Mainstream Products And Contamination

[Donna F]

I've been eating real cheap foods lately and I think I'm paying for it now in other ways

I was just going by ingredients. I found many generic-brands that listed allergens and the ingredients looked okay, but I'm weak, achy and losing weight quickly after doing this for a few weeks. At first I felt like I was glutened for sure, and now that I've gotten strict about my diet again, I don't feel glutened anymore, but just so very weak and skinny. It hurts to do anything right now. Can't even stand to be touched because everything hurts thanks to my bony-ness.

I was trying to gain weight so I added some generic potato chips and a french onion dip that listed allergens. I also added a generic corn chip and some salsa. I was eating Hormel Homestyle corned beef hash with my eggs. I tried cornmeal mush instead of the waffles for breakfast, but it was too heavy for a morning meal. I know the Hormel hash is supposedly gluten-free, but who knows if that or any of the other foods, though the ingredients look safe, were perhaps contaminated....

I'm now looking at my CSA guide for mainstream products that I can add to my diet that will help me gain weight. Yesterday I was reading a thread about contamination in Amy's gluten-free products, and now I'm concerned about eating ANYTHING processed! I ate some peanuts last month thinking "well, they are just peanuts. They HAVE to be safe!..... WRONG! Looked at the ingredients and there was an allergen warning that it may contain traces of wheat, other nuts, blah blah blah..... It seemed likely to be contaminated with just about every allergen I could think of!

So, my question is: How do you know what to trust? Do you churn your own butter? Make your own ice cream? Make your own peanut butter? Etc? Or do you spend a fortune on specialty brands that you know are made in a gluten-free environment?

I am now so skinny and weak that I can't even fathom having to make these things for myself. I'm afraid to buy any mainstream products right now b/c I cannot afford to lose another pound. I am on the lowest budget I've ever had to live off of in my entire life right now and cannot afford to buy specialty things. It will already cost me more to buy these brand-name things like: Lays chips, cabot dips, Tostitos salsa, Skippy peanut butter.

Does anyone eat these things without problems? How do you know what to buy? If we can't trust Amys and Vans (read the waffles were contaminated too) which are SUPPOSED to be made gluten-free, then how could one possible trust a mainstream product?

[Franceen]

I understand your dilemma completely. I am very lucky to not be underweight (I have DH and no intestinal symptoms) and able to afford pretty much what I want.

HOWEVER, I still have the problem with unwittingly getting gluten'd by food that looks ok by the label or by the word of someone who THINKS they know.

I have discovered that eating in restaurants (which I know you probably don't do) is very hard - and you have to stick to plain salad and meat.

But generally, at home, the best way to "calm your system" is to eat plain fresh fruit, berries, dairy like milk, sour cream (pure), cottage cheese (plain), plain cheeses like swiss (not American cause that's contaminated), plain meat (steak, broiled uncoated chicken, broiled fish with plain butter and pure lemon) and fresh/frozen plain veggies with only butter (pure) and salt.. Can you gain weight that way? I guess so, if you eat enough dairy. But you should be able to consume quite a bit once your system calms down.

Eating just raw or plain foods like meat, vegetables, fruit and berries is the best way to be totally gluten free.

(And cooking them yourself!).

I wish you all the best in your endeavor to get healthy. It's hard, but not impossible.

[BRUMI1968]

Even though the foods you are listing might help someone gain weight, they have virtually no nutritional value. Being too skinny is not great - but getting off your skinniness with worthless food probably ins't going to make you feel any better.

If you eat eggs, they can be pretty inexpensive. If you eat meat, you can make hamburgers w/o the bun - they are great with mustard (Eden makes a GREAT brown mustard that is gluten-free).

Adams Peanut Butter has nothing but peanuts in it (though I have not called to verify it's gluten free - I think they only make peanut butter).

I don't know where you live, but you might want to add some avocados. (In AZ and CA they tend to be cheaper - I end up paying about $2 for a big one that lasts me two days.)

If you have time, you can buy lentils and soak them overnight, cook them up. Those have good protein and are relatively easy to digest. You probably don't want to buy them from bulk - but if you can find them prepackaged, they should be alright. (If this one interests you, ask me for a recipe.)

Brown rice tends to be cheap - and it has some caloric value, as well as vitamins and fiber.

Potatoes, among the less worthy veggies, are filling and probably more caloric than other veggies. Sweet potatoes and yams fall into that category and are good with butter (if you do dairy) or sesame oil, and maple syrup or honey.

I definitely think focusing on high fat high salt virtually worthless food is going to backfire for you. If you're a gas engine and you're running on empty, you sure don't want to fill up with deisel - it does you no good, even though the needle says full.

Take care. I'll think about this some more and see what I can come up with.

[Donna F]

But generally, at home, the best way to "calm your system" is to eat plain fresh fruit, berries, dairy like milk, sour cream (pure), cottage cheese (plain), plain cheeses like swiss (not American cause that's contaminated), plain meat (steak, broiled uncoated chicken, broiled fish with plain butter and pure lemon) and fresh/frozen plain veggies with only butter (pure) and salt.. Can you gain weight that way? I guess so, if you eat enough dairy. But you should be able to consume quite a bit once your system calms down.

Eating just raw or plain foods like meat, vegetables, fruit and berries is the best way to be totally gluten free.

(And cooking them yourself!).

I wish you all the best in your endeavor to get healthy. It's hard, but not impossible.

Thank you very much. I am trying to eat as plain as possible now, and I do feel better, but just so very thin and weak. I cannot eat much fruit because I am severly hypoglycemic. I'm also allergic to many kinds of fruits. I can begin a meal with a few grapes or strawberries to get my sugar up before I eat the main meal, and an occasional banana. I can't have yogurt or milks (even lactaid) until late afternoon or evening for some reason, and I mix my own yogurt to keep the sugar content down (I hate artificial sweetner). Do you think a store-brand plain yogurt is ok? How do you know? Does it have to be Cabot? A lot of our stores don't even carry that brand. I have seen cottage cheese with vinegar listed and modified food starch, so I'm not sure what to trust there either. I heard swiss was no good, no? The American I buy lists only safe ingredients, but maybe there is contamination? I thought American was ok if the ingredients were safe, but maybe you are right there. I do eat plain meat and fish. I use generic butter but the ingredients are just sweet cream and salt so that seems ok unless contaminated... I only eat plain veggies like you said.

Yes, I do cook everything myself - e v e r y t h i n g!! Because if I don't someone in the family will contaminate something (like my butter or peanut butter etc.)

Even though the foods you are listing might help someone gain weight, they have virtually no nutritional value. Being too skinny is not great - but getting off your skinniness with worthless food probably ins't going to make you feel any better.

If you eat eggs, they can be pretty inexpensive. If you eat meat, you can make hamburgers w/o the bun - they are great with mustard (Eden makes a GREAT brown mustard that is gluten-free).

Adams Peanut Butter has nothing but peanuts in it (though I have not called to verify it's gluten free - I think they only make peanut butter).

I don't know where you live, but you might want to add some avocados. (In AZ and CA they tend to be cheaper - I end up paying about $2 for a big one that lasts me two days.)

If you have time, you can buy lentils and soak them overnight, cook them up. Those have good protein and are relatively easy to digest. You probably don't want to buy them from bulk - but if you can find them prepackaged, they should be alright. (If this one interests you, ask me for a recipe.)

Brown rice tends to be cheap - and it has some caloric value, as well as vitamins and fiber.

Potatoes, among the less worthy veggies, are filling and probably more caloric than other veggies. Sweet potatoes and yams fall into that category and are good with butter (if you do dairy) or sesame oil, and maple syrup or honey.

I definitely think focusing on high fat high salt virtually worthless food is going to backfire for you. If you're a gas engine and you're running on empty, you sure don't want to fill up with deisel - it does you no good, even though the needle says full.

Take care. I'll think about this some more and see what I can come up with.

Thanks so much. Yes, worthless foods is all my family can suggest for ways to gain weight. I grew up with lots of worthless foods and everyone just assumes that they make everyone gain.

Lets see, I do eat hamburgers, but i was using Gludens mustard and Heinz katsup. Possible problem there? They are in the CSA book, but maybe I will try the mustard you mention. Anyone know of a katsup? I've never heard of Adams peanut butter. I love avacados, but they are expensive. A few now and then won't hurt though. It'll cost me more if I don't gain weight soon! I've had Amys lentil soup but since their dinners are sometimes contaminated I doubt I'd trust the soups. I had a generic one with allergens listed the other day, but who knows if that is safe. I guess I'll need to learn how to make my own. I eat white rice, but is brown better? Does it have more calories? I do like sweet potato ( I get sick of regular potatos) and thanks for the reminder. Even a doctored up regular potato would be a nice lunch (besides my usual salad which does me no good).

Well, thanks for the great advice. I'm still not sure about brands for some things. It seems like I have to win the lottery to have condiments that are totally gluten-free unless I can know for sure that this mainstream stuff isn't contaminated. Someone mentioned MnMs the other day on a thread. Can you even trust those? I'll keep looking through the threads on weight and see what i can find for suggestions too.

Please keep the suggestions coming if anyone has any!

Thanks!

[angel-jd1]

Ground Turkey is even less expensive than hamburger. I use that all the time to make chili. Chili goes great over some french fries and with lots of cheese MMMmm chili cheese fries.

Ground Turkey also makes great taco meat. I add peas, potatoes and carrots to my taco meat while cooking because it's more traditional and makes the meat go farther than "just meat".

I even love turkey burgers.

If you have a wal-mart near by, their great value brand lists if they are gluten free on the labels. You can save a few cents here and there by using that brand.

Hormel is a good brand. The hash stuff you were eating though is gross, pretty sure it would give ANYBODY a stomachache and not because of gluten

Kraft is also a great brand. They will clearly list gluten on the label.

Mission corn tortillas and corn chips are yummy. They are gluten free. You can get a package of 36 corn tortillas for like 1.50. They are very versitile.

Eggs are cheap and can be made into omlets, breakfast burritos, fritattas

Beans are cheap and provide protein. You can make burittos with the corn tortillas.

Peanutbutter is fairly cheap and filling. I use Skippy and Jiff

Caseroles tend to be cheaper to make because they make more servings.

Hope that gives you some ideas

-Jessica

[eleep]

If you've got hypoglycemic tendencies, you should consider getting some kind of protein every time you eat -- this will help you with eating the fruit and getting those nutrients --- nuts and nut butters are great for this.

[Guest cassidy]

I have done research on everything I like to eat to find cheap safe brands. For instance I'll search for salad dressing on this board and I realized that Kraft always lists allergens and no one seems to have a problem with it, so I buy Kraft at Walmart. I try to buy mainstream stuff whenever possible but I always check it online and confirm that it is made on dedicated lines and has no cc issues. If the brand I know is ok isn't in the store, then I usually don't buy the item, go home, check out a replacement, and then go back. You can find the list of companies that will always list allergens.

I use peanut butter (reese's is my favorite) and cheese to gain weight. We recently bought an extra freezer so when things are on sale, I buy a lot of them. I saw Tinkyada pasta for 35% off and bought 8 bags. Then I made mac & cheese and froze it in meal sized portions. Rice is also good for adding calories. You can make a dish with rice & beans that is inexpensive and full of calories - top with cheese (in the afternoon) and you will have a great meal.

7 months in I just tried bread this week. I've been staying away from things that aren't naturally gluten-free. It is less expensive to do so and I know I'm eating healthy.