Gluten Free Diet and Poor Assumptions

[Hollyoak]

My first attempt at a gluten free diet lasted 6 months and ended with a pantry full of strange gluten free products and huge frustration. My symptoms had not changed and so I gave up. I now know that I am Celiac and that first attempt failed due to 3 bad assumptions. I thought that the amount of gluten consumed was relative to the amount of pain and sickness, that if I cut out the obvious sources; bread, pasta, pastries, I would see a change in my body’s reaction. Wrong! Secondly I thought “a new day a new gut” essentially that after 24 or 48 hours my gut would be healthy again. Also wrong!! And finally, I thought I knew where gluten existed, in what food products and could avoid them easily. Very wrong!!!  My advice to you is commit yourself fully or don’t even try. Even the tiniest amount will trigger a reaction, the same reaction as you would experience eating a sandwich. And once the gut is under siege it takes a while to heal, for me around 4-5 days, during which time even the smell of food will cause pain and diarrhea. And gluten is in some very strange foods like Rice Krispies, marshmallows, gummy vitamins, gluten free oats ( milled in a place where wheat is also milled) stock cubes and most processed sauces. So when you undertake a gluten free diet remember you might be celiac and check your assumptions first. Because telling yourself that you tried it and it must be something else, is the worst assumption of all. 

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum!

It's better to figure this out late than never! It sounds like you are on track to recover, and I'm glad you've finally figured things out.

[Beverage]

Thank you for sharing what you have learned, you don't know who else you might have helped, but I'm sure it was someone.

I found that eating as close to a paleo diet as I could helped at lot, especially at first when there are so many gluten free products out there, that you don't know if they are really ok or not. Give your body time to heal.

I am very sensitive to lower amounts of gluten and if I buy anything gluten free, I go for certified gluten free.

For oats, I found that I was also very sensitive and can only eat "purity protocol" oats. Here's an article:

https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/oats-produced-under-a-gluten-free-purity-protocol-listing-of-suppliers-and-manufacturers/

I get gluten-free HARVEST brand from Amazon. Worth a try, but I strongly recommend trying only after you've been stable for awhile:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBSHC7R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KUV136/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

[Hollyoak]

2 hours ago, Beverage said:

Thank you for sharing what you have learned, you don't know who else you might have helped, but I'm sure it was someone.

I found that eating as close to a paleo diet as I could helped at lot, especially at first when there are so many gluten free products out there, that you don't know if they are really ok or not. Give your body time to heal.

I am very sensitive to lower amounts of gluten and if I buy anything gluten free, I go for certified gluten free.

For oats, I found that I was also very sensitive and can only eat "purity protocol" oats. Here's an article:

https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/oats-produced-under-a-gluten-free-purity-protocol-listing-of-suppliers-and-manufacturers/

I get gluten-free HARVEST brand from Amazon. Worth a try, but I strongly recommend trying only after you've been stable for awhile:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBSHC7R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KUV136/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

Thanks for this! 

[RMJ]

On 8/31/2022 at 10:11 AM, Beverage said:

Thank you for sharing what you have learned, you don't know who else you might have helped, but I'm sure it was someone.

I found that eating as close to a paleo diet as I could helped at lot, especially at first when there are so many gluten free products out there, that you don't know if they are really ok or not. Give your body time to heal.

I am very sensitive to lower amounts of gluten and if I buy anything gluten free, I go for certified gluten free.

For oats, I found that I was also very sensitive and can only eat "purity protocol" oats. Here's an article:

https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/oats-produced-under-a-gluten-free-purity-protocol-listing-of-suppliers-and-manufacturers/

I get gluten-free HARVEST brand from Amazon. Worth a try, but I strongly recommend trying only after you've been stable for awhile:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBSHC7R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KUV136/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

Gluten Free Watchdog has found a problem with gluten-free Harvest oats.  It is being investigated.  I think this link will work for people who don’t subscribe to gluten-free Watchdog:

gluten-free watchdog no longer recommends gluten-free Harvest Oats

[Scott Adams]

This is ironic because that group claims that Cheerios and other GF cereals aren't safe (which they stopped claiming at some point, or at least never followed up with a blog they said they would do on it) because they believed that General Mill's patented technology to remove wheat kernels would lead to hot spots. So far I've not heard of any "hot spots" being found, but at the same time this group only recommended only "purity protocol oats," which clearly does not necessarily mean they are any safer than General Mill's oats.