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What Does It Take To Have A Gluten-Free Home?

CaliSparrow

By CaliSparrow
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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CaliSparrow Collaborator
CaliSparrow
Posted

Hello all,

I'm currently working on creating a gluten-free home. Can any of you share your experiences of how you accomplished this? What did you get rid of and what did you add? Are there any cleaning tips needed and things that say "gotcha" that aren't readily obvious?

Heck, even things that are readily obvious may not be to me. I figure replacing the toaster is a must...

My dietitian said it's too early to know the trigger and, even though I'm sure the gluten-free restaurant dish I ate glutened me, maybe she's right. I need to make sure nothing else could be making me sick.

Any advice is appreciated. I'm ready to have more than two days in a row free and clear!

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shadowicewolf Proficient
shadowicewolf
Posted

I would:

Do a deep cleaning of the kitchen, as you never know where the wheat flour flew.

Replace anything wooden such as spoons. Plastic as well.

Replace any scratched pots

If the tupperwear was old, i'd replace it

a new colender is a must

I'd also do a deep cleaning of the cabnits, rewashing all of the dishes and whanot within them.

CeliacMom2008 Enthusiast
CeliacMom2008
Posted

Great response Shadowicewolf!

And yes...the toaster must go!

Adalaide Mentor
Adalaide
Posted

a new colender is a must

This is misleading and caused me to spend money I didn't need to. If you have a large metal colander that is like a bowl with holes in it, there is nothing wrong with it and a good scrubbing will do. The issue comes from the ones that are mesh, I would also replace plastic.

Keep: Open Original Shared Link

Discard: Open Original Shared Link

love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted

Scrub your can opener - those suckers can harbour a ton of icky stuff. And yes to replacing the toaster. You can purchase toaster bags but it is easier to have your own. We bought a new toaster oven for me which is also nice for a host of other things.

And remember - it is your home so you will have to explain your situation to guests. We are having my in-laws here this weekend and they know they are not allowed to bring any gluten into our house. (My husband occasionally heads downstairs with pizza but he is exceedingly cautious and cleans up after himself. Can't trust guests to be that meticulous.)

gatita Enthusiast
gatita
Posted

And check your pet food. I finally got around to this and found the third ingredient in my cat's canned food is wheat gluten. That means I have to wash my hands every single time I pet him. :(

Once this batch runs out, I won't buy it again.

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

I actually didn't replace much. I kept my toaster oven (scrubbed the rack first), as well as all of my cooking utensils, tupperware and colanders. I did by a new cutting board, but it needed to be replaced anyways because it was splitting.

I went through all of my spices and if it said natural flavour or spice, I tossed it or researched it. I went through all my medicines too. I gave away all of my "glutenous" foods including flour bags, worchestershire sauce, soy sauce, and artificial smoke. My husband still has a barbque sauce he likes and a box of granola, and that is all the gluten we have left in the house.

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CaliSparrow Collaborator
CaliSparrow
Posted
  • Author

Thank you everybody :)

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      Thanks again for the detailed explanation. Just to clarify, I actually did have my initial tests done while I was still consuming gluten. I stopped eating gluten only after those tests were completed, and it has now been about 70 days since I went gluten-free. I understand the limitations around diagnosing NCGS and the importance of antibody testing and biopsy for celiac disease. Unfortunately, where I live, access to comprehensive testing (including total IgA and endoscopy with biopsy) is limited, which makes things more complicated. Your explanation about small-bowel damage, nutrient absorption, and iron-deficiency anemia still aligns closely with my history, and it’s been very helpful in understanding what may be going on. I don't wanna get Endoscopy and I can't start eating Gluten again because it's hurt really with severe diarrhea.  I appreciate you taking the time to share such detailed and informative guidance. Thank you so much for this detailed and thoughtful response. I really appreciate you pointing out the relationship between anemia and antibody patterns, and how the high DGP IgG still supports celiac disease in my case. A gluten challenge isn’t something I feel safe attempting due to how severe my reactions were, so your suggestion about genetic testing makes a lot of sense. I’ll look into whether HLA testing is available where I live and discuss it with my doctor. I also appreciate you mentioning gastrointestinal beriberi and thiamine deficiency. This isn’t something any of my doctors have discussed with me, and given my symptoms and nutritional history, it’s definitely worth raising with them. I’ll also ask about correcting deficiencies more comprehensively, including B vitamins alongside iron. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and taking the time to help. I’ll update the forum as I make progress.
    • knitty kitty
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    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine? 
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      By knitty kitty · Posted

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    • lizzie42
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      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
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