Need Help With Gluten Free And Dairy Free Foods

[JustMe75]

I have been gluten free for 3 months and it has changed my life! My fifteen year old daughter is having alot of stomach problems though. She tried the diet with me in the begining but didn't notice much change. Looking back we were messing up almost daily and she quit before I figured the diet out. I had her doctor run the celiac panel on her and it was negative, but he also ran some allergy blood tests. The results came back with class 2 or 3 dairy allergy so her doctor said no more dairy. She has been dairy free for about 6 weeks and no change. Her doctor said to go ahead and try the gluten free diet since I had so much sucess with it. Well we are on day 2 and I don't know what she can eat. I have barely figured out what I can grab for a quick bite when we are running around and of course what I eat has dairy. I know alot of you are dairy free along with gluten free..... any super quick food ideas? Oh yeah and she thinks she wants to quit eating meat too! I don't think it will last (its a teen "save the animals" thing), but right now I can't figure out what she can eat. She has removed 3 of the 4 food groups! I am thinking about telling her she can try not eating meat after we figure the whole dfgf thing out. Anyone gluten free dairy free and a vegetarian?

Also, how acurate are those blood allergy tests? Do I take it as a life sentence of no more dairy for her? Has anyone had a positive allergy test and continued to eat the allergen?

I know you guys will have some great ideas! Thanks in advance.

[ruthla]

I have been gluten free for 3 months and it has changed my life! My fifteen year old daughter is having alot of stomach problems though. She tried the diet with me in the begining but didn't notice much change. Looking back we were messing up almost daily and she quit before I figured the diet out. I had her doctor run the celiac panel on her and it was negative, but he also ran some allergy blood tests. The results came back with class 2 or 3 dairy allergy so her doctor said no more dairy. She has been dairy free for about 6 weeks and no change. Her doctor said to go ahead and try the gluten free diet since I had so much sucess with it. Well we are on day 2 and I don't know what she can eat. I have barely figured out what I can grab for a quick bite when we are running around and of course what I eat has dairy. I know alot of you are dairy free along with gluten free..... any super quick food ideas? Oh yeah and she thinks she wants to quit eating meat too! I don't think it will last (its a teen "save the animals" thing), but right now I can't figure out what she can eat. She has removed 3 of the 4 food groups! I am thinking about telling her she can try not eating meat after we figure the whole dfgf thing out. Anyone gluten free dairy free and a vegetarian?

Also, how acurate are those blood allergy tests? Do I take it as a life sentence of no more dairy for her? Has anyone had a positive allergy test and continued to eat the allergen?

I know you guys will have some great ideas! Thanks in advance.

I've been gluten free, legume free, and dairy free for almost two months now- I could NOT survive without meat, fish, and eggs several times a day! I've also been eating low-carb since July (longer than I've been gluten-free.)

Nuts make a good quick snack on the go. I always keep some in my purse. Dried fruit is equally portable, natural, and vegetarian, but I personally don't eat it because it has too many carbs for me. Hard boiled eggs make a quick "meal on the go" if you cook the eggs ahead of time and leave them in the fridge.

I eat a lot of canned fish- tuna salad, or a can of tuna ( or herring or sardines or salmon) mixed into a big green salad. I also eat a lot of cold cuts, hamburgers or hot dogs without a bun, roast chicken served with cooked greens, leftover cold chicken in a salad, etc.

Breakfast is usually eggs cooked in olive oil- scrambled or fried or an omellete with chopped tomatoes or onions or lox.

[JustMe75]

Hardboiled eggs are a great idea! I don't eat them and I am "blind" to foods I don't eat. I am the pickiest thing in the world! She said she will still eat some fish (she doesn't think they need saving) so tuna on salad would be good too. She is an excelent eater, loves veggies, but I was worried about her getting enough protein. Nuts, eggs and fish should cover that.

Thank you!

I have to say it again, I would be lost without this site and I would have given up a long time ago without the support. I love you guys!

[Franceen]

As for allergy tests: Grrrmphhh.

I tested positive for cats and chicken and my Celiac tests were negative.

I have 3 cats (they all sleep on the bed) and I eat a lot of chicken. The Dr. confirmed Celiac disease via gluten free diet success!

SO, your instincts are right.

A long time ago (I'm 56 now and this was when I was 23), I tested positive for dairy. I never really went dairy free and the "problem" went away.

You can "grow" (even as an adult) out of an allergy over time and become desensitized to the allergen by continual low-level exposure, but Celiac is an autoimmune disorder which you cannot overcome at all, in any way.

MEAT: Important protein in my diet that would be hard to replace appropriately without the proper combination of other proteins (legumes, fats, etc).

I would try to discourage the vegetarian thing until after diet/health stabilize.

[confusedks]

I just wanted to say watch out for the amount of soy she puts in her diet to replace the dairy. For me, I was df for a while and then soy became a problem.

As far as the meat thing, I would also suggest that she gets used to the gluten-free, df first and then eliminate more foods.

Breakfast ideas:

Eggs with turkey bacon

Quinoa flakes with sugar/cinnamon

Omelletes with grated veggies in them

Cereal with hemp milk, etc.

Lunch:

Lunch meat with lettuce, tomato, avocado in a roll up

Corn tortillas with chicken, beans, etc.

Salads

Snacks:

Trail Mix

Skittles (only once in a while ...I'm 17 so I get how hard it is to have such a small amt. of food options )

Lara Bars

gluten-free, df cookies (there are LOTS of recipes on this board)

Carrots or bell peppers with hummus

Apples with almond butter

Rice cakes with almond butter

Rice cake with lunch meat, lettuce, tomato, avocado

I hope that helps give you some ideas.

[tarnalberry]

meat, fruit, veggies, eggs, gluten free grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. really, it's lots of foods.

fast snacks range from fruit (like a banana, or an apple with peanut butter) to eggs (scrambled is fast, served w/ or w/o rice cakes) to leftovers.

and, of course, there's still lots and lots of regular things she can eat for regular meals. (here's my thread of recipes: Open Original Shared Link

as for going vegetarian, talk to her about compromises. perhaps if you could get ethically raised meat, or maybe she'd still eat fish. take her request seriously, regardless of whether it's a fad or not, but also ask her to take her nutritional needs seriously, and work with you to address the extra difficult situation she's in going vegetarian with these restrictions. together, you guys can build a plan.

[JustMe75]

I am careful to not let her know I think its a fad, but I know her and I think it is. I am being supportative as far as she knows, but I did tell her I am concerned about her health if she does stick with it. I just worry about the amount of calories she won't be getting and the nutrients she will be missing. Changing your diet is huge and removing such a large portion of it at once seems almost impossible. I told her she could try it as long as I feel like she is getting enough of what she needs. I thank you for reminding me to take her seriously, she is at an age where I think she should have a say in things like this and I probably sounded like I was mocking her and believe me when I say that is far from true.

One more question on the dairy allergy. If we have success on the gluten-free diet would I be a terrible mother if we tried to reintroduce some dairy back into her diet? I have heard what Franceen said about outgrowing an allergy but does that mean if she was retested and it was negative then she can have dairy or could she start eating it again and it might go away. What damage does continuing to consume dairy do to her if she doesn't have symptoms from it?

[tarnalberry]

I am careful to not let her know I think its a fad, but I know her and I think it is. I am being supportative as far as she knows, but I did tell her I am concerned about her health if she does stick with it. I just worry about the amount of calories she won't be getting and the nutrients she will be missing. Changing your diet is huge and removing such a large portion of it at once seems almost impossible. I told her she could try it as long as I feel like she is getting enough of what she needs. I thank you for reminding me to take her seriously, she is at an age where I think she should have a say in things like this and I probably sounded like I was mocking her and believe me when I say that is far from true.

One more question on the dairy allergy. If we have success on the gluten-free diet would I be a terrible mother if we tried to reintroduce some dairy back into her diet? I have heard what Franceen said about outgrowing an allergy but does that mean if she was retested and it was negative then she can have dairy or could she start eating it again and it might go away. What damage does continuing to consume dairy do to her if she doesn't have symptoms from it?

No, I probably worded my response wrong - you do sound like you're being supportive. You may well be totally right that it's a fad - heavens knows we've all gone through (and will still go through, even as adults) plenty of our own. Mostly, I meant involve her in planning out how it'll work - including meal planning, snack availability, and nutrient content. That way, she sees what the tradeoffs are and can give her inputs, but feel like she has some control in the situation (because she's got a forum for talking to you about it). It could be a great place for her to learn about nutrition and cooking, too.

If she has an actual allergy, then she should be retested before trying it again, but it doesn't sound like an actual allergy (certainly not an anaphylactic one). If that's the case, then you might try reintroducing, but be aware, when you say "has no symptoms", things like being a bit more tired, having a headache, being cranky, and other totally non-digestive things, are real symptoms, but can be very hard to correlate to dietary intake amid the hubbub of life, particularly a teenagers.

[JustMe75]

Good point about the has no symptoms. I guess I won't even worry about her going back to dairy now. One day (and food group) at a time. Its probably a little denial for me still. I know it sounds stupid but she really misses chocolate and I want her to be happy and chocolate makes me happy

Also, thank you for the link to the recipes! She is gonna be in Gluten-free Casein-free heaven!

[tarnalberry]

Good point about the has no symptoms. I guess I won't even worry about her going back to dairy now. One day (and food group) at a time. Its probably a little denial for me still. I know it sounds stupid but she really misses chocolate and I want her to be happy and chocolate makes me happy

Also, thank you for the link to the recipes! She is gonna be in Gluten-free Casein-free heaven!

She can still have dark chocolate! There are a lot of companies that make dark chocolate without any dairy at all (hershey's does though ). My favorite is Endangered Species and Vosges.

[missy'smom]

Some of the vegan websites can be good resources. Fat Free Vegan Kitchen is one that comes to mind. Namaste makes mixes that are Gluten-free Casein-free. The choc cake one makes great cupcakes that can be frozen. I use the yellow cake to make pineapple upsidedown cakes in muffin tins and freeze them. They both make so many that I measure the mix into two parts and bake off one half at a time. Foods by George make gluten-free dairy free brownies that are good(but a little expensive) and raisin and french rolls that are tasty and good for pizzas or breakfast or buns(a little crumbly though). Enjoy Life make dairy free choc. chips. The Vegan Gourmet makes a "cheese" that's usable.

[hathor]

I'm a vegan who has to avoid gluten and soy. It really isn't that difficult, at least at home (Restaurants that do work well include tapas, middle eastern, Indian, some Mexican, & Ethiopian [if they don't put wheat flour in their injera]). There are veggies, fruits, legumes (beans, lentils, split peas, peanuts, anything but soybeans for me), nuts & seeds, and gluten-free grains. There are scads of recipes out there, more than I can ever go through. And one must never forget dark chocolate. I certainly don't.

I base my meals on a starch (either gluten-free grain or a starchy veg) and add to that.

There is a lot of misconceptions about nutrition out there. For instance, there is nothing in animal foods you can't get elsewhere. And it isn't difficult either. One doesn't need to make any special effort to get protein or "complete" protein. The stuff is there already.

If you have a concern with some particular nutrient or other (of course, you have concerns, you are a mom -- before I was vegan I remember years of trying to make my meat-resistant son eat the stuff LOL), just ask. I can find some pertinent links for you to ease your mind. You might read some of the nutritional information at www.drmcdougall.com, watch one of the expert lectures online at the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii website (I can suggest some if you are interested), or get a book about vegan diet that looks at common nutritional fears.

One book that may be of interest is "Food Allergy Survival Guide." It has recipes that are free of all animal products and common allergens. It also talks about nutrition, label reading, and menu planning.

There is a board for gluten-free vegetarians & vegans at www.vegiac.com. Very useful menuwise is a Yahoo group, Vegan-and-Gluten-Free, which has lots of recipes in the files and more all the time. Fatfreevegan.com has a special gluten-free section, but really, lots of vegan recipes are naturally gluten-free. One thing you could do is to make your side dishes all acceptable to your daughter's needs and preferences. That is sufficient nutritionally. Then you can make a meat dish for every one else. This is how my family handles Thanksgiving, for instance.

I suggest going to a bookstore and looking at some vegan cookbooks. Find one with some recipes that look like the rest of you would enjoy as well. People can get scared with diet changes -- "whatever can I (she, he) eat?" But once you do a little research and get some experience, it isn't hard at all.

Snacks I use: veggies & hummus, fresh fruit, nuts, Lara Bars, Glutino breakfast bars. Sometimes I will nuke a potato & top it with spices, salsa, bean dip, hummus or whatever. Then there is dark chocolate. One mustn't forget that. Oh, I repeat myself

[JustMe75]

Oh, thank you for the book suggestion she wanted a book about it so bad. I will tell her to look at those other forums too, it is so nice to have somewhere to go for support and information.

[hathor]

She can still have dark chocolate! There are a lot of companies that make dark chocolate without any dairy at all (hershey's does though ). My favorite is Endangered Species and Vosges.

To go off on a little tangent, I had to tell you I just tried the Green & Black 85% Dark bar for the first time. Wow. I must have been making happy noises because my son called out, "Dad, Mom is cheating on you with a chocolate bar!"

I haven't tried Vosges (probably because I haven't seen it). I do like Endangered Species. Also Dagoba. The dark chocolate you can get at Trader Joes is pretty good too.

[Juliebove]

As for allergy tests: Grrrmphhh.

I tested positive for cats and chicken and my Celiac tests were negative.

I have 3 cats (they all sleep on the bed) and I eat a lot of chicken. The Dr. confirmed Celiac disease via gluten free diet success!

SO, your instincts are right.

A long time ago (I'm 56 now and this was when I was 23), I tested positive for dairy. I never really went dairy free and the "problem" went away.

You can "grow" (even as an adult) out of an allergy over time and become desensitized to the allergen by continual low-level exposure, but Celiac is an autoimmune disorder which you cannot overcome at all, in any way.

MEAT: Important protein in my diet that would be hard to replace appropriately without the proper combination of other proteins (legumes, fats, etc).

I would try to discourage the vegetarian thing until after diet/health stabilize.

Daughter and I both tested positive for cats. We have a cat and she doesn't bother us. We frequently visit the cats that are up for adoption and have no problems with them. But we visited my nephew and his two cats and two kittens and sneezed our heads off. But I think in general most cats do not bother us.

I think there is a big difference between inhalant allergies and food allergies. When you eat a food, it stays in your system and can make you sick. In our case it DOES make us sick. Even a speck of it. Inhalant allergies are something you can get away from. Yes, the pollen or whatever gets in your hair, on your clothes, etc. But you can wash yourself and your clothes and then you're fine. You can get a HEPA filter if need be.

We also have a severe grass allergy. We can not be around people who are mowing the lawn or we get all stuffed up and start sneezing. I worked at a golf course for a couple of years. That could get bad at times. Mainly I just tried to stay in the Pro shop when they were mowing near me. Walking in the grass doesn't really bother me so much though.

[Juliebove]

I can't have dairy or eggs and although I was a vegetarian for most of my life, I eventually turned to meat when I got anemia. Now I have gastroparesis so most meat makes me sick. What to do? I turned to things most people might not think about as sources of protein. Like sunflower seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds. I also bought some rice protein powder but have yet to use it myself. I make smoothies for my daughter using rice milk, frozen berries and a scoop of that. I don't personally like smoothies.

One thing my daughter used to love (but she now has a peanut allergy) was a dried date stuffed with peanut butter. She could have other nut butters but now finds the dates off-putting for some reason.

When I was younger, I lived off of trail mix. You can easily make your own using whatever nuts, seeds and dried fruits you like. You can add carob chips or Enjoy Life chocolate chips (dairy and soy free). I kept a bag of this in my purse so I always had a snack or a meal if I needed one.

You can buy slices of Vegan Rice Cheese. To me it tastes very much like cheese and it melts like cheese. We make nachos with it. We add canned refried beans on top of the chips, then pieces of the cheese and put in the microwave until the cheese melts. We then add sliced green onion. black olives, chopped tomato and plenty of salsa. Yum! This cheese is also good on pizza. It doesn't contain a lot of protein though. So when I eat it, I also eat a spoonful of peanut butter.

[Sweetfudge]

She said she will still eat some fish (she doesn't think they need saving)

ROFL

One more question on the dairy allergy. If we have success on the gluten-free diet would I be a terrible mother if we tried to reintroduce some dairy back into her diet? I have heard what Franceen said about outgrowing an allergy but does that mean if she was retested and it was negative then she can have dairy or could she start eating it again and it might go away. What damage does continuing to consume dairy do to her if she doesn't have symptoms from it?

when i went gluten-free, I went light on the dairy as well (like 95% DF). When I started back on it a couple months later I was fine. Now I think I might be having a problem with it again. Gonna try DF for awhile, then possibly soy-free if that doesn't help. I think it will help though, because I was using lactaid for the last month, and it helped a lot. But I'm too poor to use it all the time! I also had the skin allergy test done. I tested a 3 on the dairy, and 3 on the wheat. I wish they would have tested legumes, because I have to pretty much avoid beans. No more nachos!

Good point about the has no symptoms. I guess I won't even worry about her going back to dairy now. One day (and food group) at a time. Its probably a little denial for me still. I know it sounds stupid but she really misses chocolate and I want her to be happy and chocolate makes me happy

Also, thank you for the link to the recipes! She is gonna be in Gluten-free Casein-free heaven!

Here's a link to the post I started a day or two ago about DF treats: Open Original Shared Link

We can compare notes

To go off on a little tangent, I had to tell you I just tried the Green & Black 85% Dark bar for the first time. Wow. I must have been making happy noises because my son called out, "Dad, Mom is cheating on you with a chocolate bar!"

Is that the brand name? I'm gonna have to look for this one! If it's that good...

[Mom23boys]

One more question on the dairy allergy. If we have success on the gluten-free diet would I be a terrible mother if we tried to reintroduce some dairy back into her diet? I have heard what Franceen said about outgrowing an allergy but does that mean if she was retested and it was negative then she can have dairy or could she start eating it again and it might go away. What damage does continuing to consume dairy do to her if she doesn't have symptoms from it?

Our nutritionist said that wheat and dairy are the two allergies/intolerances/sensitivities/whatever that you don't mess with. Once positive, always positive. You never truly outgrow these they just take on different forms in your body. Treat a once positive (test or symptom) as you would a positive celiac test.

[kylesmom1112]

Here are some of the foods I love that are gluten-free/CF:

Simply Fruit sorbet in raspberry drizzled w/ chocolate syrup... yummmmm this is my addiction food.

hummus w/ baby carrots or celery

peanut butter (I alwats check the label cause I've seen PB's that have dairy protein added

nuts - but only if the packaging says gluten-free.. I learned this one the hard way. ALOT of nuts are processed on machinery that processes wheat and dairy

meats

fish

shellfish

fruits

vegetables

corn tortillas

tuna made up as for a tuna salad sandwich then eaten with gluten-free corn chips or corn tortilla chips. sounds weird but yummy!

baked potato w/ anything on it that is gluten-free/CF

sweet potatoes

marinated mushroom salad from the deli at my grocery store

ACT II kettle corn microwave popcorn

gluten-free/CF cornbread with gluten-free/CF margarine and honey - yummy for breakfast

peanut butter cap'n crunch with almond milk (I HATE soy milk!)

i have not tried tofutti products yet, but I heard from some non gluten-free/CF friends that it tastes good