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1 Week gluten-free And Had Ceaser Salad And Lots Of Stomach Issues!


pufffee

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pufffee Apprentice

Hi

I am into diet one week. My mom has Celiac and I have been taught very well how to avoid and look for unknown sources of gluten. I had a chicken ceaser salad with ceasar dressing. No croutons. I was told dressing and chicken were gluten-free by place I got food. After eating this, I felt like I had a party going on in my stomach lol. It was gurgling, bloated, and if I actually went to the bathroom it most def would have be Diarrhea. Anyone else experience this type of issue with salads?/


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JillianLindsay Enthusiast

It's sometimes tough to connect being sick with the culprit. It could be a number of things:

-was the children seasoned/breaded?

-the dressing may have contained gluten and the people telling you it was gluten-free were wrong

-was the salad made fresh in a separate bowl? could they have just picked out the croutons?

-if you were in a restaurant, cross-contamination could have come from just about anywhere

Sorry I can't be more helpful! Was it a restaurant?

Hope you feel better quickly!

Jillian

Hi

I am into diet one week. My mom has Celiac and I have been taught very well how to avoid and look for unknown sources of gluten. I had a chicken ceaser salad with ceasar dressing. No croutons. I was told dressing and chicken were gluten-free by place I got food. After eating this, I felt like I had a party going on in my stomach lol. It was gurgling, bloated, and if I actually went to the bathroom it most def would have be Diarrhea. Anyone else experience this type of issue with salads?/

miles2go Contributor

I agree with JillianLindsay, but it could just be the lettuce. I have issues with it, not sure if it's an allergy or if I just go into fiber overload with it or what, but sometimes it gives me trouble. Generally it's easier on your stomach to have lightly cooked veggies and fruits, so it might be a good idea to forgo the raw salads for a while until you heal some more.

Margaret

Wolicki Enthusiast

If you've been ok with other salads, lettuces, I would say it's probably the dressing. Almost every bottle of caesar dressing I have looked at contains gluten. Caesar is on my no list away from home- too risky and many servers have no idea what things contain gluten. I usually opt for oil and vinegar while dining out.

hannahp57 Contributor

was this somethin from a restaurant? if so, maybe someone knows what is safe there..

i got glutened at carraba's italian from a chicken caesar just a couple months ago. the gluten free menu tells you to order it like this:

caesar salad mixed separately, chicken cooked without grill baste, no croutons.

i had eaten it successfully once before so i went through all that and ate most of it... well thirty minutes later i was SICK. i don't know if it was the caesar dessing (i didnt like it so i got maybe two little dabs of it on one piece of chicken- not enough to cause such a reaction in my opinion but i could be wrong) or if it was the chicken and they skipped the no baste rule or if the salad had not been mixed separatly. my reaction was strong enough that it had to have been a wheat product and not just CC.

i know this doesnt answer your question but just thought i would let you know i have been there! and with the exact same dish

JNBunnie1 Community Regular
It's sometimes tough to connect being sick with the culprit. It could be a number of things:

-was the children seasoned/breaded?

HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!

Freudian slip much?

:lol: :lol: :lol:

miles2go Contributor
HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!

Freudian slip much?

:lol: :lol: :lol:

She knows what she wants, JNB1!


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maggiemay832 Newbie
Hi

I am into diet one week. My mom has Celiac and I have been taught very well how to avoid and look for unknown sources of gluten. I had a chicken ceaser salad with ceasar dressing. No croutons. I was told dressing and chicken were gluten-free by place I got food. After eating this, I felt like I had a party going on in my stomach lol. It was gurgling, bloated, and if I actually went to the bathroom it most def would have be Diarrhea. Anyone else experience this type of issue with salads?/

How strange, only caesar salads do that to me- must be the dressing!

I get gurgly and INSTANTLY uncomfortable too.

ZsaZsa Newbie

..I'm am sorry you had trouble with your salad..........but I have yet to find salad dressings (for the most part) that don't include that ever-present 'soy' ingredient. Litehouse brand is the only brand that I have seen that doesn't include soy in 'some' of their dressings.......But in the classic Ceasar Salad dressing recipie,.....it typically has Worcestershire sauce which has soy as an ingredient. Before I knew I was celiac, I would Always have the 'D' after any salad in a restarant.......til I became Anaphylatic/Highly allergic to soybean oil, soy lethicin, soy anything. A lot of Celiacs are intolerant to soy......., perhaps soy is the culprit......, but perhaps keeping a food diary would help you get to the common denominator in your food troubles. Hope you feel better soon.

Gfresh404 Enthusiast

It could very well be any of the previously mentioned things, but how well do you handle dairy? Because don't forget there is almost always some kind of cheese or cream in Caesar dressings.

pufffee Apprentice

Thanks For all the feeback everyone!! I think it came down to the chicken being exposed or marinated in something that the place was unaware had gluten in it. I am not lactose intolerant at all, I have had multiple tests for this. I use to drink upwards of 2 gallons of milk aweek lol now down to one. I think it could be the dressing, although the dressing was the only thing the website stated was gluten free. Oh well, I will keep a diary or better effort to know what effects me and what does not.

pewpewlasers Rookie

There are a lot of ceaser dressings that contain gluten. Normally, I stick to ones that come in the packet with the ingredients listed right there or stay away.

Dressings are tricky I have found. Best to be safe than sorry!

pewpewlasers Rookie
Thanks For all the feeback everyone!! I think it came down to the chicken being exposed or marinated in something that the place was unaware had gluten in it. I am not lactose intolerant at all, I have had multiple tests for this. I use to drink upwards of 2 gallons of milk aweek lol now down to one. I think it could be the dressing, although the dressing was the only thing the website stated was gluten free. Oh well, I will keep a diary or better effort to know what effects me and what does not.

Sometimes they add gluten to processed chicked or it is marinated. I had that problem with chicken nachos once. The waitress went through so much trouble to make it gluten free and it made me sick for a week. I'm pretty sure it was the chicken.

Northern Celiac Newbie
Hi

I am into diet one week. My mom has Celiac and I have been taught very well how to avoid and look for unknown sources of gluten. I had a chicken ceaser salad with ceasar dressing. No croutons. I was told dressing and chicken were gluten-free by place I got food. After eating this, I felt like I had a party going on in my stomach lol. It was gurgling, bloated, and if I actually went to the bathroom it most def would have be Diarrhea. Anyone else experience this type of issue with salads?/

I go by a very simple rule, If I can't identify what is in what I am eating.....I dont eat it. Don't trust what people tell you. WHEN IN DOUBT LEAVE IT OUT!!!

Chattyaholic Rookie

Wow, I could have started this same topic!! I, too, am just over a week into my gluten free diet and Sunday night we went to Bennigan's for dinner with another couple. There was so much on the menu that I knew I couldn't have, so I figured a Caesar salad with grilled chicken would be all right. I even picked off the croutons. I was wrong. I had "D" 3 times the next day. I did not realize, until reading here, that so many salad dressings have gluten in them. I guess vinegar and oil and a plain salad with just vegetables is the way I'll have to go from now on. :(

Fiddle-Faddle Community Regular
I figured a Caesar salad with grilled chicken would be all right. I even picked off the croutons.

Even if you picked off the croutons, it is almost certain that there would be crouton crumbs in your salad--and it only takes a crumb to set off that reaction.

That's not even considered "cross-contamination." That would be considered a gluten-containing meal.

You wouldn't tell someone who is allergic to peanuts to wipe the peanut butter off the bread, or pick the peanuts out of the trail mix, would you?

Same thing here.

JillianLindsay Enthusiast

YIKES! You can't just pick off the croutons dear, you must ask the server to leave them off. Even traces of gluten can make you very sick, as you unfortunately experienced.

In my opinion you should always let your server know that you have celiac disease so they can take every precaution to avoid cross-contamination and avoid making you sick.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and/or to ask specifically for which items on the menu are gluten-free. Your health is worth it :)

Jillian

Wow, I could have started this same topic!! I, too, am just over a week into my gluten free diet and Sunday night we went to Bennigan's for dinner with another couple. There was so much on the menu that I knew I couldn't have, so I figured a Caesar salad with grilled chicken would be all right. I even picked off the croutons. I was wrong. I had "D" 3 times the next day. I did not realize, until reading here, that so many salad dressings have gluten in them. I guess vinegar and oil and a plain salad with just vegetables is the way I'll have to go from now on. :(
miles2go Contributor
YIKES! You can't just pick off the croutons dear, you must ask the server to leave them off. Even traces of gluten can make you very sick, as you unfortunately experienced.

In my opinion you should always let your server know that you have celiac disease so they can take every precaution to avoid cross-contamination and avoid making you sick.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and/or to ask specifically for which items on the menu are gluten-free. Your health is worth it :)

Jillian

Grilled chicken is not safe. I don't mean just scraping off the old grill I mean restaurants/mom & pop stores/you name it that sell "grilled chicken" sometimes put gluteny stuff in there. Stuff that vendors and servers don't recognize as gluten.

I've been there.

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