Some Questions From An Ignorant Newby

[notanothername]

Hi,

I have only just registered here as I am trying to put my 3 year old on a gluten-free diet. He's unofficially been diagnosed with ADHD (too early to give an official diagnosis). A friend suggested trying a gluten-free diet for 2 or 3 weeks to see if there was any change. I thought it was worth a try as he does seem to have tummy discomfort and bad gas a fair bit. I'm afraid I know next to nothing about any of this and came here to ask if anyone knew where I could get gluten-free cheese sauce (preferably at one of the large chain supermarkets in U.K.). Having read some topics very briefly though I have a few questions.

One being, will reducing gluten a lot help or do I have to cut it out absolutely? It seems to be rife and looks like it's going to be quite tough cutting it out totally.

The second, will cutting out/reducing gluten cause him to become more sensitive to it? As I'm not sure gluten is a problem yet I don't want to cause him problems he doesn't necessarily have.

Also, what kind of tests can I have done to see if he is sensitive to it? I've mentioned his tummy problems several times to every GP and paediatrician we've seen about this so it kind of annoys me that they don't suggest a test anyway and it's left to my friends and me to research these kind of things.

Thanks for reading and any help you can give.

[cahill]

Hi,

I have only just registered here as I am trying to put my 3 year old on a gluten-free diet. He's unofficially been diagnosed with ADHD (too early to give an official diagnosis). A friend suggested trying a gluten-free diet for 2 or 3 weeks to see if there was any change. I thought it was worth a try as he does seem to have tummy discomfort and bad gas a fair bit. I'm afraid I know next to nothing about any of this and came here to ask if anyone knew where I could get gluten-free cheese sauce (preferably at one of the large chain supermarkets in U.K.). Having read some topics very briefly though I have a few questions.

One being, will reducing gluten a lot help or do I have to cut it out absolutely? It seems to be rife and looks like it's going to be quite tough cutting it out totally.

The second, will cutting out/reducing gluten cause him to become more sensitive to it? As I'm not sure gluten is a problem yet I don't want to cause him problems he doesn't necessarily have.

Also, what kind of tests can I have done to see if he is sensitive to it? I've mentioned his tummy problems several times to every GP and paediatrician we've seen about this so it kind of annoys me that they don't suggest a test anyway and it's left to my friends and me to research these kind of things.

Thanks for reading and any help you can give.

Do not put him on a gluten free diet if you plan to have him tested for celiac's until all the testing is done.

Testing for celiac's is done by blood work and /or endoscopy .

Being gluten free before testing can cause false negatives.

If he has no issues with gluten being on a gluten free diet will not cause him to become sensitive to gluten.

If he is already sensitive to gluten and you remove gluten from his diet,he will notice(have tummy issues ) when he accidentally gets gluten in his food.

If he is sensitive to gluten, you would want to remove every last trace of gluten from his diet.It is tough to do but his health and well being are well worth it.

Is there a history of tummy issues/gluten sensitivity /celiac's in your family ??

Welcome to the forums

[notanothername]

Thank you for your answers. There is no history of gluten sensitivity in the family as far as I know but I'm sure something is not quite right with my son's digestive system as he seems to get discomfort and really noxious gas a little too often, which has been going on for a long time really, it just seems to have got a bit worse lately. He seems a bit better since trying the gluten-free diet already. (Don't know if this is just coincidence or wishful thinking as it's only been 6 days). But if the testing won't be accurate with him off the gluten (understandably) I suppose he'll have to go back to it temporarily at least. Do you know how long it would take to make a difference to test results either way (e.g. how long would he have to be off gluten for it not to be accurate and how long would he have to be back on gluten for it to be accurate?)

[mushroom]

If he goes back on gluten right away a week should not make a difference, but two weeks definitely could. If he stays off it any longer then it would take 2-3 months to be sure of an accurate result.

[GFinDC]

I don't know about how long it would take to notice improvement with ADHD. But with celiac it seems that people have a varying rate of improvemet. Some heal faster than others. 3 months is a better time frame to test the diet. It might also help to put him on a dairy free diet. If he does have celiac it can cause trouble digesting dairy. A common acronym people use is GFCFSF for gluten free casein free soy free diet. You might want to try all 3 at the same time.

They do say that nerve and nueral issues are the slowest to heal and 6 months is not a long time for those kind of issues to show improvement.

[notanothername]

Thank you every one. I guess it's back to gluten tomorrow then At least that way we'll get accurate results.

[cahill]

Thank you every one. I guess it's back to gluten tomorrow then At least that way we'll get accurate results.

Take note of any changes in his behavior ( his ADHD)and changes in his tummy issues . 6 days is not a long time but you may be surprised the changes when you put him back on full gluten .

Once his testing is done, consider going gluten free ( not matter the test results)

There is scientific research that indicates that someone with ADHD can benefit from a gluten free diet.

[Takala]

Since whether or not he is on dairy won't affect the tests for celiac, and dairy intolerance is a side effect because the part of the intestine that processes dairy gets damaged from gluten intolerance, you could try taking him off of dairy during this period, and see if that helps his discomfort any. Or at least start by taking him off of lactose, which is the milk sugar part of dairy, not the casein, which is the protein. This means that regular whole and skim milk is out, but dairy foods that have the lactose sugars aged out, such as yogurt and aged cheeses, may be tried. Some of us who were pretty dairy intolerant before going on a gluten free diet were successfully able to re introduce some lactose free dairy afterwards.

To replace the milk to drink, such as for putting in tea or on cereal, you can use substitutes such as gluten free nut milks, or rice or coconut milks. For cereal, you can also take yogurt and thin it down a bit with water so it's the consistency of thick cream, then add some sweetener.

For the future, it is easy to make gluten free cheese sauce. You take equal amounts of gluten free flour* and either butter or ghee or oil, and cook them together in a sauce pan, stirring constantly and watching so it doesn't burn. This is called a "roux." Then you salt and pepper it, and slowly add liquid to it (see above for milk subs, if not using milk) and keep stirring, and it turns into a gravy-sauce. Then you add grated cheese to it, and stir until the cheese melts. If it is too pale looking, you can add a little bit of tumeric spice to turn it a brighter shade of yellow. If you add yogurt to it, instead of cheese, this is like the basis of a butter sauce that is used in Indian cooking, only you would also add a lot of different curry type spices to it. Dairy free cheese substitutes can also be added to it, but I'm not sure what brands they have over in the UK, here it would be something like Daiya.

* for the gluten free flour, you can use many different sorts of this, such as an all purpose blend of something basic such as rice/tapioca/potato starch, or even a single type of gluten free flour, such as sorghum, millet, or rice flour.

[beachbirdie]

* for the gluten free flour, you can use many different sorts of this, such as an all purpose blend of something basic such as rice/tapioca/potato starch, or even a single type of gluten free flour, such as sorghum, millet, or rice flour.

My family has experimented a lot with cream sauces and they have all come to prefer one that we make with "sweet rice flour". This is NOT the same as white rice or brown rice flours, it can also be found under the name of "mochi" in the Asian foods section of most groceries. You just use your regular sauce recipe and sub this flour. It doesn't brown though, so you won't have that as a sign it's getting done while making a roux.

It makes a sauce equal to any made with wheat flour without the "beany" taste of bean flours, and it can also be used to coat things that you fry before stewing. And sauces made with it freeze very well!

beachbirdie

[sa1937]

My family has experimented a lot with cream sauces and they have all come to prefer one that we make with "sweet rice flour". This is NOT the same as white rice or brown rice flours, it can also be found under the name of "mochi" in the Asian foods section of most groceries. You just use your regular sauce recipe and sub this flour. It doesn't brown though, so you won't have that as a sign it's getting done while making a roux.

It makes a sauce equal to any made with wheat flour without the "beany" taste of bean flours, and it can also be used to coat things that you fry before stewing. And sauces made with it freeze very well!

beachbirdie

That's good to know. My sweet rice flour is labeled as glutinous rice flour.

[notanothername]

Thanks for all these replies, I haven't been on for a while and have just seen the last few.