generally more problematic than others, I think he’s based the list on avoiding lectins that people are often reacting to on an igg test. I think it’s fructose I’m reacting to in fruit rather than histamine because I’m fine with coffee, not sure of the quantity of tannins but for me green tea is worse than black and coffee is fine. Interesting about wet beriberi as I nearly died from pneumonia when young so I wonder if it was related. I react differently to the different foods, lectins cause bloating bleeding and severe pain, sugar I feel wiped out but don’t get the bleeding, tea it’s just nausea. I’ve wondered about lectins being sugar binding proteins and my intolerance of sugars but the bleeding does seem to be a specific response to lectin consumption which I think is an autoimmune response because it improves when I take immune modulating mushrooms (reishi and cordyceps). I really do appreciate you being here to help whenever  I log in, than you 🙏
    • glucel
      Headaches / Migraines and Hypoglycaemia

      By glucel · Posted

      hey knitty, thanks for the follow up. I did buy the benfotiamine before I saw a couple of the side effects that concerned me esp bracardia. I already have irregular heart beat and have had elevated liver enzymes before. I lowered the count by taking milk thistle in case anyone interested. I realize that many side effects are simply for legal protection but at my age and as a recovering heart patient can not take risk. Anyway, been strictly gluten-free since we last talked. I did add 200 mg of vit b1 in addition to the b complex. Not as much b1 as you suggested because of my conservative nature but at least an attempt. I still have substantial bloating which unfortunately is probably not caused by gluten, as I was hoping that gluten-free would clear it up a bit.  I wish that I could report a major benefit from going gluten-free but I can't. But I never got desperately ill as many have reported here and my poor brother who was completely overcome til diagnosed.  Take care  
    • knitty kitty
      How many people here are aware that there are 9 types of gluten that Celiacs should be aware of?

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Since lectins occur in almost everything, it's pretty unrealistic to avoid them all.  I didn't understand the rationale behind Dr. Gundry's lists either. Many fruits either contain high histamine amounts or are histamine releasers.  Histamine is made by our body, but we can also consume it in foods, because plants and animals make histamine, too.  Histamine is a neurotransmitter, that results in alertness.  That cup of coffee in the morning?  Releases histamine, so we wake up more.  But histamine is released as part of the immune response in Celiac and other illnesses, causing inflammation.   Our body can clear histamine, but if the body can't keep up with the histamine we are making ourselves as well as the histamine we're eating, we can have serious problems, digestive problems, insomnia, depression.  Some fruits can have high levels of fructose, one kind of sugar in fruits.  Some intestinal bacteria can ferment fructose, resulting in gas, bloating, diarrhea.  So, yes, Fructose Malabsorption can occur in Celiac.   Your dont list...Honey, maple syrup, lectins (and their attached carbohydrates), sugar... ....bedridden...These are all carbohydrates, sugars.  We need Thiamine to turn carbohydrates into energy.  Without sufficient thiamine, we can develop Gastrointestinal BeriBeri which has the classic digestive symptoms, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain. Tannins in tea and coffee cleave thiamine in two, making it nonfunctional.   Your do list...hazelnuts, pistachios, pressure cooked potatoes, and yogurt, butter, cheese.... These are foods that contain thiamine.  Pressure cooked mashed potatoes have more thiamine than boiled potatoes.  Those nuts are high in thiamine.  Dairy products are a good source of thiamine.   I can't diagnose, I'm not a doctor.  You read these articles and let me know if anything rings a bell with you.  Yes, I see thiamine deficiency everywhere because it is unrecognized by doctors.  I recognize it because I had it. Hiding in Plain Sight: Modern Thiamine Deficiency https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8533683/ Thiamine deficiency disorders: a clinical perspective https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8451766/ Refeeding Syndrome https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564513/ Refeeding Syndrome (a different article...) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33232094/
    • knitty kitty
      Abscesses on legs

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      The AIP diet restricts carbohydrates for the first few weeks.  Excluding carbohydrates changes your microbiome.  The bacteria that live in the intestines that feed on carbs get starved out when you don't eat carbs.  Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) occurs frequently in Celiac Disease.  SIBO can cause gas, bloating, and diarrhea, symptoms similar to Celiac symptoms.   When the digestive system is feeling better, then additional foods are added back slowly to look for reactions.  I did not consume carbs for a several months because I felt better without them.  Currently, a "Modified AIP diet" has allowed rice, but doing this won't starve out the SIBO that occurs in celiac disease. I took vitamins and minerals throughout the day and felt great improvement because those essential nutrients were finally being absorbed. Thanks for letting me share what made my celiac journey better.
    • knitty kitty
      Headaches / Migraines and Hypoglycaemia

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Hello there!  Just wondering how things are going for you.  Did you try the Benfotiamine?  I'm always curious how others fare after taking thiamine.  Hope you can post an update. Hope you're doing well!  
×
×
  • Create New...