Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal

[CeliacMom2008]

My son LOVES Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. We're relatively new to gluten-free life (diagnosis in Dec.). My son rarely has what I call "normal" bm's, but otherwise we've seen huge changes in him since going gluten-free. It's weird because it was the loose bowel movements that took us to the doctor and it looks like those just might not go away! I've been through a whole myriad of possible causes: Frito Lay, syrup, lactose, pans, etc.

My latest thought was that it wasn't actually a gluten reaction. During our vacation his bathroom visits were perfect! But as soon as we returned home they were loose again. So through some serious thinking and a trial weekend of no produce (yeah, that's healthy!), I came to the conclusion that my kid likes fruits and veggies and those work well to keep things moving! He isn't in any pain. He just has one bowel movement a day (extremely regular, almost down to the minute). So we decided to just keep moving forward and not stress and let him eat produce (but we did decide a whole container of blackberries might not be the way to go - everything in moderation).

Back to the MTHC...the last time we had it he loved it so much he wanted it every day. After about a week and half he was having D. The real stuff, not just loose. He also had the dark circles under his eyes and fatigue. I wasn't sure if it was the MTHC, pizza (cheese), or what. So we cut out the cereal, pizza, and started using Lactaid and eliminated things like cheese, ice cream, etc. Then on vacation he had mac & cheese, ice cream, and perfect bathroom visits, but we still use the lactaid and don't offer him straight cheese. And I'm waiting until summer to try pizza again.

Really, back to the MTHC this time...so last week I decided to try the cereal again. I know he doesn't get enough whole grains and that cereal seems an answer to that problem. So Thursday he had a bowl. Thurs afternoon the sniffles started. I thought he caught my cold. We waited until Monday to have it again. Then yesterday (Tues) he didn't have a bowel movement until 3 in the afternoon - remember, he's Mr. On Schedule in that dept. His congestion is still really bad. But that could be the cold. Or maybe allergies are kicking in. Or maybe, or maybe, or maybe.

He begged for the cereal this morning. I've read posts that some people have suspicions about Bob's Red Mill not being entirely gluten free. So I decided to just bite the bullet and I ordered one of those ELISA home test kits. It may be the most expensive bowl of hot cereal ever, but I WILL find out if it is gluten free!!

So, what's the point of this post? Well...not much other than to share my sense of empowerment! So often I feel helpless. I'm a control freak and as you all know this disease can be difficult to control sometimes. I so want the MTHC to be OK. He was great about giving up his daily oatmeal. Actually, he's been just amazing through this whole thing. I'm so proud of him. I want to give him MTHC!! If it doesn't come back gluten free I may be posting for ideas on how to make my own MTHC!!! Not to mention I will be REALLY ticked.

(sorry this got so long. it seems i can never do a "short" post!)

[missy'smom]

I eat Bob's MTHC without problem and am very sensitive. It's very nutritious. But I don't eat it everyday and have not felt well after eating the same gluten-free product many days in a row. Not exactly glutening symptoms so I'm not sure if it's a CC problem or other problem-not getting enough nutrients or blood sugar imbalance- from that pattern of eating.

It really hard to know, it may be a CC problem he's experiencing but it could also be the dairy. My reaction can be delayed and caused by the cumulative amount I intake in a week not just a single serving. It also depends on the type of dairy what my reaction is. I used lactaid tablets, although not every time, but it didn't completely take care of my symptoms. One of the generic store brand "lactaid" tablets irritated my system for some reason. Now that I'm completely casein free, I finally know what it's like to have 3 normal BM's a day. I was surprised that my chronic nasal congestion cleared up considerably. I have other allergies so still experience congestion but it is clear that dairy was contributing quite a bit.

I found this article to be very informative about milk allergies and lactose intolerance.

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[celiac-mommy]

This is my dd favorite. She eats it often and never a reaction. She's also very sensitive.

[Ursa Major]

The gluten-free products from Bob's Red Mill are produced in a separate, gluten-free facility. It is likely that he is intolerant to one of the ingredients, and his reaction has nothing to do with gluten.