Vegan And Now Gluten Free! Help!

[givenupgluten]

Soo, about 6 months ago i decided to go vegan for my health and ethical reasons. I feel very strongly about my decision and intend on maintaining it. Recently due to a lifetime of stomach issues and depressive tendencies, I decided to revisit these issues and speak with a new dr. I was diagnosed when I was younger with IBS. At that time, I was satisfied with that diagnosis and left it at that. I took some medication that did very little and eventually the symptoms passed somewhat. They came back shortly after my move to NYC and now they are worse than ever (4 years later..). My mother has celiac and my symptoms mirror hers exactly.

I spoke with my new dr. about this and he gave me the blood panel test which came out negative. I have not had the biopsy as of yet, b/c he felt that we didnt need to b/c the other test came out negative. I still feel strongly that I have celiac. Just recently I decided to go gluten free while awaiting meeting with a celiac specialist. I just couldnt deal with the symptoms and stomach pain any longer.

I'm doing fairly well, but need some support. I'm frustrated at the idea of not really being able to eat out ever again! I LOVE going out to eat, but now it seems like it will just be a hassle. Any tips on eating out and actually enjoying it, while trying to stay a strict vegetarian AND gluten-free??? Also, are there any of you who are convinced you have celiac, or at least a strong gluten intolerance WITHOUT having positive test results? When I try to explain myself to others, or why I can't eat this or that...I feel like they must think I'm some sort of hypochondriac who THINKS they have a disease. I feel confident in my decision, but I do not know how to express this to others/family without feeling like I need a prognosis from a dr for them to take it seriously.

[ShayFL]

You could get genetic tests through Enterolab. You might feel even more confident if you have the celiac genes that you are making the right decision.

For eating out. You can always take a veggie burger (gluten-free). I like Sunshine Burgers. Order a salad and a baked potato and be safe. This allows you to be social with your restrictions. I have found that Thai is really good for vegan/gluten-free eating. Tell them "no soy sauce".

I always tell them that I am allergic to wheat and gluten. That they need to use a fresh clean pan for me. And just veggies (chicken cuz I do eat meat. You could ask for tofu if soy doesnt bother you) and sesame oil. Plain salt. And nothing else. I get steamed rice. Yummy!! and very doable.

PF Changs has gluten-free menu. You cold do veggie there too.

[AndreaB]

Depending on where you are, I think there are some vegan and gluten free options. I live in Washington so I'm thinking more of Portland and Seattle.

My family hasn't had official testing done but we did have gene testing done as well as ELISA testing and gluten/wheat was a problem. We are all gluten free due to that and with the genes, we will remain gluten free. I just tried adding non gluten free oats and barley (malt) into the kids diet a month or so ago and it definately didn't go well for one of them.

As far as help. The following yahoo group would more than likely be a big help to you. Many recipes are posted on the group and there may be more people to help with eating out, places to go.

Open Original Shared Link

[Janessa]

go to vegiac.com

Indian food is a good place to eat out, most places will make most any dish vegan and most don't have gluten to begin with

Raw food is also awesome

Get some vegan gluten free cookbooks, there are many good ones out there

[Juliebove]

We have vegan and raw vegan restaurants here in this area. Some of the foods will contain soy, sprouted wheat, or other gluten containing foods. So it is important that you mention the celiac to them. Restaurants with salad bars are another option. Of course you must be careful of cross contamination. But I have seen some that were good to put all of the vegetables on one side and prepared salads on the other, making that one side safe. My local Central Market has a vegetarian food bar with prepared foods, some of them being not only vegan but gluten-free. The Old Spaghetti Factory offers gluten-free pasta in some locations and you can get it with your choice of sauce. The plain marinara sauce is vegan and so is the gluten-free pasta.

I'm sure you know it is already difficult to get a vegan meal in a mainstream restaurant. Now you just have the added task of making sure your food isn't cross contaminated.

[Susanna]

Hey--I got diagnosed thru positive tests, but my brother's were negative. In frustration (and 20 years of getting up at night to have diarrhea) he finally decided to go gluten free. Within a few months, all the symptoms that no doctor could every explain went completely away! So, he had negative tests, but a positive family history (since I have it), all the symptoms, and the symptoms resolved on the gluten-free diet--so you tell me, does he have celiac disease, or doesn't he? Doesn't matter--he feels cured so he's never going back to gluten.

And yes, it's possible to live gluten-free and vegan too. At my house, I'm celiac, and one of my daughters is vegan. Here are some vegan and gluten-free meals we eat:

--eggs. (Just kidding)

--tacos: corn tortillas, refried beans, salsa, avocado, lettuce, etc. You can even do the soy or almond vegan cheese if you want. (for us meat eaters, I also put out chicken and cheese)

--spaghetti: gluten-free pasta, jar sauce, tofu whisked into the sauce, maybe add mushrooms or whatever. We do this with garlic bread too: gluten-free/vegan bread, vegan margarine, minced garlic, toasted under broiler.

--build your own pizzas: gluten-free/vegan loaf of bread cut longways, jar marinara sauce, and put out the fixins for everyone to build their own: we put out peppers, vegan cheese, artichoke hearts, olives, sun dried tomatoes, etc.

--succotash: corn, lima beans (or edamame), a pinch of red pepper flakes, sald and pepper, a pinch of dried thyme--this is great for brunch, dinner, whatever--the whole fam loved it.

Restauants: we've had good luck with PF Changs, Pei Wei, (these are chains), Indian food, Mexican (beans and rice, corn tortillas, salsa), and one great gourmet pizza place in town: Picazzo's (we live in Flagstaff, AZ, and there are several other Picazzo's in Arizona). Their gluten-free crust is vegan and you just pick what toppings you want. Flagstaff even just got a new vegetarian restaurant called Hip Vegetarian--which has a gluten-free menu if you ask for it.

Over all, yeah you'll have to adjust, but I bet it won't be as hard as you think: you already learned to adjust to vegan diet--I recommend you go to your favorite vegetarian restaurants and ask them what gluten-free dishes they can do for you--you'll be surprised at how much they know about it. Of course you can't do tempeh or seitan anymore, or most of the fake meats, but Boca does have some vegan burgers you can get in the regular grocery stores now.

You can do this.

Good luck,

Susanna

[nutralady2001]

I know you are talking about eating out but this blog

Open Original Shared Link has lots of recipes with a vegan section here

Open Original Shared Link

and if you read through her site she has done a lot of travelling/ eating out and haslots of suggestions, hope this helps!

[RiceGuy]

I didn't go to any doctors - learned not to trust them long ago. I suppose it depends on lifestyle, whether your decision is challenged by friends and/or family. But, if the people in your life have seen you suffering, and after going gluten-free they see you feeling better, that I think should be convincing enough.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I am a gluten-free vegan, too! I love it and find that after I got used to the in's and out's of both diets that it is pretty easy. I find a few places to eat at frequently that are more local so that they will pretty much make things the way I need. My boyfriend (he is a vegetarian) has got me eating Asian food and most places will make me food without soy sauce and without eggs, yummie. Just try and relax and start small then add food to your diet until you are comfortable. I have had a lot of fun being a gluten-free vegan and even stayed in Spain for five weeks and did great. I travel around the U.S. too. Just make sure you always have a fruit bar, or raisins in your purse in case you cannot find something in a jam. Today, I took my Father out for Father's day and we had a great lunch at Cheese Burger in Paradise and other chains have gluten-free menus and some are vegan or vegan options. Anyways, Open Original Shared Link is a good resource and feel free to PM me, too.

[givenupgluten]

Thanks everyone! These are some great ideas..I really appreciate it..and I dont feel so alone!

In response to the genetic testing - I have looked into it, and wondered whether it would be worthwhile, or does it make more sense to simply see how I feel on a gluten-free diet? I'm not really sure. Part of me wants some verification and substantial scientific evidence, and the other part of me doesn't care. I have heard that it's somewhat common to get 'false negatives' from these tests, and that prevents me from bothering with them (along with the cost). I'm still a little interested though...

What are your thoughts??