Newbie

[anrutherford]

Hello all, I am here looking for support and answers. I have doing research on gluten free diets for a little while and was considering changing my daughter over because of her stomach issues, then today my son recieved a diagnois of ADD, and the doctor suggested as a alternitive to medicine that we start with his diet, and try going gluten free. So with all that being said, I am going to make a full switch for my whole family, we are all going gluten free.

I was hoping that you all might have good advice for newbies to help us with what foods to avoid,etc... The web is so full of information, but it is honeslty very overwhelming.

[mushroom]

Hello and welcome to the board.

I am sorry your children are having what could be gluten issues. Have you thought of having them tested first with the celiac blood tests before going gluten free? I ask this only because if they are going to be interacting with the school system and gluten is their problem, a diagnosis is very helpful in keeping them safe in the school environment - schools do like that piece of paper from the doctor And I ask also because if you do decide to try for an offficial diagnosis later they would have to go back on gluten for 2-3 months for a valid test result. Returning to gluten is often very painful for those sensitive to it.

Now as to your guestion - the place to start is right here at celiac.com - try this link: https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/safe-gluten-free-food-list-safe-ingredients-r181/

Because gluten free processed foods tend to taste different from gluten based foods, it is best to avoid to much of the processed stuff and stick to naturally gluten free foods where they will be familiar with the tastes. There is much agreement that Tinkyada pasta is good and Udi's or Rudi's breads are widely liked. Van's makes good gluten free waffles and Pamela's baking mix is a good all-purpose product for things like pancakes and cookies.

Feel free to pop in with any questions that come to mind.

[Di2011]

I think you might be in a very unique position compared to most of us. You should perhaps consider, as an option with going gluten-free -vs- testing, getting your doctor to give you something official looking (one for each child) saying they are gluten intolerant. This could give you the official document whilst exploring gluten free option and cover you / them for later. Just a thought. Your doctor sounds progressive so perhaps he/she will be willing and able.

When I see "starch" on something I suspect glutens. Best to go home and google / check website or with company about ingredients. Get to know the 1400 and 400 range of additives.

Dairy is often a problem for GI sufferers but tends to be temporary. Perhaps keep it out of their diets until your routines and symptoms settle, then test.

It sounds strange for lots of newbies but clearing out bathroom/kitchen/laundry (etc) products is important. It sounds like your kids may not like a "little bit" of gluten.

Your products are just as important - makeup, moisturiser etc. Remember those all important hugs and kisses

When I went very strictly gluten-free I got caught out with sharing water bottles etc. If you or other family eat, drink from a water bottle and then kids drink from it, it could be a problem. It was for me in any case.. It took a while for my brain to get around the idea that this gluten thing wasn't just about what I ate.

I wish you luck and hope that you will return to our forum to let us know how your kids are going good or bad. We may all learn a thing or two from you

[domesticactivist]

Hi and welcome! I really hope you will heed their advice and get blood tests for the whole family before going gluten-free.

We went gluten-free over a year ago due to our son's issues. You can read about it on the blog linked from my profile ("Our Story" outlines why we went gluten free and then on GAPS, and then I have lots of blog posts about our experience).

Long story short, our son can not get a formal official diagnosis because there is absolutely no way he can go back on gluten in order to get tested.

I am now considering that I might have celiac, and am putting myself (and my family) through my gluten challenge, which is NOT pretty. I don't have symptoms as bad as many people do, but it's very disgusting and uncomfortable.

When you do go gluten free (a good idea to give it a try even with negative celiac results), make sure you *really* go gluten free. There is a lot of good info on here about cross-contamination, and I have a post called "Going 100% Gluten Free" on my blog that might help.

I want to add, since you are trying it for ADHD, that an unexpected benefit of changing our diet was that our son's extreme dyslexia completely went away. Both kids have much better focus, and our less sensitive (and non-celiac) daughter is no longer an extremely picky eater.