Pinpointing Problem Foods

[KarenFe]

I really appreciate all the help I've gotten on this site so far. I posted my test results in this thread - post #4.

https://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/index.ph...mp;#entry532702

Since I posted that thread about my negative celiac result from the biopsy, I decided to go completely gluten-free, dairy free, and egg free as a elimination diet. I've been eating fruits, veggies, black coffee, rice, and gluten-free oatmeal as well as a few other things which shouldn't cause a problem. My plan is to add one thing back in at a time.

Yesterday we went out of town for the day and while everyone ate pizza at a pizza restaurant, I had their french fries. That was for lunch yesterday. My bathroom "issues," while seeming to improve, have not really improved to a completely normal state and I understand that could take a while. Anyway, this morning my stomach was "gurgly" which I was not happy with. This afternoon I had the full fledged "D" again and my stomach is still making it's complaints.

The only thing that stands out to me as the possible culprit, considering my diet the last few days, are the french fries. (Edit: I also had red wine) It's possible they contained gluten and I ate them in hopeful ignorance. It's also possible for cross contamination when frying in the oil.

I am mostly wondering if my issues could be something else - I like to be totally sure. I know it will just take time and some more dietary experiments. I'll continue with my "dull" diet to make sure eggs and milk aren't problems to me, although I think one of them might be, but does the french fry incident "prove" my gluten sensitivity. Does it add to the proof that my tests already said?

I guess I'm sort of in denial or surprise at the new course my dietary life is taking me.

Thanks for reading this and for any help!

Karen

[MySuicidalTurtle]

The fries probably did it. If they are fried with gluten then you are basically eating the gluten, too. Also, a percentage of people with Celiac Disease have reactions to oats, even if gluten-free. However, it sounds like you got sick soonish after the fries.

[nasalady]

Yesterday we went out of town for the day and while everyone ate pizza at a pizza restaurant, I had their french fries. That was for lunch yesterday. My bathroom "issues," while seeming to improve, have not really improved to a completely normal state and I understand that could take a while. Anyway, this morning my stomach was "gurgly" which I was not happy with. This afternoon I had the full fledged "D" again and my stomach is still making it's complaints.

The only thing that stands out to me as the possible culprit, considering my diet the last few days, are the french fries. (Edit: I also had red wine) It's possible they contained gluten and I ate them in hopeful ignorance. It's also possible for cross contamination when frying in the oil.

I am mostly wondering if my issues could be something else - I like to be totally sure. I know it will just take time and some more dietary experiments. I'll continue with my "dull" diet to make sure eggs and milk aren't problems to me, although I think one of them might be, but does the french fry incident "prove" my gluten sensitivity. Does it add to the proof that my tests already said?

I guess I'm sort of in denial or surprise at the new course my dietary life is taking me.

Thanks for reading this and for any help!

Karen

Hi Karen,

Yes, you probably shouldn't eat french fries from a restaurant unless you know that they don't fry breaded items in the same fryer. You should call the restaurant and ask them...it definitely would give you some important information one way or the other.

I was surprised to learn recently that wine can be a potential issue, not because wine itself has gluten (of course not!) but because some winemakers seal the oak wine barrels with wheat paste! Please see:

Open Original Shared Link

Perhaps if you call the restaurant, you might ask them about the wine and where it came from. You could then call the winery and ask them about wheat paste. After all, you might be one of the "extra sensitive" people who react to minute amounts of gluten. I certainly am!

Another possibility is that you are reacting to potatoes. Potatoes are a member of the nightshade family and a number of people on this forum have had to give up nightshades (also includes tomatoes and eggplant, I think?).

A third possibility is that you were accidently glutened a day or two earlier and that you're just now reacting. It usually takes me two or three days to have symptoms, although some people react to gluten in less than an hour. Right now I have a canker sore on my tongue and a REALLY bad headache, which tells me I was glutened sometime in the last few days. But I don't know where, because the only food I've eaten is food I've made myself at home.

However I DID drink some wine from a winery we've never tried before. My husband also has celiac disease and has Dermatitis Herpetiformis; he drank some of the same wine and his skin flared up. So we've now concluded that this winery probably uses wheat paste in their barrels. Because we can't think of any other possibility.

Anyway, I've said all of this to show how difficult it can be to track down exactly what the problem is, but you should definitely try, because it's important to figure out just what is causing your discomfort.

Good luck!

JoAnn

[KarenFe]

Thanks! I actually did call the restaurant before posting here, but there was a language barrier and I didn't get much information other than they have the fries delivered. It was a pizza place, so I imagine the fries very well could have been fried in "glutened" oil.

It definitely is hard to track down sources of gluten sometimes and even harder as I try to figure out what else bothers me in my diet.

Thanks so much for your replies. You've definitely been helpful.

Karen