So Confused About What To Eat! Please Help!

[DaisyMadison]

I just ran across the whole "Celiac" disease and think very strongly that is why I've had so much nausea for the past year with headaches and stomach cramps, bloating, gas, and weird allergies for no reason. I am going to see a homeopathic doctor on Friday to discuss this further and get a blood test done. But I'm already planning on cutting out all gluten from my body for my own sense of mind to see if that is my problem and am SOO confused on what I can and can't eat. Saying you can't eat grains is one thing. But then going so far as to say no salad dressings, mustard, ketchup. lunch meats, .... see, I can't even remember what else I'm not supposed to eat. My homeopathic book says not to eat anything with any sort of food starch unless it is corn starch, and no bullion cubes, and no vinegar, no dairy, eggs..... And it says to eat seeded fruit, like raspberries, blackberries and strawberries but don't mention grapes, apples, or peaches.

I already know to cut out all bread of any sort, pasta, everything unless it is made with rice or corn. But WHAT else can I eat? I was planning on just doing an atkins low carb diet at first and then was going to add some fruit later, but now seeing I'm not supposed to eat ranch dressing, I don't know if I can live without ranch. I put ranch on everything! So what does one eat? What kind of a day would one look like eating a gluten-free diet? Can people please help me understand some options of what I can eat? I'm so confused with the HUGE list of no no foods, that I can't even really grasp WHAT I CAN eat...

Please help! I'm going to start this right after my blood test is done so don't worry. I'm just trying to figure out what I should do.

Heather~

[Lisa]

Heather,

Welcome to the Board.

I think that you should see a MD and request a blood panel for Celiac Disease.

Throw that book away! I don't know what type of diet it is recommending, but it not relevant for Celiac.

Fresh meats, seafood, veggies, fruit, rice, potatoes and nuts are usually recommended when someone begins the diet, keeping foods simple.

Any food in its natural form always safe. Food that have wheat, barley, rye, malt and sometimes oats are not to be consumed if you are gluten intolerance or have Celiac.

Take some time to read some of these threads on this site. I am sure that you will find it very informative and there is a great recipe section.

[Guest j_mommy]

I agree with Lisa....throw the book away!!!

There are sooooo manythings you can still eat that are either naturally gluten-free or a replacement product9such as corn pasta)

Here is the list of ingredients you can't have a celiac or gluten intolerant...

https://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodi...-51107480370.e1

Also here are some books I'd recommend:

Living Gluten free for Dummies by Dana Korn

Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic by Dr. Peter Green

Note: If you want to be tested...stay on Gluten, you need to be eating it for the tests to be true...same goes if they choose to do a biopsy....you need to be eating gluten for that too!!!

Good Luck!

[Guest lorlyn]

Hey Heather, Just wanted to say hello and welcome. It seems like alot at first but it does get easier. I have a 10 year old daughter and my husband with Celiac. They both eat differently. But it is kinda easy, steak, chicken, fish, shrimp, crablegs just grill, bake, broil, boil. Then we eat alot of fruit and vegetables and rice. We eat ranch dressing all the time. Kraft is a great company to list wheat. We still eat ice cream, potato chips, cheese curls, just read labels every time you buy some thing. It is a healthy diet. The best thing I did when we found out is to read on this site. It has been a life saver. There are resturants with gluten free menus and deserts Just hang in there and you will be a pro in no time at all. Good luck and let us know if you need any help.

[Juliebove]

First off, I must say that book sounds sort of wacky. Second, I agree that you need a proper diagnosis. My daughter has food allergies including wheat and gluten. Sometimes allergies can cause similar symptoms to celiac. But if you have a gluten allergy, you have to eat the same way.

The first thing we did was take a good hard look at any prepared foods we had in the house and get rid of anything she was allergic to or that we had doubts about. We had just really stocked up on food too so I had a lot to give away.

For the next few weeks, I cooked everything from scratch and stuck to simple things that I knew wouldn't cause problems. Like chicken and rice, Spanish rice, and rice or corn pasta. I made a few mistakes in the beginning, but not so much with the wheat and gluten. She's allergic to 7 different things so it can be difficult remembering all the names for things. Makes it a lot easier with the new labeling laws.

I gradually began expanding our menu. I make chicken and noodles using sweet rice flour to thicken the gravy. I make chicken and gluten free dumplings. All kinds of soups. There are a few prepared soups that are safe, but mostly we make them from scratch. I keep several cans of Shelton's chicken and wild rice soup onhand for a quick meal. Also some cans of Orgran pasta and sauce.

We like Mexican food so there are a lot of things you can make along those lines, using corn chips or tortillas and using sweet rice flour or cornstarch for thickening any sauces if need be.

We also love hummus and daughter eats that with raw veggies, rice crackers or gluten free pretzels or breadsticks.

The local Central Market makes yummy falafel patties that are gluten free and we eat those with tomato slices.

It can certainly feel overwhelming at first. But find two or three meals you can safely eat and alternate those while you work on expanding your menu. If you can eat eggs and dairy you can eat a lot more things than we can with our allergies. Just be sure to read all package labels. Not all things you think would be safe actually are. I buy some bouillion that is safe, but it's expensive. Some broth is fine, but some is not. Read every label every time. Manufacturers have the tendency to change things without bothering to notify you first. Gets annoying to bring something home that once was safe and now isn't. So it pays to check the label every time.

[amberleigh]

Hello! I'm pretty new at this too, but I agree with the others...ignore that book!

You can still eat LOTS of things! The problem is with processed or packaged foods...you just need to read the labels carefully. Thankfully, most will outright say if they contain wheat...you'll just need to skim through for barley, oats, or rye. I'm pretty sure condiments are all okay...you may have to switch brands on some things though. For example, my husband and I switched from Kikkoman soy sauce to LaChoy. Vinegar should be an okay ingredient as well, unless it's malted...malt is barley in disguise And I'm pretty sure dairy, eggs, all fruits and veggies, meats, and seafood are okay, as long as they're not breaded or cooked in a sauce that has wheat in it.

I found a lot of Smart Ones frozen meals (mostly chicken/rice dishes) that are gluten-free so those make for easy lunches. I add shredded cheese and sour cream to a lot of them. For breakfast, I usually have some gluten-free cereal. Trix is a mainstream cereal that is gluten-free! And for dinner, we do lots of chicken dishes. We also have lots of Mexican nights...tacos, bean burritos, nachos, etc. I have been cooking a lot more, but that's a good thing.

Good luck!