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Gluten Free Products Are Making Me Sick

Mack the Knife

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Mack the Knife Explorer
Mack the Knife
Posted

I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease at the end of 2009. I have been on a strict gluten free diet ever since. I don't cheat and I am really careful about eating out and cc, etc. However, I have not gotten better on a gluten free diet. My symptoms persisted and when my gastroenterologist re-did the blood tests and biopsy they came back as still positive for Coeliac disease. He suspected I was still accidentally ingesting gluten from somewhere.

So I cut out everything and went back to unprocessed basics. Fruit, veg, meat, chicken, fish, nuts, seeds and lactose free dairy. And it worked! After two weeks or so, I felt better than I have felt for ages. My energy came back and my gastro-intestinal symptoms disappeared.

So I went to see a dietician and told her what I had been eating and the changes I had made. She thought I was probably getting sick from using contaminated gluten free flours (I love baking!) and she said I should be fine as long as I was more careful about where I sourced my gluten free stuff from.

So I ate some certified gluten free cereal and some certified gluten free buckwheat crispbread (made in a dedicated gluten free facility by a company that specialises in gluten free products). The next day all my symptoms came back and I have felt like crap for the last couple of days. So I have cut everything back out again and hopefully that will get me back to feeling better soon.

So am I so insanely sensitive to gluten that I can't tolerate certified gluten free food (that has to meet Australian food labelling requirements of testing under 5ppm)? Or am I intolerant to something in the gluten free food? I didn''t get sick instantly. There was a delay of about a day before it effected me.

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WheatChef Apprentice
WheatChef
Posted

If this occurs from a wide array of gluten-free products (ie: not just soy/corn/etc containing ones) then you might be experiencing carbohydrate intolerance. Would certainly account for the GI symptoms.

Mack the Knife Explorer
Mack the Knife
Posted
  • Author

If this occurs from a wide array of gluten-free products (ie: not just soy/corn/etc containing ones) then you might be experiencing carbohydrate intolerance. Would certainly account for the GI symptoms.

You can be intolerant to carbohydrates???? Damn! I don't know if I could cope with that one.

I was eating potatoes and sweet potatoes when i was feeling good. Are grain carbs different from potato carbs?

In retrospect, I probably should have started by re-introducing just one thing - preferably with a single ingredient. The stuff I ate was regular gluten free products with several ingredients.

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

By "carbohydrate intolerance" do you mean FOADMAP foods? There are some people who have gut issues when they eat FODMAPs (Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, and Mono-saccharides, And Polyols). Some are fructose intolerant too, meaning they don't absorb fructose properly. And yes, potatoes are lower FODMAP than grains.

Open Original Shared Link

Could also be lectins. Where's Mushroom? She finds foods with lectins very problematic though the diet you arrived on sounds more like low-FODMAP.

Open Original Shared Link

Maybe take a look at the specific carbohydrate diet? A lot of people around here really like that one.

Open Original Shared Link

dilettantesteph Collaborator
dilettantesteph
Posted

I have the same issue. I buy my gluten free grains whole and sort them. I find the odd grain that looks like wheat. I remove it. Then I wash, dry and grind for baking. I can eat the grains that way. I seem to be sensitive to the allowed levels. I can't even eat the certified stuff, though I do better with the stuff from Australia as your limits are lower than ours (USA). I am glad that you have managed to figure out how to feel better. Even if you are unable to eat grains, it is better than being sick all the time.

GFinDC Veteran
GFinDC
Posted

...

So I ate some certified gluten free cereal and some certified gluten free buckwheat crispbread (made in a dedicated gluten free facility by a company that specialises in gluten free products). The next day all my symptoms came back and I have felt like crap for the last couple of days. So I have cut everything back out again and hopefully that will get me back to feeling better soon.

So am I so insanely sensitive to gluten that I can't tolerate certified gluten free food (that has to meet Australian food labelling requirements of testing under 5ppm)? Or am I intolerant to something in the gluten free food? I didn''t get sick instantly. There was a delay of about a day before it effected me.

So what are the ingredients in the cereal and the crisp bread? Can you add those ingredients in isolation to your diet and see if you react to them?

Marz Enthusiast
Marz
Posted

Be careful of the "home industry" gluten-free stuff.

I was ecstatic to see a whole range of gluten-free biscuits being sold at the local grocery store. A few days later started getting reactions :( I noticed when I was at the store, the range being sold by the manufacturer included biscuits with wheat ingredients as well as gluten-free stuff.

I'm assuming she made the gluten free items with the same baking utensils and oven as the wheat items, there was no type of warning like "being processed in the same lines...", but it was definately "home industry" type goods so bleh. Also, flour gets everywhere :(

Proof was when I made my own biscuits using identical ingredients, obviously in a gluten-free kitchen. No reaction at all! Safe to say I'm not trusting home industry anymore...

What is your reaction to plain grains - like rice, corn, maize/corn porridge?

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest tamilynn38
Guest tamilynn38
Posted

I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease at the end of 2009. I have been on a strict gluten free diet ever since. I don't cheat and I am really careful about eating out and cc, etc. However, I have not gotten better on a gluten free diet. My symptoms persisted and when my gastroenterologist re-did the blood tests and biopsy they came back as still positive for Coeliac disease. He suspected I was still accidentally ingesting gluten from somewhere.

So I cut out everything and went back to unprocessed basics. Fruit, veg, meat, chicken, fish, nuts, seeds and lactose free dairy. And it worked! After two weeks or so, I felt better than I have felt for ages. My energy came back and my gastro-intestinal symptoms disappeared.

So I went to see a dietician and told her what I had been eating and the changes I had made. She thought I was probably getting sick from using contaminated gluten free flours (I love baking!) and she said I should be fine as long as I was more careful about where I sourced my gluten free stuff from.

So I ate some certified gluten free cereal and some certified gluten free buckwheat crispbread (made in a dedicated gluten free facility by a company that specialises in gluten free products). The next day all my symptoms came back and I have felt like crap for the last couple of days. So I have cut everything back out again and hopefully that will get me back to feeling better soon.

So am I so insanely sensitive to gluten that I can't tolerate certified gluten free food (that has to meet Australian food labelling requirements of testing under 5ppm)? Or am I intolerant to something in the gluten free food? I didn''t get sick instantly. There was a delay of about a day before it effected me.

You may have more than just celiacs disease- you also may have gluten intolerance or starch problems- you should be tested to see if you have problems with carbs-

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