Needs Help, Gluten Free Is Hard In College.

[TrevFitz]

Hey how's it going,

I've recently been diagnosed with celiacs and I am currently having lots of problems not getting rid of the gluten. It's hard to find cheaper food and a wider variety of gluten free foods. My symptoms have been getting worse and I am a little worried, but I am waiting to go see my Dr.(His Schedule is pretty full) I have been having alot of involuntary twitches lately, along with feeling very light headed, or like my heads is rolling around. It's worrying me because I don't know much, and I just don't have the knowledge, will power or resources to go gluten-free. If theres anybody that can give some advice, I would be very greatful, and also if anybody is in the Columbus, Ohio area that knows about good places to grocery shop, or eat gluten free.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

It takes awhile to get the in and outs of this diet. I am a recent college graduate and know how hard it is managing school. The best way to make sure you are off the gluten is to eat naturally gluten-free things. Sounds boring but you can do a lot. Fresh fruits, veggies, meat, and rice. These items can be cheap, too, especially at little ethnic stores (yummie and inexpensive veggies for sure). Then, you can add in processed gluten-free things when you have to time to research and buy them.

[happygirl]

Here is a local support group that may be able to provide you with some guidance and local resources. Open Original Shared Link

[mattathayde]

i got diagnosed last year when i was a freshman and ya its hard and it sucks, i honestly didnt go truly gluten-free until about july of last year. here is my suggestion to you

-if you can do it get out of campus housing, or get into a campus housing where you have a kitchen you can cook in and keep it reasonably gluten-free (living in a mixed kitchen it will never be gluten-free perfectly but you can keep it at a level that will not be harmful to you).

-learn to cook for your self and cook simply for the first few months

-dont eat out for a while just to keep from any extra CC

you know now that i think about it, i would get a lot of involuntary muscle spasms that have gone away since ive been gluten-free, hmmmm cool.

i promise you though, as a college student if you stick to the diet you classes will get much easier, you will happier as a whole and feel a lot better, less stress and deal with everything in your life much better

as to the cheaper food that is gluten-free, dont try to replace glutened foods, just eliminate them, eat fruit and veggies, rice, beans, meats, etc. ya gluten is freaking every where but after a couple months it gets a lot easier.

are you home for the summer or at least not taking summer classes? i found it was easier to deal with the change a bit since i did it over the summer and when i went back to school i was cooking gluten-free.

-matt

[weluvgators]

Hugs! You CAN DO THIS!! I use magnesium supplementation to help with twitching, and I find that gluten exposure makes my magnesium demand very high. I use Epsom salt baths and a magnesium/calcium drink. As for cheaper foods, how are you with rice and beans? My feelings of light headedness seem to relate to low blood pressure and/or low sugar. I find that *making* myself grab something to eat (usually produce, nuts/seeds, and/or meat) helps, as does ensuring I have good hydration. We started on our gluten free diet with a goal of BABY STEPS in the right direction. I had to take it one day at a time. And then it was one week at a time. It does get easier, and now I am just so grateful that I did it when I did.

Hope it helps!

[GFinDC]

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

There is a thread on Columbus, Ohio linked below, it is in the Celiac Meeting Room forum on this board. The thread has some suggestions for stores to get gluten-free foods etc.

You can develop some serious nerve conditions from gluten exposure, look up gluten ataxia for info. It's nothing to fool around with. Did I manage to scare you yet? The thing is if you take the diet seriously you will probably be ok. You might want to checkout getting some sub-lingual B-12 as they say it helps with nerves. And a trip to the doctor to have your vitamin and mineral levels checked is not a bad idea too. The big thing though is to get off gluten completely so your intestines can start healing and you can start absorbing vitamins and minerals and other good for you things naturally again.

Columbus, Ohio

[GottaSki]

Not sure if you are in a dorm or apt. If you don't have a kitchen...maybe you can microwave or toaster oven some of the items I suggest.

We are replacing our gluten containing foods...this does take some time to figure out and understand this would be difficult to learn if we were not already used to cooking our own food...so it is best to keep to simple whole foods that are naturally gluten-free -- vegies, fruits, meats, rice, beans etc.

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? We have found the best prices and variety of gluten-free foods there We also have found alot of gluten-free foods at all grocery stores and amazon has a great selection and delivers for free.

Here are some easy things that I'm making to replace some of the "fun" easy foods for my kids.

Quesadilla - put a CORN tortilla in a frying pan with shredded cheese until cheese is melted -- if you have any leftover meat...chicken, steak, pork -- add under the cheese

Pizza - Bob's RedMill Pizza Dough works for us (I buy on amazon 4 packages for $11) - the crust is better than the gluten-free pizza's we've found at restaurants - keep an eye out...more and more italian and pizza joints are serving gluten-free options.

Quick Mac & Cheese - Brown Rice Penne Pasta (any rice, quinoa, gluten-free pasta works - we just like the penne because it is easier to cook w/o getting sticky) - I boil a couple packages of pasta, keep in the frig so it's ready whenever to throw in a bowl and microwave with american processed cheese (velveeta or generic).

Rice is easy to make and you can add many things to it quickly -- fresh or frozen vegies, meat...fry and egg with rice and add a little gluten-free soy sauce to make fried rice.

Smoothies - if you have a blender...a great way to mix a lot of fresh fruits you might not normally eat..frozen blueberries are great...but canned fruits work well too and are inexpensive. Just add some ice, a bit of juice (apple, orange, grape) with fruits and blend. If it is too thick...add a bit more juice. Yogurt is another great option to add.

There are many gluten-free foods that aren't labeled gluten-free. Use the search engine on this site to find out if some of your favorites are already gluten-free -- Popcorn (we air pop and add real butter), many potato and corn tortilla chips (check ingrediants or seach this site), Resee's p-nut butter cups, m&m's, etc.

Don't forget - these are some fun items to add to a good diet of fruits, vegies, meats and grains.

Good Luck!

[daphniela]

Simply Asia Rice Bowls are gluten free and so are some of Thai Kitchen products. Just look on their website to see which products are.

[digmom1014]

Thai Kitchen is often on sale at CVS down here-thy Walgreens too. I survived on Ramon noodles in college and this is as close to the gluten-free equivilent that I've found.

Good luck-it does get easier!

[Wenmin]

A list of mainstream products that can be found at almost any grocery store...this is the website: (just copy and paste in address box)

homepage.mac.com/sholland/celiac/GFfoodlist.pdf

some of my favorites include the following:

Barbara's Puffins cinnamon cereal (wheat free)

Rice Chex cereal, Corn chex cereal, and cinnamon rice chex, chocolate rice chex (will list on the

package if it is gluten free!

Quaker Instant and Quick Grits (add a slice of velveeta cheese for cheese grits)

Ortega Yellow corn taco shells

Van's Waffles

Carnation hot chocolate mixes

Sunny Delight

Envirokidz Amazon Frosted Flakes

Golden Flake Snack Foods: all potato chips, corn chips, tortilla chips, cheese puffs, cheese curls

Amy's Kitchen Organic Salsa

Midel Chocolate chip cookies

Blue Diamond Nut Thins Almond(crackers)

Eagle Brand condensed milk

Cool Whip

Breakstones cottage cheese

Yoplait Yogurt - All except crunchies ( like granola, graham crackers, etc)

Jello Brand Jello snacks

Hunt's Snack Pack Pudding - all except crunchies

Soy Dream (Ice Cream)

Ben & Jerry's (All flavors not listing gluten ingredients)

All canned or frozen fruit not containing gluten ingredients (Delmonte)

All canned or frozen vegetables not containing gluten ingredients (Delmonte)

Oscar Mayer All Beef Hot dogs

Bryan All Beef Smoked Sausage

Sara Lee Cooked Ham

Kinnikinnick Bread (frozen food section)

Mustard, Mayonaise, Ketchup not containing gluten ingredients

Reese's Peanut Butter

Aunt Jemima Syrup

Contadina Pizza Squeeze

Hormel Pepperoni

Bush's Baked Beans

Ore Ida Hash Browns and French Fries

Go check this site out it is very helpful!

Wenmin

[mattathayde]

^^^ on the midel stuff make sure to buy the marked gluten free version, my grandma bought some midel stuff to send to me that was the normal versions. the midel gluten-free arrow root cookies are great, i go through them too fast

-matt

[purple]

Here is a college thread but you may need to double check any products since this is from last year:

Open Original Shared Link

[TrevFitz]

Hey, so I have to say thanks for all the help, and foods that are good for gluten free. Ive gone shopping at whole foods a couple times but they have a small selection, the hardest part right now is that I'm living with two roommates so there is always regular food here. The end of the summer I will be getting my own place, and that will help a lot with the kitchen situation. I took a visit to my Dr. but still waiting for my blood-work, and things have gotten better in the last couple weeks. Has anyone around Columbus shopped at ALDI before, I've heard they have a good selection of gluten-free products.

[mattathayde]

Hey, so I have to say thanks for all the help, and foods that are good for gluten free. Ive gone shopping at whole foods a couple times but they have a small selection, the hardest part right now is that I'm living with two roommates so there is always regular food here. The end of the summer I will be getting my own place, and that will help a lot with the kitchen situation. I took a visit to my Dr. but still waiting for my blood-work, and things have gotten better in the last couple weeks. Has anyone around Columbus shopped at ALDI before, I've heard they have a good selection of gluten-free products.

WF having a small section?????? i always have seen half an isle of purly gluten-free stuff and then a lot of marked stuff around the store. they do have a little pamphlet that i think is also on line which lists everything they carry that is gluten-free that could be questionable (things like pure meat and veggies etc are not on the list IIRC)

-matt

[jjc]

I believe there is a Raisin Rack in Westerville, right near Columbus. I've shopped at one in Canton, and it was GREAT for the amount of products they had. Little expensive to be sure, but at least you can pick and choose. Check it out!

[TrevFitz]

Well when I went to whole foods, I must have missed it, there was a small section and some things in the frozen section. I recently found out that Outback Steakhouse has a Gluten Free menu, so that helps for times I would like to eat out. I'll have to go back to WF and look around, has anybody made some sort of plan to slowly switch because its tricky dropping everything.

[mattathayde]

Well when I went to whole foods, I must have missed it, there was a small section and some things in the frozen section. I recently found out that Outback Steakhouse has a Gluten Free menu, so that helps for times I would like to eat out. I'll have to go back to WF and look around, has anybody made some sort of plan to slowly switch because its tricky dropping everything.

ask when you go to whole foods where they dry gluten-free stuff in, the one up in richmond va has a large selection in one isle. if you look on their web site there is the list of gluten-free foods so if you cannot find it in stores you can just ask some one that works there.

as to out back, my last attempt failed horribly, we went early when there was no one, i told my waiter and he passed on my needs to the kitchen, i followed their menu and still got sick.

as to easing into it you are going to get the response of "no you should drop it fully yada yada yada" a whole lot around here. from personal experiences you will notice help if you ease off it but the symptoms creep back as your body gets used to less and less gluten. i suggest you drop it as best you can, even with trying your hardest the first few months or so you will still end up eating gluten in things you dont notice. you will be much happier and healthier if you can drop it all at once and just deal with the PITA it is to eat gluten-free. dont try to substitute the gluten-free baked gods and versions of stuff, just stick to the naturally gluten-free foods.

and as to whole foods, dont buy their gluten-free baked goods except the pecan pie, IMHO the bread, biscuits, pizza crust and burger buns are all terrible. but the pie is AMAZING and super rich, 1/8th of the tiny pie is a lot

-matt

[TrevFitz]

So I don't know how to do the quote things but this is for the post above haha, I've found the internet is def my friend with all this and yes your very right about the baked gluten-free foods at WF. Tried the bread and a loaf of it weighed like 3 lbs. But anyways I might have to pass on Outback then as I don't really trust restaurants to much to begin with. I'm glad there are people to talk to, I don't personally know anyone else with Celiacs to talk to other than my mom, and she knows less than I do. But thanks again for all the advice and support.

[mattathayde]

So I don't know how to do the quote things but this is for the post above haha, I've found the internet is def my friend with all this and yes your very right about the baked gluten-free foods at WF. Tried the bread and a loaf of it weighed like 3 lbs. But anyways I might have to pass on Outback then as I don't really trust restaurants to much to begin with. I'm glad there are people to talk to, I don't personally know anyone else with Celiacs to talk to other than my mom, and she knows less than I do. But thanks again for all the advice and support.

ya i understand your worry. i trust 5 guys for the most part but i have had an issue here and there but that is honestly expected in a shared kitchen like that (ive never had an issue with the older manager there but the younger guy didnt have the glove change down right)

as to quoting just hit "Reply" to quote more than 1 hit "quote" on the ones you want then hit reply (also make sure you are in the "hifi" version of the site

i cant remember if i said it in this thread or not but the best bread ive found was the enr-g tapioca loaf, its not good plain but as a sandwich or as garlic bread etc its fine. i did just order some bread from GFmeals.com, i have seen great reviews of their stuff but its really expensive ( like 11 bucks for a loaf of bread) and its 25 bucks shipping up to 75 bucks then goes up from there because they ship 2 day usps. i hope the 90 bucks i just spent isnt a waste but i really just want to find something that tastes great AND has the right texture along with not crumbling.

-matt