New To Site

[Fish On]

I have really never had any symptoms except for some gas or indigestion. I have never had pain from this and I have always eaten whatever i wanted my entire life. I am 62 5'4" 115lbs and healthy until this blood work came back which lead to my first colonoscopy and endoscopy. They discovered these pockets in my colon, which aren't inflammed yet, but may become so eating nuts, seeds, popcorn, etc. I have always eaten that stuff. Then this Gluten free s$#&, well I have always eaten Italian bread at dinner and wheat bread for sandwiches. I need help with this gluten free diet.

[jswog]

I have really never had any symptoms except for some gas or indigestion. I have never had pain from this and I have always eaten whatever i wanted my entire life. I am 62 5'4" 115lbs and healthy until this blood work came back which lead to my first colonoscopy and endoscopy. They discovered these pockets in my colon, which aren't inflammed yet, but may become so eating nuts, seeds, popcorn, etc. I have always eaten that stuff. Then this Gluten free s$#&, well I have always eaten Italian bread at dinner and wheat bread for sandwiches. I need help with this gluten free diet.

First off, there is no such thing as 'borderline' Celiac. You either have the disease or you do not. As for a gluten free diet, it does sound difficult at first, but unless you are eating mostly processed foods, it is not all that complex. I'm VERY new to eating gluten free myself (just over a month now), but found that the vast majority of the recipes I make for my husband and myself were already gluten free. Now I am fortunate that my husband and I both LOVE to cook, so we just stopped making recipes that had gluten containing ingredients. We've found that most of our fish/seafood dishes are naturally gluten free. We've begun to focus even more on things like fresh fruits and veggies. We love quinoa and rices for our carb sources. Good luck with this journey! The learning curve is steep, but well worth it!

[Britgirl]

You may want to read up on both Paleo and Primal style diets. There are several reference books and cookbooks which are becoming my go to for meal planning. Eating gluten-free is a lot easier with it being so mainstream these days. My mum was diagnosed with Celiac 10 years ago and it was very hard trying to find gluten-free stuff then. It's so simple nowadays.

[Marilyn R]

I have really never had any symptoms except for some gas or indigestion. I have never had pain from this and I have always eaten whatever i wanted my entire life. I am 62 5'4" 115lbs and healthy until this blood work came back which lead to my first colonoscopy and endoscopy. They discovered these pockets in my colon, which aren't inflammed yet, but may become so eating nuts, seeds, popcorn, etc. I have always eaten that stuff. Then this Gluten free s$#&, well I have always eaten Italian bread at dinner and wheat bread for sandwiches. I need help with this gluten free diet.

Hi Fish On, and welcome to the forum!

I'm not a medical technician, but it sounds like you have diverticulosus, which isn't uncommon for people who have celiac disease.

Help with the diet: eat whole foods like fish and meat, avoid processed food, kiss that Italian bread good-bye, purchase Udi's (only palatable bread that is gluten-free that I've found). If you hate the Udi's, chop it in a mini food processor for bread crumbs for fish cakes or meatballs. All veggies should be good for you, fresh is best.

I like to substitute baked potato or rice (or gluten-free pasta) for things I used to eat bread with. Last night I stuffed peppers and mushrooms with potatos and cheese, smoked pork and chopped green onion. Check out the "What's for Dinner" thread in the cooking topic for more ideas.

It's pretty normal to be pissed off about this gluten-free stuff for awhile. Grocery shopping will be a pia for awhile, but it gets better. It sounds like you've taken good care of your body, and your body just upped the ante.

[Lisa]

There are people here who have no symptoms, yet effected by digesting gluten. Whether or not you are symptomatic, you could generate symptoms in your brain, your joints, your blood, your bones, pancreas, liver...I could go on. Many times, Celiac is discovered as a secondary diagnosis.

There are a few other issues that can cause villious atrophy, but a medical history is taken and if consistant, Celiac is the Diagnosis.

I would consider yourself lucky, if you only need to change your diet.

[Reba32]

I will second Britgirl's suggestion for the Paleo and/or Primal diet! Many of the online blogs and printed cookbooks will give you lots of ideas for meal plans.

Atkins is another good one for meal plans and whatnot. Most of the plan is grain free, up until Life Time Maintenance, and a lot of people never do add grains back in.

If you absolutely *must* eat manufactured and processed foods, (I would recommend against it, at least for a few months while you heal), there are lots of gluten free options available now in most grocery stores.